The 2025 MLB Draft is upon us and there is an added bit of urgency for the Atlanta Braves to get their picks right. The farm system is looking awfully barren these days and with the team struggling as much as they have this season, an infusion of actual talent on both sides of the ball would go a long way. However, there is at least some cause for skepticism that the Braves will do what they need to.
While the Braves' scouting department is quite good, their picks in the first round seem to default to picking arms early that fit a very specific profile with a questionable track record of success. That strategy has yielded some talented guys, but has also led to some notable first round misses.
Here are the grades for the Braves last 5 first round picks in the MLB Draft (so far)
This is a snapshot in time, not a final ruling on any of these picks. Players' development is very often not linear and trajectories change all the time. However, we do have enough data to make some updates to our last round of Braves first round grades. It is safe to say that not only do we have a new name to talk about this year, but a lot has changed since last season.
2024 - Cam Caminiti
Grade: B- (incomplete)
Few thought that Caminiti would fall to the Braves in the first round in 2024 as he was thought to be very solidly in the top 15. However, the pick hasn't quite been the boon Atlanta was probably hoping for as Caminiti dealt with arm troubles this spring. He is back on the mound and slowly building up his workload, but exercising some caution for now with Caminiti seems like the play here.
2023 - Hurston Waldrep
Grade: C-
Waldrep was looking like a slam dunk pick last year when he was knocking on the door of the big leagues. While his splitter remains nasty, his fastball's characteristics led to a big step back last season and precipitated a rework in the high minors. There is still time for Waldrep to turn things around, but the odds he ends up as a solid starter in the majors are down at the moment and there is a real chance that he needs to get moved to the bullpen.
2022 - JR Ritchie
Grade: B+
Ritchie's numbers and recent promotion to Double-A would normally make this pick an A in a vacuum. However, the Braves are gonna get dinged a little bit here since Ritchie already needed Tommy John. If he can continue to ascend the minors and put his arm surgery behind him more, this pick will look great. For now, we are just not going to completely jump on the Ritchie bandwagon just yet.
2022 - Owen Murphy
Grade: C
Owen Murphy was a fun pick as he started as a two-way player in high school before the Braves switched him to pitching full-time. Atlanta loves the athleticism that two-way players have on the mound. Murphy was absolutely shoving at high-A Rome before he, too, needed elbow surgery. Murphy definitely isn't a bust yet, but giving a C here allows us to revisit this grade and see how he looks upon his return.
2021 - Ryan Cusick
Grade: D-
This pick stunk at the time and still stinks now. Cusick had triple digit heat during his time at Wake Forest, but had command issues that he never resolved. Unfortunately, the Braves didn't have any options on their board that were more exciting, so they went with his upside. He did at least get included in the Matt Olson trade, so this isn't a total loss. However, Atlanta probably wishes they could have this pick back.
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