Will Taylor, Thatcher Hurd and other 2024 MLB Draft prospects outside top 100 to watch

The 2024 MLB Draft kicks off Sunday, July 14 at 7 p.m. ET. Over the past six months, I have been compiling notes on hundreds of players eligible for this year’s class. As I’ve mentioned, it is a thinner group up top than in most seasons, especially when compared to last year’s star-studded draft class. Nevertheless, there are still players worth noting, even beyond the top 100 prospects I ranked earlier in the week.

Below are scouting reports on several other players likely to be selected in this year’s draft. They are ranked in alphabetical order.

(Note: Scouting grades are on a 20-80 scale.)

Tyler Bell, SS, Lincoln-Way East HS (Frankfort, Ill.)

Bell started this spring very slowly, causing some teams to back off after he’d had a stronger summer and fall, but he did pick it up at the plate later in the season. He’s a switch hitter who stays at shortstop, with a swing that gets really uphill from both sides of the plate. He’ll be sophomore-eligible in 2026 if he ends up at Kentucky.

Nick Brink, RHP, Portland

Brink is a fourth-year junior who finished sixth in Division 1 with 130 strikeouts even though he sits just 91-93 as he hides the ball very well with a short arm action and has a 55 changeup with a little late tumble to it. His slider is fringy and the fastball might be too light to keep him a starter, as he’s likely to be homer-prone, but he’s got plus control (just a 5.4 percent walk rate) and above-average command, so he should go out in that role to begin his pro career.

Hunter Carns, C, First Coast HS (Jacksonville, FL)

Carns is a bat-first catcher who’s an excellent athlete and runner for that position, with a long ways to go behind the plate. He has excellent bat speed but loads his hands very deep and comes to a near-stop when he does so. He turned 19 in April and would be sophomore-eligible in 2026 if he ends up at Florida State.

Christian Chatterton, RHP, Brooks HS (Killen, Ala.)

Chatterton is an Auburn commit who was excellent last summer in shorter bursts, working 92-95 with run, feel to spin both breaking balls, and a changeup with very hard fading action, but everything backed up a bit this spring, 90-92 on the fastball and comparable drops on the other pitches. He’s a short right-hander with some effort to the delivery and may end up in college instead of signing.

Corey Collins, 1B, Georgia

Collins is one of the better senior bats in the class, hitting .354/.574/.772 for the Bulldogs with a 13 percent strikeout rate and strong batted-ball data. He rarely misses fastballs in the zone and doesn’t chase much, although he had a significant platoon split. He’s limited to first base and will turn 23 in October.

Chris Cortez, RHP, Texas A&M

Cortez was primarily a reliever for the Aggies this spring, striking out 37 percent of batters faced thanks to a plus slider/sweeper that’s very tight and has late downward break. He sits 98 in relief and touched 101, and while he barely used a changeup, he has a good enough one to try to start. He walked 13 percent of batters he faced, however, and doesn’t control or command the fastball enough to project him as a starter long-term.

Nate Dohm, RHP, Mississippi State

Dohm missed a chunk of the year with elbow inflammation, but there was no UCL tear and he didn’t need surgery. He can show premium stuff when he takes the mound, 92-95 with four pitches as a starter, touching higher in relief, with huge extension and strong metrics on the fastball along with a downward-breaking slider that’s his main secondary pitch. Availability is a skill, at least on some level, and Dohm only pitched once between March 8 and May 14, so his ultimate role could be anywhere from above-average starter to middle reliever.

Daniel Eagen, RHP, Presbyterian

Eagen punched out 121 batters (37.8 percent of batters faced) for the Blue Hose this year, and could be the highest-drafted player in the school’s history — Presbyterian has only had six players drafted, the highest a sixth-rounder in 1995. He saw his velocity jump this year to 92-95 and has two breaking balls, a true curveball around 79-82 that’s plus and a slightly harder slurve, both with primarily downward break. His changeup is a 40 and has to improve — or get replaced by a better pitch — for him to stay a starter. He does have the frame and a good enough delivery to at least go out into pro ball in the rotation and showed average control this year albeit in a mid-major conference.

Sawyer Farr, SS, Boswell HS (Fort Worth, Texas)

Farr is a switch hitting shortstop who’s already 19 and will be age-eligible for the draft as a sophomore in 2026 if he ends up at Texas A&M. He’s got a much better swing right-handed, while left-handed he’s stiffer and his upper and lower halves don’t work as well together. He’s a plus runner who has a decent chance to stick at shortstop.

