After focusing on pitchers in the first day of the MLB draft Sunday, the Braves got around to hitters Monday.
They selected college bats with their first three picks of the draft’s second day, starting with power-hitting catcher Drake Baldwin from Missouri State in the third round.
He had a breakout season as a junior this year, hitting .341 with 19 home runs, 70 RBIs, a .448 on-base percentage and a .647 slugging percentage in 60 games. His power persuaded the Braves to draft him.
“We feel like he has got some work to do defensively,” Braves vice president of scouting Dana Brown said, “but he can really throw and (has) big left-hand power to all fields. It’s very difficult to find catchers with that kind of power, especially from the left side.”
Baldwin was the fifth catcher taken in the draft and the 96th overall pick. A native of Madison, Wis., he also was a standout hockey player in high school.
The Braves again went for a college power hitter with their second pick of Day 2, selecting Charlotte switch-hitter David McCabe in the fourth round. McCabe, who grew up in Canada, hit 30 homers in 283 at-bats over the past two seasons.
“He’s got big power from both sides of the plate,” Brown said. “He’s very intriguing.”
The Braves announced McCabe as a third baseman but actually aren’t sure about his future position, which might be left field or, more likely, first base or designated hitter.
”The intriguing thing about the DH is that a lot of times in the past, because we’re a National League team, you would take guys you know can play a (defensive) position,” Brown said. “Now (with the DH in the NL), you have some flexibility that if you really like the bat … you may be more interested in that player.”
The Braves drafted another hitter, third baseman Ignacio Alvarez of Riverside (Calif.) City College in the fifth round before returning to pitching with their next three selections. They took 5-foot-10 Virginia high schooler Seth Keller in the sixth round and college pitchers, Oregon’s Adam Maier and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (Calif.) reliever Jason Franks, in the seventh and eighth rounds, respectively.
Maier, from Canada, was sidelined by an elbow injury after just three starts for Oregon this year. The Braves drafted him despite believing he may be headed for Tommy John surgery.
“We feel like (he’s) top-four-round talent potentially. You get him a little bit later, so you kind of buy lower,” Brown said. “You take on some risk, but with the way the guys are coming back from ‘Tommy John,’ we felt really good about this pick.”
After the Braves drafted pitchers with all four of their picks Sunday, the selections of Keller, Maier and Franks on Monday gave the team seven pitchers so far in the draft – all right-handers.
The Braves closed out Monday’s selections with two more college hitters: second baseman Cory Acton of Georgia in the ninth round and catcher Andrew Keck of Southeast Missouri State in the 10th, both seniors.
Acton, a left-handed hitter, played one season at UGA after transferring from Florida. He hit .266 for the Bulldogs. The Braves see him as a potential utility player.
Brown said the Braves anticipate signing all 12 players they have drafted through the first 10 rounds “within the next 72 hours.”
The three-day draft concludes Tuesday with rounds 11 through 20.
