(Cover photo by Oklahoma State Athletics)
The 2024 MLB Draft is not too far away. The draft will be 20 rounds over 3 days starting on July 14.
Once again, the Sooner State should be well represented with players that have ties to the Sooner State that will have their name called during the draft.
Leading up to the draft, we will take a look at some of the those players.
*Prospect Ranking: MLB Top 200 (MLB), ESPN Top 150 (ESPN, Perfect Game Top 500 (PG)
*When looking at the scouting grades, MLB uses a “20-80” system: 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average, 70-80 is well above average.
Today’s player: Carson Benge
Carson Benge is a 2021 graduate of Yukon High School and has spent the last 3 seasons at Oklahoma State. He has only played the ’23 and ’24 seasons for the Cowboys as he had Tommy John surgery just before the ’22 season started.
Benge is the latest of the 2-way player trend. He follows in the footsteps of fellow Poke, Nolan McLean who was drafted by the Mets in 2023. Unlike McLean though (who the Mets have used as both a pitcher and DH), don’t expect Benge to be a 2-way player in pro ball. He is most likely to be drafted as an outfielder.
Benge is one of two players from the Sooner State who have consistently been in the first round of the mock drafts that have been listed and he is the high rated from the Sooner State.
Prospect Ranking
- MLB: 19
- ESPN: 28
- PG: 16
Scouting Grades and MLB Report
Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 55 | Run: 50 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 55
Benge was set to begin his freshman season at Oklahoma State when his elbow gave out in February 2022, leading to Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire year. The Cowboys turned him loose as a hitter and handled him more carefully as a pitcher last year, when he was a semifinalist for the John Olerud Award for college baseball’s best two-way player. He’s a legitimate prospect both ways, showing first-round potential at the plate and third-round upside on the mound.
Few college hitters in this class can match Benge’s combination of bat-to-ball skills and high exit velocities. A left-handed hitter, he controls the strike zone and uses the opposite field exceptionally well. He should have solid power thanks to his combination of hitting ability and bat speed, and he did a better job of turning on and lifting more pitches as this spring progressed.
Benge has average speed and is quicker once he gets going. He’s a solid defender with plus arm strength in right field, and he perhaps could fill in as a center fielder on occasion. He’s intriguing as a quick-armed right-hander with a fastball that reaches 96 mph, a solid slider and the makings of an average changeup and control, but he prefers hitting and has focused more on that this spring.
Per mlb.com
Outlook
The first part of this next statement is going to sound bad, but it really isn’t when you look at the next part following it: nothing about Benge’s grades stand out and say he is a 1st round pick, but watching Benge play you see that there isn’t a true weakness in his game. He seems to be a guy that organizations look at and see they can develop him into an impact player. MLB organizations have huge egos and they think if a player has the base, they can develop him into what they need. That looks to be the case for Benge.
On a personal note, I saw Benge play a few times in high school and although we knew then he was going to OSU, nothing he did then stood out to say he was a D1 player. I know that you shouldn’t look a small sample size when evaluating players so I just figured it was a coincidence those few times I saw him play.
The difference from high school to college has been huge for Benge and don’t be surprised if he develops into a solid major league player for years to come.
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