2024 MLB Mock Draft: “Way Too Early” Top 10 Picks
Image credit: Nick Kurtz (Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images)
For the last four years we’ve done a “way too early” mock draft right after the conclusion of the draft. With the conclusion of the 2023 draft, we’re doing the same for the 2024 class.
While the final draft order will be determined after the season in the draft lottery, for this exercise we’re simply using the reverse order of current MLB standings.
Last year’s way too early mock was likely our best yet, with six players who actually went inside the top 10 picks in the 2023 draft, as well as eight players who were first-rounders. An exceptionally strong draft class makes the process much easier—that might not be the case for what could be a down 2024 group.
You can see each of the results from the last four years below:
1. A’s — Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest
Kurtz was the best overall hitter on one of the best teams in the country this past spring with Wake Forest. He’s likely the most well-rounded hitter in the class at this point and pairs a savvy batting eye with a clean lefthanded swing and plenty of raw power from his 6-foot-5, 235-pound frame. Kurtz slashed .353/.527/.784 with 24 home runs and 10 doubles, and has walked more than he’s struck out in both seasons with the Demon Deacons. He’s a terrific defender at first base and scouts think he might be athletic enough to play the corner outfield.
2. Royals — Travis Bazzana, 2B, Oregon State
Bazzana is an Australian native who has developed a strong reputation as a pure hitter by performing at a high level wherever he’s played: with Australia’s 18U National Team, with Oregon State in his first two seasons, in the West Coast League and once again this summer on the Cape. He’s coming off a .374/.500/.622 season where he hit 11 home runs, 20 doubles and stole 36 bags in 39 tries (92.3%). He stays within the strike zone consistently and makes a ton of contact, with an 85% contact rate this spring with the Beavers.
3. Rockies — Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
Honeycutt’s raw tools, athleticism and all-around profile should make him the 1-1 favorite, but he has consistently struggled with strikeouts and took a step backward in 2023 after a sensational freshman season in 2022 when he hit 25 home runs and stole 29 bases while displaying acrobatic defensive highlights in center field. Honeycutt hit just .257/.418/.492 with a home run/fly ball ratio that was essentially cut in half compared to his freshman season, though he did cut his strikeout rate from around 30% to 20% and also walked more often. He has speed, power and a no-doubt center field profile, but there are still questions looming about exactly what sort of hitter he’ll be.
4. Nationals — Brody Brecht, RHP, Iowa
Brecht has elite arm talent on the mound and averaged 97.5 mph this spring with his fastball while pitching in a starting role for Iowa. He posted a 3.74 ERA in 77 innings despite an unsustainable 18% walk rate and outperformed his peripherals thanks in part to stranding runners on base at an 84.5% clip after they reached. Brecht has a whippy fast arm and has eclipsed 100 mph many times, and he also has a slider that could be a 70-grade pitch and generated whiffs at a 53% rate this spring. He throws the fastball and slider equally and the breaking ball has terrific tilt and diving action in the upper 80s. As his walk rate suggests, there’s plenty of reliever risk here.
5. White Sox — JJ Wetherholt, 2B, West Virginia
You could use a single hand to count the hitters who performed better than Wetherholt this spring, and there’s a case to be made that you wouldn’t need to lift a finger. He led the country in hitting and slashed .449/.517/.782 with 16 home runs, 23 doubles and 35 stolen bases. Wetherholt is just 5-foot-10, but he’s physical with plenty of strength in his hands and forearms and the ball jumps off his bat. He had a 93 mph average exit velocity this spring and while he might be a second baseman, he should offer power, speed and strong pure hitting ability at the position. He was also one of the most impressive hitters with USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team.
6. Cardinals — Tommy White, 3B, Louisiana State
One of the most notorious sluggers in college baseball, White had a sensational freshman season at North Carolina State in 2022 before he transferred to LSU and helped power the Tigers to the 2023 national championship. White has 51 home runs in his first two seasons and pairs physicality and big power with impressive feel for the barrel. He also loves to swing and will regularly expand the strike zone, with a 40% chase rate in 2023 that will need to be improved in pro ball. White might be a first baseman, but he has more than enough power to profile at the position if he moves off the hot corner.
7. Tigers — Konnor Griffin, SS/OF/RHP, Jackson Prep, Flowood, Miss.
Originally a member of the 2025 class, Griffin is an exceptional athlete who reclassified for 2024 after his freshman season. He’s already led his Jackson Prep team to two state championships, and he pairs impressive athleticism with loud tools, including plus speed, double-plus arm strength and plus raw power. He’s probably a hitter first, but he would be a real pro prospect as a pitcher as well, and throws a fastball in the low 90s already.
8. Pirates — Jac Caglianone, LHP/1B, Florida
Caglianone was a Golden Spikes semifinalist for the Gators in 2023 after a season where he led the nation with 33 home runs and also started 18 games as a lefthander and posted a 4.34 ERA. Power, not polish, is the defining characteristic of Caglianone as both a hitter and a pitcher. He has incredible raw power as a lefthanded hitter and had one of the best 90th percentile exit velocities in the country in 2023, but he also chased out of the zone at a 44% rate and struck out at an 18.2% rate compared to just a 5.3% walk rate. On the mound, Caglianone averaged 95 mph from the left side, but he was erratic and walked batters at a 16.1% clip.
9. Mets — Derek Curiel, OF, Orange (Calif.) Lutheran HS
Curiel is a well-known prepster who has shown a smooth lefty swing and advanced hitting ability since his freshman season with SoCal powerhouse Orange (Calif.) Lutheran High. It wasn’t uncommon for scouts to see both him and Red Sox first-rounder Mikey Romero in 2022 and leave the park thinking Curiel had the better swing and pure hitting ability. He’s lean with a 6-foot-2, 175-pound frame and has some future impact questions, though he should stick in center field as a plus runner with good defensive instincts and arm strength.
10. Cubs — Chase Burns, RHP, No School
Burns was throwing 100 mph before he reached campus at Tennessee and in the two seasons he’s spent with the Volunteers, he has struck out 217 batters and walked just 47 in 152.1 innings—good for a 34.6% strikeout rate and 7.5% walk rate. He moved into a piggy-back reliever role with Chase Dollander during the 2023 season and after the year entered the transfer portal. The 6-foot-4, 195-pound righty averaged 96 mph on his fastball and has been up to 102, and he has a nasty, upper-80s slider with high spin rates and hard biting action that generated a 61% miss rate this spring. Following the season, Burns entered the transfer portal, but he has not yet announced his home for the 2024 season.
