The Braves Didn't Draft Five Players. They Built a Portfolio.
The Braves' first five selections only make sense when viewed as one interconnected strategy rather than five separate picks.
The Braves surprised just about everyone Saturday night.
Not because they drafted AJ Gracia at No. 9. And not because they surprised some evaluators by taking Carter Beck at No. 26.
Because they did both while quietly executing the exact strategy many expected all along.
Atlanta didn’t simply draft five players on the first day of the MLB Draft; they bought themselves five different bets on impact talent.
Let’s talk about it.
The surprise wasn’t the strategy
The Braves used both first-round selections on college outfielders.
That’s unusual enough on its own. Atlanta had never selected two college outfielders in the first round of the same draft, and before Sunday had only taken one college outfielder in the first round in the entire modern draft era, over 60 years.
But that’s only half the story. The rest of the story is why they were willing to do it.
Neither AJ Gracia nor Carter Beck represented major reaches relative to the industry, but both projected as players who could sign below slot value.
And importantly, the Braves made it clear afterward that neither pick was simply about creating financial flexibility.
Want to hear Shah explain the Gracia and Beck selections in his own words? Watch his full post-draft media availability below.
“We’ve had AJ on our radar for more than a year now,” Braves vice president of amateur scouting Ronit Shah said after the draft. “Our scouts were telling me, ‘This should be our guy next year,’” adding that Gracia had long been viewed internally as a potential top-five or top-seven talent before the season.
That matters because MLB’s bonus pool doesn’t reward winning the draft on paper.
It rewards allocating money better than everyone else.
Two picks funded three more
This has become one of the defining characteristics of Atlanta’s draft operation under Ronit Shah:
Target polished college players early, create bonus pool flexibility, then use those savings to attack prep players other clubs can't afford to sign.
That’s exactly what happened Saturday.
Gracia gives Atlanta one of the better pure hit tools in the class, and Shah repeatedly pointed to the traits the organization values most in advanced hitters.
“He’s hit everywhere he’s gone,” Shah said. “He’s always shown such an advanced ability to control the zone. He knows what pitches to swing at. He knows what pitches he can hit for power.”
Beck provides another advanced bat while likely creating significant financial flexibility, but the Braves also believe there’s considerably more upside than the public rankings suggest.
Shah described Beck as a “no doubt center fielder” with “some of the best power in the draft class,” adding that Atlanta believes there’s still “untapped potential” because of his multi-sport background and relatively unconventional development path in Canada.
Neither selection exists in a vacuum. They exist because of what came next.
Just don’t mistake that for saying the Braves settled.
Shah’s comments afterward made it clear Atlanta believed it landed two players it genuinely coveted while also preserving the flexibility to chase upside later in the draft.
Betting on upside
Once Atlanta created room in the bonus pool, the draft changed. Once Atlanta created bonus pool flexibility, it could start shopping where many other clubs couldn't.
They added:
Caden McCarthy, a 17-year-old Vermont right-hander whose fastball already reaches 99 mph.
Jensen Hirschkorn, a 6-foot-7 California righty with one of the highest ceilings in the class and an LSU commitment likely to require a significant bonus.
Cole Dennis, another young prep arm with premium velocity, projection, and years of development still ahead.
Every one of those pitchers fits the organizational profile Atlanta has targeted for years.
Young, even for their demographic.
Projectable.
More development ahead than most of their peers.
That’s also consistent with how Shah described Atlanta’s evaluations more broadly. Asked about Beck, he repeatedly emphasized athleticism, makeup, and remaining development rather than present production, themes that have become increasingly common throughout Atlanta’s recent drafts.
The Braves aren’t trying to buy finished products; they’re trying to buy years of development.
Evaluating the draft the right way
This is where draft grades often miss the point.
If you evaluate Carter Beck as simply “Player X selected at Pick 26,” it’s reasonable to question the value.
But if you evaluate Carter Beck as “the player whose signing bonus helped fund three premium prep pitchers,” the calculation changes completely.
The Braves weren’t making five independent selections; they were managing one interconnected bonus pool.
That’s why this draft can’t be judged one pick at a time. It has to be judged as a portfolio.
The bigger picture
Will all five players work out? Almost certainly not; no draft class does.
But Atlanta didn’t leave Day One trying to maximize the value of every individual selection.
It tried to maximize the value of the entire draft, and that’s a different objective.
And if the Braves successfully sign the prep pitchers they targeted, Sunday’s draft won’t be remembered for taking two college outfielders in the first round.
It'll be remembered not for Gracia or Beck individually, but for what those two selections made possible.
Want to go deeper?
We broke down all five Day One selections, discussed why the Braves approached the draft this way, and gave scouting reports on each player in the latest episode of the Braves Today Podcast.