There's no doubt that the 2024 MLB Draft class was absolutely loaded with talent. The Philadelphia Phillies made out nicely with some of the best-available offensive stars-in-the-making; selecting Dante Nori, Griffin Burkholder and John Spikerman with their first three picks in the draft.
In many cases, it's not all that uncommon for players who were taken in the MLB Draft to wait until the following season to make their professional debuts. There are a multitude of different reasons for this, but it mostly boils down to them needing rest after high usage in college, or they are recovering from an injury.
The Phillies saw the vast majority of their draftees make their professional debuts, but two stood out above the rest. Per Baseball America, outfielder Joel Dragoo (No. 7 pick) and infielder Carson DeMartini (No. 4) put together performances that earned them the "Best Pro Debut" labels in this year's Phillies' MLB Draft Report Card (subscription required).
Dragoo, DeMartini have best pro debuts of Phillies 2024 draft class
Dragoo, a 21-year-old taken out of Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC, signed with the Phillies for $222,500 after the draft. He was a wildly popular player in college and displayed a little bit of all five tools organizations look for in their prospects. He hit 18 home runs with a .401 batting average and 1.305 OPS in 56 games in his final season with the Presbyterian Blue Hose.
With the Phillies, he got to work and picked up right where he left off in college. Dragoo wound up making just 15 appearances for the Low-A Clearwater Threshers, but he recorded six extra-base hits while driving in 12 runs and scoring seven of his own. He went 3-for-5 on stolen base attempts, hit .319 and also walked (15) more than he struck out (14).
Dragoo has some power that's still developing, but he could wind up being a 15-20 homer threat that draws a ton of walks and can play all over the outfield, too. The Phillies got a good one in the seventh round and he immediately proved that at the tail end of this season.
DeMartini, also 21, was taken in the fourth round out of Ocean Lakes High School in Virginia Beach, Va. He comes with a bit more hype and star power than Dragoo, as evidenced by his placement on the Phillies' most recent top prospects list provided by MLB Pipeline. DeMartini comes in in the No. 17 spot.
It's not yet clear where the Phillies plan to play DeMartini as he develops, but he got playing time all around the infield across a 24-game stint in Clearwater. The young infielder logged at least three starts at second, third and shortstop while spending the majority of his time at third base.
On offense, he hit the first two professional home runs of his career while driving in nine runs and scoring 18 of them. He's another player who is going to hit for a high average, get on base a ton, swipe some bases and eventually hit for some impressive power.
Between the two players, DeMartini is the far more solid bet to turn into a reliable big leaguer, but both he and Dragoo have gotten their pro careers started off on the best foot possible. A trip to Double-A next year is not out of the question for either player.