Community Mock Draft: Pick 1-7

by Andy Seiler on May 10, 2025 1:31 PM EDT Comment 20 comments

With 34% of the vote, Cartersville HS (GA) outfielder Donovan Tate is the #6 pick in our community mock draft. The draft recap is below. On the board now is the Atlanta Braves.

ON THE CLOCK: Atlanta Braves (#1-7)

DRAFT RECAP- Round 1:

1-1 (Washington Nationals): Stephen Strasburg, RHP, SDSU

1-2 (Seattle Mariners): Dustin Ackley, 1B/CF, UNC

1-3 (San Diego Padres): Grant Green, SS, USC

1-4 (Pittsburgh Pirates): Alex White, RHP, UNC

1-5 (Baltimore Orioles): Aaron Crow, RHP, Ft. Worth Cats

1-6 (San Francisco Giants): Donovan Tate, OF, Cartersville HS (GA)

1-7 (Atlanta Braves): On the Clock

1-8 (Cincinnati Reds):

1-9 (Detroit Tigers):

1-10 (Washington Nationals):

1-11 (Colorado Rockies):

1-12 (Kansas City Royals):

1-13 (Oakland Athletics):

1-14 (Texas Rangers):

1-15 (Cleveland Indians):

1-16 (Arizona Diamondbacks):

1-17 (Arizona Diamondbacks):

1-18 (Florida Marlins):

1-19 (St. Louis Cardinals):

1-20 (Toronto Blue Jays):

1-21 (Houston Astros):

1-22 (Minnesota Twins):

1-23 (Chicago White Sox):

1-24 (Los Angeles Angels):

1-25 (Los Angeles Angels):

1-26 (Milwaukee Brewers):

1-27 (Seattle Mariners):

1-28 (Boston Red Sox):

1-29 (New York Yankees):

1-30 (Tampa Bay Rays):

1-31 (Chicago Cubs):

1-32 (Colorado Rockies):

Keep in mind who you think a team will draft. There's 10 players here and 24 hours for the poll. Suggest anyone you would like. Converse.

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Comments

Better be

Matzek, Purke or Miller here!

by Jay212033 on May 10, 2025 1:50 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wheeler.

by Andy Seiler on May 10, 2025 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

+1

by toonsterwu on May 10, 2025 3:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If its the braves...

Best bet is a kid from Georgia

by OmahaGiants on May 10, 2025 2:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Zack Wheeler

They love their local kids. It makes the most sense.

by Outshined_One on May 10, 2025 2:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Wheeler

We already have a Zack Wheeler in our system and his name is Zeke Spruill! Here’s a piece from baseballrumormill.com:

“The Braves have been heavily scouting high school phenom Tyler Matzek and may be more interested in him than local boy Zack Wheeler. The Braves have the 7th pick of the upcoming draft.”

by Jay212033 on May 10, 2025 4:57 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

As a Braves fan, I’ll be shocked if we don’t get Wheeler if he’s still available. Personally, I think he’s a Spruill clone, but with more electric stuff. Which I love. Spruill might be a bit more polished, control wise at least.

Tommy Hanson 4 ROY

by timmy3 on May 10, 2025 11:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Re

Here’s what MiLB.com had to say on Spruill from last year and Wheeler this year.

Zeke Spruill
“The very definition of a projectable high school right-hander, Spruill has the size and flashes the pitches to be an intriguing prospect. His fastball runs up to 94 mph, though he doesn’t always maintain it. He’s got a smooth delivery, but a long arm sweep is an issue. There’s a lot to work with here, and a team that likes projectable arms won’t hesitate to take him.”

Zack Wheeler
If you like projectable high school pitchers with a lot of arm strength — and a lot of teams do — then Wheeler might be the guy for you. The Georgia prepster has plenty of fastball(95 MPH) and does show a plus breaking ball at times. Because of some delivery issues, his command can be spotty, but he’s an excellent athlete with terrific poise and makeup. He might be a little bit of a project, but the upside is considerable.

