2024 Texas Rangers draft preview after huge decision was made as two top veteran departs
The 2024 MLB Draft is less than a month away — the first round kicks off on July 14, 2024 — so its time to start offering capsule looks at players the Texas Rangers could select with their top picks. The Rangers’ first round pick is at #30, their second round pick is at #65, and their third round pick is at #103.
Leading up to draft day, we will be doing writeups of some of the players who could end up getting selected by the Rangers with one of their first three picks. I will note we haven’t really done this in the past couple of years, due both to the fact that the Rangers were picking at the top of the draft, meaning there were only a handful of players really in play with their first round pick, and the fact that they didn’t have their second and third round picks.
Today we are looking at Kentucky outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt.
Ryan Waldschmidt is a righthanded hitting left fielder who spent his freshman year at Charleston Southern, then transferred to the University of Kentucky for his sophomore and and junior seasons. He’s listed at 6’2”, 205 lbs. Waldschmidt was undrafted and not heavily recruited coming out of high school in Florida.
Waldschmidt has seen his stock shoot up with a very strong junior year for Kentucky. He’s a bat-first guy who has put up strong offensive numbers this year while playing in the SEC. Waldschmidt has a strong combination of power, contact ability and plate discipline, along with strong exit velocities. MLB Pipeline also notes that his swing is improved from his sophomore year at Kentucky.
Waldschmidt isn’t considered a good defensive outfielder, though part of that may be simply due to a lack of reps. Injuries and the pandemic limited his time in the field as a high schooler, and a torn ACL in the Cape Cod League this past summer meant he spent the start of this season as a DH. Waldschmidt played third base, second base and the outfield as a freshman, but at Kentucky has been strictly an outfielder. When healthy, he has good speed.
Waldschmidt slashed .310/.485/.559 with 36 walks against 26 Ks as a freshman in the Big South. His sophomore season at Kentucky wasn’t as impressive, as he slashed .290/.427/.445 in 262 plate appearances.
His breakout junior season saw him slash .359/.482/.657 with 34 walks and 39 Ks in 251 plate appearances, along with 14 home runs and 24 stolen bases in 31 attempts.
Baseball America’s top 500 list currently has Waldschmidt at #31. MLB Pipeline has Waldschmidt at #39 on their board. Keith Law has Waldschmidt at #21 on his board. Kiley McDaniel has Waldschmidt at #41 on his rankings. Fangraphs doesn’t have Waldschmidt on their top 30 board.
