The 2024 Draft is complete and the Dodgers have again compiled some great athletes, big guys that can throw hard, and a group of youngsters that promise to bring this organization a lot of excitement.
For the 2nd year in a row, they have chosen speed, last year Kendall George, this year Kellon Lindsey.
Lindsey is a shortstop prospect out of Florida who falls in the mold of infield defenders the Dodgers like. At 6’2 he’s long & rangy, he has a multiple sports background and he’s a great athlete.
He was the quarterback on his High School Team until he decided to focus 100% of his efforts on baseball, and he has 80-grade-type speed. Of course, being just 18, and coming straight from High School, he will enter the system with a ton of room to grow, and even more time to do it with.
His swing is short, and he has an advanced understanding of how to pull his hands inside the ball and stay centered and connected. There’s no telling how much home run power there might be in that swing when he matures, but there should be a ton of very natural “gap to gap” potential.
Here’s Billy Gasparino, Dodgers Vice President of Baseball Operations, on the young shortstop prospect.
“He’s a dynamic athlete, and shortstops are so hard to find,” Dodgers vice president of baseball operations Billy Gasparino said in a statement. “We also love his work ethic, and we think he’s going to be a very prototype Dodger player that we all like and are rooting for in the future.”
As mentioned earlier, this marks the 2nd year in a row where the Dodgers have used their top pick to grab a middle-of-the-field player with 80-grade speed, so hopefully that marks a shift, at least in small part, to that aspect of the game. This organization has always valued athleticism and versatility but hasn’t also maximized speed to influence games, so this possible shift could balance out the ups and downs.
Lindsey’s stock is full of “helium” meaning, he has a ton of momentum and is rising fast. Since he quit playing football, and then posted a monster Senior year, Scouts and industry insiders have raved about this young man.
Here’s a quote from Keith Law of the Athletic
“He’s an outstanding athlete who was a quarterback and defensive back before he gave it up to focus just on baseball and recorded the best running times at the MLB combine in June,” Law wrote in his scouting report on Lindsey. “I saw strong defense at shortstop, and he probably starts out there in pro ball, with the obvious potential to move to center at some point given his speed. He’s a huge upside play with a ton of downside risk in the bat.”
From a cultural perspective, Lindsey will fit right in. He is a leader, more by actions than words, but plays with a tremendous amount of confidence. Being a good teammate is top on his list of priorities, the same way as it is within the Dodgers system.
Lindsey was committed to the University of Florida, where he was going to trade in his championship Orange and Blue at Hardee High for the Orange and Blue of the Gators. But, being the first pick of an Iconic organization like the Dodgers, and the 23rd pick overall, surely has changed those plans.
