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Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday, Version 3.0

By Benjamin Chase

Aug 15, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; American team Jordon Adell (45) steals second base as National second baseman Bo Bichette (left) applies a tag during the sixth inning in the Under Armour All America Baseball game at Wrigley field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 15, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; American team Jordon Adell (45) steals second base as National second baseman Bo Bichette (left) applies a tag during the sixth inning in the Under Armour All America Baseball game at Wrigley field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /
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Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday: The Braves’ Picks

5. Austin Beck, OF, North Carolina HS

With the top three in this mock nearly a lock to land in the top 4 picks, the Braves will be grabbing from “the rest”. Ahead of them, Tampa reportedly wants one of the three first picks, but if they’re off the board, they’ll have a tough choice between Royce Lewis and Beck in their draft room.

While the Braves haven’t had the same interest in Lewis in the public sphere, the Braves are known for their presence in California, especially in the high school market with prominent California picks in Kolby Allard, Lucas Herbert, and Brett Cumberland recently, and the team’s franchise player, Freddie Freeman, being a player the team drafted from California, so Lewis could make some sense here.

However, while the mantra about the Braves always picking a Georgia kid if given the chance are statistically incorrect, one state that is very frequently targeted in the organization’s drafting is North Carolina, and in this scenario, the Braves would have a choice among two prime North Carolina prep players in this year’s draft class, outfielder Beck, lefty MacKenzie Gore, along with Kentucky outfielder Jordan Adell (among many others).

Beck makes sense here as a pure upside play after missing much of his junior season and the summer showcase circuit due to a knee injury. Fully healthy this year after taking extra time to ensure the health of the joint, Beck has flashed big time tools this spring, and he’s a fast riser with teams that have seen him.

Round 2, Pick 41 overall: Clarke Schmidt, RHP, South Carolina

If you think the Braves are coming out of their top two picks without at least one arm, you haven’t been paying attention the last few years. That said, with pretty full rosters in the rookie leagues, the Braves could target some guys who will be known to miss the 2017 season due to injury, and that’s the case with Schmidt.

Teammate Wil Crowe would also be a very good choice in this spot as he recovered from his 2015 surgery to post an excellent spring this year after missing all of 2016, but Schmidt arguably has the better upside as a starter when healthy, even if Crowe may have the better velocity.

Schmidt will miss the rest of 2017 after Tommy John surgery this spring, and he might miss part of 2018 as well, but he’d be a solid risk with his high upside at this point in the draft. Schmidt was climbing to top 10-15 status this spring early on before his elbow popped.

Rest of Draft

I mentioned in the first mock that the Braves do have pretty loaded rookie league teams, so it’s possible that they go in heavy in their first few picks, then go for signability picks soon in the draft rather than waiting until the 5th-6th rounds to start that process.

Getting a pick like Schmidt may extend that to another round or two, or even further if they could score another injured player of high value that dropped beyond his true value within the first five rounds. Regardless, it’d be surprising if the Braves went too deep early on going after big talent in contrast to last season, for instance, when they grabbed Bryse Wilson with their 6th pick of the draft.

One guy I’d love to see with the Braves would be Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Daulton Varsho. He was ranked #124 on Baseball America’s recently released top 200 draft prospects, and he reportedly nearly made the most recent top 100 for MLB Pipeline, so he might require a 3rd round pick. He’s a catcher with a very good defensive profile and an offensive ceiling that I had multiple people compare to Jason Kendall.

Next: Braves Minor League Database

What would be your thoughts on this situation? Leave a comment below!!

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