Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday, Version 3.0

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 Bichettte (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

Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday: Round 2

The Atlanta Braves went on a winning streak to finish the 2016 season and close out Turner Field, and while for many fans that was fun, it meant that the club will be selecting #5 overall in the upcoming June draft.

Many sites have begun to release their top 100 lists and mock drafts. I spent most of the last month+ getting in contact with as many possible people as I could to get an idea of how the draft is shaping up this year, who to look at, who should be looked at but isn’t, and last, but certainly not least, who the Atlanta Braves are looking at.

We’ll have one of these mock drafts at least every other week until the draft comes. The selections here are based on a number of hours of research into the players themselves, team strategies, and any insights I’ve been able to gleam from those around the game I’ve chatted with this spring about this very interesting class.

We will look at the entire first round through the competitive balance round A selections, then we’ll examine the Braves’ strategy for round 2 if the first round set out would happen, and finally, we’ll consider what direction the Braves could go after those two selections.

I hope you enjoy, and please feel free to comment below!

Next: The First Round

Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday: The Draft

More from Tomahawk Take

The Braves selection will be discussed further on the next slide.

1. Minnesota Twins – Kyle Wright, RHP, Vanderbilt
2. Cincinnati Reds – Brendan McKay, LHP/1B, Louisville
3. San Diego Padres – Hunter Greene, RHP/SS, California HS
4. Tampa Bay Rays – Royce Lewis, SS/OF, California HS
5. Atlanta Braves – Austin Beck, OF, North Carolina HS
6. Oakland Athletics – Pavin Smith, 1B, Virginia
7. Arizona Diamondbacks – MacKenzie Gore, LHP, North Carolina HS
8. Philadelphia Phillies – Alex Faedo, RHP, Florida
9. Milwaukee Brewers – Jordan Adell, OF, Kentucky HS
10. Los Angeles Angels – Adam Haseley, OF, Virginia
11. Chicago White Sox – Jeren Kendall, OF, Vanderbilt
12. Pittsburgh Pirates – Shane Baz, RHP, Texas HS
13. Miami Marlins – Trevor Rogers, LHP, New Mexico HS
14. Kansas City Royals – Jake Burger, 3B, Missouri State
15. Houston Astros – DL Hall, LHP, Georgia HS
16. New York Yankees – Griffin Canning, RHP, UCLA
17. Seattle Mariners – J.B. Bukauskas, North Carolina
18. Detroit Tigers – Nick Pratto, 1B, California HS
19. San Francisco Giants – Sam Carlson, RHP, Minnesota HS
20. New York Mets – Keston Hiura, 2B/OF, Cal-Irvine
21. Baltimore Orioles – Logan Warmoth, SS, North Carolina
22. Toronto Blue Jays – Evan White, 1B, Kentucky
23. Los Angeles Dodgers – Bubba Thompson, OF, Alabama HS
24. Boston Red Sox – Nate Pearson, RHP, Central Florida JC
25. Washington Nationals – David Peterson, LHP, Oregon
26. Texas Rangers – Heliot Ramos, OF, Puerto Rico HS
27. Chicago Cubs – Nick Allen, SS, California HS
28. Toronto Blue Jays – Brendon Little, LHP, State JC of Florida
29. Texas Rangers – Matt Sauer, RHP, California HS
30. Chicago Cubs – Mark Vientos, IF, Florida HS
31. Tampa Bay Rays – Tanner Houck, RHP, Missouri
32. Cincinnati Reds – Blayne Enlow, RHP, Louisiana HS
33. Oakland Athletics – Hans Crouse, RHP, California HS
34. Milwaukee Brewers – Luke Heimlich, LHP, Oregon State
35. Minnesota Twins – Hagen Danner RHP/C/IF, California HS
36. Miami Marlins – Seth Romero, LHP, Houston

Next: Discussing the Braves' Choices

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!!

Benjamin Chase

I live in rural South Dakota, where I picked up the love of baseball from my great grandmother and my grandfather. I've enjoyed passing on the game to my nephews and now to my own children. I love evaluating the minor leagues and often have a game on the computer and the TV at the same time!