The Atlanta Braves went shopping for new stars in the Major League Baseball 2023 Draft.
The team had the #24, #59, and #70 draft picks.
The first-round 24th pick is Hurston Waldrep, a right-handed pitcher who could be able to boost the Braves in the pitching department.
With the 24th pick in the 2023 #MLBDraft, the Atlanta Braves select @HurstonWaldrep!#ForTheA pic.twitter.com/BTBSdF3N5m
— AtBraves ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Braves) July 10, 2023
Waldrep attended Thomasville High School in Georgia before joining Southern Mississippi College for two seasons, then he joined the Florida Gators. He has a 4.16 ERA, 156 strikeouts and 57 base on balls as a Gators junior. He reportedly has a fastball that can go as high as 99 MPH.
According to 929 The Game’s Braves analyst Grant McAuley, Waldrep “has a mid-90 fastball that can approach triple digits and a nasty splitter to go along with his breaking ball offerings,” McAuley said in a tweet. He reports that the team’s assistant director of amateur scouting Ronit Shah said they’ve been watching Waldrep since his days at Thomasville, where he went undrafted in the 5-round 2020 draft. Shah was particularly bullish about his splitter pitch.
For the 59th second-round pick, the Braves selected RHP Drue Hackenberg from Virginia Tech and for the 70th, Cade Kuehler from Campbell University.
