MLB.com names Tristan Beck Atlanta's best pick in the 2018 Draft

The 4th rounder didn't play for Atlanta, but was a key piece in the 2019 deal for Mark Melancon

The Atlanta Braves have been very good at drafting recently, finding young big-league  talents after the first round like Spencer Strider (2020, Round 4), Bryce Elder (2020, Round 5), Michael Harris II (2019, Round 3), and Vaughn Grissom (2019, Round 11). 

But you have to crawl before you can walk, or something. 

MLB.com recently did a retrospective about each team's best pick from the 2018 Draft, and it wasn't kind to Atlanta. 

The Braves selection for the list was RHP Tristan Beck, who was traded at the 2019 Trade Deadline and just this year made it to MLB with the San Francisco Giants. Here's what they said about the choice of Beck: 

This Draft hasn’t been a particularly kind one for the Braves. They didn’t sign their first-rounder, Carter Stewart, while only two to date have reached the big leagues (though 14th-rounder Victor Vodnik should impact a big league bullpen soon). They took Beck in Round 4 and went well over slot to sign him for $900K. He made it to the big leagues this year for the first time, with the Giants, but the Braves were able to package him with Dan Winkler to get Mark Melancon at the 2019 Trade Deadline.

That year was the first draft after penalties were levied against the organization for former-GM John Coppella's violations of international signing rules in 2014-2016, and the Braves had no third-round pick as a result. 

But they didn't really maximize the other selections, either. 

Atlanta took thirty-nine players, with thirty-four being collegians. As mentioned above, Carter Stewart (a prep righthander) ultimately did not sign with Atlanta after an undiscovered wrist injury caused Atlanta to lower their offer to the righty and he did not sign. He subsequently enrolled in junior college to be eligible for the 2019 Draft, but instead ended up signing a six-year, $7M contract with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan, where he debuted in 2021. 

Of the 39 total selections, 22 were pitchers (17 righties and five lefties), four were catchers, four were outfielders and nine were infielders. 

Here's a full list of selections: 

Atlanta's 2018 MLB Draft / Baseball Cube

As you can see, four of the selections did not sign, and only two of the players have logged any time in the majors: RHP William Woods, a 23rd round pick who logged two scoreless innings in relief for Atlanta in 2022 and is now part of the Mets organization, and 3rd rounder Tristan Beck, who has ten relief appearances this season for the Giants with a 4.10 ERA and twenty-four strikeouts in his twenty-six and a third innings pitched. 

Oof. 

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