2024 MLB Draft Profiles: Bryce Rainer
Moving on along with these profiles, we get to yet another high schooler in 18-year-old Bryce Rainer. I don’t know what they are feeding these high schoolers these days. But at 6’3 195 pounds, Rainer already has the frame of an MLB player; again, he is only 18 years old. But will that translate into a successful big-league career? Let’s find out.
Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 60 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 50 | Overall: 60
It seems like now, pretty much every top player in the country is going to try to be a two-way player. We’ve seen it in every draft since Shohei Ohtani became a thing, and Bryce Rainer is no exception.
In fact, many scouts at one point felt he was better projected as a pitcher even in a smaller sample size. But then, during his senior season, he grew, and he grew a lot, to the point where it became a no-brainer to get him in the field and, more importantly, that bat in the lineup.
For a young kid, he is incredibly disciplined at the plate, not chasing outside the zone despite having elite power. He also hits the ball hard to all parts of the field and doesn’t get to pull happy. Leading scouts to believe he could have plus power at the next levels.
The only real issue is, with his longer frame that he is still growing into, his swing can get a little long at times, causing him to strike out a bit more than you would want. But with some small adjustments at the next level, it’s a very fixable issue.
The debates about what position he would play quickly ended after scouts saw how talented a shortstop he is. His frame and speed give him elite range, paired with a cannon of an arm—the perfect combination to make him an elite shortstop if a team decides to keep him there.
There are talks of him moving to third, but I feel like that would be a waste of his great speed and range.
Rainer is another one of those kids who doesn’t seem to have any real holes in his game. Granted, that usually isn’t the case as guys progress through the minors. But as of now, there is a lot to love about Bryce Rainer.
He is committed to Texas right now, but being selected early in the first round can change his mind. If that does end up being the case, some team is going to be very lucky. Comparisons to Corey Seager have been common and it’s easy to see why.
It might be a little early for that but I certainly can see the parallels between the two. Again, though, at just 18 years old, we have quite a bit before we see Bryce Rainer at the big league level.
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