Atlanta Braves round five selection RHP Trey Riley

The Atlanta Braves second pick on day 2 of the 2018 MLB was yet another pitcher.

The Atlanta Braves selected Tristan Beck in round found and another RHP in round five.

Atlanta Braves Select, Trey Riley out of John H Logan Community College,  RHP 6-foot-2 and 200 lbs.

BA Rank #80

Pipeline rank #76. Scouting grades: Fastball: 60 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45

I predicted Trey Riley in my last pre-draft post. Some of this information was included in that post.

The 20-year-old from Edwardsville. Illinois has one of the best two-pitch combinations in the draft. He features easy gas; a 60 graded fastball sitting at 93-95 and touching 97 mph with some cut.

He backs that up heater with a 60 grade that occasionally shows double plus averaging 85-89. His changeup is a work in progress but his curve shows promise of becoming a plus pitch.

His mechanics are improving and at best the addition of that curve or a better change could turn him into a solid middle of the rotation arm. Failing that he has the pure stuff to be a back of the bullpen reliever with closer potential.

That’s a Wrap

Riley’s erratic control cause him trouble when he pitched for Oklahoma, He transferred to Logan, a school with a reputation for turning our solid pitchers and fixed that.

Scouts also felt he allowed emotions to interfere with his concentration.  That seems to be a thing with hard throwers from Illinois. Fortunately we have someone with experience dealing with that on the team now,

Next: In round four they took Beck

Riley throws easy gas, much like fellow Illinois native Mike Foltynewicz. He could be a real find with a solid third pitch.