The 2025 MLB Draft starts on Sunday, and the excitement of new talent in the system already has the staff at Battery Power buzzing. The MLB Draft is quite different from other sports and need rarely, if ever, plays a true role in the selections. The MLB development system simply has too much attrition and is too unpredictable to bother with anything beyond a best player available approach. Still, teams do tend to have strategies, and one of the Braves key strategies is to target high-caliber athletes at key positions on the field. In two ways, this has worked. The Braves have managed to consistently produce pitching and catching prospects to either bolster the major league team directly or as trade pieces, however when it comes to outfielders and middle infielders they have fallen short over the past few drafts. Some of this is availability — really good middle infielders and outfielders just aren’t going to fall into the mid-20’s very often. With the idea in mind that the Braves probably still won’t get a premium hitter at 22nd, it is still valuable to look at the players who could fill the major voids in the Braves system.
Pitching
The Braves always draft pitching, all of their top prospects are pitchers, and even with all of the injuries to the pitching staff they are still a top three team in the major leagues by xFIP. How then can we call pitching a weakness? Pitching is always a weakness. The shelf life of pitching is abysmal, the turnover in bullpens is astonishing, and the attrition rate of pitching prospects is horrifying. So even if fans aren’t very happy that Atlanta probably isn’t targeting Nick Allen’s replacement in the first round, the Braves need to get a whole lot of pitching this year. It’s annoying life, but one that the physics of throwing a baseball dictates.
Gage Wood has become the hot name for Atlanta in the first round, and it’s seeming that he could be a real fall-back option for the Braves if there isn’t a player on their board that drops or if the money isn’t there for one that does. The Braves haven’t really taken a player quite like Wood in the first round, however. The college starters that Atlanta have targeted tend to be players that have a particularly good secondary (Waldrep’s splitter, Shuster’s changeup, Cusick’s slider) and Wood is a player that they would probably put a lot of work into altering his pitch mix. His history of success and his fastball velocity are intriguing and the Braves could find themselves in position to draft him, but despite constant connection to college starting Alex Anthopoulous has only used three of his nine first-round picks on college pitchers.
Kruz Schoolcraft has two major issues. One, he may not get to Atlanta. Two, they may not be able to afford him if he does. Schoolcraft is an incredibly talented pitcher with athleticism, high arm talent, the ability to spin a breaking ball, and the ability to throw a solid changeup. That’s fairly rare for a prep lefty, and it will come at a premium. Schoolcraft represents a huge opportunity for the Braves to add premium talent to the system, but often these late round guys have suitors that are willing to throw them a huge overslot bonus to slip into the compensation rounds. The Braves don’t have that kind of money this season, barring a surprise trade, and would have to hope Schoolcraft’s bonus demands fall closer to their slot value.
Patrick Forbes is another whose landing place could be a little hard to project. He’s a reach in the first round, but could provide bonus savings over Gage Wood while having a similar upside. The Braves have been unafraid to take risks on pitchers with relief risk in the past few drafts, and Forbes would be a developmental piece with elite velocity, spin, and athleticism. The Braves have target players like that in the past with the confidence they can develop them into starters, though if Forbes slips past the Braves at 22 it’s hard to see him sliding all the way to 60.
Josh Hammond is the guy that really screams Braves at this point. Hammond carries a ton of risk, but is a top-tier athlete that the Braves can really mold into whatever sort of pitcher they want. He has the core of a player who can produce velocity and spin his slider, and while there are questions about his ability to command the ball and throw a changeup the Braves are confident in their development team especially with players as young as Hammond. He would be more affordable for the Braves than Schoolcraft, would immediately be one of the best arm talents in the system, and is expected to be available at 22.
Shortstop
Since Dansby Swanson departed the Braves in free agency the shortstop position has been the most obvious gaping hole in the organization. They had some brief success with Orlando Arcia, but their long-term hopes in Vaughn Grissom and Nacho Alvarez both fell short defensively, and their top three prospects in John Gil, Jose Perdomo, Ambioris Tavarez, and Lizandro Espinoza all have very serious questions as to whether they will be able to hit at the major league level. All are also a long way away from the major leagues. In the past three seasons the Braves have ranked 25th in baseball with a 79 wRC+ and there is no real immediate heir to the position.
