Atlanta made a splash on Day One with four picks, all used to build out the farm’s pitching depth with high-upside talent. With those picks expected to use up a significant chunk of the team’s draft bonus pool, the Braves targeted some of the best college seniors late in Day Two, but not before adding two more young right-handers with good command and at least one plus pitch.
Other Entries In This Series:
Day One (Rounds 1-2)
Day Three (Rounds 11-20)
Third Round
Drake Baldwin, C
Age: 21
School: Missouri State University
Hometown: Madison, WI
After concentrating on building up the organization’s pitching depth in Day One, the Braves came out swinging on offensive prospects on Day Two. Baldwin mashed in his junior year at Missouri State to a .341/.448/.647 line and 19 home runs and was regarded as one of the better offensive catchers in this year’s draft. Baldwin reportedly also uses all fields and has shown good selectivity, striking out and walking at equal rates. Baldwin is also a rare left-handed hitting catcher, adding to his attractiveness for the Braves.
The questions on Baldwin are on the defensive side, though it has reportedly improved over the last year. That said, an average arm may see him forced to another position as he advances in the pros, but Baldwin appears more athletic than the typical catcher and that could help him make to the change. That said, expect the Braves to give him every opportunity to stick behind the plate.
Fourth Round
David McCabe, 1B/3B
Age: 22
School: University of North Carolina – Charlotte
Hometown: Courtice, Ontario
The Braves went big in round four, 6′-4″ and 230 pounds big. So big that this Canadian’s nickname is “Big Maple”.
McCabe hit .386/.513/.784 his sophomore season in 2022 and swatted 30 home runs in only 96 collegiate games. That power will likely play in the big leagues, but the question remains where he will play on the diamond. He played some third and even some shortstop at UNC-Charlotte, but he will almost certainly end up at first base, if not designated hitter. In fact, this is likely a selection Atlanta would not make without the introduction of the designated hitter rule in the National League.
A switch hitter, McCabe has displayed above-average to plus hit from both sides, though his power primarily comes from the left side. McCabe shows selectivity as well as power, and he walked more than he struck out in college.
Fifth Round
Ignacio Alvarez, 3B
Age: 19
School: Riverside (CA) Community College
Hometown: Fontana, CA
It’s around this part of the draft when there will occasionally pop up a selection that the draft pundits — in this case MLB Pipeline’s Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis — simply have no information on. Typically they source some information and swing back around to them on the broadcast. One of the first times that happened in this draft was when the Braves took Alvarez with the 155th pick.
That’s absolutely not to say that this selection was a “reach”, to use a football draft term. Plenty of baseball folks familiar with the California amateur scene quickly spoke out about Alvarez, who was described as a quick-twitch type at the plate and in the field, with good hit and potential power that he hasn’t tapped into yet. In the field he has played third and second, though the video I’ve seen would lean to second base thanks to average arm action. At both positions he looked to have good instincts and hands.
Sixth Round
Seth Keller, RHP
Age: 18
School: Hanover HS
Hometown: Mechanicsville, VA
Another prep right hander, the Braves are turning their back — at least this year — on hoarding big-bodied workhorse pitchers and concentrating on young pitchers who already show good control at the high school level to match with at least one solid-plus pitch. For the 5′-10″, 185 pound Keller that solid-plus pitch is a low-spin split-change that drops off the table at 81-83 and pairs well with a low-90s fastball that probably has another gear. A slurvy breaking ball is a third pitch that the Braves will have him tighten up in short order.
Keller is the third 2022 Gatorade High School Player of the Year they have drafted after Murphy and Ritchie, this time from Virginia. Keller is more of a project than Day One’s Owen Murphy or J.R. Ritchie due to his younger age — he just turned 18 in May — and smaller frame, but he has intriguing upside, especially for this late in the draft.
Seventh Round
Adam Maier, RHP
Age: 20
School: University of Oregon
Hometown: Vancouver, BC
The Braves have liked cold-weather arms in this draft, but Maier takes it to a new level by also being an infielder until relatively late in his amateur career. Thanks to the COVID shutdown he has thrown only 60 innings in college, and only 15.2 innings after he transferred to Oregon, finally getting to the mound in 2022 but having to stop throwing after an elbow injury forced him into a brace. What he showed however was impressive, and the public consensus was that he would head back to Oregon for more experience because the potential him to be drafted significantly higher than the seventh round.
While his fastball velocity is ho-hum in the 91-94 range, it has an elite spin rate hat makes it explode in the zone, generating both swing-and-miss and ground balls. This is complemented with an equally explosive slider that is his main strikeout weapon. He also has a change-up that also sinks but at around 10 mph slower than the fastball. He has shown good control and is young for a college draftee.
Eighth Round
Jason Franks, RHP
Age: 23
School: California Polytechnical – San Luis Obispo
Hometown: Novato, CA
Franks is a never-give-up story who was playing club ball before joining Cal Poly where he closed in his senior year, pitching to a 3.17 ERA with 11 saves and 69 strikeouts in 54 innings on the back of a 91-93 mph 2-seamer with natural glove-side run.
Ninth Round
Cory Acton, 2B
Age: 23
School: University of Georgia
Hometown: Plantation, FL
Acton transferred to Georgia in his senior year after seeing his playing time start to diminish with Florida his junior season. Acton hit .266/.395/.401 with the Dawgs and drew good reviews for his leadership and hustle. A solid glove at second and someone likely to be a welcome teammate in the minors, especially the pitchers that play in front of him.
Tenth Round
Andrew Keck, C
Age: 23
School: Southwest Missouri State University
Hometown: Cape Girardeau, MO
The third in a string of draft pool-saving senior signs, Keck is a bat-first catcher who hit .326/.403/.638 with a career-high 17 homers in the Ohio Valley Conference, and for fun he also stole 11 bases. Another senior with good intangibles, minor league teams need “glue” guys like this.
Leave a Reply