The 2024 College Baseball season is in full spring and the top three pitching prospects in the draft are off to hot starts LHP Jac Caglianone from the University of Florida who ranks fifth by MLB.com and also plays first base, LHP Hagen Smith from the University of Arkansas who ranks as the 15th overall prospect, and RHP Chase Burns from Wake Forest University who ranks as the 16th overall prospect. Florida is 8-8 to start the season, Arkansas is 13-2, while Wake Forest is 12-3.
Jac Caglianone
Caglianone has made three appearances this season going 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA, a 0.86 WHIP, and 27 strikeouts in 15 innings. At the plate he is hitting .429 with a 1.203 OPS; he has one double, five home runs, 16 RBI, 19 runs scored, and 11 walks. His last start on the mound came on Sunday and he went six no-hit innings and didn’t allow a run; he walked four and struck out nine in Florida’s 10-0 win over Saint Mary’s.
Hagen Smith
Smith has made four starts going 2-0 with a 2.12 ERA, a 0.76 WHIP, and 40 strikeouts in 17 innings; he has the fifth most strikeouts in the country. His last start came on Saturday when he went four innings giving up one hit, no runs, and walked three and struck out nine. Back on February 23rd against Oregon State, he struck out 17 in six innings of work. Smith also has the fourth-best opponent batting average in the country as opponents are hitting .107 against him.
Chase Burns
Burns is in his first season at Wake Forest after transferring from Tennessee, he has made four starts going 3-0 with a 2.31 ERA, a 1.02 WHIP, and 43 strikeouts in 23.1 innings. His last start came on Saturday against Duke, he went six innings giving up one run on two hits; he walked two and struck out 14 which was a career-high. He hit 101 mph on his 98th pitch of the game. Burns ranks second in the country in strikeouts.
Wrap-Up: Teams Need Pitching Prospects
The Draft Order for the top 16 are, (first number is prospects in the top 100 by ITD, second number is how many of them are pitchers)
1.) Cleveland Guardians (4-1)
2.) Cincinnati Reds (5-3)
3.) Colorado Rockies (5-1)
4.) Oakland A’s (1-0)
5.) Chicago White Sox (2-1)
6.) Kansas City Royals (1-0)
7.) St. Louis Cardinals (2-1)
8.) Los Angeles Angels (1-0)
9.) Pittsburgh Pirates (5-4)
10.) Washington Nationals (3-0)
11.) Detroit Tigers (4-1)
12.) Boston Red Sox (4-0)
13.) San Francisco Giants (4-3)
14.) Chicago Cubs (7-1)
15.) Seattle Mariners (2-0)
16.) Miami Marlins (1-1)
The Guardians, Rockies, A’s, White Sox, Royals, Cardinals, Angels, Nationals, and Red Sox could use a top pitching prospect such as the three listed above and it’s likely as the College Baseball season continues, they will all have scouts at games when they are pitching. Also, the Arkansas vs. Florida series on April 26-28 may be the most watched series for prospects.
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