Here are 10 Dallas-area baseball players — from the high school and college ranks — to watch for in the upcoming MLB draft, which begins Sunday at Fort Worth’s Cowtown Coliseum.
Wyatt Sanford, SS, Frisco Independence
Baseball America rank: 42
MLB.com rank: 35
The rundown: Sanford sprung up draft boards this spring after a strong senior season at Independence. The Texas A&M signee (and son of former major league infielder Chance Sanford) is “one of the best defensive shortstops in the 2024 high school class,” according to MLB Pipeline. He was named a second-team Baseball America high school All-American and a Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association first-team All-State honoree this season.
Dasan Hill, LHP, Grapevine
Baseball America rank: 48
MLB.com rank: 52
The rundown: Hill led Grapevine to the 5A state championship this past spring and was named The Dallas Morning News’ player of the year for his work. The Dallas Baptist signee struck out 155 batters in 77 2/3 innings pitched and posted a 10-0 record with a 0.99 ERA. His fastball sits in the low 90′s and reached 96 mph this season, and according to MLB Pipeline, is the best left-handed pitching prospect to come out of the Texas prep ranks since Jesuit’s Kyle Muller in 2016.
Kevin Bazzell, C, Texas Tech
Baseball America rank: 68
MLB.com rank: 55
The rundown: Bazzell, a Rockwall-Heath alum, was The News’ 2021 offensive player of the year before he signed with Dallas Baptist. He transferred to Texas Tech before his second season of collegiate baseball and was named to the All-Big 12 first team and to numerous freshman All-American lists. In two seasons with the Red Raiders, Bazzell slashed .330/.401/.473 with 16 home runs, 37 doubles and 94 RBIs.
Jared Thomas, 1B/OF, Texas
Baseball America rank: 58
MLB.com rank: 60
The rundown: Thomas once pitched back-to-back no-hitters in his senior season at Waxahachie, though he did the most damage with his bat for the Longhorns. Thomas slashed .349/.434/.635 with 16 home runs, 15 doubles and 4 triples in his sophomore season at Texas and, according to Baseball America, “does enough with a well-rounded profile to warrant a day one selection.”
Ryan Prager, LHP, Texas A&M
Baseball America rank: 66
MLB.com rank: 61
The rundown: Prager dominated in his senior season at Hillcrest with a 9-2 record, a 0.44 ERA and 136 strikeouts in 63 innings pitched to earn his way onto The News’ all-area first team in 2021. The southpaw carried that dominance into College Station where he helped lead the Aggies to the College World Series last month with a 2.95 ERA, 124 strikeouts and a 9-1 record in 97 2/3 innings pitched.
Griffin Herring, LHP, LSU
Baseball America rank: 172
MLB.com rank: 157
The rundown: Herring led Southlake Carroll to a 6A state championship in 2022 and was named The News’ player of the year in his senior season after he posted a 0.24 ERA and 145 strikeouts in 87 innings pitched. He struck out 71 batters in 39 playoff innings that year, too, then logged a 3.93 ERA in 34 1/3 innings pitched for the national champion Tigers in his freshman year at LSU in 2023. He was named a second-team All-American this spring thanks to a 1.79 ERA in 21 games, largely out of LSU’s bullpen.
Jason Flores, RHP, Garland Naaman Forest
Baseball America rank: 143
MLB.com rank: 190
The rundown: Flores — a member of the Texas Rangers’ Youth Academy — is signed to play collegiately at Texas, but according to MLB Pipeline, is “considered extremely signable.” He has a fastball that runs in the mid 90′s and can reach 96 mph and a low-90′s sinker that he can pair with it. He was a second-team all-area honoree for The News in his junior season when he hit .561 with 5 doubles, 3 triples, 3 home runs and a 20-to-5 walk-to-strikeout ratio.
Ryan Johnson, RHP, Dallas Baptist
Baseball America rank: 46
MLB.com rank: 47
The rundown: Johnson — a Red Oak native who played for the Home School Texas Alliance for Christian Athletes Storm in high school — was named a third-team All-American in his sophomore season at Dallas Baptist and pitched for USA Baseball’s collegiate national team last summer. He yielded a 2.21 ERA with 151 strikeouts in 16 games this spring for Dallas Baptist and could surpass Vic Black (who was selected 49th overall in 2009) as the highest draft pick in school history.
Sawyer Farr, SS, Fort Worth Boswell
Baseball America rank: 76
MLB.com rank: 91
The rundown: Farr is the third-highest ranked Dallas-Fort Worth high schooler in this year’s draft behind Sanford and Hill. He has “an exciting package of tools and athleticism to go with his lanky frame” according to Baseball America, and is signed to play for Texas A&M.
Cade Crossland, LHP, Weatherford JC
Baseball America rank: 487
MLB.com rank: 241
The rundown: Crossland pitched a no-hitter against Waco Midway to lead Rockwall into the 6A bi-district round in his senior season two years ago and now — after one season at Division II Ouachita Baptist and another at Weatherford JC — will either pitch professionally next season or transfer to Oklahoma. The 6-foot-2 southpaw had a 2.37 ERA in 68 1/3 innings pitched this past season at Weatherford.
Twitter/X: @McFarland_Shawn
Find more high school sports coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
