2024 Red Sox draft class excited to start first full seasons

Red Sox

“The vibe that we have in the clubhouse is totally awesome,” says Red Sox prospect Conrad Cason.

As “Dirty Water” blasted from every corner of Fenway Park on the night of July 26, Conrad Cason and Payton Tolle experienced what it feels like when the Red Sox win.

“That place was incredible,” Cason said a few days after the game. “It only holds 37,000 people, but it feels like 100,000. The chants, the cheers, the wave that we did — I think the wave went around four times that Friday night game. So, that was absolutely incredible to see.”

That win against the Yankees marked the beginning of their journey to joining those players they watched on Fenway Park’s diamond. A few weeks prior, the Red Sox selected Tolle, Cason, and 18 other talented youngsters in the 2024 MLB Draft and signed one more as an undrafted free agent, all of whom chose to sign professional contracts with the organization. 

Those 21 players spent their next few months in Ft. Myers, Fla., working with coaches and adjusting to their new lives as professional baseball players. There, they met most of the other draftees that made up this eclectic group of baseball players. Some were stars in college. Others were fresh out of high school. No two players took the same path to JetBlue Park, or to the contracts they signed with the Red Sox.

Regardless, the group quickly connected with one another.

“It’s like I just made 20 new big brothers,” Cason said in July. “The vibe that we have in the clubhouse is totally awesome.”

One glance at this class should explain what stands out the most about it. Of the 20 players the Red Sox drafted in July, 14 play on the mound. Fifteen including undrafted righthander Calvin Bickerstaff. That’s the highest number of pitchers they’ve chosen since MLB reduced the Draft to 20 rounds in 2021.

The Red Sox wasted little time in snatching up this pitching talent, selecting Tolle in the second round and taking Brandon Neely one round later. Tolle and Neely became the first two pitchers the Red Sox drafted in the first three rounds since they took Tanner Houck in 2017. They join a pitching draft class that also includes hard-throwing southpaw Brandon Clarke (fifth round), a righty with good control in Blake Aita (sixth round), and a potential two-way threat in Cason (eighth round).

The Red Sox didn’t just draft a bunch of pitchers — they drafted a group of big ones. Tolle tops the class at six-foot-six, along with 11th-round-pick Steven Brooks and 20th-round-pick Ben Hansen. Both Clarke and Aita stand at six-foot-four, which is around the average height among this pitching class.

“When we first reported down to Ft. Myers [in July],” Clarke said, “We walked out of the big league locker room, we just had our meetings and stuff, and our front office goes, ‘Man, did we draft a basketball team or a baseball team?’”

The position player group may not be as populous as the pitchers, especially after the Red Sox traded first-round pick Braden Montgomery to the Chicago White Sox in December. But there’s still plenty of talent among a group that already has some professional experience. Outfielders Zach Ehrhard (fourth round) and Will Turner (seventh round) have seen playing time in High-A Greenville, as has catcher Hudson White (ninth round). 

Rounding out this group is outfielder Yan Cruz (17th round), one of just two high school players the Red Sox selected, and power-hitting infielder D’Angelo Ortiz (19th round), who has years of knowledge from some of Boston’s biggest legends.

It doesn’t matter where on the field these players play — they’ve all seen each other’s talent and work ethic.

“Them guys, they get to work,” Ortiz said in July. “The pitchers, too, everybody else. They’ve been super professional and hard workers.”

These players have been working and training hard over the last several months in preparation for their first full seasons with the Red Sox organization. Some are about to play their first inning of competitive baseball in over a year. That opportunity to head down to their affiliates and compete on the field once again makes this season so much more exciting for them.

“I miss playing baseball,” Clarke said. “I miss being in a routine of getting my starts lined up and getting ready to be prepared for those days.”

They’ve had a unique opportunity to prepare throughout the spring at the familiar JetBlue Park, this time surrounded by some of the big league players these guys dream of becoming. They haven’t wasted any time picking the brains of the many Red Sox players that have seen countless innings, at-bats, and postseasons.

And those veterans are happy to be there for them, from giving out advice to just having a conversation.

“I’ve sat down and talked with Garrett Whitlock, and I talked with Garrett Crochet for a few minutes in the hot tub the other day, and Brendan Bernardino, and all these really cool guys,” Clarke said. “And it’s like, ‘Man, they’re humble, and they just put their head down and work.’”

Those players on the big league roster will put on a Boston Red Sox uniform and trot out to Fenway Park for the first time this year on April 4. To many of those guys, such a routine isn’t anything new. But to the draftees they shared JetBlue Park with, that’s a dream they’ve had since they were kids.

The Red Sox, for about as long as these players have been watching baseball, represent excellence, icons of the game, and World Series banners. They hope for a chance to one day contribute to a banner of their own for that team.

“You see all the World Series they won, and they know what it takes to win here,” Neely said this summer. “So now it’s time to try my hardest and be a part of a World Series.”

Of course, such a dream requires hard work, hours of dedication, and an ascent up multiple leagues to see it come true. These recent draft picks are ready for whatever obstacles they have to overcome to get there, as they get ready for their first chance to do so.

“It’s such an honor,” Tolle said in July, “And I really just can’t wait to get going with this class and to see what happens in the future with everything.”