Grading the Atlanta Braves 2019 draft: Picks 30-21

It will be several years until we can fully appreciate the Atlanta Braves’ 2019 draft, but it’s the perfect time to look back at each draftee’s performance this past season.

Today we continue our Atlanta Braves 2019 Draft Grades, moving on to our second post of the series (picks 30-21).

This particular group of players certainly vary in performance, as a few struggled mightily in their first pro season, while several seemed to of thrived once in the Braves’ system.

We’re also getting into the last couple of picks that went unsigned, as eight of the 10 in this group went on to actually sign with the Atlanta Braves.

Although, like before I have also included these nonsigners, as we may see them again in the 2020 draft, plus it also keeps these lists similar in size.

As a refresher, here’s what we’re trying to accomplish in this series…

The Method

In this series, we will look at each and every player drafted (and signed) by the Braves in 2019, though to break this up a bit we’ll cover the class in four pieces, with today’s column covering picks 30 down to 21.

The group of 10 will include a table featuring each player’s last minor league level reached, and most importantly — as a way to characterize each player’s 2019 performance — I will give each player a grade:

• A: excelled
• B: held his own
• C: struggled

This may seem like an oversimplified way to go about such a thing, but the focus here is less about the actual grading rubric and more about simply determining how each player performed in their first professional season.

Choosing A, B and C obviously allows for only three different grade outcomes, which is plenty for such a small sample of results (most of these players played no more than 30-35 games).

We must remember that these players were drafted for a reason and giving a struggling 18-year-old an ‘F’ in his first taste of minor league baseball probably doesn’t accurately represent his actual skills on a baseball field.

So don’t interpret each grade as a description of the player’s talent level.

To jump back to Monday’s group (picks 41-31), click here.