2022 MLB Draft Thread

Hudson2 said:
He had minor shoulder surgery I believe in the offseason and has looked good since coming back.
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That’s what Boras wanted people to believe considering he only released partial records on the procedure and refused to show teams any of the MRI images.

But with that being said, if he is there when the Braves pick they have to take him. Especially since they now also have the 35th pick.
 
CJ9 said:
I wonder if the extra money makes Lesko at 20 more likely. He had TJ in late April, so probably late next season at the earliest for him to make his pro debut. It would probably be pretty costly, too.

But he’s was pretty unquestionably viewed as the best pitcher in this draft before TJ.
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Before TJ, he was pretty much the best SP prospect since Strasburg at least
 
Baseball America did a mock today of the first 60 picks where a few writers alternated picks based on who they would take, not based on any intel. I do think it's a good general idea of a draft I would like.

They had Tennessee OF Drew Gilbert at 20, Alabama LHP Connor Prielipp at 35, then HS infielder Cameron Smith at 57.

I actually like that Gilbert/Prielipp combo a lot, and it shouldn't break the bank to get those two or two similar players. Then you can spend a decent amount at 57 on a high school player.
 
CJ9 said:
Baseball America did a mock today of the first 60 picks where a few writers alternated picks based on who they would take, not based on any intel. I do think it's a good general idea of a draft I would like.

They had Tennessee OF Drew Gilbert at 20, Alabama LHP Connor Prielipp at 35, then HS infielder Cameron Smith at 57.

I actually like that Gilbert/Prielipp combo a lot, and it shouldn't break the bank to get those two or two similar players. Then you can spend a decent amount at 57 on a high school player.
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I’d like that draft. I think a lot will boil down to who falls. Somebody always does and hopefully they are there at 20. If Rocker or Lesko are there it’ll be hard to pass on them.
 
Wonder if we would have enough money to grab a Rocker/Lesko at 20 and Prielipp at 35... Would that be too pitcher heavy draft.. But any 2 of those 3 would be a potential ace coming up through the system.
 
Total speculation by me: I think Chandler Pollard makes a lot of sense as a high schooler for us to take at some point. Athletic middle infielder with power. He’s from 30 minutes west of Atlanta and committed to Washington State. I’d imagine a guy like that would much rather sign with the team he likely grew up rooting for than going to play in college on the other side of the country. Might not even have to go much overslot in that case.

Baseball America has him #113 in their draft ranks, so we likely have to take him with our 3rd or 4th rounder to get him. BA also points out that he just turned 18, so he’s even young for a high school prospect, which model-friendly scouting depts (like ours) tend to favor.
 
Kiley's new mock on ESPN posted this morning. He has us taking Oklahoma St RHP Justin Campbell at 20, also mentions Gonzaga RHP Gabriel Hughes, Oregon State LHP Cooper Hjerpe and Campbell RHP Thomas Harrington. Obviously not super exciting names here, but he says at pick 35, he's hearing us taking a Jacob Miller-type upside high school arm or Arkansas 3B Cayden Wallace. Then with our second round pick, he has us linked to UConn (now Tennessee) LHP Reggie Crawford, Mississippi St RHP Landon Sims or Florida LHP Hunter Barco -- three of the biggest guys who had Tommy John this spring. He ends it with "if that plan doesn't work out, upside high school guys is where the money will be spent."

Obviously not super exciting with the pick at 20, but going underslot with that pick definitely should bring in a pretty deep group of players.

Baseball America and Prospects Live are also putting their mocks out today, so we'll see if their info matches.
 
CJ9 said:
Kiley's new mock on ESPN posted this morning. He has us taking Oklahoma St RHP Justin Campbell at 20, also mentions Gonzaga RHP Gabriel Hughes, Oregon State LHP Cooper Hjerpe and Campbell RHP Thomas Harrington. Obviously not super exciting names here, but he says at pick 35, he's hearing us taking a Jacob Miller-type upside high school arm or Arkansas 3B Cayden Wallace. Then with our second round pick, he has us linked to UConn (now Tennessee) LHP Reggie Crawford, Mississippi St RHP Landon Sims or Florida LHP Hunter Barco -- three of the biggest guys who had Tommy John this spring. He ends it with "if that plan doesn't work out, upside high school guys is where the money will be spent."

Obviously not super exciting with the pick at 20, but going underslot with that pick definitely should bring in a pretty deep group of players.

