The Braves continued to stockpile pitchers on the second day of the amateur draft Tuesday by selecting them with all eight of their picks in rounds three through 10.
Their first selection Tuesday was prep pitcher Anthony Guardado (No. 89 overall pick). The Braves then drafted seven college pitchers in a row: Oregon right-hander Josh Graham (No. 120), North Carolina-Greensboro right-hander Ryan Clark (No. 150), Texas Tech right-hander Matt Withrow (No. 180), Houston right-hander Patrick Weigel (No. 210), 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).
Guardado is a 6-foot-2, 180 pound right-hander from Nogales High School in La Peunte, Calif., in Los Angeles County. He started the 2015 season late because of an injury he suffered while playing football for Nogales.
This 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 has signed to play baseball for Long Beach State but can expect to be offered a signing bonus of about $660,000 by the Braves.
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. After playing catcher for his first two seasons with the Ducks, Graham transitioned to relief pitcher to begin this season before eventually becoming their top starter.
Clark is a 6-foot-5, 230-pound junior who posted a 4.02 ERA over 95 1/3 innings in 15 starts. He was the preseason Southern Conference Pitcher of the year and earned second-team all-conference honors after the season.
Withrow is a 6-foot-5, 235-pound junior who had a 3.63 ERA in 22 1/3 innings in 2015. His brother is right-hander Chris Withrow. The Braves acquired Chris Withrow along with Juan Uribe in a trade with the Dodgers last month, and he’s recovering from surgeries to his back and elbow.
Weigel is a 6-foot-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.
Lawlor, a Savannah native, pitched the last two seasons for the Bulldogs after playing one year at Middle Georgia. In 14 starts this season he was 5-7 with 3.67 ERA over 73 2/3 innings with 84 strikeouts and 33 walks.
Lewis, a native of Claxton, played two seasons at Chipola College in Marianna, Fla., before transferring to Florida. Lewis made 29 appearances out of the bullpen for the Gators this season and had a 1.24 ERA in 51 innings with 40 hits allowed, 31 strikeouts and 11 walks.
Moore, who is from Roswell, is a senior who pitched all four seasons for Navy. He made 14 starts this season and was 7-3 with a 2.59 ERA in 87 innings.
A list of Braves players drafted in the first 10 rounds:
- LHP Kolby Allard (No. 14 overall pick), San Clemente (Calif.) High School
- RHP Mike Soroka (No. 28 overall), Bishop Carroll High School (Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
- 3B Austin Riley (No. 41), DeSoto Central High (Southaven, Miss.)
- C Lucas Herbert (No. 54), San Clemente (Calif.) High School
- LHP A.J. Minter (No. 75) Texas A&M
- RHP Anthony Guardado (No. 89), Nogales High School (La Puente, Calif.)
- RHP Josh Graham (No. 120), University of Oregon
- RHP Ryan Clark (No. 150), University of North Carolina-Greensboro
- RHP Matt Withrow (No. 180), Texas Tech
- RHP Patrick Weigel (No. 210), University of Houston
- LHP Ryan Lawlor (No. 240), University of Georgia
- RHP Taylor Lewis (No. 270), University of Florida
- RHP Stephen Moore (No. 300), U.S. Naval Academy