Connor Foley, RHP, Indiana

Foley was up to 99 and sat 95-97 in his NCAA Regional start against Tennessee, coming from a very high arm slot that puts good ride on the fastball but really inhibits his control. He has an average changeup with some fade but his slider is a 45 at best, and as a result, he allowed a .390 OBP to right-handed batters this year. Foley turns 21 on draft day, so he’s draft-eligible as a sophomore.

Ryan Forcucci, RHP, UC San Diego

Forcucci came out very strongly this year and had some of the best pitch metrics in the draft class, but he hit the shelf after five starts, with unconfirmed rumors that it was an elbow injury, and never returned this spring. He’s got a good delivery and could flash three average or better pitches with the fastball and slider both trending toward plus, but his draft stock depends on the medicals more than his data or scouting reports.

Aaron Graeber, OF, Delaware

Graeber transferred to the Blue Hens from two-year Rowan College of South Jersey, a short drive but a big step up in location. A miserable start to the season took him off a lot of teams’ radars, but he finished strongly, hitting .354/.439/.701 from April 1 onward, albeit still with a 25 percent strikeout rate. He makes very hard contact, though, near the top of Division 1 in max exit velocity and 90th percentile EV.

Chase Harlan, 3B, Central Bucks East HS (Doylestown, PA)

Harlan is a Clemson commit who has plus power but huge swing-and-miss issues that didn’t get any better this spring, along with a big frame that may push him to first base in time. He had a chance to go on Day 1 coming into the year, although his contact issues probably push him into Round 4 or later if he’s signable there. He’s on the younger side for the class, turning 18 just a few days before the draft.

Hunter Hines, 1B, Mississippi State

Hines was primarily a DH before this year but played first this spring and was better than expected defensively, at least enough to say he’ll go out there in pro ball. He makes extremely hard contact, topping out 114 mph, just not enough of it, with a 26 percent strikeout rate that comes from both difficulty picking up offspeed pitches and a tendency to chase.

Thatcher Hurd, RHP, LSU

Hurd probably could have gotten first-round money out of high school, pitched well at UCLA for a year, transferred to LSU, and then turned in progressively worse results in the last two seasons, with a 6.55 ERA this year as he lost his rotation spot. He’s got arm strength, sitting 94-97, with a slider up to 90 that has a high spin rate but is really short and only moderately effective against right-handed batters. Righties killed him this spring, with a .420 OBP, and he doesn’t seem to repeat the arm stroke well enough for even average control. He has size, arm strength and the ability to spin the ball, more than enough for a team to roll the dice on him in the middle rounds. He did have a stress fracture in his back while at UCLA, which may lead some teams to back off on medical concerns.

Josh Kuroda-Grauer, SS, Rutgers

Kuroda-Grauer hit .428/.492/.590 for the Scarlet Knights with more walks (23) than strikeouts (18). He uses a swing-early-and-often approach that saw him average under 3.25 pitches per plate appearance. As you’d guess from the stat line, he has no pop, but he has good feel for the barrel and enough arm to play shortstop at least on a part-time basis, giving him strong utility potential. He’s also a plus runner and a good athlete who should be able to make adjustments.

Aiden May, RHP, Oregon State

May transferred to Oregon State after one year at the University of Arizona and cut his ERA by more than half to 3.05, improving across the board, with a slider-heavy approach — he throws it more than his fastball — and a barely enough changeup that he only uses to lefties, still giving up 100 more points of OBP to left-handed batters than right. His arm action is fine and he gets some more life on the fastball from a low three-quarters slot, with being a reliever a much more likely outcome than the rotation because of his pitch mix and platoon split.

Cole Mathis, 1B, College of Charleston

Mathis hits for surprising power, maxing out over 113 mph in exit velocity, with an ugly, handsy right-handed swing, making up for it with excellent swing decisions, rarely chasing or swinging and missing. He was a two-way guy until this year, throwing 100 innings in his first two years for Charleston. The results at the plate are good enough to maybe get him into the third round even with the concerns that his swing won’t work as well against pro pitching.

Cole Messina, C, South Carolina

Messina has 38 homers the last two years as the Gamecocks’ primary catcher. He has a big body that will require extra conditioning work to keep him behind the plate. At the plate, he starts with his hands extremely high and his bat down behind his back, similar to Mets farmhand Kevin Parada, and it takes him a long time to get the bat head to the zone as a result — but it hasn’t hurt him yet, even against better velocity.

