After being named the NL ASG starting pitcher and blowing through the Milwaukee lineup the other day, the possibilities seem endless for Paul Skenes. By now most baseball fans are aware of what the Pirates rookie has done since being taken with the #1 overall pick in the 2023 draft.

While he was the obvious choice last year and he makes it all look so easy, everyone realizes he’s the exception and not the rule, even for #1 overall picks. Most players need development, and in many cases, years not hours.

Tomorrow, Sunday the 14th is the first night of the 2024 draft, and maybe more eyes will be watching. MLB thinks the eyes increase each year especially when the last couple of #1 picks have been so successful. Leave it to the MLB Network to not mention the guys that haven’t fared as well. It’s like the end of ST when nobody really offers realistic projections.

Even with Skenes’ early success, the MLB #1 overall selection will never face the scrutiny or pressure that the NFL’s #1 pick will face. Which isn’t to say that the guys making the decision won’t take some heat if the guy doesn’t pan out.

2024 is one of the rare years when the team with first choice, Cleveland, has one of the better records in the game, their .613 winning percentage only trails the Phillies. However, this is the first time Cleveland has had the first pick in the draft and they hope to never have it again.

While you may not know one, there are several baseball draftniks and college baseball enthusiasts that follow the amateur game and can recite all of the relevant stats of the early picks. While it’s one thing to predict the order of players selected, even the experts can’t predict how a player will develop within an organization and how the players ahead of him will develop.

That I have no idea who my teams will draft this week doesn’t mean I don’t care, but because I get out to enough MWL games each year means I might see one or two of them this summer.

Each minor league fanbase responds differently to the recent draft picks on their roster. Local newspapers like The Daily Herald will do a great job of featuring local ballplayers and who drafted them. I’ve never covered the draft nor interviewed anyone that early in their pro career, but I’ve been around players and their families during their first month in the game.