The new Braves Way looks the same as always when it comes to the amateur draft.
The Braves long have valued pitching in their organization, and first-year scouting director Brian Bridges is carrying on that tradition. After selecting pitchers with three of their five picks on the first day of the draft, the Braves went all-in on pitchers in rounds three through 10 on Tuesday.
The Braves picked high school pitcher Anthony Guardado with their first pick Tuesday (No. 89 overall) and then drafted seven college pitchers with the rest of their Day 2 selections.
Guardado is a 6-foot-2, 180-pound right-hander from Nogales High School in La Peunte, Calif., in Los Angeles County. He started this past season late because of an injury he suffered while playing football for Nogales.
Guardado fits two criteria the Braves said they were looking for in prospects. He’s a two-sport athlete, and he also could have a high ceiling because he’s shown promise in limited innings.
This past season Guardado had a 1.05 ERA in 33 1/3 innings over six appearances (five starts) while allowing 14 hits and recording 55 strikeouts and 11 walks. Guardado signed to play baseball for Long Beach State, but he can expect to be offered a signing bonus of about $660,000 by the Braves.
The Braves started their run on college pitchers by drafting Oregon right-hander Josh Graham with the No. 120 overall pick. Graham is a 6-foot, 210-pound junior who posted a 2.43 ERA in 65 innings over 19 games (six starts) for Oregon in 2015.
Like Guardado, Graham doesn’t have a lot of pitching experience. He played catcher for his first two seasons with the Ducks before transitioning to relief pitcher to begin this past season and eventually becoming their top starter.
The Braves selected big pitchers with their next three picks: North Carolina-Greensboro right-hander Ryan Clark (No. 150 overall pick), Texas Tech right-hander Matt Withrow (No. 180) and Houston right-hander Patrick Weigel (No. 210).
Clark is a 6-5, 230-pound junior who posted a 4.02 ERA over 95 1/3 innings in 15 starts for UNCG this season. He was the preseason Southern Conference Pitcher of the year and earned second-team all-conference honors after the season.
Withrow is a 6-5, 235-pound junior who had a 3.63 ERA in 22 1/3 innings this season. His brother is right-hander Chris Withrow, whom the Braves acquired along with Juan Uribe in a trade with the Dodgers last month. Chris Withrow is recovering from surgeries to his back and elbow.
Weigel is a 6-6, 230-pound junior who pitched out of the bullpen for Houston. In 23 appearances in 2015 he was 4-1 with a 3.38 ERA and two saves while striking out 45 in 50 2/3 innings.
The Braves wrapped up the day by selecting three college pitchers with local ties: Georgia left-hander Ryan Lawlor (No. 240), Florida right-hander Taylor Lewis (No. 270) and U.S. Naval Academy right-hander Stephen Moore (No. 300).
Lawlor is a Savannah native, Lewis is from Claxton and Moore is from Roswell.
The draft concludes with rounds 11 through 40 on Wednesday.
