Derek Berg

2024 MLB Draft: Which Teams Had the Best Draft Class?

It’s wild that the 2024 MLB Draft has come to an end. It feels like Tyler and I were launching the On The Clock podcast yesterday, and fall-ball was just starting. Now that we’ve come down from the high of the draft, it’s time to do some recaps and break down some of the picks and team hauls. We will continue our breakdown by going through the teams that had some of the best hauls on draft day.  


Draft Live Stream | Top 300 Prospects | Regional Board Rankings 

Day One Recap | Final Recap | Best Value Picks 


Cleveland Guardians 

You will likely do well in the draft when you have the most money. The Guardians took full advantage of having the largest bonus pool. They kicked off the start of the draft by taking Travis Bazzana out of Oregon State. It was rumored leading up to the draft that it would be him or West Virginia shortstop JJ Wetherholt. Bazzana came in around $1.6 million underslot, giving the Guardians plenty of money to spend later in the draft. They continued their day one, drafting highly-touted prep right-hander Braylon Doughty and possibly the second-best catcher in the draft in Jacob Cozart. Doughty is an arm that has already had his fastball up to 96 mph and a breaking ball that hovers around an insane 3,000 RPM. Cozart offensively offers a ton of upside and is one of the best defensive catchers behind the plate.

2B Travis Bazzana

Cleveland's excitement didn’t stop on day one. To start day two, they took another high-upside prep arm, Joey Oakie, out of the state of Iowa. He’s another arm with loud stuff, as his fastball is in the mid-90s and has topped at 97 mph. They followed by taking two more highly touted prep arms, Cameron Sullivan in the 7th round and Chase Mobley in the 10th round. Sullivan features a fastball up to 97 mph and a power slider in the high-80s to low-90s. Mobley is full of projection and an outstanding athlete. His electric fastball has topped out at 97 mph with a ton of two-seam action. They rounded out their draft with other intriguing arms, including RHP Aidan Major out of West Virginia, LHP Rafe Schlesinger out of Miami, and RHP Cam Schuelke out of Mississippi State. Sixteen of the Guardians' 21 picks were pitchers. This is a good sign for a team that has been successful in developing arms. 

SS Konnor Griffin

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates pulled together a draft class with some fun upside. Every time the Pirates' pick was announced for the first three rounds of the draft, I just thought, “Ohhh I like that!”. The Pirates had the ninth overall pick and seemed to strike gold when Konnor Griffin fell to them. There were talks that Griffin might go as high as the Chicago White Sox or Kansas City Royals pick. Griffin was the consensus best prep player in the 2024 MLB Draft, and he’s full of upside and projection. The guy oozes tools. He’s got a ton of bat speed and power combined with a reasonably mature approach at the plate. He also stole an insane 85 bases this spring. The Pirates seemed exactatic to land him at number nine.

The Pirates followed that pick with two more prep guys full of upside in RHP Levi Sterling out of California and SS Wyatt Sanford out of Texas. They took Sterling with their Comp-A pick. Sterling already has a four-pitch mix with an effortless delivery on the mound. He’s already in the low 90s with his fastball, and he pairs it with solid low-to-mid 80s changeup and a very effective sweeper. He’s an athletic kid with great potential, given his ability to throw strikes and room for growth. Sanford is about as exciting as they come for a prep bat. He ranked #28 overall for us, and there was some thought he might go in the first round or comp picks, but he fell to the Pirates in the second. It’s a beautiful left-handed swing, and he can utilize it in the entire field. He battles at the plate and draws some high walk rates. He’s also athletic enough to play anywhere on the field. The athleticism and mature approach are exciting things for the Pirates to build on. 

LHP Josh Hartle

They didn’t stop there. The Pirates got some interesting college players to help counteract the upside prep guys they drafted. In the fourth round, they took LHP Josh Hartle out of Wake Forest; in the 5th round, they took OF Will Taylor out of Clemson; in the 6th round, they took RHP Matt Ager out of UC Santa Barbara; in the 10th round, they took C Derek Berg out of Army, and in the 16th round they took RHP Brian Curley out of VCU. All of these guys are intriguing players in my eyes. Hartle faced some struggles this past year, but his dominant 2023, where he struck out 140 batters over 102.1 innings pitched, lets you know that more is in the tank. Taylor was a two-sport star at Clemson and is a hit-over-power profile; although he struggles against lefties, he has plenty of athleticism and upside. Berg and Curley are two interesting mid-majors who succeeded at Army and VCU.

