With the 2024 Minor League season in the books, it’s time to look over how the game’s top prospects did, including the new Minor Leaguers. Many 2024 MLB first-round draft picks made their professional debuts this past summer. And, several put themselves in prime position to crack through to the bigs in 2025. On the other hand, several big names also scuffled. Here’s a look at how each first-round pick did, plus some early thoughts on the class.
A Look at the Stats
| Pick | Name | Team | Position | 2024 Numbers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Travis Bazzana |  | 2B | .238/.369/.396, 3 HR and 10 XBH over 27 G (A+) |
| 2 | Chase Burns |  | P | Did not play |
| 3 | Charlie Condon |  | 3B/OF | .180/.248/.270, 1 HR and 6 XBH in 25 G (A+) |
| 4 | Nick Kurtz |  | 1B | .368/.520/.763, 4 HR and 7 XBH over 12 G (A+ and AA) |
| 5 | Hagen Smith |  | P | 3.52 ERA, 7 K, 2 BB over 7.2 IP (A+) |
| 6 | Jac Caglianone |  | P/1B | .241/.302/.388, 2 HR and 12 XBH over 29 G (A+) |
| 7 | JJ Wetherholt |  | 2B/3B | .295/.405/.400, 2 HR and 7 XBH over 29 G (A) |
| 8 | Christian Moore |  | 2B | .347/.400/.584, 6 HR and 12 XBH over 25 G (A and AA) |
| 9 | Konnor Griffin |  | SS | Did not play |
| 10 | Seaver King |  | 3B/SS/OF | .295/.367/.385, O HR and 4 XBH over 20 G (A) |
| 11 | Bryce Rainer |  | SS | Did not play |
| 12 | Braden Montgomery |  | OF | Did not play |
| 13 | James Tibbs III |  | OF | .241/.293/.343, 2 HR and 7 XBH over 26 G (A and A+) |
| 14 | Cam Smith |  | 3B | .313/.396/.609, 7 HR and 16 XBH over 32 G (A, A+, and AA) |
| 15 | Jurrangelo Cijntje |  | P | Did not play |
| 16 | PJ Morlando |  | OF | .000/.000/.000, 0 H in 1 G (A) |
| 17 | Braylon Payne |  | OF | .438/.526/.625, 0 HR and 2 XBH over 4 G (A) |
| 18 | Theo Gillen |  | OF | .154/.353/.192,0 HR and 1 XBH over 8 G (A) |
| 19 | Carson Benge |  | OF | .273/.420/.436,2 HR and 5 XBH over 15 G (A) |
| 20 | Trey Yesavage |  | P | Did not play |
| 21 | Kaelan Culpepper |  | SS | .242/.330/.394, 3 HR and 8 XBH over 26 G (A and A+) |
| 22 | Vance Honeycutt |  | OF | .176/.250/.196, 0 HR and 1 XBH over 13 G (A and A+) |
| 23 | Kellon Lindsey |  | SS | Did not play |
| 24 | Cam Caminiti |  | P | 3.00 ERA, 4 K, 0 BB over 3 IP (A) |
| 25 | Kash Mayfield |  | P | Did not play |
| 26 | Ben Hess |  | P | Did not play |
| 27 | Dante Nori |  | OF | .240/.424/.280, 0 HR and 1 XBH over 14 G (A) |
| 28 | Walker Janek |  | C | .175/.214/.289, 1 HR and 8 XBH over 25 G (A+) |
| 29 | Slade Caldwell |  | OF | Did not play |
| 30 | Malcolm Moore |  | C | .209/.298/.374, 3 HR and 9 XBH over 25 G (A+) |
| 31 | Ryan Waldschmidt | | OF | .273/.485/.318, 0 HR and 2 XBH over 14 G (A) |
| 32 | Griff O’Ferrall | | SS | .250/.344/.2760 HR and 2 XBH over 20 G (A and A+) |
| 33 | Kyle DeBarge | | SS | .235/.322/.343, 1 HR and 6 XBH over 26 G (A) |
| 34 | Blake Burke | | 1B | .250/.333/.250, 0 HR and 0 XBH over 5 G (A+) |
| 35 | JD Dix | | SS | Did not play |
| 36 | Braylon Doughty | | P | Did not play |
| 37 | Levi Sterling | | P | Did not play |
| 38 | Brody Brecht | | P | Did not play |
| 39 | Caleb Lomavita | | C | .213/.310/.246, 0 HR and 2 XBH over 17 G (A) |
As seen in the table above, there were several players — 14 out of the 39 — who didn’t play after their selection. A few were college pitchers, like Trey Yesavage, Brody Brecht, Ben Hess, and second overall pick Chase Burns, who accrued significant mileage during their college campaigns.
Braden Montgomery (Red Sox) sustained a season-ending injury during the NCAA Postseason.
It’s not unprecedented for that to happen. Rhett Lowder, much like Burns, didn’t see game action until the 2024 season.
What to Make of Class
Right away, one very clear thing about the 2024 class is that it likely won’t be as impactful as the 2023 one. Last season, Dylan Crews, Paul Skenes, and Wyatt Langford all knocked on the MLB door. And in 2024, those three made their MLB debuts and were impactful. Lowder (Reds) and Jacob Wilson (A’s) also made meteoric rises to the bigs.
Several of the top picks experienced growing pains. Charlie Condon struck out 31.2% in High-A, way too high of a number at that level. His ISO (.090) was also unimpressive for a hitter of his stature. Jac Caglianone posted a .690 OPS in High-A after he torched SEC pitching.
However, two names who could make it to the Majors next season — aside from Burns, whose stuff is good enough to be a in a MLB bullpen now — are Christian Moore and Nick Kurtz.
Moore is likely to make it to Anaheim in 2025 if he can stay healthy. The Angels infielder posted a .984 OPS in Double-A, hitting for power, much like he did in Tennessee. Moore is the total package in terms of tools: loud, plus power coupled with incredible athleticism.
The Angels moved Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel quickly, so why not Moore?
Kurtz, meanwhile, overcame a slow start at Wake Forest to have a good 2024 campaign. He hit 22 home runs in his junior season, then added four more in the Minors. The A’s do have another young first baseman in Tyler Soderstrom at the big league level. But, Kurtz’ power profile is louder and has potential to be a top-tier #2 or #3 hitter.