2024 MLB Draft Rankings: Meet The Top Prospects In The Class
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At long last, we’re just over 24 hours from the start of the 2024 MLB Draft. The Guardians have yet to tip their hand at No. 1 overall, only adding to the intrigue of how the first round could play out.
This draft class has been maligned for its lack of depth and high school options. There is, however, a talented group of players at the top of the class, including several who were prominent figures throughout the 2024 college baseball season.
Baseball America has covered this class extensively over the last year. Below, find scouting reports, stories and video on the top 10 players.
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1. Charlie Condon, OF, Georgia
Scouting Report
Condon wasn’t a high-profile prospect coming out of The Walker School in Marietta, Ga. He enrolled at Georgia in 2022 but took a redshirt season and didn’t play until 2023. In a Freshman of the Year season, he led all first-years with an .800 slugging percentage and 25 home runs. He then played for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team and slashed .256/.302/.538 with three homers in 10 games. Condon took another step forward in 2024, when he became the first Division I hitter this century to hit 35 or more home runs and pushed to the top of the draft class.
A 6-foot-6, 216-pound righthanded hitter, Condon has a special blend of power and pure hitting ability. He has a chance for 70-grade raw power, with the ability to homer to all fields and some of the best top-end exit velocities in the class. He has more pure bat-to-ball skills than might be expected of a tall hitter with such long levers. He’s never been fazed by top-end velocity, has improved his performance against breaking stuff in 2024 and has a chance for a plus hit tool. After playing mostly first base in 2023, Condon played five different positions in 2024 and played them well.
He is most likely to profile as a bat-first corner outfielder, but he is a strong enough athlete with the hands and arm strength to get a chance at third base in pro ball. Condon is reminiscent of other tall, righthanded, top-of-the-class corner profiles in recent drafts, such as Kris Bryant and Alec Bohm, and is a favorite to be picked first overall.
Stories
- Even as home run rate soar, Condon’s 2024 season shined
- Charlie Condon wins Baseball America’s 2024 College Player of the Year
- Detailing Condon’s pursuit of NCAA history
MLB Draft Profile
2. Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
Scouting Report
Bazzana has put on a hitting clinic in three years at Oregon State. The Australia native played in the college summer West Coast League as an 18-year-old in 2021 and excelled, setting the stage for a strong freshman season in 2022. Bazzana hit over .300 in each college season and improved year over year, culminating in a 2024 campaign in which he battled Georgia’s Charlie Condon for the best overall offensive season in the country. A 6-foot, 199-pound lefthanded hitter and second baseman, Bazzana’s offensive profile is built around his elite bat-to-ball skills.
He has an unusual-looking swing with a deep bat tip behind his shoulder and a sizable leg kick, but he has always found the barrel at a high clip and produced an 84% contact rate in his three seasons with the Beavers. He pairs that skill with a savvy approach at the plate and strong swing decisions, helping him walk more than he struck out in his career. In 2024, his excellent 25.8% walk rate ranked second only to Nick Kurtz for the best among Division I hitters. Bazzana added more home run power in his draft season as well, going from 11 home runs in 2023 to 28 in 2024, with a corresponding increase in his exit velocity data.
Bazzana’s swing seems optimized to maximize the power he does have, and while he’s nearly maxed-out physically, he might be the sort of player who always makes the most of his natural raw power. Bazzana is a plus runner and strong athlete who should be able to play second base, though he frequently throws with an odd sidearm slot that some scouts question. He could be athletic enough to play center field as well. Bazzana has all-star upside and is the best prospect from Oregon State since Adley Rutschman in 2019—with a chance to match his No. 1 overall status on draft day.
Stories
- Making the 1-1 case for Travis Bazzana
- Bazzana was one of the 10 most interesting players in the NCAA tournament
MLB Draft Profile
3. JJ Wetherholt, SS, West Virginia
Scouting Report
Wetherholt made his case as one of the best pure hitters in the 2024 class as a West Virginia sophomore in 2023. That season, he led the nation in hitting and slashed .449/.517/.782 with 16 home runs and 35 stolen bases. Despite being hampered by a hamstring injury that summer, Wetherholt was viewed as the top pure hitter on USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team. Another hamstring injury early in 2024 cost him nearly two months of the season.