OF PJ Morlando

Miami Marlins

This was one of my favorite day hauls from day one. There is lots of upside and a fun arm in Aiden May. They started with Morlando, who came in at #27 on our top 300 board. He puts up insane power numbers in BP, shown off at the MLB Draft Combine (4 balls over 110mp EV), but he has struggled to get into that power in the game (somewhat due to being intentionally walked a lot). Lots of upside with this pick. They followed that pick with even more upside by taking Carter Johnson at 56, who is #32 on our board. The Alabama shortstop has a ton of upside at the plate due to his mature approach. The Marlins rounded out by taking right-handed pitcher Aiden May out of Oregon State. May got on the map when he went toe-to-toe with Arkansas lefty Hagen Smith during his seventeen-strikeout game.

Colorado Rockies

3B/OF Charlie Condon

The entire world thought the Cincinnati Reds would take Georgia 3B/OF Charlie Condon with the second overall pick after the Guardians took Travis Bazzana. But they shocked everyone and took Chase Burns. This allowed for Condon to fall right into the Rockies' lap. Condon put up video game numbers during the entire year, hitting 37 home runs while driving in 78 in 60 games. Just absurd. They followed that pick by taking RHP Brody Brecht, who has some of the best stuff in this draft class. The only knock on him is his command and control issues. 


They continued their surge of solid players by taking OF Jared Thomas (one of the best pure hitters in the class) and C Cole Messina (3rd Round), an excellent clubhouse presence and is a complete gamer. They then took a tremendous senior sign, Blake Wright (4th Round), out of Clemson. The third baseman has power to all fields and improved his contact rates this year. They also took a couple of intriguing mid-major arms in LHP Konner Eaton (6th Round) out of George Mason and LHP Everett Catlett (12th Round) out of Georgetown.

Eaton has an excellent fastball with great life and two good secondaries in his slider and changeup. A team should be able to build off of those. Catlett is a tall, lanky southpaw with a presence on the mound. He hasn’t had a lot of miles on his arm due to some injuries. It's a good fastball that has been up to 96 and a solid slider to go with it. The Rockies have to be very happy with this draft class. 

SS Bryce Rainer

Detroit Tigers

Man, do the Detroit Tigers have an enjoyable class of players They kicked things off by taking the second-best prep player not named Konnor Griffin in this draft. SS Bryce Rainer is full of tons of upside. Although he has two-way abilities, the Tigers took Rainer just as a shortstop. It’s easy to see why they love the bat so much. It’s a beautiful left-handed swing, and he has the potential to develop some pop. He did have some swing-and-miss issues, and he might need to change his approach at the plate. But the upside is immense. Even though he won’t be on the mound, he’s been up to 96 mph from there, so you know he’s got some solid arm strength on the field. He could fit at shortstop or quickly shift to third if he grows in size as projected—just an enjoyable first pick. 

The Tigers closed out day one, continuing their prep trend by taking RHP Owen Hall in the second round and LHP Ethan Schiefelbein in the CB-B. We had Owen Hall on our On The Clock podcast, and what an incredible kid. On top of that, he has a lot of projectability on the mound. The fastball sits around 92-95 but has been up to 98 mph. He pairs that with two breaking balls. The stuff needs some polishing as it is inconsistent from time to time, but there is a lot to love with his profile. Schiefelbein is another guy that is projectable as the fastball velocity hasn’t been great (upper-80s/lower-90s), but he has been up to 94 mph. He’s got more of a feel for his pitches and should be a fun project for the Tigers. 

