Colorado Rockies select Texas 1B/OF Jared Thomas in 2024 MLB Draft

The Texas Longhorns are known for producing draft picks and can add another to the list. 1B/OF Jared Thomas has been selected by the Colorado Rockies in the second round of the 2024 MLB Draft. A nice college bat pickup as the draft-eligible sophomore is now taken off the board.

Just wrapping up his sophomore year with the Longhorns, Thomas finished with a batting average of .349 with 16 home runs and 47 RBIs. His strikeout numbers were not terrible, going down 60 times while drawing 31 walks during the 2024 season. An OPS of 1.069 certainly is a plus professional scouts had to enjoy.

Try Fubo for FREE today and don’t miss any of the action!

Most importantly, all of those numbers were improvements from his freshman season on the 40 Acres. Four fewer games were played as well, reaching 60 appearances in 2024.

Defensively, there is some position versatility out of Thomas. Head coach David Pierce deployed him at first base and in the outfield. Being able to play multiple positions is never a bad thing and a good way to keep yourself in the lineup.

This is the second time Thomas has been through the draft process. Teams were looking at Thomas coming out of high school but multiple factors led to him not being selected. A wrist injury was suffered during his senior year while Thomas determined before he was going to sign with Texas.

Fast forward a couple of years and Thomas now has the opportunity to begin his professional career if he wishes.

What MLB scouts are saying about Jared Thomas

Heading into the draft, MLB.com provided a scouting report on Thomas, calling him one of the best “pure hitters” available. While Thomas might not be a cannot miss, home run prospect, they do believe his floor is incredibly high.

While some of his contact rates went down during this past season at Texas, teams enjoyed the power surge he displayed against college pitching.

“Thomas has good feel for the barrel and doesn’t try to do too much at the plate, letting his pretty left-handed swing work for him,” the scouting report said. “He has traded some contact for power this spring, hitting the ball harder and showing that he should be able to provide 15-20 homers per season. He offers one of the higher floors among college bats and his ceiling continues to rise as he displays more pop.”