A 5-foot-10, 190-pound shortstop, he has a clean and fluid lefthanded swing with a slight uphill bat path and plenty of hand speed through the zone. He’s able to manipulate his barrel to consistently get on plane with all pitch types and has the strength to homer to all fields with surprising pop for his size. In addition to his plus contact skills and above-average raw power, Wetherholt has a keen eye and rarely expands the zone, making him one of the most well-rounded hitters in the class.
Wetherholt has played third base, second base and shortstop in college. He has the hands and actions for all three, but his arm could be best suited to second base, where he could be an above-average defender. When healthy, Wetherholt is a plus runner who could be a consistent basestealing threat, but multiple hamstring injuries could incentivize him to be less aggressive. Wetherholt should become the highest-drafted player in WVU history, bettering Alek Manoah in 2019 and Chris Enochs in 1997, both of whom were 11th overall picks.
Stories
- How Wetherholt led West Virginia baseball to new heights
- Wetherholt was one of the 10 most intriguing players of the NCAA Tournament
- How Wetherholt and Nick Kurtz forced their way back into the 1-1 conversation
MLB Draft Prospect Video
4. Chase Burns, RHP, Wake Forest
Scouting Report
Burns was already touching 100 mph as a Tennessee prep in the 2021 class. Despite that huge velocity, he made it to campus at Tennessee, where he pitched as a starter and reliever for two seasons before transferring to Wake Forest in 2024. As a full-time starter, Burns put together one of the best pitching seasons in the country, with a 2.70 ERA in 16 starts, a 48.8% strikeout rate that led Division I pitchers, a 7.7% walk rate and a nation-leading 191 strikeouts.
A 6-foot-3, 210-pound righthander, Burns has perhaps the best pure stuff in the class. He averaged nearly 98 mph with his fastball and has been up to 101. He attacks hitters with a high-effort, high-energy delivery that features plenty of recoil and moving parts. His fastball is a potential 70-grade offering, as is his hellacious upper-80s slider that features hard, biting action with spin rates in the 2,800 rpm range. Burns’ slider is his go-to secondary against both lefties and righties and generated a 64% miss rate.
While his fastball/slider combination is his bread and butter, he also showcased a low-80s power curveball and firm upper-80s changeup more frequently in 2024. Both pitches have a chance to be solid-average—or perhaps better in the case of the curveball—and helped create more confidence in Burns’ starter profile. While his delivery screams reliever, he has consistently thrown strikes at a solid rate for three seasons, has a real four-pitch mix and consistently holds his stuff deep into games. While Burns is more of a control-over-command pitcher, he has the top-end pure stuff to make that work and miss plenty of bats. He should be the first or second pitcher drafted.
Stories
- Burns’ slider is one of the nastiest pitches in the draft
- Debating Burns vs. Hagen Smith as the first pitcher off the board
- Dive into Burns’ electric Statcast data
- Analyzing top college pitchers using Stuff+
MLB Draft Prospect Video
5. Jac Caglianone, 1B/LHP, Florida
Scouting Report
In terms of pure talent, it will be hard for any player in the 2024 class to match what Caglianone brings to the table. He’s a massive presence with a 6-foot-5, 250-pound frame and is one of the better college two-way players since Louisville’s Brendan McKay. Caglianone led the country with 33 home runs as a sophomore in 2023, then put together a second straight 30-plus homer season in 2024, when he also drastically improved his strikeout and walk rates.
After striking out 18% of the time in his first two seasons, Caglianone cut that mark to 8.1% in 2024, while tripling his walk rate up to 16.8%. He has astounding raw power and some of the best top-end exit velocities in the country. Despite 80-grade raw power and the ability to homer to all fields with ease, Caglianone will need to improve his swing decisions and pure hitting ability to maximize that juice in games. He has a steep, uphill swing, and his lower half consistently leaks to his pull side. His 43% career chase rate is one of the most aggressive marks of top 2024 college hitters.