OF Jackson Strong

The Tigers paired all those prep guys with some fun college guys, including RHP Michael Massey out of Wake Forest, SS Woody Hadeen out of UC Irvine, RHP Josh Randall out of the University of San Diego, and OF Jackson Strong out of Canisius College. I saw Strong in the MLB Draft League, and man, it is an impressive approach at the plate. He has great barrel-to-ball skills that doesn’t come with a ton of Whiff or Chase. Woody Hadeen is a guy who skyrocketed up boards. Joe Doyle was one of the first guys on him. Hadeen is older for the class, but it is some of the best bat-to-ball skills. In our write up, we had him with an overall contact rate ~90% and a chase rate under 15%. Michael Massey was an electric arm for Wake Forest before suffering from some injuries this year. 

1B/LHP Jac Caglianone

Kansas City Royals 

The Royals didn’t have extra draft bonus pool money after trading their 39th overall pick to the Washington Nationals for big-league reliever Hunter Harvey. Despite that lack of extra bonus pool money, they did a heck of a job getting a good haul on draft day. Their day one started with college superstar Jac Caglianone falling into their laps at 6. The Royals took him as a two-way player and plan to develop him at both. The upside at the plate is enormous. It’s plus-plus power, and for a guy who swings at everything, it is insane to think he only struck out 8.2% of the time last year. His walk rate skyrocketed to 18.4% this year, but that has a lot to do with being intentionally walked. He had more intentional walks than strikeouts. The Royals wrapped up day one, taking left-handed prep pitcher David Shields out of Pennsylvania. He was a guy they wanted at 39, but he still fell to them at 41. 

Going into day two, they went with some arms with a safer floor than their high-upside pick in David Shields. They started with two fantastic adds, RHP Drew Beam and RHP LP Langevin. Beam might be one of the safest floor picks in the draft as a guy who can make the major leagues. He has been one of the SEC's most consistent and reliable starters over the last few years. Langevin has an electric fastball with nutty data, including a 45% overall whiff rate and 42% in-zone whiff rate. They took three more intriguing college arms, including AJ Causey out of Tennessee, Dennis Colleran out of Northeastern, and Tommy Molsky out of Oklahoma State. All have really good data on their fastballs or offspeed pitches. 

A lot of those college arm and bat picks were for one reason… RHP Kyle DeGroat. The Royals took the right-handed prep arm from Wallkill Senior HS in New York in the 14th round. They’ll likely need significant money to persuade him away from his commitment to Texas. He was one of the biggest risers this year, seeing a substantial velocity increase in his high-spin fastball. He has some solid secondaries to go along with it. There is lot to build on, and development is still needed, but DeGroat has tons of upside, significantly if he can improve on his velocity gains and control. 

Live Looks: Lehigh vs Army

Last weekend, I traveled to Bethlehem, PA to see two of the top Patriot League teams in action, Lehigh University and Army. Lehigh was able to take game one in extras and Army pitchers dominated games two and three. While there is a lot of good talent on both sides, I am going to be highlighting what I saw from Lehigh third baseman Rafe Perich, Lehigh right-handed pitcher Cole Leaman, Army catcher Derek Berg, and Army right-handed pitcher Mike Ruggieri. 

Rafe Perich - 3B, Lehigh

3-12, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 Sac Fly

Perich, overall, had an uneventful weekend against Army. In game one, he went 0 for 3 with a walk-off sacrifice fly on a deep line drive to right center. In game two, Perich was 1 for 4 with a double laced into the left center field gap. In game three, he went 2 for 5 with a relief pitching appearance, although having to leave the game early with an arm injury in the ninth inning. 

While Perich may have had a quiet weekend, his 2024 season has been anything but quiet. So far he has started all 27 games for the Mountain Hawks, posting a .335 average, .528 slugging, and a .496 on-base percentage (1.131 OPS). Those numbers are currently ranked 2nd, 4th, and 3rd in the Patriot League, respectively. Also on the season, he has tied his career high in home runs with 6 while recording a 16.5% walk rate and an 11% k rate. 

The ‘24 draft-eligible junior stands at 6’2” with a strong, athletic base. He’s a decent runner on the bases and is very quick at the hot corner. He’s a smooth defender with an effortless, strong arm that is playable at the next level. While he has the athleticism to play the outfield, I don’t see why he couldn’t stick at third base. He has a level swing path allowing him to hit to all fields. Perich likely projects as a 2025 draft pick and will be a player to watch for both the remainder of this season and next as well.

