(stats as of 4:30 AM, 8/27. Don’t even think of criticizing my sleep schedule.)
The 2024 MLB Draft has come and gone, and now, a month later, some notable players have made their pro debuts.
Pitchers generally don’t throw too much post-draft and changes to the Complex Leagues’ schedules have muddied the waters. As a result, the vast majority of players who’ve made their pro debuts have been college bats. Now, time to go over some of the top Draft prospects have fared early in pro ball.
Travis Bazzana, 2B — Cleveland Guardians
Immediately promoted to High-A Lake County, Bazzana is currently getting on base at a consistent clip (15.4% BB rate, .385 OBP). While the hits haven’t been plentiful (.247 AVG), the offensive production certainly has been (139 wRC+), including 10 extra-base hits.
Charlie Condon, 3B/LF — Colorado Rockies
Condon’s pro debut has been anything but graceful early on. The slugger’s struggles include a .193/.256/.289 slash and a 32.2% strikeout rate. In his defense, Condon was also promoted straight to High A, and two years of SEC dominance shouldn’t be written off due to a rough 23-game stretch at the start of his professional career.
Nick Kurtz, 1B — Oakland Athletics
Dominating in seven games in Single-A Stockton (1.531 OPS and 273 wRC+) before being sent to Double-A Midland, Kurtz continued to play well in games before being pulled with a hamstring injury. It is unclear how much time he will miss. Dealing with shoulder and rib injury throughout his college career, plus the new hamstring issue, the question with Kurtz may be less about talent, and more about availability, but in 21 pro games this summer he batted .368/.520/.763 with four homers.
Jac Caglianone, 1B — Kansas City Royals
Having not quite settled in at High-A Quad Cities, the first thing that stands out is Caglianone’s moderate slugging percentage of .427 after a college career slugging .760. He has two homers, nine doubles, and a triple, and his contact rates are solid.
JJ Wetherholt, SS — St. Louis Cardinals
Wetherholt is batting .235/.370/.296 in Single-A Palm Beach — mixed results — but he has more walks (15) than strikeouts (11), and has suffered from some bad luck (.257 BABIP). He’s played exclusively shortstop in pro ball, with some DH days mixed in.
Christian Moore, 2B — Los Angeles Angels
Moore has had one of the louder debuts in the class, playing just two games in Single-A before skipping High-A and landing in Double-A Rocket City. His slash line leaves little to be questioned (.302/.355/.512), which includes five homers. The one knock on his 24-game start is a 30.1% strikeout rate.
Seaver King, SS — Washington Nationals
The question of King’s defensive home was a topic dujour this spring, but he’s played exclusively at shortstop thus far in pro ball. He started a bit slow, but since August 23 has a hit in all but one game and owns a .394/.474/.515 slash in eight contests.
James Tibbs, OF — San Francisco Giants
Tibbs got a short stint in Low-A San Jose (.941 OPS, 154 wRC+) before beig shopped to High-A Eugene, His nine-game stay in the Northwest League has been rough — three hits in 46 at-bats, one extra-base hit and 18 strikeouts.
Cam Smith, 3B — Chicago Cubs
Smith has been explosive in his pro debut, batting .313 with six homers in Myrtle Beach — the six long balls came in consecutive game leading up to his promotion to High-A South Bend where he’s 11 for his first 26 (.423).
Carson Benge, OF — New York Mets
Benge has posted a .293/.431/.463 slash in 11 games for Class-A St. Lucie, including a pair of homers and two stolen bases. During a stretch August 27-29 versus Jupiter, Benge went 8-for-12 with three extra-base hits, showing some of the ceiling the Mets hope to pull from their new outfielder.
Kaelen Culpepper, SS — Minnesota Twins
Culpepper had a strong debut in Single-0A Fort Myers, including two home runs in nine games with a .297 batting average, leading to a promotion to High-A Cedar Rapids. In nine games there so far, he’s just 9-for-45, but that includes two extra-base hits and overall he’s whiffed just 11 times in 93 plate appearances.
Dante Nori, OF — Philadephia Phillies
Nori was the first prep player from the class to debut and is showing just fine in Class-A Clearwater, batting .256/.418/.302 in 11 games. He’s walked 12 times, fanned 12 times, and has one extra-base hit — a triple — but he’s 4-for-4 stealing bases and has three multihit games.
Walker Janek, C — Houston Astros
Janek had a big moment in High-A Asheville in which he smashed a baseball off the scoreboard, and it went approximately 461 feet, mammoth bomb from a 21 year-old catcher making his pro debut. Overall, it’s a .1809/.207/.295 slash with 23 strikeouts in 82 plate appearances, but it was an aggressive assignment and it’s just 20 games.
Malcolm Moore, C — Texas Rangers
Moore also went directly to High-A and, also, is struggling. He’s sitting at .169/.281/.324 in 20 games, but he does have three homers and two doubles and has looked a lot better the last week or so when two of his long balls have occured.
Ryan Waldschmidt, OF — Arizona Diamondbacks
Waldschmidt is doing Waldschmidt things so far in Low-A Visalia, with more walks than strikeouts (9:15 K:BB ratio) with a .273 batting average and loud .485 OBP in 14 games, totaling up to a 147 wRC+. Getting hit by five pitches has helped the on-base, too. He only has two extra base-hits, both of which being doubles, and hasn’t hit first home run yet, though he’s put the game in motion with four stolen bases.
He hasn’t played since August 25 due to a hamstring injury.
- MLB DRAFT: Bazzana, Smith lead debuts for top picks - September 4, 2024
- Prospect notes on Rockies, D-Backs, Mariners, led by Troy, Arroyo, Karros - August 2, 2024
- MLB DRAFT: Boctor’s 5 best classes - July 17, 2024
