The 2024 MLB draft is only three months away, and Jac Caglianone’s monster junior season has him in the conversation for the first overall pick.
On Wednesday, D1Baseball’s David Seifert released his midseason top 100 college prospects, keeping Florida’s two-way sensation on top of the rankings.
Caglianone is slashing .397/.481/776 with 14 home runs and 30 runs batted in over 28 games (135 plate appearances).
“The top spot remains occupied by two-way star Jac Caglianone (Florida), but one could argue that Charlie Condon (Georgia), Travis Bazzana (Oregon State), Chase Burns (Wake Forest), Hagen Smith (Arkansas) or even the injured J.J. Wetherholt (West Virginia) is deserving of 1-1 overall,” Seifert wrote.
“However, King Jac possesses well-documented tools that include the ability to throw a baseball 100 mph and hit one in excess of 115, both from the left side. Nobody else in college baseball, maybe even the world of baseball, can come close to that combination of power/throw tools, once again from the LEFT side.”
Caglianone’s spot on top of the college baseball world is far from guaranteed. Any of the players mentioned above — and a few not mentioned — could leapfrog him if Cags slows down even a little in the second half of the season.
“If there comes a time to remove Jac from his throne, we will, just like we switched Dylan Crews for Paul Skenes in the top spot of our final prospect rankings last season.”
Shelton, Heyman also make top 100
Florida shortstop Colby Shelton and catcher Luke Heyman also made the top 100, ranked Nos. 26 and 90, respectively. Both players will be 21 by the draft and are draft-eligible sophomores.
Shelton has the better odds to go on the first day, but Heyman has suffered a bit of a sophomore slump which could lead to him returning to Gainesville for another year. Tanner Garrison has taken over his spot at catcher, shifting Heyman over to first base and designated hitter. If pro teams don’t see enough from him behind the plate, his draft stock could drop.
Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.