Atlanta Braves Day Two Draft Recap: Still a lot of righty pitchers
The Atlanta Braves wrapped up day two of the 2023 MLB Draft with eight more selections, putting them at eleven so far through the first half of the draft. Eight of the eleven have been pitchers, which isn't that interesting - everyone knows that the Atlanta Braves trust their scouting and development groups to identify and produce starting pitchers.
What's interesting is that they're all righties. Every single one.
Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting Ronit Shah met with the media today, and he insists it's just a coincidence. "You're always looking for arms," he said, via video call. "You can never have enough pitching, but kind of like we talked about yesterday, just taking the best players on our board."
Of the three position players taken so far, one is an infielder and two are outfielders. Most of the pitchers seem to have certain analytical traits that Atlanta likes to look for, and all of the position players, for the most part, are two-way guys that can provide defensive value as well as impact hitting.
R3P94: 3B Sabin Ceballos, Oregon
The 6'4 Ceballos, a Puerto Rican native who has mostly played SS in his career, divided between Oregon and San Jacinto State JC, was announced as a third baseman but it's still up in the air where he'll play - he spent time behind the plate in the MLB Draft league and has some versatility, albeit not a lot of speed. He profiles as a bat-first option with a carrying hit tool, and his power ceiling is thought to be up to average.
Said Shah: "He’s got tools. He’s got the plus arm and can really pick it at third. He’s showing us a lot more power this year than we’ve seen in the past couple years and is controlling that zone, taking his walks, making a lot of contact. We thought it was a pretty strong package there for a college hitter
R4P126: RHP Garrett Baumann, Hagerty HS (Florida)
Baumann is a mountain of a man - 6'8 and 245 pounds, he has the big stuff to match. He's run his 2-seamer up to 94-96, with a changeup and a slider. He's committed to UCF, but expected to sign with Atlanta.
Said Shah: "We identified him in the summer. He was everywhere on the summer circuit. Another guy that went to the combine, showed us some good stuff there also. Went to NHSI, a big high school tournament. He’s not a secret by any means."
R5P162: OF Isaiah Drake, North Atlanta HS (Georgia)
The local product is an exciting, if familiar, package: 80 grade speed with premium defensive movements in centerfield. Key to the development of this profile of prep hitter is working on the contact - Drake's a player that should have a high floor and should have plenty of chances to figure it out thanks to Atlanta's insistence on strong up-the-middle defense.
Said Shah: "Excited to see what he can do here. Drake has shown us more power than we’ve seen in the past. Went to the combine, went to the draft league. Clearly he loves to play. He can fly also, so we’re really excited about the power speed combination he has from the left side.”
R6P189: RHP Lucas Braun, Cal State Northridge
This is an interesting pick - statistically, he had a worse season in 2023 than he had in 2022. Jim Callis of MLB Pipeline mentioned on the broadcast some similarities to Guardians prospect Tanner Bibee - doesn't completely click for me, but the team's smarter than we are and it's hard not to trust Alex Anthopoulos and Co. at this point.
R7P219: RHP Justin Long, Rice
Long - not the actor, but you'd be forgiven for getting the Google search wrong - was formerly a catcher before moving to the mound, a surprisingly common transition. This is a "traits" pick, as he's still pretty raw as a pitcher. Working mostly in relief, he featured a fastball in the low to mid 90s.
R8P249: RHP Cory Wall, William & Mary
This is definitely a "traits" pick - Wall is 100% a reliever, but one who was incredibly effective for William & Mary (and Fordham before that). In an old tweet from now MLB front office employee Mason Mcrae, you can see exactly how good the stuff and command is for Wall:
(Sidenote: We keep losing good analysts to MLB front offices, and the Cubs got a great one here. Mason was one of the best, and approves of the pick)
R9P279: RHP Riley Gowens, Illinois
Not as familiar with Gowens as I should be, but being down here in SEC country, just hard to get illinois games on. Former Locked On Angels host Taylor Blake Ward (who is most excellent to do a pod with, BTW), now covering the Angels and the MLB Draft for Sporting Tribune, had a brief scouting report on Gowens:
From the outside, I'd guess that slider has the analytical traits and/or fits the models that Atlanta has for their arms.
Shah talked about both of these guys in his comments, specifically mentioning Wall's velocity, how the fastball works when it's elevated up in the zone, and his strike throwing ability. For Gowens, it was the breaking ball, as well as his time with the draft league and a major college program.
R10P309: OF Pier-Olivier Boucher, Southern Illinois U - Carbondale
Closing out the draft is Boucher, who immediately is going to hear The Waterboy jokes but is actually a former hockey player (finally, Michael Soroka has someone to talk hockey with in the locker room) who is behind the typical college player development curve because he hasn't been a baseball player all that long. Shaw mentioned his defensive versatility - he can play all three outfield positions - as well as the combination of power and speed, having both stolen twenty bags and hit twenty homeruns.
It's a great collection of talent, and you can see the reasonings behind each player that Atlanta selected.
Tomorrow is the third and final day of the draft, with Atlanta holding ten more selections.
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