Caglianone’s upside is greater as a lefthanded slugger, but he’s also been an effectively wild starter for Florida for two years. He features a low-90s sinking fastball that touches 98-99 mph and a pair of average secondaries with a low-80s changeup and low-to-mid-80s slider/cutter. His below-average control creates reliever risk. Caglianone has the power to lead the league in home runs, a la Pete Alonso, who, like Caglianone, is a product of Tampa’s Plant High and UF.
Stories
- Caglianone is one of the best two-way players of the BBCOR era
- Inside Cags’ rise to becoming one of the top players in the 2024 class
- The Florida star tied an NCAA home run record this season
- Carlos Collazo’s in-person scouting look from early in the 2024 season
MLB Draft Profile
The Next Five Prospects
6. Hagen Smith, LHP, Arkansas
Smith has two 70-grade pitches and won SEC pitcher of the year in 2024. He was the Friday night ace of an Arkansas staff that was one of the best pitching teams in the country. At 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, Smith has gained good weight in his college career and made strides. He refined his delivery in 2024, which helped lead to improved stuff and strikes. He averaged 95-96 mph with a fastball that has been up to 100 and throws from a low three-quarters slot that helps him create a flat plane to the plate. Those factors allow his fastball to generate tons of in-zone whiffs.
Stories
- Smith’s fastball is one of the nastiest pitches in the draft
- Debating Smith vs. Burns as the first pitcher off the board
- Detailing Smith’s rise from high school to SEC ace
7. Braden Montgomery, OF, Texas A&M
Once a standout two-way player, Montgomery transferred to Texas A&M from Stanford. He was an impactful performer until a season-ending ankle injury knocked him out of the NCAA Tournament. A 6-foot-2, 220-pound switch-hitter, he has a pro body with a chiseled frame and plenty of strength that allows him to generate plus raw power from both sides of the plate. He may not have the purest swing in the class, but Montgomery has done a nice job refining his approach. Montgomery cut his strikeout rate to a manageable 20.1% clip in 2024, while upping his walk rate to 17.7%. He can handle top-end velocity but will need to manage his miss tendencies versus secondaries.
8. Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
At one point prior to the season, Kurtz ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the class. He’s a towering lefthanded-hitting first baseman who has a terrific blend of raw power and advanced bat-to-ball skills. He has a surprisingly compact swing and a great batting eye. He never expands the zone and is content to take free passes when pitchers work him carefully. His 80% career contact rate is a strong number for a tall, long-levered hitter with his all-fields impact ability. Kurtz has a chance for a plus hit/power combination that could lead to a .280 average and 30-plus homers at peak.
Stories
- How Kurtz hit his way back into the 1-1 conversation after early injury
- Early MLB Draft scouting notes following an in-person look
9. Konnor Griffin, OF/SS, Jackson Prep, Flowood, Miss.
Griffin has a case as the toolsiest prospect in the 2024 class. He played varsity as an eighth grader and then reclassified following his sophomore year at Jackson Prep to become draft-eligible this year rather than 2025. A 6-foot-4, 210-pound dynamo, Griffin has excelled as a hitter and pitcher with a tremendous package of athleticism, physical upside, tools and track record of performance. He’s a bouncy athlete with plus-plus speed, and raw power that should become plus and plus arm strength that could also become a 70-grade tool in the future. Griffin’s swing can get long at times, and he was just solid on the showcase circuit in 2023 before lighting up his Mississippi prep competition this spring to win High School Player of the Year.
10. Bryce Rainer, SS, Harvard-Westlake HS, Studio City, Calif
Rainer used an excellent spring season to catapult himself up the draft board. Now, he has a chance to be the first high school player selected in a draft class that is top heavy with college players. A 6-foot-3, 195-pound, lefthanded-hitting shortstop, Rainer has legitimate upside as a hitter and pitcher. His preference to play the field—as well as his improved hit tool—give him more upside in the batter’s box. He has a sound approach at the plate with big raw power that should become plus in the future. Scouts marvel at Rainer’s ability to backspin the ball to the opposite field, though he has a history of some swing-and-miss concerns with a swing that can get a bit lengthy at times. He performed at a high enough clip this spring in Southern California to provide confidence that he will reach at least an average hit tool.
