Atlanta Braves Day 1 Draft Recap: It's a bunch of righty arms, of course

Day one of the 2023 MLB Draft has wrapped for the Atlanta Braves, and they've selected three righty pitchers - Hurston Waldrep of Florida, Drue Hackenberg of Virginia Tech, and Cade Kuehler of Campbell.

Here's some thoughts on why Atlanta may have taken those guys and what to look for going forward.

RHP Hurston Waldrep, Florida

I said it on the Locked On MLB Prospects livestream - Waldrep's splitter might be the best pitch from a pitcher that isn't 1st overall pick Paul Skenes in the entire draft.

It's a ridiculous arsenal - the fastball sits in the mid-to-upper 90s with three secondaries that could all be above-average to plus, led by that splitter but including a two-plane breaking slider and a vertical breaking CB.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that Hurston Waldrep has the stuff to be a #1 or #2 in a rotation. That said, there's things to work on: Control of the fastball is a struggle - he walked 12.7% of batters in 2023 at a 5.0 BB/9 rate. The delivery is surprisingly violent, and I suspect those two things are connected - work out some smoother mechanics and the control probably gets better.

Atlanta's got some really talented clay here - I'm confident that they already have an idea of changes Waldrep can make to locate better, minimize the violence in the delivery, and better reach his potential as a frontline starter on a championship team.

Here's Director of Scouting Ronit Shah talking about Waldrep:

"We have had @HurstonWaldrep on the radar for years."@Braves assistant director of amateur scouting Ronit Shah comments on the draft process and what made Waldrep stand out over the rest ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/73nTMcU2sO
— Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO) July 10, 2023

RHP Drue Hackenberg, Virginia Tech (no picture available)

Remember how I mentioned "I'm confident that they already have an idea of changes Waldrep can make" for the last pick? That same idea here, but times ten.

I have to admit, I don't really understand this one just based on the merits - Hackenberg's a sinker/slider guy that aims for groundballs. The fastball velo is fine, sitting around 94, but the shape is lacking and he didn't really get much swing and miss on the slider. Changeup's...fine? He can throw it for strikes, at least.

There's two possible explanations here, for me: Either Atlanta has a pretty significant tweak to make that can bring Hackenberg's ceiling up to more of a Bryce Elder, smoke and mirrors type of outcome, or it's a money saving move to pay for Waldrep. Or both.

I trust Alex Anthopoulos, obviously, so we're gonna ride with him and assume he knows more than us on this one.

RHP Cade Kuehler, Campbell

This is the other reason I'm thinking Hackenberg may have been a money-saving move. Kuehler was in the Top 50 on a lot of boards (including mine) and I think he's an early version of Spencer Strider - top of the scale fastball, sitting in the upper 90s, with a plus slider (that's more of a cutter here) and not much else.

He needs to work on throwing strikes more efficiently and getting the delivery settled and consistent, but you can easily see the blueprint in Kuehler of what they targeted with Strider in 2020, or AJ Smith-Shawver in 2021, or Spencer Schwellenbach, or...well, you get the picture.

The deception is already top tier, which helps everything play up, and he feels like a guy that could move quickly once you iron out the mechanics (which I trust Atlanta to do).

Day One takeaway

The big takeaway here is that Atlanta's identified a type that they feel like they can properly evaluate and develop, and that's a lot more than most organizations can do.

I still want to see some more bats enter the organization, but you see a method to the madness here. When you have as many long-term contracts at the major league level as Atlanta does, you don't necessarily need quantity, you need quality. The Braves don't need players - they need good players. And they're doubling down on pitching because they can make these guys - righties with specific traits, like fastballs with ride and a standout secondary pitch - into valuable assets either in trades or as reinforcements for the rotation.

It's a great strategy, and it's worked so far for Atlanta. Let's see how much they do on Day Two.

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