With players ranging from above-average to (literally) MVP-caliber skill holding down all eight defensive positions, the Atlanta Braves possess a position player core that should make any other baseball club envious.
Perhaps somewhat related, seven of our top ten prospects in the organization are pitchers, including all five of the top prospects. This indicates that pitching is the club’s strength in the farm system.
The Braves should be well-positioned to take advantage of that concentration, at the very least.
In summarizing a draft research spanning from 2012 to the present, Baseball America identified the Atlanta Braves as among the top teams in terms of pitching selection in the MLB Draft.
The St. Louis Cardinals, who have excelled at drafting both volume and quality, finished first. They outperformed the field in terms of wins drafted over the remaining teams in the league, starts, and innings (6,998).
Depending on your metrics, Atlanta was among the best teams in the research. With 4,961 MLB innings picked overall, they ranked fifth. Atlanta ranked seventh in Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) with a 4.14 ERA and tenth in ERA (4.27).
JJ Cooper, the editor-in-chief of Baseball America, emphasized a point worth reiterating in his piece: quantity matters just as much as quality. All MLB clubs require 162 starts to complete the regular season, and it can be challenging to manage that pace without wearing out your stars if you lack depth. A frontline starter only throws once every fifth day.
Cooper’s point is aptly shown by the Braves arms mentioned in the article, since Atlanta boasts a combination of quality (Spencer Strider, Michael Soroka prior to injury, AJ Minter), as well as quantity (Alex Wood, Bryce Elder).
On the other hand, NL East foe New York and regular trading partners Oakland and Pittsburgh rank among the MLB’s weakest teams when it comes to drafting pitchers. Interestingly, Philadelphia is mediocre by most measures—the only exception being FIP, where they rank second with a 4.09.