Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: 2 rounds done, 38 to go

The major draft drama is all done now as the Twins went frugal, the Braves went strong, and the Nats went for a head case.  Still a long way to go.

The Atlanta Braves probably can’t be much happier with their first 2 draft picks last night, and that probably goes for the draftees as well.

Both are within 3 hours of Atlanta and have been rooting for the Braves as fans for years.  You can read much more about Kyle Wright and Drew Waters here and here, respectively.

But the rest of the draft’s first 2 rounds had some interesting elements… particularly depending on whose draft rankings you follow.

• The first ‘reach‘ – 2B Keston Hiura of Cal-Irvine.  Ranked 22nd by MLB.com, he went 9th to the Brewers.  That said, the MLB prospect guys – both of them – inexplicably tagged Hiura for the Braves at pick 5 in their last mock.  Still, he’s good enough to be a defensible selection at #9, particularly as BaseballAmerica had him at #14.
• The biggest reaches – Either OF Reynaldo Rivera (OF) to Detroit at pick 57 or Cory Abbott (RHP) to Cubs at 67.  They were ranked 150 and 187 by MLB; 191 and 149 by BA.
• The biggest Round 1 fall – OF Jeren Kendall of Vandy.  18th at BA, 6th at MLB… he was taken 23rd by the Dodgers.
• The biggest fall of all – Sam Carlson, RHP, Burnsville, MN. (55th to Seattle).  Ben Chase had Carlson tagged as a possible Braves’ first rounder on the Ian Anderson cold-weather-state theory.  Ranked 15th by MLB and 21st by BA, he waited quite a while last night before getting called.
• Shameless Alma Mater pick – 6’6″ RHP Nate Pearson from the University of Central Florida.  He goes to Toronto at pick 28.
• Shameless in-state picks – those would be our Kyle Wright and Bubba Thompson (26th to Texas).  Both from Alabama.  Expect a run on more Bama kids early today.
• Desperation Pick – Seth Romero, LHP/Univ. of Houston (sometimes) to the Nationals (25th).  More needs to be said here.

For a team that thinks that they are built to go deep into the playoffs, the Washington Nationals have a hole in their team as wide as the Ellipse.

That fact was magnified in parallel last night.  As the bullpen meltdown du jour was happening at the Navy Yards, the Nats brass were also selecting a kid in the first round who – while undoubtedly talented – could end up being the Johnny Manziel of baseball.

What has been characterized charitably as “missteps”, includes the following from Seth Romero:

• 2 suspensions from the Houston baseball team… probably 3 or more
• a failed drug test
• curfew violation
• a photo with him in uniform… except for the unsanctioned bong accessory
• possibly other violations that the University refuses to discuss

There are varying reports that he’s starting to “get it” and attempting to turn his life around, which includes a note about reporting to the team 40 pounds lighter than the previous year (one suspension reportedly involved a lack of conditioning).

More from Tomahawk Take

• Atlanta Braves 2012 Prospect Review: Joey Terdoslavich
• Braves News: Braves sign Fuentes, Andruw’s HOF candidacy, more
• The Weakest Braves Homers Since 2015
• Atlanta Braves Sign Joshua Fuentes to Minor League Deal
• Braves News: New Year’s Eve comes with several questions about the 2023 Braves

Despite that, 2 suspensions happened this season – the drug test and a fight with a teammate being the reported causes.

While we hope simply for the kid’s sake that these incidents are in now in the past, there is now the fact that he’s been conferred a new status of ‘1st Round Draft Pick’ with all that this entails.

Moreover, the state of things with the Nationals is to the point that there are serious murmurings that he might be tried at the major league level this year.

That’s denied by GM Mike Rizzo, but last night’s game certainly makes one wonder (and the reporters were obviously asking those questions) if the situation in Washington is indeed getting that dire.

Boxing Day

Here’s your box score from a wild and whacky night at Nationals Park.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

For fun, I’m adding the Nats pitching lines as well today.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Next: The Full Game Recap

Yep… just as we predicted… and low-scoring pitchers’ duel.  More like a Pokemon Duel.

We’ll try it again tonight… 7pm in Washington.