Rangers' 2024 second-round pick out of Tennessee has impressive resume

The college World Series' Most Outstanding Player fell right into the lap of the Texas Rangers at pick No. 65 in the 2024 MLB Draft. The 21-year old outfielder turned many heads during his sophomore season, as his Tennessee Volunteers won their first National Championship.

Dylan Dreiling stands at 5’11”, 197 pounds. He was a left-handed hitting and throwing outfielder for the University of Tennessee. When he was a senior in high school he was ranked No. 336 on the top 500 prospects list, but a late-season hamstring pull kept him out of draft contention in 2022. He is a hitter-first prospect. His glove is definitely in need of some pro-ball coaching.

On this year's top 500 draft prospects ranking, MLB pipeline had Dreiling at No. 73 — not far off from his 65th pick. Many scouts identified his glove as a weak spot, and that is what shied many teams away. One scout even said if he had a plus fielding tool, we might have seen Dreiling taken in the first round.

During his two-year stint in the Black and Orange, the slugger hit .328/.452/.689/1.141 with 30 home runs. What's most impressive were his 77 walks compared to just 82 strikeouts — a phenomenal rate that should help his college swing translate into professional ball. Players who can control the strike zone well at a younger age (i.e Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter) are always the ones who have the most success, which gives us every reason to believe in Dreiling.

Texas has had a lot of success during the draft in recent years, producing multiple top prospects and high-ceiling players, including current Rangers Josh Jung, Evan Carter, Wyatt Langford, Justin Foscue. Not to mention, highly-touted pitchers such as Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter, and of course Royals All-Star Cole Ragans, round out the group.

While Dreiling and first-round pick Malcolm Moore probably won't be seen in the big leagues for some time, it is important that the Rangers have once again boosted their farm system. With the graduation of most of their top prospects getting the call to the big leagues in 2024, it was very much needed to have two potentially high-impact bats join the mix, and Texas got the job done with their first two selections.