Braves Learn Lottery Fate for Upcoming MLB Draft

The Atlanta Braves drop in the pecking order of the draft based on lottery results, but still find themselves in a solid spot overall

The Atlanta Braves miss out on the top pick | Tim Heitman-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Braves manage to hang inside the top-10 of the upcoming MLB Draft. They entered with the sixth-best odds for the top pick, and they wound up in the ninth spot. It's the first time since 2019 that they'll pick in the top-10.

Last time they had this high of a pick, they took catcher Shea Lanegeliers, also at ninth overall. Between then and the upcoming draft, the highest the Braves have selected a player is 20th overall in 2022. That pick turned into prospect pitcher Owen Murphy. In this most recent draft, they had the 22nd-overall pick. 

For what it's worth, they ended up in a spot in the draft order that they would have been if there were no lottery. From a lottery standpoint, they dropped. However, they had the ninth-lowest winning percentage in the majors in 2025.

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The reason they had the sixth-best odds was due to certain teams being ineligible for the lottery. The Colorado Rockies, the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Nationals were all ineligible for various competitive balance reasons.

Along with their top-20 pick in the draft lottery, the Braves have a second pick in the first round. They have the 26th overall pick as a reward for catcher Drake Baldwin winning rookie of the year. This pick will stay in place unless the Braves sign a free agent who has a qualifying offer attached to him. Regardless, they keep their top-10 pick.

The Braves finished with a 76-86 record, their worst since the 2017 regular season. It was also the first time since that year that they missed the postseason. 

They are considered to have one of the thinnest farm systems in baseball. While they have shown they can still develop talent with what they have, the extra options will help their future. That development paid off because they’ll have more draft stock to build off of that success. 

With the draft order officially set for the first round, the Chicago White Sox are set to pick first. They had the highest odds to take that top spot (27.73%), and they secured it. The Tampa Bay Rays will pick second, and the Minnesota Twins will round out the top three.