Atlanta Braves draft day two: Pitchers, infielders, and others… “oh my”

The Atlanta Braves started the second day of the 2021 draft by continuing to stockpile pitching talent while adding middle infield help as well

The second day of the draft saw the Atlanta Braves add more pitching and depth up the middle. Before you reach for your keyboards to complain that The Braves take too many pitchers, In my pre-draft post, I explained why and said “everyone does it”… and today they did.

Every year fans complain that the Atlanta Braves take too much pitching. On day two, teams selected 276 players:

• 1 Utility man
• 5 first-basemen
• 9 second-basemen
• 14 third-basemen
• 21 Catchers
• 23 Shortstops
• 52 LHP
• 107 RHP

As I noted in the pre-draft post, everyone takes a lot of pitchers. How Many? Through round ten:

• The Angels had ten picks and selected ten pitchers
• The Indians had 11 picks and selected ten pitchers
• The Giants had ten picks and selected nine pitchers
• The Dodgers had nine picks and selected nine pitchers
• The Mets and White Sox had ten picks and selected eight pitchers
• The Tigers had 11 picks and selected eight pitchers
• The Blue Jays had nine picks and selected eight pitchers
• The Cardinals had 11 picks and selected seven pitchers
• The Diamondbacks, Rockies, and Royals had 11 picks and selected six pitchers
• The Phillies, Rangers. and Yankees had ten picks and selected six pitchers

Meanwhile, the Braves had ten picks and selected five pitchers.

Seconds away, round 2

The Atlanta Braves’ first pick in round 2 was Spencer Schwellenbach (ESPN number 46,  MLB Pipeline number 54, BA number 20), a 6’-1, 200-pound shortstop / RHP out of Nebraska. The Braves announce Schwellenbach as a pitcher. (Scouting grades from MLB Pipeline.)

FASTBALL: 60  SLIDER: 60   CHANGEUP: 55  CONTROL: 55  OVERALL: 50

A shortstop until the 2021 season, Nebraska treated his arm gently but used him effectively. He appeared in 18 games out of the pen, threw 31-2/3  innings at a 0.57  ERA. 0.947 WHIP and striking out 34, walking eight, and recording 10 saves.

Schwellenbach features an easy 94-97 fastball that touched 99 but lacks movement, a mid-80s slider, and an average changeup throwing all for strikes. He’s a smart pitcher with good command of all pitches.

He had his UCL repaired as a result of a non-throwing injury, but his velocity indicates that his arm strength is back and impressive.  Like the Braves, most scouts prefer him as a pitcher.

MLB Pipeline notes that everyone loves Schwellenbach’s pure stuff on the mound and scouts have noted some parallels to Jacob deGrom, who barely pitched before his junior year at Stetson.

A pitchability lefty plus

The Atlanta Braves third pick went to Dylan Dodd (ESPN number 173,  MLB Pipeline number 177), a left-handed pitcher out of Southeast Missouri State.

FASTBALL  50  CURVEBALL 45   SLIDER 50  CHANGEUP 60  CONTROL  60  OVERALL 40

Dodd played both ways for Kankakee (Ill.) CC, when they won the 2017 Division II JuCo World Series, moving to pitcher permanently for SE Missouri State.  The Braves love high-spin-rate pitchers and Dodd’s four-seam fastball fits the bill.

It sits in the low 90s, but late-life allows it to play up and miss bats. His secondaries include a plus changeup he’ll throw in any count to any batter and an average mid-80s slider that need a bit more bite, and throws an upper 70’s curve that needs work.

Dodd’s mechanics are simple and repeatable, helping him throw strikes consistently. In his start against the number one ranked Arkansas Razorbacks, Dodd threw six innings allowing two runs and striking out 10. He’s an advanced arm who should move quickly.

Did someone say, shortstop?

The Atlanta Braves moved away from pitchers in the fourth round to select switch-hitting shortstop Cal Conley (BA Number 185) out of Texas Tech.

