2024 MLB Draft Day 2 Recap: Mets Stack Power Arms

With Day 2 of the 2024 MLB First-Year Player Draft in the books, the New York Mets now have 10 new players in their organization. If there was one common theme to look at with Day 2, it’s that New York leaned heavily on adding collegiate talent. Seven of their eight picks on Monday were college players and they have drafted nine college players in total so far.

3 to the Dohm

The Mets started Day 2 by adding Mississippi State right-hander Nate Dohm in Round 3 (slot value $934,000). Dohm is an intriguing add because of his ability to light up the radar gun and throw four pitches for strikes since transferring to Mississippi State in 2023. (He started his collegiate career at Ball State.)

Here is the latest on Dohm from MLB Pipeline:

“A healthy Dohm carves up hitters with a fastball that averages 94 mph and touches 97 with explosive carry up in the strike zone. He can miss bats with both of his breaking balls, getting a lot of empty swings with his mid-80s slider and a ton of chases with his deeper 79-82 mph curveball. He lacks feel for a too-firm changeup in the upper 80s, though it flashes some promising fade.”

This past year, Dohm went 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA in eight games (six starts). He showed excellent command as he had just four walks in 29.1 innings of work (37 strikeouts). The question with Dohm is going to be his health. He had a forearm strain back in April, which is the second one he has had in his collegiate career.

Dohm did go from the bullpen to the rotation to begin the 2024 season, so it will be interesting to see what role the Mets have for him. With his ability to miss bats, he could be a mid-rotation starter or a multi-inning reliever that have become very valuable in today’s game.

Power Potential

The Mets went for their second outfielder of the class in Round 4 when they took a left-handed bat in Eli Serrano III out of NC State ($656,400). Serrano III will have a familiar face in the Mets organization as he was teammates with current Binghamton Rumble Pony Ryan Clifford in high school.

Back in January, Prospects Live talked about Serrano’s ability to show good plate discipline. He drew 60 walks at NC State over the last two years (114 games).

“He runs a solid contact rate from the left side and draws a plentiful amount of walks, showcasing solid feel to spray the ball to all fields,” Prospects Live said. “His power potential is outrageous with his potent bat speed and highly projectable frame, mashing the ball up the middle and to the pull-side. ”

This year, Serrano made the switch from first base to the outfield for the Wolfpack on their way to a berth in the College World Series. He comes from a professional baseball family—his father Sammy was drafted in the second round by the San Francisco Giants in 1998.

The Lone Prep Pick

New York’s lone prep pick of the first two days came in the fifth round when they took shortstop Trey Snyder, a right-handed hitter from Liberty North High School in Missouri. Snyder is committed to Tennessee at the moment. According to Perfect Game Baseball, Snyder has a good swing and he is a player that has a lot of upside as he continues to develop.

“Big and strong athletic build. Right-handed hitter, has a simple load and trigger and an easy rhythm to his swing, sinks into his back hip well, effortless swing mechanics that result in big bat speed, more a line drive swing plane at present with big bat speed and consistent 100+ exit velos, high ceiling offensive talent.”

Snyder had a strong 2024 season, which led him to being named the Gatorade High School Player of the Year in Missouri. As Prep Baseball Report points out, he ended up performing very well against some of the top competition in the state. If he decides to go to the Mets, it will be fun to watch his offense develop if he is hitting the ball this well at just 18 years old.

Given his commitment to Tennessee, the Mets will likely have to far exceed his slot value of $476,200 to get him to sign.

HBP Anyone?

When people talked about the Georgia baseball program in 2024, a lot of talk was around Charlie Condon, who ended up going 3rd overall to the Colorado Rockies. The Mets grabbed his teammate in Round 6 by taking left-handed hitting first baseman Corey Collins ($363,100 slot value).

