MLB Draft 2024: Yankees’ picks rounds 11-20

Tonight is the 94th edition of the Midsummer Classic, which will mark the end of this year’s All-Star festivities in Texas. Before then, however, the Yankees and their compatriots will complete the final rounds of the MLB Draft. The Yanks took Ben Hess and Bryce Cunningham with their first two picks back on Sunday, and then in Rounds 3-10 yesterday, they continued the trend of grabbing college pitchers with Thatcher Hurd, Gage Ziehl, Greysen Carter, Griffin Herring, Wyatt Parliament, and Tanner Bauman. They also added a pair of position players in Tyler Wilson and Joe Delossantos.

Ten more rounds remain today, but while that sounds daunting, they’ll go by faster than you think! There was ESPN pageantry for everything before Round 2 on Sunday, and even from that point onward, MLB.com provided at least a few words from analysts Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo between each pick. Now, we’re going full conference call. At this point, everyone each team’s draft war room just wants to finish the job and go to sleep for a bit. There might be a short break between some rounds, but otherwise, it’s pretty rapid-fire.

We’ll update this post with information on the Yankees’ draft picks from rounds 11 through 20 as they are announced, and once it’s done, we’ll have a survey post for your overall thoughts. As a reminder, there are no specific draft slots associated with each of the Day 3 picks, though if a team exceeds $125,000 in its offer, then the overage will count against the total bonus pool. Feel free to follow our signings tracker throughout the month as we inch closer to the deadline.

So come on this journey with us! Round 11 begins at 2pm ET.

Round 11, Pick 332: Mack Estrada, RHP
Northwest Florida State (JC), 6’4”, 220 lbs.

The Yankees’ first pick of Day 3 is a junior college righty named Richard MacKay “Mack” Estrada. Baseball America had him ranked No. 273 on their big board, somewhat interestingly with a weight 25 pounds down from where MLB’s official Draft Tracker has him — perhaps he’s worked on the “lots of room to add even more strength and mass” that BA cited in its writeup. Estrada will turn 20 in September and currently has a fastball that’s hit 96 mph, as well as mid-80s changeup, and a low-80s slider with “impressive horizontal break,” per BA.

In 79.1 innings (including 15 starts) for Northwest Florida State in 2024, Estrada recorded a 4.20 ERA and 1.49 WHIP but struck out 94 batters (10.7 K/9) and allowed just one homer. He was named to the 2024 Panhandle All-Conference First Team and their Pitcher of the Year. He’s committed to LSU, so the Yankees will need to use some of their extra bonus pool money to convince him to sign. Estrada certainly fits the “toolshed” model that the Yankees have pursued with more experienced college pitchers on the first couple Draft Days.

Round 12, Pick 362: Brendan Jones, OF
Kansas State, 5’10”, 180 lbs.

A Nashville native, Jones just completed his junior year at Kansas State, where he’s been a starting outfielder for the past two seasons. He’s spent most of his time in left and center, and though he was not ranked by Baseball America, his defensive prowess is held in high enough esteem that he became the first Wildcat to ever be named an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove Award Finalist. Jones is a burner on the basepaths too, as his 70 stolen bases are third-most in K-State history, as was his single-season total of 40 from 2024. He had a high success rate as well at 90.9 percent for his career and 95.2 percent this past season.

The 22-year-old hit .303/.442/.500 in his swan song, and even displayed some pop with 9 homers in 61 games (like in the clip below). Jones also has experience in wood-bat leagues, batting .303/.418/.454 with 39 extra-base hits in 100 games of summer-league ball from 2021-23.

Round 13, Pick 392: Dillon Lewis, OF
Queens University of Charlotte, 6’3”, 205 lbs.

Likes Jones, Lewis was unranked by BA, but he is coming off an age-21 season in which he truly laid waste to the Atlantic Sun Conference. The junior was named to the First Team, hitting a preposterous .371/.444/.729 with 14 doubles and 22 homers in 55 games, while also swiping 20 bags. It was a stark improvement from his 2023 campaign and much more in line with what he showed last summer with the Queen City Corndogs (beautiful team name) in the Southern Collegiate Baseball League: .387/.478/.733 with 13 extra-base hits in 24 games. Sporting Tribune managing editor Taylor Blake Ward noted that Lewis has a chance to stick in center and has a “strong/loose cut with present above-average raw,” though his powerful swing could use some polish.

Round 14, Pick 422: Austin Green, 2B
Texas Tech, 6’0”, 195 lbs.

A Texas boy through and through, Green reached Texas Tech as a JuCo transfer by way of Weatherford College after graduating from New Diana High School in East Texas. He’d hit .323 with 19 homers and 23 stolen bases at Weatherford to get the Red Raiders’ attention. In two seasons at Texas Tech, Green has batted .304/.425/.544 with 27 doubles and 20 homers, though he’s dialed the baserunning back in the Big 12. BA ranked the 22-year-old at No. 303 on their Top 500, describing him as a bit of a jack of all trades without any “plus tools,” but he’s a versatile defender (seeing time in the outfield as well) and a grinder at bat, working long plate appearances from both sides of the dish with “solid bat-to-ball skills.”

By the way, it’s worth noting that “possible MLB utilityman” is absolutely a good 14th-round outcome. Just for one data point, only two of the 30 picks in that round in 2017 have made the majors at all (and neither signed that time around).

Round 15, Pick 452: Marshall Toole, OF
Wofford College, 5’11”, 185 lbs.

