Baseball America is high on what Atlanta did in the 2023 MLB Draft

We're now around a week removed from an MLB Draft that saw Atlanta grab talented Florida pitcher Hurston Waldrep in the 1st round and then continue to grab tons of arms through the three days and their twenty one selections. 

Baseball America recently reviewed ($) the Braves' draft and had good thing to say about Atlanta's choices, proclaiming the theme of Atlant's picks to be "flamethrowers"

Atlanta’s scouting department secured one of the most talented arms in the class when it picked RHP Hurston Waldrep with the 24th pick of the draft, and then continued to load up on high-octane pitchers throughout the first two days. In fact, each of the eight pitchers that the Braves took inside the top 10 rounds have touched at least 96 mph with their fastballs. Atlanta has an excellent reputation as a pitching factory, and plenty more firepower was just added to the system. 

They chose two specific picks for more attention, singling out a "most interesting" pick from both days two and three. For day two, BA focused on RHP Garrett Baumann, a prep pitcher taken in the 4th round. They described him as potentially a "workhorse starter" that relies on control of his fastball/changeup combo over command. 

(NOTE: "Control" is the ability to throw the ball in the strike zone, "command" is the ability to throw the ball to a specific spot. A control over command pitcher is one that won't always hit his spots, but he'll throw strikes and - hopefully - the stuff is good enough to get swing and miss or a called strike)

He was committed to UCF, but Atlanta's reportedly signed him with a $747,500 signing bonus - slot value for pick 126 was $521,800.

For day three, BA raved about the selection of OF Kade Kern of Ohio State in the 17th round. He doubled his walk rate from 2022 to 2023, finishing at 15.1%, and has strong in-zone contact ability. While they doubt his arm strength allows him to play anywhere else in the outfield but left field, he's a veteran with a career .302 batting average in college and gap power to all fields. 

MLB Draft Expert Jeff Ellis of the Locked On Podcast Network remarked how he thought that Kern had significant untapped upside: 

Kern has reportedly already signed with Atlanta, although bonus figures are not available at this time. 

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