With their 2025 draft class, the Atlanta Braves changed things up quite a bit. For the longest time, the Braves focused their early picks on pitching since that is what they know well, and then they just took their chances on risky over-slot picks and hoped for the best. Last year, they spent most of their early picks on bats with the notable exception of Briggs McKenzie, who is working out great so far. In 2026, we may end up seeing another change in the Braves' strategy.
We often hear about teams just taking the "best player available" when it comes to the MLB Draft, and that does make sense. However, there is often more nuance to who is considered "best" and for what reasons that is or isn't true than you would think. Organizations can vary widely with their evaluations of players based on the information they have collected and what they value most.
For the Braves, that is a tough puzzle to solve. They know pitching, but could use more hitting prospect depth. College players can help sooner, but high school picks often have more upside. The truth, if recent mock drafts are to be believed, is that the Braves are viewing their No. 9 overall pick through the lens of maximizing value both from the pick itself as well as for their draft bonus pool.
Recent mock drafts seem to show that the Braves don't care about position or need with this upcoming draft class
At first glance, Atlanta being connected to Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick in MLB Pipeline's latest mock draft isn't THAT weird. In a vacuum, Helfrick is considered by many to be a top 10 prospect in this draft class at a premium defensive position where there is a dearth of talent across MLB.
However, the Braves already have both Drake Baldwin and Sean Murphy at catcher for the foreseeable future. For some, going after a college catcher with the Braves' top pick when there isn't a conceivable path to playing time for years, in all likelihood. Even in a world where you just draft the "best player available", that decision can look questionable when it comes to a unique position like catcher.
That is where the Braves' value calculus comes in. No one with the Braves thinks that Baldwin is going to be anything less than a star in this league right now. They also don't think they "need" to draft another catcher to pair with him regularly. However, what Atlanta absolutely wants are prospect assets worth having at all that other teams want. The odds are good that the Braves probably have a handful of guys that they think are "worth" picking ninth overall, and Helfrick certainly qualifies there. If those options aren't available to them for whatever reason, going with an under-slot option they like (as was the case with Tate Southisene last year) and using the savings to add more impact talent just makes sense.
In Helfrick, the Braves would get exactly what they want. They may not "need" a catcher anytime soon, but most of the rest of the league sure as hell does. For a team like the Braves that plans on contending every single year, having tradeable assets that are very much in demand has a lot of benefits. It may not be the sexiest rationale or a great story, but that doesn't mean it is wrong.
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