Cleveland Guardians select Miami pitcher Rafe Schlesinger in 2024 MLB Draft

The Cleveland Guardians have selected Miami Hurricanes left-handed pitcher Rafe Schlesinger with the No. 113 overall pick in the fourth round of the 2024 MLB Draft.

Rafe Schlesinger has been with the Miami Hurricanes for three seasons. During that time, he pitched in 58 games and made 15 starts. All of his college starts came as a junior in the 2024 season.

In total, he has pitched 118.2 innings over the course of his three seasons with Miami. He also had an ERA of 5.01 and a WHIP of 1.685. He struck out a total of 115 batters while walking 52 in college. That gave him a strikeouts per nine innings of 8.7 and a walks per nine innings of 3.9.

During his three seasons at Miami, the Hurricanes had a record of 109-71 and hosted the NCAA Regional twice. The Hurricanes also underwent a coaching change going into his final season after Gino DiMare wasn’t retained following the 2023 season.

Rafe Schlesinger also played for the Martha’s Vineyard Sharks in the New England Collegiate Baseball League in 2022. There, he pitched 29.2 innings and had an ERA of 2.73. He then went on to play for the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2023. While with the Kettleers, he pitched 18.2 innings and had an ERA of 4.34.

Coming out of high school on Long Island, Rafe Schlesinger was named the 2021 Suffolk County Player of the Year. He was also a two-time team captain and earned 2021 League I MVP honors and All-League recognition.

Scouting reports Rafe Schlesinger on ahead of MLB Draft

Ahead of the 2024 MLB Draft, Rafe Schlesinger was the 147th-ranked prospect in the draft, according to MLB.com.

Rafe Schlesinger came into the draft as a three-pitch pitcher, using a fastball, slider, and a changeup from nearly a sidearm slot on the left-hand side. He’s got his fastball to average about 92 mph in 2024 after it was at around 88 mph in 2023. His slider, meanwhile, is likely going to sit in the mid-80s and has some good movement on it.

“The funk in Schlesinger’s delivery and arm slot can be a blessing and curse. It can provide for an uncomfortable at-bat for hitters, but it’s also led to inconsistent pitch execution and command, though he’s done a better job of finding the strike zone this spring,” MLB.com wrote.

“He’ll need that changeup against right-handed hitters if he wants to have a chance to start, but teams considering him early on in the Draft know he could be pretty nasty if he needs to go back to the bullpen.”