The latest ESPN mock draft has the Braves selecting shortstop Royce Lewis (JSerra High School, Alisa Viejo, Calif.) with their first-round pick at No. 5.
Such a move would go against the recent trend for the Braves' front office, of selecting pitchers with their top picks. Since 2008, the Braves have taken a pitcher with their first pick in seven of the past nine drafts, and have spent eight of their 11 first-round picks on pitchers. The result has been a pitcher-dominated farm system that's a consensus pick as one of the top five in baseball, with 12 of their top 20 prospects being pitchers.
ESPN’s Keith Law speculates that, if the Braves chose Lewis, they’d move him to center field because they already have Dansby Swanson playing short at the big-league level, and top prospects Kevin Maitan and Derian Cruz waiting in the wings to play short.
This feature from the Orange County Register gives some insight into Lewis, as he enters his senior year at JSerra in a very competitive Trinity League in Southern California.
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