Baseball America and Prospects Live are also putting their mocks out today, so we'll see if their info matches.
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Would love to see Wallace in the Braves system. He's a decent contact guy with good but not elite power, plus defender at both 3B (2022) and corner OF (2021). Also a draft-eligible sophomore, so younger than most college draftees. Probably the best offensive player to come from the state of Arkansas in a long time...maybe since Torii Hunter.
 
DirkPiggler said:
Would love to see Wallace in the Braves system. He's a decent contact guy with good but not elite power, plus defender at both 3B (2022) and corner OF (2021). Also a draft-eligible sophomore, so younger than most college draftees. Probably the best offensive player to come from the state of Arkansas in a long time...maybe since Torii Hunter.
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He turns 21 next month so your talking a few months younger, at most. Not that it really matters. I have seen him play a few times and liked his skill set.
 
DirkPiggler said:
Would love to see Wallace in the Braves system. He's a decent contact guy with good but not elite power, plus defender at both 3B (2022) and corner OF (2021). Also a draft-eligible sophomore, so younger than most college draftees. Probably the best offensive player to come from the state of Arkansas in a long time...maybe since Torii Hunter.
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Interesting. His stat line looks pretty good. I read Keith Law's scouting report, and he has him in the 70s for this draft while citing pitch recognition concerns. That definitely scares me some.
 
AA is so unpredictable who knows what he’ll do. I’m sure they’ll spread the money around instead of getting a stud early. But I hope is Lesko is there they take him.
 
Prospects Live mock: https://www.prospectslive.com/prospects-live/2022-mlb-mock-draft-n78w7-st9r4-wa35p-2n5ls

Our pick at 20:

Gabriel Hughes, RHP, Gonzaga
The Braves love Horton, but that isn’t happening. They’re also all over Mikey Romero, but this seems a little rich for the pick unless it’s a significant under-slot. I think it boils down to Hughes or Oklahoma State righty Justin Campbell. This seems like the ceiling for Campbell.

At pick 35, it's Oklahoma St RHP Justin Campbell. At 57, it's Iowa RHP Adam Mazur.

Three college righties in our first three picks would be boring, but Romero is a name I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else. His reports say he's a really good defender at shortstop who's more hit over power now.
 
CJ9 said:
Interesting. His stat line looks pretty good. I read Keith Law's scouting report, and he has him in the 70s for this draft while citing pitch recognition concerns. That definitely scares me some.
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If I had to pick a concern about him that's what it would be as well, but I don't see it as something that couldn't be fixed relatively easily. He goes through spells where he has trouble picking up the slider, but then usually adjusts fairly quickly.

I may be underselling his power a bit. In a bit of a meteorological anomaly, for just about every game played at Baum-Walker in the first 2/3 or so of the season the wind was blowing straight in at 10-plus miles per hour, usually heavy on the plus part. I saw more balls than ever this year that I thought were easily gone off the bat end up caught at the wall. It probably cost Cayden at least 3-5 home runs.
 
Baseball America mock has us taking Lesko at 20. Also says "They are linked to plenty of other college arms as well and I’ve also heard them linked to Oklahoma shortstop Peyton Graham." They're adding a new section of names they've heard teams connected to later in the draft - here's the three for us: North Carolina HS C Brooks Brannon, Washington HS RHP JR Ritchie, Oklahoma State RHP/3B Nolan McLean.

At 35, they have Cal OF Dylan Beavers. First time I've seen him connected to the Braves anywhere.
 
have the mocks ever gotten us right since AA been here.. serious question. Seems like we are always surprised in the first round by our pick.
 
bravesfanMatt said:
have the mocks ever gotten us right since AA been here.. serious question. Seems like we are always surprised in the first round by our pick.
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Definitely been rough since Dana Brown took over. I think quite a few got Langeliers right if I'm remembering correctly, but Shuster and Cusick weren't connected to Atlanta much. And it's obviously easier to predict earlier picks like Langeliers. I'm more interested in the overall names that are connected to us.
 
Baseball America just put their top tools out. They have Lesko as the top fastball, changeup and control in the high school class. Pretty impressive.
 
CJ9 said:
Baseball America mock has us taking Lesko at 20. Also says "They are linked to plenty of other college arms as well and I’ve also heard them linked to Oklahoma shortstop Peyton Graham." They're adding a new section of names they've heard teams connected to later in the draft - here's the three for us: North Carolina HS C Brooks Brannon, Washington HS RHP JR Ritchie, Oklahoma State RHP/3B Nolan McLean.

At 35, they have Cal OF Dylan Beavers. First time I've seen him connected to the Braves anywhere.
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Love my "Carolina Kids", but Brannon's iffy to stay behind the plate. Randleman's about 45 miles west of Chapel Thrill for those looking for Randleman High.
 
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