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Atlanta Braves MLB Draft: 10 best 1st round picks of last 30 years

By Jake Mastroianni

ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 05: Chipper Jones #10 of the Atlanta Braves tips his helmet to the crowd before his final at bat before the Braves lose to the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 during the National League Wild Card playoff game at Turner Field on October 5, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 05: Chipper Jones #10 of the Atlanta Braves tips his helmet to the crowd before his final at bat before the Braves lose to the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 during the National League Wild Card playoff game at Turner Field on October 5, 2012 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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SECAUCUS, NJ – JUNE 5: Commissioner Allan H. Bud Selig at the podium during the MLB First-Year Player Draft at the MLB Network Studio on June 5, 2014 in Secacucus, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
SECAUCUS, NJ – JUNE 5: Commissioner Allan H. Bud Selig at the podium during the MLB First-Year Player Draft at the MLB Network Studio on June 5, 2014 in Secacucus, New Jersey. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

With the MLB Draft approaching, we look back at the 10 best first-round picks by the Atlanta Braves over the last 30 years.

The MLB Draft is not as exact as other sports, which is why it’s not nearly as popular. As you’ll see from the Atlanta Braves first-round picks, they are anything but guarantees.

But hitting that first-round pick, especially when picking in the top 10, can do wonders for a franchise.

You look at teams like the Washington Nationals and Houston Astros who turned their respective franchises around with top picks like Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, and Carlos Correa.

Scouting has gotten much better in the past decade, and we are starting to see more hits than misses in the first round of the MLB Draft. But it’s still not a sure thing.

In all honesty, it was hard to find 10 players for this list when looking back at the past 30 years of first-round picks for the Atlanta Braves.

Do you even remember guys like A.J. Zaap, Josh Burrus, or Cody Johnson?

And in this list, I will not be including players like Adam Wainwright who had their success elsewhere, even though Waino would probably be second on this list.

But this list does include players who were taken in the sandwich round between the first and second rounds.

To be fair, the Atlanta Braves were constantly picking towards the end of the MLB Draft in the 90s and early 2000s. From 1992 to 2006 the Braves didn’t have a pick in the top 15.

It’s even harder to project guys who are taken at the backend of the first-round. They’ve done much better with their picks in the top 15.

The Atlanta Braves have two picks in the first round of the 2019 MLB Draft with the ninth and 21st picks.

Hopefully both of those selections will make this list in the future.

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