Atlanta Braves draft day three: looking for hidden gems

MLB Draft prospect Cody Morissette of Exeter High School holds youth baseball camp with his father, Dave, and brother, Josh in Newburyport June 29, 2021.A66t3774
MLB Draft prospect Cody Morissette of Exeter High School holds youth baseball camp with his father, Dave, and brother, Josh in Newburyport June 29, 2021.A66t3774
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Perhaps Atlanta Braves selectee Kris Anglin will emulate the success of another undersized lefty, Billy Wagner. AFP PHOTO/SCOTT ROVAK (Photo by SCOTT ROVAK / AFP) (Photo by SCOTT ROVAK/AFP via Getty Images)

Undersized lefty

The Atlanta chose another off-the-books player when they selected Kris Anglin, a 5’-11, 175-pound, left-handed pitcher out of Howard College in Texas.

Howard has a reputation for preparing baseball players to move to a four-year school and succeed. According to the Big Spring Herald, that’s exactly why Anglin came to Texas when Covid-19 shutdown baseball at Cal State Bakersfield.

The paper describes Anglin as a long-haired California Kid, and the high-school video of one of his games confirms long blonde locks. The Herald referred to him as a flame thrower, but the video –which was over a year earlier – showed an 88-90 mph fastball. He’s 25 pounds heavier now and an inch taller.

He caught my eye when he started dropping in a 12/6 hook that had batters looking confused. Admittedly they were high school batters, but he was able to spin the breaker with regularity.

When the Western Junior College Athletic Conference All-Conference team was announced on May 30, 2021, Anglin was on it.  He was also named Most Valuable Pitcher for the WJCAC.

"two Hawks were named to the 2021 All-Region V Baseball Team, including pitcher Kris Anglin, who led the league in strikeouts (103)."

Want to play catch –2

Tyler Tolve is a 6’-2, 180-pound catcher out of Kennesaw State. In three years for the Owls, Tolve batted .313/.393/.444/.838 with 15 doubles, six triples, and eight homers.

Despite popping only eight homers for the Owls, Tolve’s showed prowess with a wooden bat. Playing for the Lima Locos in the Great Lakes Summer League during 2019, he batted .320/.430/.479/.909, hit eight doubles, two triples, and five homers in 169 AB. (Calculated from Pointstreak data.)

Baseball America ranked Tolve the number 49 prospect in Georgia entering the draft.

He grew up a Yankee fan. I guess we can forgive that if he has a sterling career as a member of the Atlanta Braves.

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