Atlanta Braves 2016 Draft Live Thread
By Fred Owens
Atlanta Braves Select Ian Anderson with their first pick in the Draft
Ian Anderson
Anderson may have fallen under the radar to many, but then he pitched against 2015 first rounder Garrett Whitley as a junior and showed scouts a ton in making Whitley look foolish. Anderson features a fastball that sits in the 90-93 range, but he can run it to 96, with great late sinking life.
Anderson has a very good change – graded as plus by many. His curve ball a hard, late breaking variety. He has got great mechanics and at 6’4″ and around 200 pounds, a great frame. He did have pneumonia and an oblique injury this season, which meant some evaluators didn’t get to see him, but his talent is hard to deny.
The Braves obviously have agreements on place to save money here and buy better players lower down the draft.
Joey Wentz
Joey Wentz entered showcase season last year as a top-rated first base prospect with a very pretty left-handed swing. Then he started popping 96-97 and sitting 94-95 in showcase stints (usually 1-2 innings), along with a polished curve, wicked change, and very good athleticism off the mound. Suddenly he was up the boards everywhere, with many calling him the 2nd best left-handed high school pitcher in the draft this year.
He then went out and pitched extremely well. He didn’t have more base runners allowed than games pitched until his 7th start, when he finally reached double-digit base runners on the entire season. He mowed down hitters left and right. Yet, because he was sitting more like 90-93 and touching 95 while going 6-7 innings, scouts who’d never seen him pitch before last summer before said his stuff was “backing up”. That was certainly incorrect, as that was where Wentz has been pitching all along.
He brings an abnormal amount of poise to the mound for a high schooler, along with a very good pitch balance. His delivery is fluid and repeatable, which is a big bonus as well. He’ll probably be a guy that could move quickly through the system.
Kyle Muller
Kyle Muller was a highly touted prep lefty due to his pitchability more than his raw stuff. He ended up selected as the Gatorade high school player of the year over a number of the high schoolers being drafted tonight, so he’s certainly played well this season. Muller had a stretch this season where he struck out 24 straight batters and using that actually recorded 36 outs in a row by strikeout.
Muller is a legit 1B/OF prospect with the bat as well, being recruited for his bat to Texas before his pitching ticked up big this year. He’s got low-90s velocity, sitting in the 90-93 range, but he can touch 95. He’s got a slider that has really sharpened this year to the point where it could be graded as plus on occasion. His change has good arm motion, but the release point is what gives it away, and if he could work to find a release point that disguises the change better, he’d really have a great three-pitch mix.
As it sits now, Muller is a guy who has a very clean delivery and likely #3-4 starter projection, but Mike Soroka had a #4 starter projection last season when he entered the system as well.
Brett Cumberland
Cumberland is a switch-hitter who hits tremendously well. He’s likely to come off the position quickly, and he’s very likely to move to third base although John Manuel suggested he might fit in left field.
Cumberland has a very smooth swing with equal solid power on both the right and left side, though he seems to have more contact skill from the left side. He has a great arm that could play in a corner outfield spot if third base doesn’t work, but he does have good athleticism to move out from catcher and play a corner infield or outfield position.
That’s A Wrap
The Braves draft was all about pitching. Coppolella said in many interf=view he was going to go back to taking prep arms and they did that in a big way tonight, Fans hoping to see at least one good bat with an early arrival date added to a minor league system that lacks such an animal at the upper levels were disappointed. Fans who think free agency and the international signing period can solve the power outage cheered.
The young arms picked tonight are no doubt very good and have a high upside. We’ll see them in 4 years or so; three if we’re lucky. In the meantime we are asked to believe that we have enough arms to trade and money to spend field a challenging team by 2018. To do that requires minor league depth of course so the attrition rate on our arms better be small.
Time will tell how well the draft worked for the Braves; it will likely be 2020 before it can be judged with any accuracy. Between now and then fans want to see John Hart and Coppolella make good on their word and trade/spend so that the team is once again fun to watch.