A graduate of Decatur High School outside Atlanta, Toole went up I-85 to attend school at Wofford in South Carolina. He was named to the Southern Conference All-Freshman Team after posting a .451 OBP and 16 stolen bases in 46 games in 2022, albeit with just four extra-base hits. The pop developed more in 2023, and he really had a great age-21 season in 2024, batting .375/.461/.617 with 15 doubles, 10 triples, and 9 homers in 62 games for the Terriers, earning All-Southern Conference First Team honors. Toole has played three seasons of summer ball, hitting .297/.404/.336 in 98 games. BA ranked him 446th prior to the start of the MLB Draft, praising his “sound swing decisions within the zone,” albeit while also remarking that the wood-bat leagues showed that he’s still more a contact guy than a “big slugger.” Fair enough.

Round 16, Pick 482: Xavier Rivas, LHP
Ole Miss, 6’4”, 235 lbs.

A belated happy birthday to Rivas, who turned 22 on July 11th. Born a Hoosier, Rivas spent his first two years of college ball in-state at the University of Indianapolis, sparkling in his sophomore season with a 2.24 ERA, 0.983 WHIP, and an eye-popping 128 strikeouts in 80.1 innings (14.3 K/9), showing off a good breaking ball to play off his low-90s fastball. He put up similar numbers in the summer Northwoods League before transferring to Ole Miss for 2023. Rivas wasn’t the same in 14 starts for the Rebels, getting lit up with a 6.35 ERA and 1.544 WHIP in 14 starts. Something was amiss, and indeed, he needed Tommy John surgery, which took him out for the entire 2024 campaign. Rivas was recently cleared to start a throwing program, so he’s on the comeback trail.

Round 17, Pick 512: JoJo Jackson Jr., OF
Georgia State, 6’2”, 215 lbs.

The wonderfully-alliterative JoJo Jackson Jr. is the Yankees’ second pick of Day 3 who happens to be from outside Atlanta (Stone Mountain in Jackson’s case). The switch-hitter just finished his junior season within the ATL itself at Georgia State, where he hit .310/.394/.655 with 13 doubles and 15 homers in 50 games. Jackson then showed out in the MLB Draft League, drawing rave reviews for his .352/.435/.592 showing across 20 games with the Frederick Keys — though his pop was more doubles-focused than dingers. The aforementioned Taylor Blake Ward tweeted that the 21-year-old has a strong arm that fits an outfield corner and that he has “regular hard contact” with an average power projection. Jackson is currently committed to transferring to the Georgia mothership in Athens, but it seems like the Yankees could get him to sign.

Round 18, Pick 542: Gus Hughes, RHP
High Point University, 6’0”, 190 lbs.

Hughes has done his share of travels around North Carolina, first graduating high school in Greensboro before playing at Gaston College and UNC Charlotte before winding up at High Point University in 2023. Although he was only OK at first, in 2024, he put up a 3.77 ERA, 1.179 WHIP, and struck out 111 batters in 102.2 innings (16 starts). The gopher ball was a problem, as he surrendered 22 dingers, but the 22-year-old was still named to the Big South All-Conference First Team. BA listed Hughes among their “Top College Senior Sign” targets, citing his four-pitch mix, which includes “a 90-92 mph fastball that touches 95 with solid riding life” and “a mid-80s slider that is his most consistent swing-and-miss pitch at the moment.”

Round 19, Pick 572: Brandon Decker, RHP
Oakland University, 6’3”, 185 lbs.

Decker transferred to Oakland from Concordia University Ann Arbor after 2021, and it’s worked out well for him. He was named the Horizon League Relief Pitcher of the Year in 2023 and followed that up by winning outright Pitcher of the Year honors in 2024, when he was used in a swingman role. You might be inclined to raise an eyebrow at these honors since he posted a 4.39 ERA in ‘23 and 5.44 in ‘24, but the Horizon League is hell on Earth for pitchers — the league had a 6.81 ERA in ‘23 and an even more ghastly 8.01 in ‘24. Zoinks.

Decker led the Horizon League with 105 K’s and 102.2 innings in 2023, and he also cracked the BA Senior Signs list that featured Hughes. The report said that MLB teams “will be intrigued by the flat vertical approach angle” of his lower-arm-slot fastball, despite only averaging 90-91 mph (maxing at 95). The 22-year-old also has a mid-80s slider and a couple other offerings. He could certainly be a fun big-league reliever one day.

Round 20, Pick 602: Cole Royer, RHP
Pierce County HS (GA), 6’6”, 190 lbs.

It took the Yankees until the final round of the MLB Draft, but they did end up taking a high schooler. Royer turns 19 on the 23rd and might end up being a long shot to end up in pinstripes. After graduating from Pierce County High School in little-known Blackshear, GA (about an hour from the Georgia/Florida border near Jacksonville), Royer has a move planned to Atlanta since he’s committed to Georgia Tech. MLB Pipeline’s report on the 6-foot-6 righty said that he “could have upper-90s velocity once he completes his physical and prospect development,” and that he also offers up “a high-spin breaking ball in the upper-70s that could give him a second plus offering once he adds strength and refinement.”

Baseball America ranked Royer 307th in their Top 500, with a note that he “attacks hitters with a funky delivery that features some moving parts and recoil.” As MLB Pipeline said in its original report, he could wind up being a reliever in the end, but Royer will be a name for baseball fans to follow regardless of whether or not he signs with New York.