The 2024 MLB Draft officially began on Sunday in Fort Worth with 74 prospects from high school and college, and the Texas Rangers selected catcher Malcolm Moore and outfielder Dylan Dreiling at the end of the first and second rounds.
Due to the Rangers’ victory in the 2024 World Series, the franchise was granted the 30th and 65th picks in the first two rounds.
Texas opted to select Moore in the first round after he spent the last two years playing at Stanford University, accumulating 16 home runs and 36 RBIs in the 2023-24 season while catching for high-level pitchers all year.
Moore said after being drafted by the Rangers that he plans to begin working with the team’s pitchers as soon as possible, adding that “live reps” are the best way to build a rapport with his team.
“I just learned like that. The most important thing for me was just creating a relationship with pitchers. Once you get into the game, you realize that if you’re a pitcher on the mound [and you trust each other], it’s a completely different relationship. It makes pitching for them so much easier and catching for me easier as well,” he explained, per MLB.com.
Rangers general manager Chris Young said that the catcher spot is a “position of need in the organization,” and the team was excited about Moore because the franchise has had “a lot of success of improving defense with our catching with our catchers.”
“Given Malcolm’s mentality, aptitude, and work ethic, we think that he’ll make a lot of strides. We already like his catching to begin with, and we think he’ll make even greater strides in our organization with our catching coaches,” he said, per MLB.com.
Shortly after taking Moore in the first round, the Rangers began to eye Dreiling in the second round following his spectacular performance in the 2024 College World Series with the University of Tennessee.
Dreiling helped lead the Volunteers to the university’s first-ever national championship, batting .541 with three home runs and 11 RBIs during the CMCWS, receiving the Most Outstanding Player award for his play, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Rangers senior director of amateur scouting Kip Fagg said following the draft that Dreiling’s performance in the MCWS played a role in the selection, explaining that competing in big moments is not something that can be taught.
“I think that once you get to know the kid a little bit, it’s like ice water in the veins, right? The bigger the moment, this kid’s got no heartbeat kind of thing,” he said, according to MLB.com.
“He always performed in the big spots and especially in that league [the SEC], which is a premier league in college baseball. This guy’s performed his two years there, and we’re excited to get a bat like this in our Minor Leagues, for sure.”
Texas will now gear up for the second day of the MLB Draft beginning Monday at 6 p.m. The Rangers have picks 103, 133, 165, 195, 225, 255, 285, and 315.
