What to watch for around Kansas baseball in the 2024 MLB Draft
LAWRENCE — Throughout the year, Dan Fitzgerald has conversations with people who work in Major League Baseball organizations about his athletes.
The KU baseball head coach said Thursday a lot of the guys he came up with in the business now hold key roles in scouting departments. They talk about which of his players teams like, if someone’s stock is rising or falling. It’s one part of the role he considers himself and his staff to have ahead of the MLB draft each year, along with counseling those same players so they are best able to make informed decisions about their futures.
Take Dominic Voegele, a freshman pitcher for Kansas who chose to come to college instead of turning pro. The Arizona Diamondbacks picked Voegele in the 20th round in 2023, but he decided to play for the Jayhawks and became the Big 12 Conference freshman of the year. Fitzgerald said once Voegele passed a certain point in the draft, they were working hard to get him to campus.
Not everyone associated with Kansas who’s available in the 2024 MLB draft will have the kind of leverage Voegele did. But Fitzgerald still wants to ensure when each player gets their opportunity to play professional baseball, he is in a position to maximize his value as best he can.
RELATED: Kansas football coach Lance Leipold expects quarterback Jalon Daniels to be ready in 2024
RELATED: Allen Fieldhouse’s capacity will be 15,300 after renovations, plus more KU Athletics news
Ahead of this year’s MLB draft, here are some things to know when it comes to the Kansas Jayhawks:
Conversations picked up considerably after KU’s 2024 season ended
Fitzgerald reiterated that, given the relationship between college and professional baseball, there’s a lot of communication. They’ll talk about a player, about what kind of teammate he is and more. But those conversations pick up a lot when a season ends for a team like Kansas.
This week alone, he’s probably taken 20 calls with scouts. He said Jayhawks pitching coach Brandon Scott, hitting coach Tyler Hancock and recruiting coordinator Jon Coyne would likely all say the same thing.
Keep an eye on Kansas pitcher Hunter Cranton
Hunter Cranton played a key role in Kansas’ program taking another step forward this year, and the redshirt senior pitcher is one of the Jayhawks who’s in line to be selected between Sunday and Tuesday. Fitzgerald said Cranton, an All-Big 12 honorable mention selection, has two elite pitches — a fastball and a slider. Fitzgerald added Cranton could get outs in the big leagues right now.
“I don’t think Hunter Cranton is that far from pitching in the big leagues,” Fitzgerald said.
Which Kansas players could be chosen in the MLB Draft?
Kansas sophomore infielder/catcher Kodey Shojinaga, junior pitcher Ethan Lanthier, junior pitcher Evan Shaw, redshirt junior infielder Michael Brooks and junior catcher Ben Hartl are all possibilities, in the range of rounds five-to-10.
There are a lot of factors to consider, including how MLB teams have allocated their resources earlier in the draft.
Which incoming Kansas players could be picked in the MLB Draft?
Fitzgerald described the pace of the final two days of the draft as rapid-fire. At that point, he’s doing what he can to be on the phone with scouts so he can get ahead of it and get a feel for who’s going where. And it’s not just players on his roster from this season that he’ll be thinking about.
Fitzgerald said there are probably five incoming guys in the mix of being selected.
“The way I’ve always looked at it is, they can’t all sign and they can’t all go undrafted either,” said Fitzgerald, who served as an assistant at LSU and Dallas Baptist prior to coming to Kansas. “It’s some combination, and I don’t know what that combination is.”
Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: 2024 MLB draft: Kansas baseball hopefuls Hunter Cranton, Kodey Shojinaga
