Latest Baseball America mock draft has Braves picking college arm on the rise again

We are firmly in the month of May now which means that the Atlanta Braves will be adding their next wave of prospects in 2025 MLB Draft in a couple of months. This is the time of year when the hierarchy of draft prospects is starting to solidify their positions and teams try to figure out how much it will take to sign them. For the Braves, that has often meant they wait to see which arm falls in their laps towards the back of the first round which is exactly what Baseball America has happening in their latest mock draft.

Being this far out from the draft, mock drafts can be an exercise in futility as no one really knows who is taking who yet as those decisions haven't been finalized by any organization yet. However, what mock drafts can do is give us a window into industry sentiment regarding what demographics teams are looking at and the ranges where most experts think players will go.

In the Braves' case, BA's Carlos Collazo thinks that when Atlanta picks in the first round, Alabama RHP Riley Quick could be their pick.

Baseball America has college righty Riley Quick go to the Braves in latest mock draft

There is no denying that the Braves love taking pitchers in the first round with their last six first round picks being arms and there is a lot to like with Quick. He has a massive frame at 6'6, 255 pounds which helps with extension and features a fastball that sits in the mid-90's, a wipeout slider that he can change the shape of to be effective against lefties and righties, and a changeup that has some decent movement, but could use some more separation from his fastball.

The only reason that Quick gets this far in BA's mock is the combination of relatively human numbers in college this year as well as the fact that he missed all of 2024 after having Tommy John surgery. There are some that think Quick's command hasn't recovered this season to warrant being picked higher, although Collazo freely admits that Quick's arm talent could easily get him selected before the Braves pick.

Again, Braves should really be hoping that a bat they like falls to them in the first round as that is a real weakness in Atlanta's talent pipeline. However, it is hard to disagree with the notion that they should just pick the best player available. If Quick is sitting there at #22, it seems likely that he would be the best option as he has a chance to be a special arm.

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