Atlanta Braves MLB Draft: 10 best 1st round picks of last 30 years
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.
10. Austin Riley (0.1 WAR)
Again, there are a lot of swings and misses for the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the MLB Draft.
The last three guys on this list are still a little unproven at the Major League level, but based on what we’ve seen so far, they belong on this list.
Austin Riley is one of those sandwich picks as he was take in Competitive Balance Round A at pick 41.
And by the way, that 2015 MLB Draft is turning out to be a great one for the Atlanta Braves.
There is obviously a lot of talk about Riley at the moment with him making is Major League debut on Wednesday and going deep in his second at-bat.
It certainly looks like he will be the third baseman of the future for the Braves.
Over parts of five minor leagues seasons he’s hit .284 with 86 home runs in 1,748 at-bats. He also had an OBP of .350.
The biggest concern for Riley is his strikeouts, but he had done a great job of limiting those at Triple-A before getting called up.
We certainly don’t want to overreact to one game in the big leagues and a three week hot streak in Triple-A, but I think there is a chance for Riley to move up this list rather quickly.
9. Ian Anderson
This one is a bit of a stretch as Ian Anderson has yet to throw a pitch above Double-A, but everything we hear about the young starting pitcher points to him being a top of the rotation arm.
He was taken third overall in the 2016 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves and currently ranks as the Braves third-best prospect and the 31st best prospect in all of baseball.
Over four Minor League seasons he has a career ERA of 2.82 with a WHIP of 1.25 and K/9 of 10.6.
His numbers in 2019 at Double-A have not been great, but it’s solely due to his struggles with command. He’s walked 28 batters in 35.2 innings, while only allowing 26 hits.
That BB/9 of 7.1 is way above his career number of 4.3, so I expect that to level out.
Even with that high walk rate, he has a respectable ERA of 4.04 with 47 strikeouts.
I considered putting Kyle Wright in this spot, but it’s sometimes its easier to get excited about the unseen than what we have seen. Wright’s current -0.3 WAR does not look great at the moment, but that obviously subject to change and I think he will be a fine Major League pitcher.
But even before the season started, I think most people believed Ian Anderson would be the Atlanta Braves top pitching prospect and one who could lead the rotation pretty soon.
8. Mike Soroka (1.5 WAR)
If Mike Soroka keeps pitching like he has, he could wind up near the top of this list.
In his first 11 Major League starts he has an ERA of 2.02 in 62.1 innings with 55 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.19.
This season (2019) he has an ERA of 0.98 in 36.2 innings pitched with 34 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.01.
And he’s given up just one home run in his first 62.1 innings in the big leagues.
Oh, and he’s allowed 1 run or fewer in nine of his first 11 Major League starts, including is first six starts of the 2019 season.
Just based on those numbers alone, he already belongs on this list. But again, if he keeps pitching like this, and he’s capable of doing so, he could be one of the best first-round picks by the Atlanta Braves of all-time.
Soroka was taken with the 28th overall pick of the 2015 MLB Draft and posted a 2.84 ERA in 370.2 innings pitched in the Minor Leagues before getting called up.
The righty just has a mature approach on the mound and never seems to be fazed.
Hopefully he has put his shoulder issues behind him and we can count on him to toe the rubber every fifth day for a long time in Atlanta.
7. Jason Marquis (6.8 WAR)
Another supplemental first round pick, Jason Marquis was taken with the 35th overall pick in the 1996 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves.
Marquis didn’t have the best numbers in the Minor Leagues with a 4.10 ERA in 647.1 innings pitched with a WHIP of 1.39.
But he made his debut with the Braves in 2000 and gave them a couple of solid seasons, but most of his best work was done for other teams.
He spent three seasons with the Atlanta Braves and had a 4.45 ERA in 307.2 innings pitched.
For his career he had a 4.61 ERA in 1,968.1 innings pitched making 318 starts over 15 years in the big leagues.
He made an All-Star appearance with the Colorado Rockies in 2009 when he won 15 games with a 4.04 ERA in 216 innings.
Marquis was also a solid Major League hitter — for a pitcher — as he hit .196 in his career with 5 home runs.
The fact that Jason Marquis is on this list tells you just how rare it is for a first-round pick to become a major impact player for the team that drafted them.
When I do this list again in a year or two, I fully expect Marquis to drop off this list. But he put together a very solid Major League career, good enough to last 15 seasons in the big leagues.
6. Mike Minor (13.1 WAR)
I’m a little bias towards Mike Minor as I was a fan of his at Vanderbilt and got to watch him a ton in college.
But the seventh overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft has put together a very solid career for himself.
He posted a 3.60 ERA in the Minor Leagues over 299.2 innings before getting his big league debut with the Atlanta Braves in 2010.
His first two seasons in the big leagues were a little rough, but he finally put it together in 2012 when he posted a 4.12 ERA in 30 starts.
And then he looked like a future top of the rotation arm for the Atlanta Braves in 2013 when he posted a 3.12 ERA in 32 starts in 204.2 innings with 181 strikeouts.
But the following season he really started to struggle again because of injuries and he wouldn’t pitch in the big leagues again until 2017.
Since coming back he’s been incredible both as a reliever and a starter.
He’s currently leading the Texas Rangers starting rotation with a 2.61 ERA in nine starts with 56 strikeouts in 58.2 innings pitched.
Overall with the Braves, he was 38-36 with a 4.10 ERA in 652.2 innings pitched.
I’m really happy that Mike seems to have put his injuries behind him and is able to find success in the big leagues again.
Maybe he can help the Braves down the stretch in 2019?
5. Kelly Johnson (17.9 WAR)
Kelly Johnson had a very interesting career with the Atlanta Braves as he always seemed to find his way back to Atlanta.