As a Braves fan, I would much rather go after projectable LH pitching prospects rather than another projectable righty which we already have a ton of those in the minors in Hanson, Medlen, Morton, Teheran, Delgado, Spruill, Hoover, Thompson, Francis, Rasmus, Cordier, etc, etc, etc. And our ML rotation is basically already RH heavy as is. We have very few good projectable LHP lets see Reyes(who almost everyone, except me, has given up on), Rohrbough, Locke, DeVall, Stovall, Delgado, Avilan, Perez(top international prospect last year), Robinson(another top international prospect) and basically that’s it.

by Jay212033 on May 11, 2025 2:00 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'd take the guy with the plus pitches.

Matzek’s a kid who’s shown above-average, but not really true plus pitches. Wheeler’s curve, when on, is a true plus pitch. His fastball also has considerably more life than Matzek’s. Velocity aside, movement is so important, and Wheeler’s ball moves more than Matzek’s. In addition, Wheeler’s ceiling is higher than Matzek’s. Matzek’s ceiling is that of a true #2 starter, Wheeler’s got the components to be a #1. When you’re thinking about the long-term, and the Braves have that luxury with their depth, you pick the highest ceiling. If anyone can clean up Wheeler’s command and consistency, it’s the Braves.

by Andy Seiler on May 11, 2025 2:10 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tommy Hanson 4 ROY

by timmy3 on May 11, 2025 12:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re

Every scout has basically ranked Matzek the #1 HS pitcher on their draft boards and for a reason. I don’t know where you have read those things about Matzek but on no site have I read his ceiling is as a #2 and Wheeler as an Ace.

Here’s what MiLB.com had to say about Matzek:

“When Matzek is locked in, it’s easy to argue that he’s one of the — if not the — top high school lefty in this Draft class. With a fastball that reaches 95 mph and two different breaking pitches, he’s got the tools necessary to succeed. The one knock is that it seems at times that he’s just doing enough to get by. When focused, he really knows how to pitch and put away hitters. It’s a package that should go pretty quickly on Draft day.”

by Jay212033 on May 11, 2025 1:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Reply

Every scout has basically ranked Matzek the #1 HS pitcher on their draft boards and for a reason.

This is very far from the truth. Matzek’s one of the more debated high school arms in this class, and there’s much less clarity on who the best high school arm is this year than in most years. In this ESPN Draft Blog entry, basically the conclusion is that nobody knows which arm will go first. Matzek, Wheeler, Matt Purke, and Shelby Miller all have some plus going for them, but as far as pure stuff is concerned, Matzek’s not the winner in that group. He’s a big-time prospect, because his pitchability is very advanced for a prep, and he has good command of his secondary pitches. He’s got great composure. But as far as pure stuff goes, I’d rank them Miller, Wheeler, Purke, Matzek. As far as command and control go, I’d go Matzek, Wheeler, Purke, Miller. So basically it’s a preference thing. Wheeler’s ceiling is higher. Matzek’s floor is lower. Miller’s ceiling is the highest of all, but his floor is definitely the lowest. Purke’s right there in the middle.

So basically it all comes down to who a GM prefers in regards to their organizational philosophy. I’d take Wheeler over all of them, then go with Matzek, Miller, then Purke.

by Andy Seiler on May 11, 2025 1:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Meant to say Matzek’s floor is higher.

by Andy Seiler on May 11, 2025 1:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I just hope Tate is off the board, because I don’t want the Braves to gamble on him. I think his upside is more Carl Crawford than say, Carlos Beltran. Speed is only good if you can actually hit. Pretty much, the only way I’d want the Braves to use this pick on a hitter is if they were getting a .900 OPS type bopper. Otherwise, just keep drafting and developing great pitching, because that’s what we’re good at.

Tommy Hanson 4 ROY

by timmy3 on May 10, 2025 11:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Bobby Borchering

Teams in the teens are all over this guy. He needs to be on the voting list. He won’t last past 16, the DBacks love him. Interest from teams in the top 10.

BTW, nearly every team has serious concerns on Tate’s hitability, not to mention the signability and two-sport leverage. Boras HS prospects have a HORRID signing history.

by Manoog on May 11, 2025 12:32 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs