The Guardians had what could turn out to be a fantastic draft in 2024 considering they landed the first overall pick in the draft lottery during the winter meetings the year before. With that pick, the Guardians took Aussie baseball player and Oregon State standout, Travis Bazzana. Today, I will cover how each of the top 4 prospects the Guardians selected in the 2024 MLB draft did in their first half-season of professional play and what they looked like prior to their time in the Guardians organization.

Joey Oakie, Round 3, Pick 84, RHP, 18.2 years old, HS Iowa

Current Team: Arizona Complex Leauge Guardians

7-3, 1.13 ERA, 49 innings, 91 strikeouts (High School)

Oakie is a young high school pitcher who shows a lot of potential given the Guardians pitcher development track record. He currently has a 96-97 fastball and a lethal slider. He can utilize both the two-seam and four-seam. Stats from the Arizona Complex League aren’t typically posted, but keep an eye on Oakie who was Iowa’s Gatorade player of the year for the 2023-24 school year. Oakie has a projection to make the majors in 2028.

Jacob Cozart Round 2, Pick 48, Catcher, North Carolina State 

Current Team: Lake County Captains

13 games, .119 BA, 1 double 

Cozart was arguably the second-best catcher in the draft, a position Cleveland needs to work on and develop in the minors for its major league roster. Cozart did not have much time in the minors and hit poorly in the 13 games he did play. However, don’t let this small sample size in the minors fool you, in his senior year he hit .305 with 19HRs which shows consistent improvement from year to year in terms of his batting game. Cozart has the chance to be a big-time hitter by the time he makes the majors, which he is projected to do in 2027.

Braylon Doughty, Round 1, Pick 36, RHP, 18.7 years old, HS California

Current Team: Arizona Complex Leauge Guardians

1.11 ERA in 50 ⅓ innings and 80 strikeouts (High School)

Doughty has a smaller frame but displays very good control and a fastball that can get up to the 96-98MPH range. In high school, he got plenty of strikeouts and displayed a wealth of knowledge for the game. Doughty had been a very fast riser on baseball charts and rankings leading to the 2024 MLB draft. With Doughty being in the Arizona Complex League, not much is known about his pro-development but I expect to see him in the minors sooner rather than later. Braylon is projected to be in the majors around 2028.

Travis Bazzana, Round 1, Pick 1, 2nd Base, Oregon State

Current Team: Lake County Captains

27 games, .238 BA, 3 HR

Bazzana took time to settle in during his time with the Lake County Captains, starting off slow behind the plate before exploding to a .400 batting average to end the season in Lake County. Questions about his defensive capabilities have come up, He did commit 2 errors in his 27 games, but I would not personally worry about this. His offensive potential more than makes up for any passes on his defense assuming that potential is realized. with the Guardians recently trading platinum glove Second baseman, Andrés Giménez, one has to wonder if we will see Bazzana in 2025 considering that is his projected call-up date.