In the first round of Major League Baseball’s amateur draft Sunday night, the Texas Rangers selected a catcher, Malcolm Moore, of Stanford University.
Moore was considered one of the best high school hitters in the 2022 draft, but chose to play college baseball at Stanford University. The scouting report on Moore says at the plate he makes hard contact to all fields with raw power. Evidence of that was 15 home runs in his Freshman year at Stanford. Moore is considered an average defensive catcher, but was drafted for his bat, and could be moved to another position, such as first base. He is 6′-2″ tall and weighs 216 pounds. Moore bats left and throws right.
The Rangers took Moore with the last pick of the first round, pick #30. Two picks earlier at #28 the Houston Astros also selected a catcher, Walker Janek, of Sam Houston State University. Coming out of high school Janek received little interest from professional or major college scouts. He then chose to play college baseball at Sam Houston State, which does have a good baseball program. Over three years he developed into the top-rated catching prospect in this year’s draft. This year he received the Buster Posey Award as the best catcher in college baseball. The scouting report on Janek says he has impressive bat speed and power. He is not a fast runner, but can steal bases. He was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year 2024. Janek is said to be agile behind the plate, good at framing pitches, and good at picking off runners because of his arm strength and quick release. Janek is 6′ 0″ tall, weighs 190 pounds, bats and throws right.
Below are the rest of the Rangers and Astros draft picks through Round 10. Rounds 11 through 20 will take place on Wednesday.
RANGERS
Round 2: Dylan Dreiling, OF, University of Tennessee
Round 3: Casey Cook, OF, University of North Carolina
Round 4: David Hagaman, P, University of West Virginia
Round 5: Devin FitzGerald, SS, Stoneman-Douglas High School, Florida
Round 6: Garrett Horn, P, Liberty University
Round 7: Rafe Perich, 3B, Lehigh University
Round 8: Anthony Susac, P, University of Arizona
Round 9: Keith Jones II, OF, New Mexico State
Round 10: Jake Jekielek, P, Northwood University
ASTROS
Round 2: No Pick
Round 3: Ryan Forcucci, P, University of California – San Diego
Round 4: Parker Smith, P, Rice University
Round 5: Cole Hertzler, P, Liberty University
Round 6: Caden Powell, SS, Seminole State University (Oklahoma)
Round 7: Joseph Sullivan, OF, University of South Alabama
Round 8: Dylan Howard, P, Radford University
Round 9: Ryan Smith, P, University of Illinois – Chicago
Round 10: Ramsey David, P, Southeastern University of Florida