New York Mets 2024 MLB Draft Review

Draft Theme: Bats First, Arms Later

It was difficult to pull a strong theme out of this Mets draft class. There weren’t many similar profiles I could discern, though the team did seem to employ a strategy that is becoming more and more popular around the league: Prioritize hitters first, then load up on college arms late in the draft. Four of the team’s first six picks were hitters, including 15th ranked Carson Benge in the first round, athletic high school SS Trey Snyder in the fifth and one of the best priority senior bats in the class in 1B Corey Collins in the 6th. After that, the Mets drafted 11 pitchers with their next 14 picks, and, in total, their 11 four-year righthanders were tied for the most of any club. 

Most Interesting Day 2 Pick: 1B Corey Collins, 5th round

Collins ranked as the No. 139 prospect in the 2020 class out of high school thanks to his standout raw power as a catcher, but he made it to campus at Georgia, where his prospect status faded a bit after three mediocre seasons. He went undrafted after his 2023 junior season, but made adjustments in 2024 that led to the best season of his career where he hit .354/.574/.772 with 20 home runs and the best on-base percentage in D-I baseball—making him an elite leadoff hitter in front of potential 1-1 pick Charlie Condon. Collins put the bat head in a more vertical position this spring which helped him loosen up in the box and get his hands in a better hitting position with more consistency. He’d always shown a strong batting eye, but contact issues prevented him from tapping into his power. That was not a problem this spring, as he made contact at a 79% clip compared to a 74% clip in his first three seasons with a career-low 13.1% strikeout rate and career-high 23% walk rate—one of the best marks in the country. Collins is now a straight first-base prospect with catching an unlikely proposition for him, but his lefthanded power, improved contact and on-base skills should make him a target somewhere in the middle of the draft’s second day.

Most Interesting Day 3 Pick: RHP Josh Blum, 16th round

Blum is a 6-foot-2, 210-pound righthanded reliever who has pitched exclusively out of the bullpen for USC over the last three seasons and in 2024 put together a career-best campaign with a 1.87 ERA over 33.2 innings with a 32.8% strikeout rate and 8% walk rate. He pitched primarily off of a low-80s slider that he threw more than 70% of the time this spring, but has a fastball that sits 92-93 mph and has been up to 96 with above-average riding life. While Blum doesn’t have a true out pitch, his solid fastball/slider combination and strong track record of missing bats could make him a day three target.