In a tough SEC conference, Collins was one of the best hitters in the country at getting on-base (.574 on-base percentage in 52 games). He had a slash line of .345/.574/.772 with 20 home runs, 58 RBIs, and a 1.346 OPS. Even though he just started learning first base this year, his power is the story.

“Collins still focuses almost exclusively on launching balls to his pull side, but his shorter stroke has enabled him to make more consistent hard contact and get the most out of his plus raw power. … He’s also no longer helpless against breaking balls and changeups. He works deep counts and excels at getting on base via walks and being hit by pitches.” (MLB Pipeline).

Back in March, Collins showed off the power when he hit three home runs in Georgia’s 18-6 win over Wofford. On the afternoon, he went 4-for-5 and drove in eight runs.

The Mets should be able to save some slot money on Collins given he’s a fourth-year senior. He was also hit by 28 pitches this year!!!

Righties on Righties

For the final four picks of Day 2, the Mets stayed exclusively with right-handed pitching to build up some of their depth. In Round 7, New York selected Will Watson out of USC ($283,800 slot value). Watson was selected in the 20th Round by the Seattle Mariners in 2023 when he was at San Joaquin Delta College in California, but he elected to go to USC.

With the Trojans, Watson went 5-2 with a 3.93 ERA in 16 games (nine starts). He had 46 strikeouts to 27 walks over 50.1 innings of work. One of his better games of the season came in the Pac-12 Tournament against Oregon when he had seven strikeouts and allowed just one run over six innings of work. As Taylor Blake Ward pointed out on X, his arsenal of pitches may make him more suited for a reliever role down the road.

Mets 7-203: Will Watson, RHP, USC — smaller/athletic swing arm, mid 90s FB/SK, sweepy SL/hard CV blend, firm active CH flashes, fringe/avg control w/ mostly relief projection w/ athletic markers to chance starter dev

— Taylor Blake Ward (@TaylorBlakeWard) July 15, 2024

If you like velocity, then the Mets’ eighth-round pick ($226,000) might be the player you watch. Ryan Lambert had just one year at the University of Oklahoma (transferred from Missouri State), but he was able to get the fastball velocity up to 102 miles per hour along with a power cutter and a curveball.

Lambert did battle some command issues in college (12 walks in 23 games). With that being said, in a small sample size in the MLB Draft League this summer, he had no walks to go with 10 strikeouts in 6 innings of work.

In Round 9, the Mets went with Houston right-hander Jaxon Jelkin ($196,700 slot value). Like Watson, Jelkin was drafted in 2023 (14th Round by the Dodgers), but he elected to go to Houston after playing college baseball at Nebraska in 2022 and then at South Mountain Community College in ’23.

Jelkin ended up being Houston’s Opening Day starter this year, and he had a 4.19 ERA in seven starts. Despite the small sample size in terms of outings, he put up strikeouts at a good rate (46 in 34.1 innings) and he had at least six strikeouts in five of those starts.

Jelkin has a fastball that can get up to 97 miles per hour to go with a slider and a changeup in his arsenal. As Future Stars Series points out, Jelkin gets a good amount of spin on his offspeed pitches that made him one of the best pitchers in the conference.

“His secondaries include a low-80s slider/curveball whose shapes and velocities tend to blend together. Nevertheless, they’re both of the high-spin variety and he throws both with conviction. He also throws a changeup with massive fading life, projecting above-average…It’s a balanced profile suggesting a reliable floor to go with some upside.”

For their last pick of Day 2, the Mets went with Oklahoma right-hander Brendan Girton in Round 10 ($184,300 slot value). Girton was an in-conference transfer as he went to the Sooners from Texas Tech. He showed a good strikeout total in 2024 (11.9 strikeouts per 9 innings), but his problem was the walks (31 in 35.2 innings to go with 9 hit-by-pitches).

Girton is another pitcher that will be mainly a reliever, but if he can figure out the command, he has the pitches to be successful.

The MLB Draft concludes on Tuesday with Rounds 11-20 beginning at 2 p.m.

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