2024 Draft class gets early chance to take center stage at Spring Breakout
When players are taken in the early rounds of the MLB Draft, it’s easy to dream about seeing them under the bright lights of the big leagues, but a common refrain has been that fans don't get to see those players for years after they're selected. Thanks to Spring Breakout,
When players are taken in the early rounds of the MLB Draft, it’s easy to dream about seeing them under the bright lights of the big leagues, but a common refrain has been that fans don't get to see those players for years after they're selected.
Thanks to Spring Breakout, we don’t have to wait to see the most recent top Draft picks under a big spotlight.
This week, all 30 teams will put the best their farm systems have to offer on display and provide an early introduction to just what their scouting departments brought in last July. Of the top 36 picks from last year’s Draft, 34 are on Spring Breakout rosters and should get the chance to show what they can do on a bigger professional stage. Of the 65 players taken through the end of the second round last year, 59 of those will be on hand, 26 of whom have yet to make their professional debut.
It is one of the more exciting aspects of Spring Breakout, which is now in its second year. In last year’s inaugural edition, 54 of the top 66 players taken prior to the third round in 2023 -- and 32 of the top 36 -- were on rosters. The first pick of 26 teams played last year and it’s looking like there should be a repeat in 2025, with 28 of 30 teams sending their first selection from the 2024 Draft to their Spring Breakout games.
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At last year’s Spring Breakout, No. 1 overall pick Paul Skenes’ start was the talk of the event, facing off against former top pick Jackson Holliday. This year, Travis Bazzana has the 1-1 banner in Spring Breakout and he’ll get to face a very good Mariners squad and perhaps their 2024 first-rounder, switch-pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje.
In addition to Cijntje being the first switch-pitcher to go to a Spring Breakout game, he’s also one of the many 2024 draftees who have yet to officially play a professional game. He’s one of nine first-round picks who haven’t made their pro debuts yet:
2. Chase Burns, RHP, Reds (No. 1/MLB No. 26)
9. Konnor Griffin, SS/OF, Pirates (No. 2/MLB No. 43)
11. Bryce Rainer, SS, Tigers (No. 4/MLB No. 52)
12. Braden Montgomery, OF, White Sox (No. 5/MLB No. 54)
15. Jurrangelo Cijntje, RHP/LHP, Mariners (No. 9)
23. Kellon Lindsey, SS, Dodgers (No. 8)
25. Kash Mayfield, LHP, Padres (No. 3)
26. Ben Hess, RHP, Yankees (No. 4)
29. Slade Caldwell, OF, D-backs (No. 3)
Skenes may have been a bit of an outlier as someone who “debuted” in Spring Breakout and then was in the big leagues by May, but there are a number of the top picks above who could be on a fast track and make it to the Major Leagues at some point in 2025. And then there are the college bats like Bazzana (MLB No. 10), Nick Kurtz (No. 38), Jac Caglianone (No. 22), JJ Wetherholt (No. 23) and Christian Moore (No. 67), all of whom got their feet wet in the Minors last summer and could be facing Major League pitching before too long.
Last year, 15 of the first-round picks on Spring Breakout rosters were on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 list. That number has been replicated on this year’s list. Six of them are currently the No. 1 prospects for their organizations, including Cam Smith (MLB No. 58), who sits atop a different system’s list than the one who drafted him after heading to the Astros from the Cubs in the Kyle Tucker trade. Braden Montgomery is the other 2024 first-rounder going to the showcase who has already changed teams after heading to the White Sox via the Garrett Crochet deal with Boston.
Jonathan Mayo is a reporter for MLBPipeline.com. Follow him on Facebook and @JonathanMayo, and listen to him on the weekly MLB Pipeline Podcast.
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