Pick Round Name Position School Ht. Wt.
343 11 Luis Gamez RHP Cienega (AZ) HS 6-2, 175
373 12 Patrick Dorian 2B Kingston (NY) HS 6-2, 188
403 13 Caleb Beech RHP Shelton State CC 6-4, 215
433 14 Joseph Daris CF Azusa Pacific Univ. 5-10, 170
463 15 Caleb Dirks RHP California Baptist 6-3, 225
493 16 Brandon Barker RHP Mercer 6-3, 200
523 17 Ashton Perritt RHP Liberty 6-1, 195
553 18 Jacob Webb RHP Tabor College 6-1, 200
583 19 Codey McElroy SS Cameron Univ. 6-6, 210
613 20 Wigberto Nevarez C Lubbock Christian U 6-3, 230
643 21 Jake Godrey CF Providence Catholic (IL) HS 6-3, 215
673 22 Sean Godfrey CF Ball State 6-2, 180
703 23 Tanner Krietemeier 1B Oklahoma State 6-2, 210
733 24 Kevin Reiher C Prairie State 5-10, 190
763 25 Kyle Kinman LHP Bellevue Univ. 5-11, 185
793 26 Trevor Sprowl 2B Auburn-Montgomery 6-0, 185
823 27 Carl Stajduhar 1B Rocky Mt. (Colo.) HS 6-1, 215
853 28 Matt Sims RHP UT - San Antonio 6-3, 195
883 29 Dazon Cole RHP West Bloomfield (MI) HS 5-11, 180
913 30 Jared James OF Sacramento CC 6-1, 185
943 31 Salvatore Giardina C Lynn Univ. 6-4, 215
973 32 Tucker Baca LHP North Gwinnett HS 6-4, 180
1003 33 Doug Still LHP Sikeston (MO) HS 6-2, 170
1033 34 Nick Leonard RHP Mountain Vista (Colo.) HS 6-0, 195
1063 35 Ryan Kokora RHP Fairview (Colo.) HS 6-4, 180
1093 36 Larry Crisler CF Bishop Noll Institute 6-2, 195
1123 37 Gavin Sheets 1B Gilman (Md.) School 6-4, 215
1153 38 J.J. Franco 2B Brown 5-8, 170
1183 39 Grayson Byrd SS Kings Ridge Christian 6-3, 170
1213 40 Randy Santiesteban 2B Peru State 6-1, 190
The Braves completed their 2014 draft Saturday, feeling good about the arms they loaded up on in the early rounds. The Braves drafted pitchers with four of their top five picks and five of their top eight, starting with 6-foot-4 right-hander Garrett Fulenchek from Howe (TX) High School.
Fulenchek, the Braves second round pick, has already reached agreement with the Braves on a $1 million bonus.
This year’s draft was projected to be deeper in pitching than in position players, and the Braves drafted accordingly.
“That’s the difficulty of the draft anymore is the lack of position players,” Braves scouting director Tony DeMacio said. “So we just continue to take arms. And Mr. Snyder always said you’ve got to take 20 of them to get one to get to the big leagues because of all the things that can go wrong, so just got to keep taking them.”
The Mr. Snyder he was referring to, of course, is Braves Hall of Famer Paul Snyder, the team’s former scouting director who is technically retired but couldn’t resist getting back in the Braves draft room once again this year.
Notables
Among the pitchers the Braves drafted during final rounds Saturday was Mercer right-hander Brandon Barker, an Etowah High graduate, in the 16th round. DeMacio saw Barker pitch against Evansville left-hander Kyle Freeland, who was taken in the first round Thursday night by the Colorado Rockies, No. 8 overall.
“I tell you he’s got a pretty good arm,” DeMacio said of Barker. “He stayed right with (Freeland.)”
Barker won that game Feb. 21, going five innings and allowing three runs (two earned) while Mercer scored seven runs (four earned) in four innings off Freeland….
The Braves drafted a couple of familiar names at the tail end Saturday, an area of the draft where unsignable players are generally taken out of a show of respect. The Braves took former Braves pitcher Paul Byrd’s son Grayson Byrd, a shortstop from King’s Ridge Christian who has signed with LSU, in the 39th round. They also took Brown second baseman J.J. Franco, the son of former Mets closer John Franco (fourth on baseball’s all-time save list with 424,) in the 38th round…
The Braves drafted a shortstop in the 19th round named Codey McElroy from Cameron University in Oklahoma who is 6-foot-6. DeMacio said the Braves might ultimately convert him to pitching.
