Braves look to continue recent MLB Draft prowess with four Day 1 picks

ATLANTA -- You can never have enough arms. But thanks to last year’s selections, the Braves will enter this year’s MLB Draft with their farm system more balanced and as strong as it’s been in a decade.

The Braves gained great value when they took a position player with five of their first six picks in last year’s Draft. Tate Southisene (Braves’ No. 4 prospect), Alex Lodise (Braves’ No. 5 prospect) and Conor Essenburg (Braves’ No. 13) already rank among the organization’s top prospects, per MLB Pipeline. And the pitcher they took with their fourth-round pick, Briggs McKenzie? Well, he could end up being the best of the bunch. The lefty currently ranks as the team’s No. 7 prospect.

With the ninth overall selection and two of the first 26 picks, the Braves have a chance to further fortify their farm with strong selections during this weekend’s Draft.

This marks the first time the Braves have had a top-10 pick since they took American League All-Star Shea Langeliers with the ninth overall pick in 2019. Langeliers was included in the trade that brought Matt Olson from the A’s to the Braves in 2022.

• Day 1 picks: 9, 26, 48, 84, 112
• Bonus pool allotment: $15,870,800 (MLB’s 8th highest total this year)
• Last year’s top pick: Southisene, SS, pick 22 ... The 19-year-old shortstop produced a .929 OPS at the Single-A level this season and was promoted to High-A in June. He’s trying to find his footing against the advanced competition, but he continues to impress with both his bat speed and foot speed. He entered this week’s games with 10 homers and 43 stolen bases over 74 combined games at the two levels.
• Breakout 2025 pick: Dixon Williams, OF, pick 136 ... McKenzie received the team’s largest signing bonus ($2,997,500) after being taken in the third round, and fifth-round selection Essenberg was also paid well above slot with his $1,197,500 bonus. In between, the Braves took Williams, who was given a $497, 500 bonus. He entered this week with 10 homers and a .760 OPS over 60 games for High-A Rome.

Atlanta has been pretty successful with its selections from recent MLB Drafts. Cam Caminiti, the teenage left-hander the Braves took in the first round in 2024, is MLB Pipeline’s No. 44 overall prospect.

Hurston Waldrep, the club’s top selection in 2023, thrived in Atlanta’s rotation late last year and could be an impact player for the Braves over the rest of this season.

Atlanta’s pitching staff also currently includes Owen Murphy (Braves’ No. 6) and JR Ritchie (MLB No. 49, Braves’ No. 2), who were the team’s first-round selections in the 2022 Draft. The gem of that Draft class is third-round selection Drake Baldwin, the 2025 NL Rookie of the Year who will serve as the NL’s starting catcher in this year’s All-Star Game.

With four of this year’s first 84 selections, the Braves will aim to be as successful as they were in 2016, when they landed Kolby Allard (14), Mike Soroka (28), Austin Riley (41) and A.J. Minter (75).

Who might the Braves take with the ninth pick?

In his most recent mock draft, MLB.com’s Jim Callis has Atlanta taking Gio Rojas, a left-handed pitcher from Stoneman Douglas HS in Parkland, Fla.

Here’s what Callis wrote:

“The Braves could play this two ways: grab the best high school pitcher in Rojas and save some money to spend on the No. 26 choice, or pay full freight for college bats such as Georgia Tech outfielder Drew Burress, Arkansas catcher Ryder Helfrick or Texas A&M second baseman Chris Hacopian.”