Texas Rangers Projected to Take Another Texas Tech Star in Latest MLB Mock Draft
The Texas Rangers can’t complain about the last Texas Tech third baseman they drafted. Could the World Series champs be in line to take another?
MLB Pipeline recently unveiled its 2024 Draft Top 100 and did its first mock of the first round of the 2024 Draft. The Rangers, by virtue of their title, have the last pick of the first round.
Texas is projected to stay in state and select a local product in Texas Tech’s Kevin Bazzell. His hometown of Rockwall is about 45 miles east of Arlington.
Texas Tech third baseman/catcher Kevin Bazzell is projected to be taken by the Rangers in the first round of the latest MLB.com mock draft.
The Rangers drafted Josh Jung out of Texas Tech in the 2019 first round, and the third baseman was an All-Star as a rookie in 2023.
Bazzell moved from third base to catcher in high school, but was back at third initially after transferring to Texas Tech. He’s now back at catcher.
Here is the scouting report on Bazzell from MLB.com’s prospect rankings:
Bazzell impressed scouts with his bat and transition to catching as a Texas high school senior in 2021, but he went undrafted and headed to Dallas Baptist. He transferred to Texas Tech after his first semester, which required him to sit out the 2022 season, then played third base as a redshirt freshman. With Hudson White transferring to Arkansas, Bazzell is back behind the plate for the Red Raiders and could sneak into the first round with a strong spring.
Bazzell repeatedly barrels balls with a controlled right-handed stroke and a disciplined, all-fields approach. He rarely swings and misses or chases pitches out of the strike zone, and he made contact 92 percent of the time that he offered at fastballs in 2023. He hits balls hard but on a low trajectory and projects to hit 15 homers per season with a healthy amount of doubles, though there's more power in there if he looks to lift pitches more often.
An underrated athlete, Bazzell has average speed but will slow down as he spends more time behind the plate. He moves well back there, should develop into at least an average receiver with more experience and has average to solid arm strength that plays up thanks to a quick release and good accuracy. He did a decent job at third base last spring and could handle filling in at any of the infield and outfield corners.
The 2024 Draft will be held in Arlington in July as part of All-Star Week.
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