{"id":66965,"date":"2025-07-09T01:51:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T01:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=66965"},"modified":"2025-07-09T01:51:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T01:51:00","slug":"report-braves-must-avoid-repeating-the-same-mlb-draft-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=66965","title":{"rendered":"REPORT: Braves must avoid repeating the same MLB Draft mistake"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It does not matter who is in charge, the Atlanta Braves’ way of picking players is totally maddening.<\/div>\n<\/header>\n
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\"Alex<\/picture><\/div>
Alex Anthopoulos, Atlanta Braves | Matthew Grimes Jr.\/Atlanta Braves\/GettyImages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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With the 2025\u00a0MLB Draft\u00a0less than a week out, I am once again reminded why this always has been and always will be complete and total snooze for me as an\u00a0Atlanta Braves\u00a0fan. I do not follow college baseball deeply enough to know who any of these players are.<\/p>\n

Even more frustrating, the Braves have a way with their overall draft strategy. It is so incredibly cookie-cutter and by the book, and it’s come back to bite them this season.<\/p>\n

Like we when it comes to\u00a0fantasy football, I always try to take a running back in the first round in most seasons. The Braves prefer to take a pitcher with their first-round pick.<\/p>\n

Since Alex Anthopoulos took over the front office in November 2017, he has participated in seven drafts for the Braves and made nine first-round picks. Of the nine first-round picks he made, seven of them were pitching prospects.<\/p>\n

Here is\u00a0every first-round pick made by the Anthopoulos front office in Atlanta. Do you see the issue?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Year<\/strong><\/th>\nPlayer<\/strong><\/th>\nPosition<\/strong><\/th>\nSchool<\/strong><\/th>\nDraft Pick<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
2018<\/td>\nCarter Stewart<\/td>\nRHP<\/td>\nEau Gallie HS (Melboune, FL)<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2019<\/td>\nShea Langeliers<\/td>\nC<\/td>\nBaylor<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2019<\/td>\nBraden Shewmake<\/td>\nSS<\/td>\nTexas A&M<\/td>\n21<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2020<\/td>\nJared Shuster<\/td>\nLHP<\/td>\nWake Forest<\/td>\n25<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2021<\/td>\nRyan Cusick<\/td>\nRHP<\/td>\nWake Forest<\/td>\n24<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2022<\/td>\nOwen Murphy<\/td>\nRHP<\/td>\nRiverside Brookfield HS (Riverside, IL)<\/td>\n20<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2022<\/td>\nJR Ritchie<\/td>\nRHP<\/td>\nBainbridge HS (Bainbridge Island, WA)<\/td>\n35<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2023<\/td>\nHurston Waldrep<\/td>\nRHP<\/td>\nFlorida<\/td>\n24<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2024<\/td>\nCam Caminiti<\/td>\nLHP<\/td>\nSaguaro HS (Scottsdale, AZ)<\/td>\n24<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Carter Stewart did not sign with the Braves and now plays in Japan. Shea Langeliers, Braden Shewmake, Jared Shuster and Ryan Cusick are all members of other\u00a0MLB\u00a0organizations. (Langeliers, in fairness, did help the team land Matt Olson from the Athletics.) While Owen Murphy, JR Ritchie, Hurston Waldrep and Cam Caminiti are still in the Atlanta organization, the only one I still have hope for being a major player for this team is Caminiti. This is a major Braves problem.<\/p>\n

If you want your mind blown, here are the last seven non-pitchers the Braves took in the first round.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Year<\/strong><\/th>\nPlayer<\/strong><\/th>\nPosition<\/strong><\/th>\nSchool<\/strong><\/th>\nPick<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
2007<\/td>\nJason Heyward<\/td>\nOF<\/td>\nHenry County HS (McDonough, GA)<\/td>\n14<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2007<\/td>\nJon Gilmore<\/td>\n3B<\/td>\nIowa City HS (Iowa City, IA)<\/td>\n33<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2010<\/td>\nMatthew Lipka<\/td>\nSS<\/td>\nMcKinney HS (McKinney, TX)<\/td>\n35<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2014<\/td>\nBraxton Davidson<\/td>\nOF<\/td>\nTC Roberson HS (Asheville, NC)<\/td>\n32<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2015<\/td>\nAustin Riley<\/td>\n3B<\/td>\nDeSoto Central HS (Southhaven, MS)<\/td>\n41<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2019<\/td>\nShea Langeliers<\/td>\nC<\/td>\nBaylor<\/td>\n9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2019<\/td>\nBraden Shewmake<\/td>\nSS<\/td>\nTexas A&M<\/td>\n21<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

So, the only player the Braves have drafted in the first round that is actually contributing to this current team is Austin Riley. I understand that Atlanta does great with international signings and developing its late-round picks, but if the first-round methodology is this broken, then they should probably fix it. From John Schuerholz, to Frank Wren, to John Coppolella, to Anthopoulos, things will never change.<\/p>\n

It almost feels like the Braves are so beholden to pitchers because of Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. And that could rear its head again heading into a 2025 draft class that seems hitter-heavy.<\/p>\n

Atlanta Braves need to stop wasting their time draft first-round pitchers<\/h2>\n

Maybe it is the idea that a pitcher is more likely to make it to the Majors than a position player? I do not really understand the methodology here, but the Braves have more than quintupled down on this.<\/p>\n

Regardless, every year or so, the Braves put forth a promising prospect at the big-league level and he usually makes it work. This year is it Drake Baldwin. Last year was Spencer Schwellenbach and so on.<\/p>\n

While there are plenty of things the Braves do right when it comes to developing their own players at the Minor League level, I would hope they could do a better job of hitting on their first-round picks.<\/p>\n

Not everybody is going to become Chipper Jones, but it should not be this unnecessarily difficult. Perhaps that is The Braves Way in a nutshell? To be as stubborn as humanly possible at all times.<\/p>\n

I will say this: If the Braves draft a pitcher, I will be happy that he is on the only team that matters and I will hope that he can be a huge part of our team’s future, even though I have so much evidence to prove that on the contrary.<\/p>\n

There are stud players to be had all over the country that are just begging to be picked by the Braves in the first round. I would really love a bat that can actually make contact, and most scouts seem to feel that this year’s draft class is deeper with position players than it is with pitchers.<\/p>\n

You’d think that this would be the ideal time for Atlanta to break its draft tendencies, but given Anthopoulos’ recent history, I’m not holding my breath.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, I will continue living my life in a world where prospects will never do anything for me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It does not matter who is in charge, the Atlanta Braves’ way of picking players is totally maddening. 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