Tyson Neighbors, RHP, Kansas State

Neighbors took a step back this year, walking guys at a higher rate (11.4 percent) than he had as a sophomore and missing some time with an oblique strain. He’s a pure reliever with two plus breaking balls, up to 97-98 with a flat four-seamer. Despite the pitch mix, he’s had no trouble with left-handed batters in the last two seasons, allowing more walks and power to righties in 2024. It’s a high-effort, high-octane delivery and he’s unlikely to be more than a one-inning reliever.

Mason Russell, LHP, Casteel HS (Queen Creek, Ariz.)

Russell certainly helped himself by throwing a no-hitter at NHSI in April, working with a low-90s fastball and two promising breaking balls with high spin, although he needs to get more power to both the curveball and slider, which come in softer than their velocities indicate. He’s a solid athlete and still very projectable so you can see him getting into the mid-90s in a few years. He’s committed to Arizona.

Casey Saucke, OF, Virginia

Saucke has some bat speed and power but starts his hands high and deep enough that he has a hard time getting the bat head to the zone on time consistently. He still managed to hit 14 homers, fourth-most on the Cavs, and I think there’s enough to see him as a potential extra outfielder who might benefit from help with his hitting mechanics. He also expands the zone way too easily, especially with two strikes, when his chase rate is close to 50 percent, which ultimately may doom him to an up-and-down player ceiling. He won’t turn 21 until the week after the draft.

Tristan Smith, LHP, Clemson

Smith is a crossfire lefty who moved from the bullpen to Clemson’s rotation this spring and showed strong velocity, striking out 28 percent of opposing hitters, but walking too many and lacking an above-average second pitch. Despite a low three-quarters slot and a cutoff landing that should make him very tough on lefties, he had a reverse platoon split because his slider is soft and he doesn’t finish it down and/or away to them. He’s more likely a reliever unless someone can get him more online to the plate and help him develop the slider or changeup into at least a grade-55 pitch.

Trey Snyder, SS, Liberty North HS (Kearney, Mo.)

Snyder is more skills than tools, a polished hitter who rarely swings-and-misses, with average speed and below-average power and some projection left on his 6-2 frame. He’s a true shortstop with a chance to stay there, although he’ll need work as the game speeds up. He’s committed to Tennessee and fits the mold of a player who’s valued far more out of college (assuming he performs) than out of high school (where raw physical ability is often the main concern).

Ryan Stafford, C, Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo

Stafford is on the smaller side for a catcher but can catch, throw and make enough contact to profile as a high probability backup. He rarely misses fastballs and hits plenty of line drives, and he’s thrown out 33 percent of opposing runners this season.

Khal Stephen, RHP, Mississippi State

Stephen transferred to Mississippi State from Purdue for his junior season after a successful stint on the Cape, and he had an outstanding year across the board, with just a 5 percent unintentional walk rate and 28 percent strikeout rate. None of his pitches is better than average — he sits 92-93 with a 50 slider and maybe a 50 changeup, with the slider finishing up in the zone more than it should. He’s got a high three-quarters slot but his hand position is even higher, which might be why the slider doesn’t have as much bite as it should.

Will Taylor, OF, Clemson

Taylor could have had mid-first-round money had he been willing to sign out of high school, but he chose to go to Clemson to play baseball and football, blowing out an ACL as a freshman and losing two grades of speed. He still has a solid swing and approach but hasn’t produced other than getting on base, hitting just .230/.465/.480 this spring before breaking his wrist in April. I thought he was a top-20 talent in high school, but his speed and defensive potential were a part of that; now he’s a flier to take somewhere in Round 4 or 5.

Jonathan Vastine, SS, Vanderbilt

Vastine had his best season as a Commodore, but it wasn’t close to the expectations set for him when he was a second-round talent out of high school, as he hit .299/.384/.545 this spring with a 26 percent strikeout rate. He’s a solid defender and has a good enough swing to produce better results, but his offspeed recognition remains very poor and he’s going to struggle even in the minors unless he can better pick up non-fastballs.

Gage Ziehl, RHP, Miami

Ziehl’s a 6-foot righthander who’s had two full years in the Canes’ rotation where he’s thrown a ton of strikes — 49 walks in 192 innings, 6 percent of batters faced — working mostly four-seam/slider, with a below-average changeup, leading to a lot of fly balls and a sizable platoon split. His arm slot is fine for a starter and maybe someone improves the changeup or gives him a split. As the arsenal stands, I think he’s a reliever.

(Top photo of Will Taylor: Eakin Howard / Getty Images)