He spent the first four years of his career with the Atlanta Braves after being drafted 38th overall by them in the 2000 MLB Draft.
And then the utility player came back to spend parts of the 2015 and 2016 seasons with the Braves before calling it a career after 11 seasons in the big leagues.
Coming up through the Braves Minor League system, he hit .280 with 75 home runs in 2,207 at-bats.
In 2005 he was hitting .310 with 8 home runs in 192 at-bats before getting the call to the big leagues.
With the Braves he hit .262 with 55 home runs in just under 2,000 at-bats.
Overall for his career, which included stops with the Diamondbacks, Mets, Blue Jays, Rays, Red Sox, Yankees, and Orioles, he hit .251 with 155 home runs in 4,543 at-bats.
I always liked Kelly Johnson when he was with the Atlanta Braves. He seemed like a great teammate and a guy who tried really hard even though he may not have been the most talented player on the field.
4. Jeff Francoeur (6.7 WAR)
Putting Jeff Francoeur fourth on this list is purely a biased pick as a fan, but I also think he did a lot of great things for the Atlanta Braves.
And he’s another guy who started his career with the Braves and found his way back to Atlanta in the end.
Frenchy was the 23rd overall pick in the 2002 MLB Draft out of Parkview High School in Georgia.
He flew through the Braves Minor League system hitting .276 in 2004 with 18 home runs, and then he made his big league debut in 2005 hitting a home run in his first game.
The hometown boy had unrealistic expectations placed on him with Sports Illustrated putting him on their cover with the headline “The Natural.”
He set expectations high himself by hitting .300 in his rookie season with 14 home runs.
And he was really solid the next two seasons in Atlanta as well hitting .260 with 29 home runs and then .293 with 19 home runs while playing in all 162 games in those 2006 and 2007 seasons.
Not to mention he had one of the best arms in the outfield and won a Gold Glove in 2007.
But he really started to decline after that as he seemed like he struck out or grounded into a double play every time he came to the plate.
3. Jason Heyward (35 WAR)
Another local kid with high expectations that didn’t quite pan out with the Atlanta Braves is Jason Heyward.
(FYI, the only two player jersey shirts I ever bought were Frenchy and Heyward. After that I vowed to never buy another shirt again with a player’s name on it)
Taken with the 14th overall pick in the 2007 MLB Draft, Heyward tore it up in the minors and was already being put in the Hall of Fame before his first big league at-bat.
And then after he took Carlos Zambrano deep in his first big league at-bat, the expectations rose even higher.
That 2010 season Heyward made his first, and only, All-Star appearance and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year vote after hitting .277 with 18 home runs.
The next season was basically a throw away season as he battled injuries and hit just .227 with 14 home runs.
In 2012 he finally started to look like the player we all thought he could be as he hit .269 with 27 home runs, 82 RBI, and 21 stolen bases, while also winning his first Gold Glove.
But then in 2013 he struggled and played in just 104 games. And then in 2014 when he was healthy again he put up so-so numbers and was eventually traded that following offseason.
Over five years with the Atlanta Braves he hit .262 with 84 home runs in 2,458 at-bats.
His defense has always been elite as he has won 5 Gold Gloves, but the bat never became what we thought.
He’s still been a very productive Major League player and won a World Series with the Chicago Cubs. Not to mention he signed a $184 million contract.
I’ll always have a special place in my heart for Heyward, and wish him the best.
2. Steve Avery (13.8 WAR)
Having Steve Avery this high might be a bit of stretch when you consider his whole career, but what he did for this franchise is unquestionable.
Avery is where it really all began when you go back to the 1988 MLB Draft when he was selected third overall.
He really only spent two-and-a-half years in the Minor Leagues before getting called up in 1990.
That rookie season was rough as he posted a 5.64 ERA in 99 innings with 75 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.68.
But he really turned it around in that worst-to-first season as he went 18-8 with a 3.38 ERA in 210.1 innings over 35 starts. That would begin a run of three straight seasons in which he made 35 starts.
He had his best season in 1993 when he made the All-Star team and posted a 2.94 ERA in 223.1 innings with a 1.16 WHIP.
He started to regress during the shortened 1994 season.
Thankfully, he was around when the Atlanta Braves broke through and won the World Series in 1995 despite him having an ERA of 4.67.
He still had a great start in the NLCS and in the World Series that year.
In seven seasons with the Atlanta Braves he posted a 3.83 ERA in 1,222.1 innings pitched and racked up 72 wins in just over 200 starts.
1. Chipper Jones (85.2 WAR)
Where you thinking it would be somebody else?
Chipper Jones is one of the greatest players in Atlanta Braves history, and might be one of the best first overall picks in the history of the game.
The Atlanta Braves made the best decision in the history of this organization by selecting Chipper with the first overall pick in the 1990 MLB Draft.
The Hall of Famer spent all 19 years with the Atlanta Braves where he hit .303 with 468 home runs and 1,623 RBI.
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He’s in the top three in almost every offensive category for switch-hitters in the history of the game.
Chipper won the NL MVP in 1999 when he hit .319 with 45 home runs and 110 RBI. Interestingly enough, he didn’t make the All-Star team that year.
He also was a big part of the team that won the World Series in 1995.
I say this every time I bring up Chipper’s career, but the only thing that really upsets me is he never won a Gold Glove.
Personally, I thought he should have won at least one Gold Glove as he was one of the best at picking the ball at third and bare-handing slow rollers.
But Chipper is amazing and I’m so glad I was able to watch him throughout his entire career.
Braves: Top 10 rookie seasons. dark. Next
The Atlanta Braves hope to see a couple of names added to — and moved up — this list in the next couple of years with some of their recent first-round picks.