Cole Leaman - RHP, Lehigh

4 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO

Leaman started game 1 of the weekend for Lehigh. This is only his second start after suffering a groin injury a couple of weeks ago. He was taken out of the game in the top of the fifth inning after throwing 75 pitches. Leaman’s fastball was in the 91-93 mph range topping out at 95 with arm side run. He was also able to get plenty of swings and misses with his 80-83 mph sweeping slider. He also featured a mid-80’s changeup as well as a mid-70’s curveball. 

So far this year, Leaman has made five starts, not including the injury where he faced only one batter. In those five starts, he has pitched 19 innings with 25 k’s, 10 walks, and a 1.90 ERA. The combination of his massive uptick in velocity from a year ago and his easy, repeatable delivery will earn himself a lot of attention as the year goes on. The ‘25 eligible sophomore is looking to build on his strong start to 2024 and solidify himself in the draft conversation next year. 

Derek Berg - C/1B, Army

2-12, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 2B

Berg, like Perich, had a pretty quiet weekend. While he only had 2 hits, one of them came at a very opportune time. In the seventh inning of game three, the game tied up at 2, Berg drove a double that scored one and broke the tie. Army would go on to win game three by the score of 6-4. While the offense wasn’t quite there for him this weekend, he stood out more to me at catcher. He allowed zero past balls in the two games he was behind the plate and showed off his good framing skills as well. He is a good athlete and he has the arm to match (2.00-2.05 pop).

On the season, Berg has been playing both catcher and first base. He is hitting for a .275 average, .510 slugging, and a .378 on-base percentage with 5 home runs and a team-leading 9 stolen bases. The senior has proven his leadership on the field and has been a mainstay in this Army lineup since he arrived at West Point as a freshman in 2020. He was on the first team all-Patriot League team a year ago and was a preseason all-conference player this season as well as preseason defensive player of the year. 


Mike Ruggieri - RHP, Army

5 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 5 K, 2 BB

Ruggieri started game 3 for the Black Knights and was effective from the moment he stepped on the mound, allowing zero runs through the first 3.2 innings of work. His fastball ranged between 90 and 92 mph topping out at 94. He also featured an 84-86 mph sweeping slider and a disappearing 83-84 mph splitter. He was able to command all three pitches Sunday, getting nearly all weak contact through his 5 innings pitched.

Ruggieri is a senior who stands at a towering 6’6”, 267 lbs. He has so far struck out 37 batters on the year allowing 17 walks in his 35.1 innings of work. He was on the first-team all-Patriot League team last season and was a preseason all-Patriot League pitcher entering this season. He has been a key component of this experienced Army team this season and will look to build on this strong performance as the season goes on.


Other player notes

Lehigh Fr. RHP Julio Ermigiotti

Ermigiotti has appeared for the Mountain Hawks as both a starter and reliever. The young arm has a fastball that can get into the low-90s with a mid-70s slider and changeup. So far on the year, he has struck out 14 and walked only 4 through 20 innings of work. There is a good case to be made for Ermigiotti to find himself firmly in the weekend rotation as early as this season.


Lehigh Fr. 2B Raffaele Rogers

Rogers is an outstanding defensive second baseman. He also has the potential to be a high on-base percentage player with his patient approach at the plate and solid speed. I would like to see him make more solid contact than he has so far, but he is young and has lots of room for growth.


Army So. OF William Parker

Parker is putting together a very nice sophomore season, hitting .327 (6th in the Patriot League) with a .942 OPS and 36 RBIs, which ranks 2nd in the Patriot League. Parker covers a lot of ground in left field for the Black Knights and is a key hitter in the middle of their order. 


Army Sr. 3B Sam Ruta

Ruta has a lot of experience at the hot corner. He has been a starter all four years he’s been at West Point. He is having his best year yet, batting .319 with a .713 slugging and a .472 on base. He also has 9 homers and 27 RBIs. He has a good arm, but the glove has been shaky at times during his career. I see him becoming a corner outfielder at the next level. He has cut down on his swing and misses this year and become a more patient hitter and the result has been, as you’d expect, more power and fewer strikeouts. 


X: @JakeBarg