Round 9, Pick 279 - Riley Gowens (RHP) - Illinois University
Gowens is another RHP college arm for the Braves and features a fastball that sits in the low 90s range and a curveball that is considered one of his best pitches as well.
He struggled a bit in 2023 as he was 2-3 with a 6.30 ERA over 12 starts. He was hit hard but there are enough impressive metrics there that the Braves would be silly not to take a chance on him. His walk-to-strikeout ratio is fantastic as he walked 16 batters while striking out 75 through 60 innings.
He had been sidelined due to Tommy John surgery through the 2019 and 2020 seasons. His first year on the mound for Illinois was in 2021 and he found himself a part of history as you'll find in the clip above. Gowens started a game that became a combined no-hitter and that was the first for Illinois since 1985. His line for that game was 7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 BB, and 6 K.
There is plenty of upside with this pick and he could be a great addition for the Atlanta Braves in the next couple of years.
Round 10, Pick 309 - Pier-Olivier Boucher (OF) - Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Boucher is a Canadian-born player who grew up playing hockey and is still relatively new to baseball. Sounds similar to Mike Soroka and Tom Glavine who played hockey and ended up being great at baseball. He went to Indian Hills Community College in 2020 and 2021.
OHHH π¨π¦!!
β Saluki Baseball (@SIU_Baseball) May 8, 2022
Pier Olivier-Boucher hits his sixth home run of the season to give us our first lead of the day in the 10th! pic.twitter.com/9J3osi0AEY
He then transferred for his last two years at Southern Illinois University where he put up strong numbers. He hit .335 in 2023 with 24 home runs and 76 RBI. Heβs known for having a great mix of speed and power as you can see from those numbers. He stole 19 bases in 2023 which led the team for that season.
He does have a lot of swings and misses with 92 of them combined across 2022 and 2023. However, with him still getting his legs under him as it pertains to baseball, there's a lot of room for growth in that area. This is a pick we will want to keep our eyes on.