House That Hank Built
Fansided

Grading Atlanta Braves’ 2019 MLB draft: Picks 10-1

By Clint Manry

ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 29: A general view of SunTrust Park during the National Anthem prior to the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies on March 29, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 29: A general view of SunTrust Park during the National Anthem prior to the game between the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies on March 29, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next
Atlanta Braves
A computer screen. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) /

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.

Four days and four posts bring us to the finale of our Atlanta Braves 2019 Draft Grades series, as we wrap this exercise up with the Braves top-10 picks.

What really sticks about this group of 10 players is that a large percentage of them absolutely excelled during their first year of pro ball, perhaps giving an early indication of just how successful the Braves’ 2019 draft was.

Of course, it’s still too early to call the draft a win, as several of these young players still have years to go in their development. However, it’s always a good thing when an organization’s top-10 picks perform the best in a draft class, which is exactly what happened for the Braves this past season.

To look back at the players we’ve covered so far in this series:

Also, let’s review what it is 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 10 down to 1.

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 allow 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.

Home/Braves Prospects