Anthopoulos enters his eighth draft as Braves general manager — here’s a look at how the first six have panned out
It is still many, many years until we will know exactly how the Alex Anthopoulos era in Atlanta will shake out. No one will complain about the World Series title, but many bemoan the lack of hitting talent in the minor league system and love to complain about his drafting strategy. After wholesale changes to the organization following the scandals surrounding John Coppolella, Anthopoulos had to build a new Atlanta Braves way in the draft. This article is designed to look at the first six drafts with as much context as we have at the moment, with the knowledge many of these players are still developing as prospects. For a look specifically at the 2024 draft I have that here. I’ve decided to look at three categories in this article specifically.
First round picks – Of course, the biggest investment in any draft is a first round pick (also included was JR Ritchie in the competitive balance round in 2022).
Steals – These are players picked after the first round whooutperformed their draft stock, usually outperformed their first round pick, and who have in some way contributed or look poised to contribute to the Braves in the future.
Busts – players who got high signing bonuses who never lived up to their potential. This is the category that really gets tricky as some of these players are still playing out their professional careers, and often injury is a bigger factor in these results than the players being a “bad pick”. I did my best to pick out players who fit this category, though over the next few years this is definitely the category that will swell as players start to hit walls at the upper levels of the minor leagues.
First Round Picks
Carter Stewart – 2018, 8th overall
We all know the story at this point. Stewart was the first ever pick in Alex Anthopoulos’s tenure, but a wrist injury and a disagreement on how that should affect his bonus led to the Braves failing to sign Stewart. There was a lot of noise made at the time, but in hindsight it may have been the best thing that could have happened for Atlanta. The compensation pick — 9th overall — led to a much better career result and financial flexibility that gave the Braves a massive 2019 class, and Stewart’s efforts to make his way in Japan have been mixed. Stewart has had some success and made his money, but hasn’t found his way back to playing in the United States.
Shea Langeliers – 2019, 9th overall
As the highest signed draft pick in Anthopoulos’s tenure, the expectations for Langeliers need to be through the roof. Langeliers has ultimately turned into a solid big league catcher with a 2 fWAR season for the Athletics in 2024 and 1.1 in 61 games in 2025, but ultimately never had a place in Atlanta. The organization favored William Contreras, though he was also shipped away via trade, and Langeliers despite his talent has been the third-best catcher to graduate from prospect status during AA’s tenure and his defensive metrics have not lived up to the elite expectations of him when drafted. He’s a solid player and the Athletics did well for themselves by grabbing him in the Matt Olson trade, though the failure of the rest of that package makes it a bad trade overall. Langeliers is still a key piece of a rebuilding Athletics organization and they hope he can remain a solid, albeit short of star-level piece for them in the coming years.
Braden Shewmake – 2019, 24th overall
The Braves have been stuck in the back third of the draft for most of Anthopoulos’s tenure, and Shewmake was both the first of that group and of a run of really significant first round busts. The past few seasons have generated better results, but the first three drafts with the Braves picking in the 20s saw them get three straight players who never looked particularly good as professionals. Shewmake’s defensive improvements made him a potential shortstop of the future for Atlanta, but he never learned to hit the ball hard despite the Braves efforts, and his lack of walks led to a low on-base, mediocre slugging shortstop who has only managed 71 career plate appearances, four in Atlanta.
Jared Shuster – 2020, 25th overall
It’s a little less fair, perhaps, to say that Shuster was never particularly good, and this is not a bust that I necessarily blame on the team or the player. Shuster suffered a shoulder injury soon after the draft and his velocity never recovered, so even with his plus changeup he was never seriously looked at as a piece for the future. Shuster had great numbers early in his minor league career, but at the upper levels his lack of velocity caught up to him and both his fastball and slider started to get hit much harder. If Shuster had stayed healthy this might be a different story, but he didn’t and only made 11 poor starts with Atlanta. He’s hanging on still as a swingman and has a 2.89 FIP for the White Sox this season, but for a first round pick he has fallen well below expectations.
