Atlanta Braves draft day primer: Staff writers reveal their picks

At # 21 the Atlanta Braves select . . .

This selection is the one most likely to land a pitcher and there should be plenty of comparable arms around.

Jake, Matthew, and Clint: Brennan Malone (6’5″/210 RHP) – Matt says Malone is raw with tremendous upside and while there is risk, the reward could be huge.

Clint compared him to Carter Stewart with a power slider instead of a curve and said, “Malone should slide in as a high upside hard-throwing righty. He’s big, he throws hard, and he’s young. That’s the starter rotation potential the Braves are looking for.”

Alan wants a SS, either Anthony Volpe or Matt Lugo, whichever they think will hit. Volpe might hit, but he’s a Vanderbilt commit and unlikely to sign cheap. Lugo is a project. Gunner Henderson is the SS to pick.

This position is an organizational need, though there are several options in this part of the draft, and the Braves could wait until pick 60 to fill it.

Andrew: Michael Busch 1B/OF – The Braves like utility men, and Busch is that in spades. He established himself as an offensive weapon hitting the ball to all fields and never giving away at-bats, Busch brings the elusive and highly sought after consistent bat to the Atlanta Braves system, posting a solid .322/.450/.567 with six homers in 27 games last summer.

Me: Danny Espino (6’2″/200 RHP, Georgia Premier Academy (Prep)) – Espino has the best stuff in the draft and an upside of a front-of-the-rotation starter, He’s a bit undersized for that kind of gas at 6’2″, and his funky motions needs some work, but he has two plus breaking pitches, and worst case ends up a Billy Wagner type reliever.

Ben: I’d put my bet on a prep arm, with (Matt) Allan and (Quinn) Priester the two most linked, but Espino a strong possibility.

That’s a wrap

Other players caught my eye, but I felt the system had players of that ilk:  Corbin Carroll is one of those. On the whole, this is a thin draft class making selections an even bigger gamble.

If past years are anything to go by, we’ve missed on all of our selections, or, at best, on the non-pitchers. All becomes clear beginning this evening at 7pm eastern time on the MLB Network.

I’ll be live Tweeting during the draft and commenting here as well. Stop by and let us know how the evening is going,