Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday, Version 6.0

Atlanta Braves Mock Draft Monday: The Braves’ Picks

5. MacKenzie Gore, LHP, North Carolina HS

This will likely be the most expensive of the options that the Atlanta Braves are considering with their first selection. There are some debates on other names, but the consistent names you find in every report on who the team is looking at hard include just one high school pitcher – Gore.

Sure, there are hard looks at guys like Shane Baz, Trevor Rogers, Sam Carlson, and even a few others, but Gore has been the only pitcher other than Vanderbilt righty Kyle Wright to be mentioned among the group the Braves are interested in consistently.

The other names are all hitters – Austin Beck, Jordan Adell, Nick Pratto, Royce Lewis – and it seems each of them would likely come a bit cheaper than Gore, who could project as high as #2 if things break a certain way draft day.

Gore is very feasibly the most expensive of the bunch, but he could also have the most upside of the bunch. In having a few conversations with those who have seen him in person, I’ve heard consistently that his stuff is as exciting as any pitcher in the draft, including Hunter Greene, and I’ve had a few mention to me that he has a higher ceiling than many in the Braves organization currently.

I will say that a few new names did circulate recently that could be interesting first round targets to keep an eye on. First is a guy that I mentioned way back in my first mock in outfielder Heliot Ramos. One of the youngest players in the entire draft, Ramos has been a Braves favorite from the early going, and there are some talks starting to float that he could be an under slot target at #5 overall.

The other guy is someone who has been quickly jumping up the board as the draft nears, and you can see that as he’s in his highest position I’ve mocked him thus far in UC-Irvine’s Keston Hiura. I heard from two people in California that the Braves were working him out recently, and that is news as typically the team doesn’t do that this late in the process unless there is legit interest. Hiura likely will need an elbow procedure, but as a position player, he has a tremendous bat that could profile as a 65 hit tool and 55-60 power tool, akin to a Joey Votto type that can handle second base or the outfield.

Round 2, Pick 41 overall: Tristan Beck, RHP, Stanford

I can already hear the fans going ballistic. Two more pitchers in the first two rounds! Aren’t the minor league rotations already full?! Who will score runs for all these pitchers?! LOUD NOISES!!!

Beck is a guy who has long been rumored to be a Brave this season. He had a back issue early in the season that was rumored to be something that would require surgery, but was something that he could pitch through with pain this season. When he did not return to Stanford this season, it was very widely rumored that he had a deal in place to not pitch the rest of the season to protect himself.

Beck very likely could be a guy whose deal pushed him up to be the #5 overall pick as well, so don’t be surprised if that is the case, much like Cal Quantrill did last season with the Padres.

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.

If the team goes Gore and Beck, it would likely mean two guys very near slot, and the Braves would very probably go hard after one guy in the 3rd round and it’d be a lot of senior signs after that (Matt Powers at Talking Chop has a great article on senior sign candidates today – check it out!), simply due to the funds required to pull off that strategy.

If Beck were the #5 overall selection or the team went Hiura/Ramos and Beck 1-2, there could be more money for the #3 and #4 picks and the team would maneuver at that point.

Regardless, the team has shown that their scouting can identify excellent players, even if they aren’t ranked as well pre-draft by some places as where the Braves select them – just consider the success of Mike Soroka and Ian Anderson recently!

Next: Braves Minor League Database

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