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Atlanta Braves: Grades for Each Pick in 2020 MLB Draft

By Jake Mastroianni

OMAHA, NE - JUNE 26: Jesse Franklin #7 of the Michigan Wolverines singles in the first inning against the Vanderbilt Commodores during game three of the College World Series Championship Series on June 26, 2019 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE - JUNE 26: Jesse Franklin #7 of the Michigan Wolverines singles in the first inning against the Vanderbilt Commodores during game three of the College World Series Championship Series on June 26, 2019 at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /
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Jesse Franklin #7 of the Michigan Wolverines. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images)
Jesse Franklin #7 of the Michigan Wolverines. (Photo by Peter Aiken/Getty Images) /

With the 25th overall pick in the draft the Braves selected left-handed pitcher Jared Shuster out of Wake Forest.

And then with their 97th overall pick they took outfielder Jesse Franklin from Michigan.

25 – Jared Shuster – LHP – Wake Forest 

This was certainly a head-scratcher for a lot of people as Shuster was ranked in the mid-to-late 100s on most draft boards.

But he’s also someone who came on late and was hurt by a shortened 2020 season when it seemed he was putting it all together.

After a fine performance in the Cape Cod League last summer where he had a 1.41 ERA, Shuster made some mechanical adjustments that helped improve his fastball velocity to the mid-to-upper 90s.

Many say his change-up is his best pitch and is already a plus offering at the big league level.

The biggest question remaining for him to be a big league starter is if he can continue to develop his slider into a plus offering.

If that happens he has the size at 6-foot-3 and 210 pounds to be a solid middle of the rotation starter.

I’ll admit I didn’t love the pick when I first saw it, but after reading more on him I’ve bought into the hype and think this could be huge steal in the back of the first round.

Grade: B

97 – Jesse Franklin – OF – Michigan 

After the long wait from their first pick, the Braves took a power-hitting outfielder in Frankling with their second pick in the draft.

He was the top prep prospect in Washington in 2017 when he was first drafted by the Mariners late in that draft.

He decided to go to Michigan and tore it up as a freshman hitting .327 with 10 home runs.

Last year the average dipped to just .262, but he improved his plate discipline walking a lot more and actually raised is OBP, while also improving his power numbers with 13 home runs (albeit in 21 more games than his freshman season).

He also helped take Michigan to the College World Series in that 2019 season.

Something else really impressive about Franklin is that he spent the past two summers in the Cape Cod League where he hit really well.

In 2018 he hit .302 with 2 home runs and 17 RBI in 28 games. And then in 2019 he hit .282 with a home run in 21 games.

Franklin has some injury history having labrum surgery before his first season at Michigan, and then he broke his collarbone in a skiing incident that caused him to ultimately miss all of the shortened 2020 season — although he says he would have been back by April.

Scouts say he has the athleticism to stick in center field, but if he continues to get bigger he’ll do just fine in a corner spot.

I envision Franklin potentially being a corner outfield bat that plays above-average defense and hits .270 with 30-plus home runs.

Grade: B- 

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