Conley’s a 5’-10, 185-pound, switch-hitting shortstop, ranked as the number 14 prospect in Texas this year by BA.

He never gives away an at-bat and shows the ability to take a pitch the other way when needed. He’s flashed pull power in college but will need to work to adapt to a wooden bat and projects as an average gap-to-gap hitter.

Defensively, Conley has a fine-tuned internal clock and makes plays to his left with ease, but will probably have to move to second base because he lacks the arm strength to throw from deep in the hole while moving away from first.

The Atlanta Braves returned home to grab their next two picks.

Luke Waddell SS Georgia Tech

Luke Waddell’s name came up as a potential Atlanta Braves target in the 2019 draft. The Diamondbacks selected him in the 32nd round then, but he chose to return to Tech and try to move up.

Baseball American ranked Waddell at number 175 going into the draft and the number ten prospect in Georgia. Listed as a shortstop Waddell also spent time at third base for the Yellow Jackets.

He’s a smooth defender all over the infield and a contact hitter who is extremely difficult to strike out; his 5.7% strikeout rate is near the best in the country. Added to his bat-to-ball skills, this package projects as a top-of-the-order table-setter who runs the bases. Most scouts see him as a super-utility type player with occasional power and a league-average bat.

Teammates together

The Atlanta Braves took Waddell’s partner on the left side of the Yellow jacket’s infield with their next pick.

Justyn-Henry Malloy, is 6’-2, 212-pound third baseman ranked number 214 nationwide by Baseball America and the number 12 prospect in Georgia. Over his three years at Georgia Tech, Malloy batted .279/.438/.494/.931 with 63 walks and 52 strikeouts.

He’s never been a big power hitter, but he hit 11 homers and 17 doubles this season and scouts believe there’s untapped, raw power there. He has a good understanding of the zone but struggles to recognize breaking pitches.

On defense, Malloy shows soft, quick hands with above-average arm strength that can become erratic when he hurries his throws. Scouts suggest he could stick at third once he gets his internal clock synch, or move to second and provide a solid league average bat

A big bat behind the plate

The Atlanta Braves selected Liam McGill, a catcher out of Bryant University in the ninth round.

According to the Providence Journal…

McGill is a former All-Stater who went on to become an Ivy League Rookie of the Year and three-time all-conference selection at Columbia (before transferring) to Bryant

While at Columbia McGill was twice named an All-Ivy League player was a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American in 2017.

For the Lions, McGill batted .316/. 411/.462/.874 with 30 doubles, two triples and 14 homers in 183 games.

This season the 6’4, 225-pound backstop gained national recognition and became a third-string All American by leading the country with a .471/.541/.746/1.287 line in 37 games, walking 22 times and striking out just 23.

His brother Shawn was drafted as a catcher by the Phillies out of Boston College in 2006. He joined the Braves system in 2010 and left affiliated ball in 2013.

Aloha Dylan

When the Atlanta Braves announced their final selection of the day, Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo stared at each other with a blank look and quickly moved on. It’s really not a surprise that they haven’t heard of Dylan Spain lately, he hasn’t pitched for two years.

According to the Hawaii Tribune, Spain is a 6’-6 lefty from Honolulu who sat out this season to prepare for the draft.

“He was very good competitor and there was upside,” Miyataki said of Spain’s recruitment. “(UHH) was great program for him to develop his skills.”

According to his page on Baseball-Reference, Spain pitched for Hawaii-Hilo from 2017 through 2019, throwing 174 innings at a 4.24 ERA. His ERA is inflated by a rough Freshman campaign; in his last two season his ERA set in the mid-threes.

His Tweet says he’s blowing a 95-97 MPH fastball these days.

There’s a video of him as a 2018 Braves open tryout at this link.

That’s a wrap

We’re now at a stage of the draft where there’s little information on a lot of players. This point seems to have appeared a lot earlier this year than I remember it in the past.

I’ll do my best to round up the final ten selections and put together a post after the final rounds. Once the signing bonuses are known I’ll post a summary of how the Atlanta Braves spent their money.