2024 MLB Draft: Day 3 Favorite Picks
July 17, 2024
My favorite picks from Day 3 focusing on college shortstops and southpaws, two positions that tend to have more success than others in professional baseball.
11th Round:
Jon Jon Gazdar, SS, Austin Peay/St Louis. Outstanding bat to ball skills. Batted over .300 two consecutive summers in the Cape. Featured as an under the radar hitter.
Sebastian Gongora, LHP, Louisville/Orioles. Three pitch lefty who profiles as a starter. Featured during Week 11 of College Crosscheck.
Dalton Pence, LHP, North Carolina/Rangers. Future big leaguer. Power fastball up to 95 is extremely tough on same sided batters. D1 Baseball's No. 10 ranked college left handed pitcher.
12th Round:
Everett Catlett, LHP, Georgetown/Colorado. Six-foot-7 lefty with a fastball up to 96, struck out 84 in 77.2 innings.
13th Round:
Riley Huge, LHP, Winthrop/Oakland. Struckout 111 batters in 66.2 innings for a remarkable 37% strikeout rate which placed him 8th in the country and just behind first round picks Chase Burns, Hagen Smith, Trey Yesavage and Brody Brecht.
Evan Aschenbeck, LHP, Texas A&M/ChiCubs. High pitch ability and First-team All-American closer finished the season 6-1 with a 1.78 ERA.
Cody Schrier, SS, UCLA/Miami. Performed really well as a true freshman in 2022 and then missed 20+ games due to injury in 2023 as a sophomore. Struggled throughout the 2024 season, batting just .242, but good health and a change of scenery to pro ball may be the cure for this talented middle infielder.
14th Round:
Ryan Magdic, LHP, Missouri/Oakland. Deceptive, hard-throwing southpaw was featured in Week Eight of College Crosscheck.
https://x.com/DSeifertD1PBR/status/1776737754702913602
Mason Burns, RHP, Western Kentucky/St Louis. The exception to this list as a right handed pitcher, Burns had a tremendous career at WKU with 2023 his junior season highlighted by 26 consecutive scoreless innings. Burns also finished 2024 with 15 saves and 52 strikeouts in 36 innings.
Cam Clayton, SS, Washington/Miami. Once a highly-rated prospect as a sophomore-eligible for the 2023 draft, Clayton went on the struggle bus in 2024. Regardless, there’s little doubt that the talent is there to develop into a useful Major League utility option.
Jared Spencer, LHP, Indiana State/Phillies. Past non-surgical injury concerns and lesser velocity as a starter this season weighed down this talented left-hander who was preseason projected to be selected mid-Day Two.
https://x.com/DSeifertD1PBR/status/1786530621696708751
Braden Quinn, LHP, UConn/Arizona. Back-end arm for the Huskies can really spin it into the zone. Struck out 67 in 44.2 innings good for a 34% strikeout rate.
15th Round:
Tyler Davis, LHP, Mississippi State/Kansas City. Competitive lefty and valuable pen arm for the Bulldogs, struck out 41 in 35 innings this season with two swing/miss offerings in his 89-91 mph fastball and 82-84 mph changeup.
Hayden Frank, LHP, Lipscomb/ChiCubs. The preseason mid-Day 2 prospect was injured early in the 2024 season and missed the first ten weeks. He did return towards the end of the season to strike out 20 vs two walks in 18.2 innings.
16th Round:
Nolan Hughes, LHP, Xavier/Washington. Six-foot-5, big-bodied lefty touches 97. Struck out 65 in 35 innings pitched this season for the Musketeers.
Evan Shaw, LHP, Kansas/LA Dodgers. Six-foot-4 lefty runs his fastball up to 94. Struck out 60 in 42 innings, good for a nearly 31% strikeout rate.
17th Round:
Nolan Clifford, SS, Creighton/Colorado. An area scout favorite, the 5-foot-10 is a ballplayer who endears coaches and scouts. Batted .348 with 13 stolen bases while playing stellar defense for the Blue Jays.
Lyle Miller-Green, TWP, Austin Peay/ChiSox. Another exception to the shortstops and southpaws focus, the big Russian is certainly one to give preferential treatment after receiving Golden Spikes Award consideration. Six-foot-5, 245 pounds, he pitches in the low-90s with a sinker and hits balls out of sight … 30 tanks in 2024 for the Govs. Can’t go wrong with this pick 499th overall.
19th Round:
Ryan Ure, LHP, Oklahoma State/San Francisco. Did not have much of a 2024 season throwing just 3.2 innings after missing all of 2023 due to injury, but he’s 6-foot-8 and touches the mid to upper-90s with his fastball.
https://x.com/PBR_DraftHQ/status/1813323389429301342
20th Round:
Owen Rice, LHP, Milwaukee/St Louis. Six-foot-6, loose-armed lefty who touches the low-90s. Struck out 51 in 31 innings this spring, but walked 33. Control is obviously an issue, but not a lot of these types walking around college campuses.
Hunter Elliott, LHP, Ole Miss/LA Dodgers. This one might be an inside job (in a complimentary way) by former Ole Miss two-way talent turned Dodger scout, Stephen Head. But no matter the situation, grabbing Elliott, who missed all of the 2024 season recovering from arm surgery, this late and getting him signed would be a major coup for LAD.