2024 MLB Draft Preview: Prep Pitchers

[Jeremy Nygaard]

We approach the end of our positional previews for the 2024 MLB Draft, with only pitchers and outfielders left. Because pitchers make up almost half of the draftees, we’ll be breaking that into two parts. We looked at the college side earlier this week; now we look at the prep demographic.

We’re excited to ratchet up 2024 MLB Draft content in the coming weeks. We’ll start with a series of articles detailing each positional demographic. These pieces aren’t meant to be an exhaustive list, rather, an overview of the caliber of talent at the position. For each player, we'll run down some basic information, in addition to some strengths and weaknesses. You’ll also find their current position on the Consensus MLB Draft Board in parentheses next to their name. 

The prep pitching group is my personal favorite, as it’s impossible to project. The highest-rated prospects don’t always go first. We start to learn about price tags. And teams often try to float arms to their next pick if they think they’ll have money to burn.

We’re not going to focus on the top pitchers of the class, necessarily, but some names that are interesting who should be hearing their name called on Day One (or early Day Two).

Ryan Sloan, R/R P, York Community HS, IL (23)
Sloan, a Wake Forest commit, is an excellent Illinois prep pitcher in a run that has extended through multiple draft cycles.

Sloan is a physical, athletic prospect, with the type of frame built to start. On the mound, he has a loose, repeatable delivery and operates from a lower three quarter slot on the mound.
His current three pitch mix is a strong foundation on which to build. Sloan throws a run and ride fastball that sits at 92-94 mph but tops out at 97 mph. Sloan pairs this with a slider that has good vertical movement and some sweep to it. Finally, there's a changeup that sits between 84-86 mph, with good fade and enough velocity differential from his fastball to be a problem for left-handed hitters.

While Sloan has average command currently, there's plenty to like in his profile. A solid three pitch mix and plenty more velocity on the table as he adds strength makes him one of the more well rounded prep arms in the class.

Braylon Doughty, R/R P, Chaparral HS, CA (41)
Doughty is a prep right handed pitcher out of California who is one of the biggest risers on the pitching side of the 2024 eligible class.

While the Oklahoma State commit doesn't have a prototypical starting pitcher's frame, he's a great athlete who moves exceptionally well on the mound behind a compact, efficient, repeatable delivery that points to more projection and a good chance to stick as a starter.

On the bump, Doughty has a fastball that sits 92-94 mph with solid late life and has grabbed 96-97mph. It's backed up by one of the best prep breaking pitches in the class, a two-plane slider that has a ton of sharp late break. Doughty generates upwards of 3,000 rpms on the pitch, commands it well, and in general has shown a real propensity to spin the baseball.

Doughty also throws a changeup that's more of an emerging pitch currently. The combination of athleticism, ability to spin the ball, and two above average pitches gives him a great chance to continue to start and is getting his name mentioned in the day one mix.

David Shields, L/L P, Mt. Lebanon HS, PA (50)
Shields is a two-sport athlete (football and baseball) who gave up the former to focus on the latter and reclassified from the 2025 class to 2024, making him one of the youngest prospects this year.

Shields has an athletic frame at 6'2, 210 pounds and has a loose arm and clean, repeatable actions on the mound. His arsenal starts with the fastball, which sits 90-93 mph with good riding action. Shields shows some polish with how he commands this pitch, moving from one side of the plate to the other. He has a sweeping slider that's already above average, a pitch opposing batter will chase out of the strike zone (that he's also able to locate well for strikes). Finally, Shields has shown a feel for a changeup, a pitch with good fade and deception.

The Miami commit has an unusual amount of polish for such a young prospect. The combination of frame, athleticism, arsenal, and the ease with which everything comes out of his hand heightens his appeal.

Chris Levonas, L/R P, Christian Brothers Academy, NJ (63)
Levonas is an extremely wiry right-handed prep pitcher and has a package of interesting traits and skills on the mound. His fastball has taken a significant velocity jump this spring, up from the 90-92 mph range, now sitting 93-95 mph and touching 98 mph. It's an offering with good spin that is likely to be a plus pitch, if it isn't already.

The Wake Forest commit has also shown great proficiency in spinning the baseball, with a slider/curveball breaker pairing of pitchers that carry spin rates between 2800-3000 rpms, in addition to some feel for a changeup. Levonas commands and moves these pitches around the zone well, in addition to getting good extension at release.

