10 best high school pitchers in 2024 Draft ranked

We’ve saved the riskiest demographic for last in our run of top 10 Draft prospects: the high school pitchers.

While there don’t appear to be any prep arms slated to go at the very top of the Draft, there is some depth in this group this year. How many actually go in the first round remains to be seen, as teams often tend to avoid the aforementioned risk at the top, but then go after the arms with high ceilings later on. All of the 10 young pitchers listed below have a good chance to get taken in the top two or three rounds and receive enough of a bonus to forgo their college commitments.

1. Cam Caminiti, LHP, Saguaro HS (Scottsdale, Ariz.) (No. 15)
A combination of youth, athleticism and left-handedness are all working in Caminiti’s favor. Just 17 at Draft time, Caminiti can run his fastball up to 98 mph and showed a much better feel for spinning his breaking stuff this spring, with the chance to have a legitimate four-pitch mix when all is said and done.

2. William Schmidt, RHP, Catholic HS (Baton Rouge, La.) (No. 16)
Schmidt isn’t left-handed and he’s older than Caminiti, but he does have the best stuff of any prep pitcher in this class. He has the best curveball in the Draft — high school or college — with a low-80s hammer that has spin rates upward of 3,000 rpm. He also can push his mid-90s fastball to 99 mph and also exhibits feel for a sinking low-80s changeup.

3. Ryan Sloan, RHP, York HS (Elmhurst, Ill.) (No. 19)
Extremely physical at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, Sloan might have three plus pitches once he’s fully developed. He can manipulate a 93-96 mph fastball that reaches 99, sports a more advanced changeup than most high schoolers with a mid-80s cambio that fades and sinks, and can attain two-plane depth at times with his low-80s slider.

4. Kash Mayfield, LHP, Elk City (Okla.) HS (No. 30)
A two-time Gatorade Oklahoma state player of the year, Mayfield provides plenty of strikes with a fluid delivery that creates quality extension. His best pitch is a tumbling low-80s changeup that he sets up with a 92-97 mph fastball with run and carry and a slurvy breaking ball in the upper 70s.

5. Braylon Doughty, RHP, Chaparral (Calif.) HS (No. 36)
Doughty’s name was rising up boards and creating some first-round buzz as the Draft approached. He’s more compact, strong and athletic than he is projectable, with a fastball up to 96-97 mph, the ability to spin two breaking balls extremely well and some feel for a changeup.

6. David Shields, LHP, Mt. Lebanon (Pa.) HS (No. 41)
Projectable left-handers will always get long looks and Shields shook off a case of mono to keep his name firmly on the map in the Pittsburgh area. A former high school quarterback, Shields commands his low-90s fastball to both sides of the plate with good ride while using a low-80s sweeper to miss bats and showing a good feel for an average changeup.

7. Joey Oakie, RHP, Ankeny (Iowa) Centennial HS (No. 46)
Oakie could become Iowa’s highest-drafted prep pitcher since Bill Burbach went in the first round of the very first Draft in 1965. He sports one of the better sliders among high schoolers, a mid-80s weapon with two-plane depth and horizontal action, and gets a lot of run and sink on a 92-94 mph two-seamer that touches 97.

8. Bryce Meccage, RHP, The Pennington (N.J.) School (No. 51)
His spring season in New Jersey may have been brief, just 22 innings, but it stood out because Meccage did not allow a hit … all year. He’s “what they look like” at 6-foot-4 with a fastball that touches the mid-90s, a hard mid-80s slider that has plus potential and a newer slower curve, with a seldom-used changeup that could develop in time.

9. Dasan Hill, LHP, Grapevine (Texas) HS (No. 52)
After Hill stood out much more with his projectability than his stuff on the showcase circuit last summer, his arsenal improved this spring. His fastball jumped to the low 90s and topped out at 96 mph, his low-80s slider became a plus pitch and his upper-70s curveball and low-80s changeup also showed promise.

10. Dax Whitney, RHP, Blackfoot (Idaho) HS (No. 56)
That’s right, a legit prospect from Idaho. The projectable 6-foot-5 right-hander’s stuff ticked up this spring, with a fastball that now tops out at 96 mph to go along with a true downer low-70s curve, a solid low-80s slider and some feel for a changeup.