2023 MLB Draft Thread

Kuehler to Atlanta has been connected forever. Undersized RHP with a big fastball. People have made the Strider comp not based on talent but what he tries to do. He’s interesting for sure.
 
So the 2nd rounder suggests that they have their sights set on someone who will require some extra money in a later round.

Seems to have worked in the past, so it is likely a good strategy.
 
Kiley has Kuehler ranked 48th:

Kuehler's fastball characteristics are excellent, so his 93-96 mph heater that peaks at 98 mph as a starter may be a plus-plus pitch. He has enough feel and above average offspeed pitches to project as a solid starter, with a fallback as a closer.
 
I really was hoping to avoid going 3 SP today but I think we got very solid value with the first and third picks. Maybe we gamble on some high ceiling HS position prospects overslot.
 
This seems to be the way for AA.

He may go pitcher the next two picks.

College arms with fastball characteristics they like. Hopefully save some money on two and three.

Doubt they are targeting anyone. But will want to go over slot for hs kids late.

Harris and ajss rapid rise a selling point to hs kids .
 
Love Waldrep, and like the Kuechler pick. Hackenberg seems like trade bait in a few years or a BP piece. Would have at least gone position player if they were gonna reach there. I know you can never have too much pitching but we have Schellenbech, AJSS, Murphy, Ritchie to go with the 3 we have on top of what's with the big league club. Gonna take a position guy like anytime?
 
Heyward said:
Love Waldrep, and like the Kuechler pick. Hackenberg seems like trade bait in a few years or a BP piece. Would have at least gone position player if they were gonna reach there. I know you can never have too much pitching but we have Schellenbech, AJSS, Murphy, Ritchie to go with the 3 we have on top of what's with the big league club. Gonna take a position guy like anytime?
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Hackenberg was almost certainly an underslot pick. I really don't think they took him there because they think he's a second round talent.
 
Heyward said:
Love Waldrep, and like the Kuechler pick. Hackenberg seems like trade bait in a few years or a BP piece. Would have at least gone position player if they were gonna reach there. I know you can never have too much pitching but we have Schellenbech, AJSS, Murphy, Ritchie to go with the 3 we have on top of what's with the big league club. Gonna take a position guy like anytime?
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Position guys may have been the focus on the IL front. May be better money spent there vs the drafts first few
Rounds
 
CJ9 said:
Hackenberg was almost certainly an underslot pick. I really don't think they took him there because they think he's a second round talent.
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Yeah, he's clearly underslot for sure. Waldrep is probably gonna take up alot of our pool.
 
Just realized Fangraphs has Waldrep No. 6 overall in this class and a 50 FV. They also have AJ Smith-Shawver as a 50 FV, and he's No. 95 in their top 100.

"Waldrep worked just 16 innings as a freshman and somehow managed to strike out 140 hitters in 90 innings as a sophomore at Southern Miss. He transferred to Florida for his junior year and had a nearly identical season, this time blowing away SEC hitters for most of the year. Waldrep has a power pitcher's vertical attack, with a 94-97 mph fastball and two downer breaking balls. He gets shockingly few in-zone whifs with his fastball right now and instead does most of his damage with his upper-80s screwball-style changeup. It's a devastating, airbender-esque pitch that plays against lefties and righties alike. Waldrep's two breaking balls are basically the same shape, but he adds and subtracts velo in an effective way, lobbing his curve in the zone for strikes and burying his hard slider in the dirt. He has a slam dunk, impact starter's mix, especially if he can make his misses with his fastball smaller and smaller and live at the top of the zone more consistently.

There's some relief risk here. Waldrep's walks were up in 2023 and he issues a free pass nearly every other inning. His athleticism, size and the effort in his delivery (though not quite the delivery itself) are both similar to D-backs righty Drew Jameson, who is still on the starter/reliever fringes right now. But Waldrep's fastball should give him in more in-zone margin for error, and his delivery isn't any more violent or wild than the other top college arms in the draft. There aren't any other pitching prospects in the 2023 draft with four bat-missing offerings. Waldrep has mid-rotation upside and an elite relief floor. He's the second best pitching prospect in the class."
 
So worst case scenario he's ready to close when Iglesias leaves. Best case scenario he's starting when Fried leaves.
 
Heyward said:
Love Waldrep, and like the Kuechler pick. Hackenberg seems like trade bait in a few years or a BP piece. Would have at least gone position player if they were gonna reach there. I know you can never have too much pitching but we have Schellenbech, AJSS, Murphy, Ritchie to go with the 3 we have on top of what's with the big league club. Gonna take a position guy like anytime?
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Well, when we have most of our positions locked up for a decade, that makes things a little easier. Last year we got our 3 HS arms to kind of restock the lower levels of pitching... this year we got two high ceiling college/risky college guys that could be quick movers. We can have the luxury of focusing the International market and late overslot HS guys for younger/lower level position players. With most of our position guys locked up for so long, we can be patient for the young guys to develop. As we have seen this year, pitching depth is never enough.
 
zbhargrove said:
Well, when we have most of our positions locked up for a decade, that makes things a little easier. Last year we got our 3 HS arms to kind of restock the lower levels of pitching... this year we got two high ceiling college/risky college guys that could be quick movers. We can have the luxury of focusing the International market and late overslot HS guys for younger/lower level position players. With most of our position guys locked up for so long, we can be patient for the young guys to develop. As we have seen this year, pitching depth is never enough.
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Yeah, our core other than DH/LF is locked up for the next 4 years at least. Some of those arms are probably trade bait though.
 
I love these first three picks; even the VT guy. The rebuild was essentially constructed with arms, international signings, and trades. Riley and Harris are the only everyday players the Braves acquired in the draft. Think about how many arms we've seen come and go in this organization:

Matt Wisler
Lucas Sims
Jason Hursch
Manny Banuelos
Sean Newcomb
Aaron Blair
Kolby Allard
Touki Tousaint
Luiz Gohara
Joey Wentz
Patrick Weigel
Kyle Muller
Bryse Wilson
Tristan Beck
Wes Parsons
Huascar Ynoa
Tucker Davidson

We've watched the following have some success in Atlanta, but injury or inconsistency, keep me from calling them fixtures of the rotation.

Mike Soroka
Ian Anderson
Kyle Wright
Bryce Elder

The only two guys that seem to be dominant starters are:

Spencer Strider
Max Fried


Thus, there is a need to continually feed arms into the minors in hopes of getting 1 or maybe 2 that can anchor a rotation and a handful that can fill in the back end so you aren't having to spend significant dollars on the staff. The Braves went high school heavy last year on high upside/big risk arms. Unless those guys are going to by on the AJSS rocket trip to the majors (and some of them are already suffering from injury or rehabbing), we need some pitching depth in front of them. These three draft picks are all good arms to put into the system.
 
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