A loose, quick arm, with a four pitch arsenal he commands well, a proclivity to spin the baseball, and plenty of projection. It's a massive up arrow for this profile heading into the summer.

Dax Whitney, R/R P, Blackfoot HS, ID (75)
It's not too often that senior evaluators are traveling to Idaho to see a prospect ahead of the MLB draft, but that's exactly the case for Dax Whitney, one of the biggest pop up prospects in the 2024 class.

Whitney hadn't had a ton of exposure on the showcase circuit, preferring to play for his Legion team instead, but has evaluators pouring in after a pop in both stuff and velocity this spring. He has a great pitcher's frame at 6'5, 190 pounds, with plenty to dream on in terms of future projection. That's all added to be a clean, repeatable delivery that has him constantly throwing strikes and pounding the zone.

On the mound he throws a fastball that sits 92-94 mph but can grab as high as 96mph. That's backed up by an excellent 12-6 curveball, a shorter slider with real tilt, and an emerging changeup that he's shown consistent feel for.

The Oregon State commit is one of the biggest up-arrows and buzziest names ahead of the draft this spring (he went from not ranked on this board to debuting at 81). There's a good chance he's a top 50 pick in July, with the combination of size, stuff, and polish that's easy to dream on.

Who excites you from the prep pitching class in 2024? Who are you higher on than other prospects? Jump into the draft conversation in the comments below.

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Find more draft coverage here:

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: College Pitchers

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: First Basemen

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: Second Basemen

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: Midwest Highlights

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: Third Basemen

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: Shortstops

2024 MLB Draft Position Previews: Catcher

Mock Drafts!

Mock Draft v. 1.0 (Nygaard Edition): An Unusual Target

Mock Draft v.2.0 (Cameron Edition): Twins Lean into Prep Class

 

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[Dman]

I'm a sucker for High School arms.  I never met a High School arm I didn't like.  So much to dream on and time to get there it makes you want to grab one early and often.  

Getting them to work out is another story though. Stewart, Gonsalves, Leech, Enlow, Balazovich, etc.  All had great potential but little to no impact at the MLB level.  High School arms are really tough to project.  

There are some really tempting arms in this class and if any of the arms mentioned here fell to 33 I could see the Twins grabbing one of them.  Still I think taking bats with the first two picks seems most likely as the odds of them working out is generally better. And yet, I liked what they did last year with Soto and they have that extra pick so we'll see what they decide to do.  I assume it would depend on what falls to them at 33.

[jishfish]

For the same reason you love the prep pitching demographic ("it's impossible to project"), I find it completely maddening. I think it's likely the Twins take at least 1 with one of their first few picks, but this is one demographic that I have absolutely no idea how to start narrowing in on targets.

With position players and even college arms, it feels very possible to identify "Twins types", but I read these prep scouting reports and they all sound incredibly similar to me. "Sits 92-94, has touched 98. One projectable breaking pitch, and then a third pitch that needs development".

Of the players mentioned, I think I like the sound go Shields and Whitney the most, but I'm probably just going to wait and see who the Twins pick and then get myself excited after that.

One player not listed that caught my eye the other day was Drew Rerick out of Fargo ND. He's in the top 150 on a number of boards I've seen and was just very surprised to see a ND kid with such steam. Could be an interesting 3-5 round guy.

[Parker Hageman]

4 hours ago, jishfish said:

One player not listed that caught my eye the other day was Drew Rerick out of Fargo ND. He's in the top 150 on a number of boards I've seen and was just very surprised to see a ND kid with such steam. Could be an interesting 3-5 round guy.

Rerick is a really interesting prospect.

He really hasn't done the thorough offseason development programs a lot of the elite prep pitchers do so you could say there's go to be some more in the tank. He's got a bit of the babyface yet so you could see him making another push. 

I scouted him in May and he was as advertised. He was still in the low 90s during his last inning of work. It's pretty solid. 

 

[DocBauer]

The Twins don't dislike HS arms...they've drafted them high before...but I think they prefer college arms. Less washout potential, longer health track record, etc. But with 4 picks in the top 60/ish, and what seems to be a strong, top heavy HS group if arms, I've got a gut feeling they might take a pair of arms early this year.

I could see a pair of HS arms, a HS SS, and a college bat. 

Very interested in both Shields and Whitney. 

[Mike Sixel]

Lowest hit rate in the draft. Nope. Not in the first two rounds for me.