Atlanta Braves MLB Draft: 3 College Hitters to Target in 1st Round

We continue our coverage of the 2020 MLB Draft by looking at three college hitters the Atlanta Braves could target with their first-round pick.

The other day we look at three college pitchers the Atlanta Braves could take in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft, now we’ll look at three hitters.

Again, we’re only going to be focussing on players who I think will be available at 25.

And to be honest, it’s slim pickings for elite college hitters in the back-half of the first round. All of those guys (Spencer Torkelson, Austin Martin, Nick Gonzales, and Garrett Mitchell) will be gone in the first 10 picks.

But as I talked about the other day when looking at 25th overall picks in the past, a lot of times you’re just looking for safe guys who at worst will end up being role players.

And I think there are a handful of guys the Braves can take here and feel pretty good about that player’s chances of having an impact at the big-league level.

Casey Martin, Arkansas, SS

First is one of my favorite college baseball players in Casey Martin. He burst onto the scene as a freshman hitting .345 with 13 home runs while helping lead the Razorbacks to the College World Series.

The following year he hit .286 with 15 home runs, and then he was off to a slow start in 2020 hitting just .271 with 2 home runs in 15 games.

To me, Martin is a power-hitting Dustin Pedroia at second base, which I think is his future position. He has developed a lot of swing-and-miss, but that’s the game today and as long as he hits 20-plus home runs at second base, no one will really care.

Nick Loftin, Baylor, SS

I recently wrote about Loftin after Baseball America picked him as the choice for the Braves in their latest mock draft, so make sure you check that out for more of my take on him.

He comes with a lot more upside than Martin if you believe he can stay at shortstop.

Justin Foscue and Jordan Westburg, Mississippi State, INF

I’m doubling up with Mississippi State infielders here because these two are so similar.

Whenever I see SEC middle infielders like Foscue and Westburg I immediately want to compare them to Mike Fontenot. They’re just those guys who can play anywhere on the infield really well and hit the ball.

I think Foscue and Westburg will both end up being solid utility players in the big leagues one day.

Foscue hit 14 home runs in 2019 and was hitting .321 with 2 home runs in 2020, while Westburg hit .294 with 6 home runs in 2019 and was hitting .317 with 2 home runs in 2020.

MLB.com projects Westburg to have a higher ceiling but has Foscue with a higher floor even comparing him to Jeff Kent.

I think any of these guys would be solid picks at 25, but none of them are going to have you jumping for joy on draft night.

There will likely be some guys here with higher upsides, but if the Braves decide to play it safe with their top pick and want to go with a bat, I really like these three (four) guys.