Steele Hall falls into the category of players that the Braves have hoped would fall to 22 over the past few seasons. Hall’s risk is just that — he probably gets picked up before 22nd. However if he doesn’t he would be the Braves top shortstop prospect right away. Hall is projected to be an above average defender and runner, and while there is a split on how much power he can grow into there seems to be some buzz that the Braves do like him. Now, as a prep shortstop with the need to develop his approach he doesn’t represent an immediate upgrade up-the-middle, and the Braves would still need to look outside of the organization to improve over Nick Allen. However, Hall gives the Braves one more lottery ticket to work with, and given their lack of offense from their current shortstops he would be an intriguing pickup.
There are plenty of shortstops in this year’s draft, but most of them are prep shortstops and the college bats are expected to come off of the board well before Atlanta gets a pick at them. Alex Lodise is almost certainly going to be on the board at 22, but the more interesting option would be if they could try to slide him into the second round. Lodise has the athleticism to stick at shortstop and the power potential the Braves love to see in hitters, though his approach at the plate is a huge red flag that has kept him out of first round pick conversations. The Braves have had solid success in reducing the chase rates of their prospects in the past few seasons, and Lodise could benefit from their teachings at the lower levels.
Ryan Mitchell is an intriguing prep shortstop, but one that may be a bit too much of a tweener to land with the Braves. He is too talented to slide to 60 past the teams in the compensation rounds with high bonus pools, yet picking him at 22 would be a bit early for his talent and projections. Still, Mitchell would come in as arguably the best shortstop prospect in the system, and the Braves have really been targeting players with the potential to produce high on base percentages. Mitchell’s major question is around whether he will stick at shortstop, but the Braves haven’t seemed averse to taking risks on guys at premium positions, and frankly amateur scouting has a long way to go in regards to projecting defensive value. Mitchell has the athleticism to stick at shortstop and a bat that could make him a premium hitter at the position.
Outfield
The Braves have been incapable of locking down a left fielder for the past few seasons, and with Michael Harris II’s production declining year-over-year the outfield unit has been mediocre as a whole over the past few seasons even with an MVP manning right field. While there is some level of excitement about Diego Tornes, Luis Guanipa, and a handful of other young outfielders, there isn’t an outfielder in the system that seems to be even within three years of his major league debut.
Sean Gamble is a prep bat with many of the traits the Braves have targeted in their international prospects. Gamble has elite athleticism and plus bat speed, projects to play an above-average center field, and could grow into above average power. Gamble is far from perfect though, hence why he is even an option for Atlanta at all, and there is a question of how his approach and swing will play at the next level. He ran into swing-and-miss issues that were only mitigated by altering his swing approach, and the Braves would likely ask him to go back to swinging with more authority while trying to improve his hit tool naturally. He is another tweener prep prospect that may be difficult to fit into the Braves plans, but he has huge upside.
Max Belyeu is a player to look at when considering outfielders who could have a relatively quick impact at the major league level. The Braves haven’t been strongly connected to outfielders over the past few years, but Belyeu has an all-around offensive game and power potential from the left side that would fit well in the Braves system. He is another that comes with some approach questions, but that’s again an area the Braves are confident in developing players. The same goes on the defensive end, where he would not be expected to play center field with Atlanta and though he likely would throughout the minor league system, he projects as a potentially above-average corner outfielder with enough power to be a solid major league starter.
Gavin Turley would be a risky fit in the second round, but if the Braves believe they can improve his contact ability he also has a rare level of upside from a college player in this range. Turley has standout bat speed, athleticism, and power, but his mercurial approach has led scouts to be concerned that his swing-and-miss will always outweigh his raw tools. However, Turley draws plenty of walks and can play a solid center field defensively. He’s a huge risk but one with upside greater than most any player in the system, and definitely above any of the outfielders in the system above the A-ball level.