The 2024 Major League First-Year Player Draft was held July 14 through July 16. This year’s draft was twenty rounds with seventy Northwoods League players selected.
Two former Woodchucks Aidan Major and Camden Janik were chosen in this year’s draft, both having played in Wausau in 2022. Major a pitcher, was drafted in the 5th round by the Cleveland Guardians while Janik a catcher was picked in the 12th round by the Pittsburg Pirates.
Aiden Major seen with Coach Corey Thompson.
The West Virginia product Major was chosen with pick 146 after his junior year. For the Mountaineers, Major pitched a career 46 games with 20 of those starts. He threw 142.1 innings and found 167 strikeouts. He held opponents to a batting average of .234 and his ERA was 4.93. Major was named All-Big 12 Honorable Mention in 2023 and 2024 and was on the Academic All-Big 12 Rookie Team in 2022.
For the Woodchucks Major threw 38 innings holding a 4.74 ERA and had three wins. He started in seven games and had 38 strikeouts. Corey Thompson managed him while on the Chucks, and he says that he and his staff knew he had lots of talent.
“I think if you ask(ed) any coach on our staff in 2022 they all would say that Major was going to be a draft pick, it just depended how high,” Thompson said. “This kid (is) an ultra-competitor and (is) blessed with a ton of talent. I’m very excited for his future!”
Janik attended the University of Illinois and just finished his junior year as well. The Fighting Illini was picked in the 12th round with pick 354. In his collegiate career he batted .336 in 121 games. He had 143 hits and 18 HR, with seven this past spring. He was named 2024 ABCA/Rawlings All-American Third Team, 2024 ABCA/Rawlings Midwest All-Region First Team, and 2024 All-Big Ten First Team.
Camden Janik caught and played outfield for the Chucks.
Janik played in 35 games as a Chuck, and had 18 runs, 19 hits, four doubles and one HR. He had a .352 OB% and was also managed by Corey Thompson. Thompson got to work with a young version of Janik and is happy with how far he’s come.
“I’m very impressed and proud of what Cam accomplished,” Thompson said. “He came up to Wausau as a true freshman and worked extremely hard to get where he’s at now. (It’s) always fun to see how guys develop when they put in the work.”
Both former Woodchucks have worked hard and have earned a spot in this year’s draft. It was fun to have them in Wausau, but we are so happy and proud of these two and how they’ve develop into the players they want to be. To follow along with Major and Janik, make sure to follow the Woodchucks on social media or visit Woodchucks.com for all team news.