Ryan Cusick – 2021, 24th overall
Spencer Schwellenbach was always the guy Atlanta wanted with this pick, but when his pre-draft medicals threw up concerns about his elbow they were able to float him to the second round and pivot their first round pick. Cusick was still not the guy they really wanted, but the guys at the top of their board all got run off right in front of them, and Cusick kind of fell in their laps. It was never a smooth fit, with some disagreements in the signing bonus creating a bit of a sour taste right off of the bat, and despite a dominant (34 K in 16 1⁄3 IP) pro debut Cusick was quickly shipped to Oakland as the fourth piece of that Matt Olson deal. Cusick never stayed healthy with Oakland, saw his velocity fall off of a cliff, and has bounced between three organizations this season. Cusick’s calling card as an amateur was 80-grade velocity, and he now is sitting with an average fastball velocity of only 95 mph. The injuries certainly aren’t Cusick’s fault, but it never felt like he was their guy and it showed with how quickly they moved on from the pick.
Owen Murphy – 2022, 20th overall
This 2022 draft is likely going to end as one of the defining drafts in Alex Anthopoulos’s tenure. It’s been decimated by injury and produced a few high-paid players who seem to be on a bust trajectory, yet it’s also already produced a rookie of the year candidate and three of the top four picks are on pace to pitch in Atlanta. Owen Murphy was having a breakout year in 2024, dominating High-A at just 20 years old with a 2.22 FIP, but a torn UCL cut his rise short and we’ve yet to hear back from him. Murphy has in some ways been a bit disappointing, as his velocity dipped following the draft and never recovered, yet his elite fastball shape and mix of two breaking balls still made him one of the best young pitchers in the minor leagues. It will be interesting to see where Murphy’s velocity sits after his surgery recovery, as he was on the fringe already and a move in either direction would drastically shift his profile.
JR Ritchie – 2022, 35th overall
It’s been an up-and-down road for JR Ritchie’s professional career, but he is on pace to be the best first round pick of Anthopoulos’s tenure (Cam Caminiti still pending). Ritchie was outlandish in his full season debut across 2022 and 2023, but early in 2023 suffered a torn UCL and missed a chunk of time. He returned with diminished velocity but still found success, and now in 2025 his velocity has recovered and he has developed into a pitcher with a deep three-pitch arsenal and above average command. Ritchie is a borderline top 100 prospect and likely isn’t as far away from the big leagues as many think. One more injury or poor performance could make a spot for Ritchie to jump straight to Atlanta, and the Braves organization is very high on his potential.
Hurston Waldrep – 2023, 24th overall
Hurston Waldrep has already had a fascinating professional career and it’s really anyone’s guess as to where he goes from here. Waldrep dominated in 2023 immediately after being drafted, skated through four levels with no trouble, and immediately got crowned as the system’s top prospect. Then, reality hit in 2024 as after a good start to the season in Double-A he hit a wall between Triple-A and the Major Leagues and has not really found his footing since. The Braves have made significant changes to his delivery, his pitch mix, and his approach and as of yet nothing has really worked to allow him to take the next step and lock down a major league starting spot. Waldrep’s inability to locate his fastball remains his Achilles heel, and while he has had some flashes of better results since the Braves reduced his leg kick he is still inconsistent with his release and walks far too many batters. It’s way too early for anyone to give up on him, but 2026 with likely be a critical year for him and if he hasn’t made progress by then the organization will have some serious decisions to make on his role moving forward. He could take the next step and be a mid-rotation starter or fade into a guy who is just frustratingly close to finding the last piece of the puzzle.
Steals
Michael Harris II – 2019, 3rd round
Harris has had a terrible season in 2025, but getting a 10 WAR player at any point of the draft is kind of a win, and especially so in the third round. Harris’s lack of approach progression aside, one of the amazing things about this pick was how immediately correct it was. From the moment he stepped on the field he was clearly the best player from that 2019 draft and he never really missed a beat until this season where his numbers has fallen off of a cliff. Other teams just flat out missed on Harris and he’s still one of the game’s brightest young players though he seems to be at a bit of a career crossroad.
Vaughn Grissom – 2019, 11th round
Grissom’s defensive limitations and lack of hard contact have made it so he hasn’t really caught on at the big league level, but for a single shining moment he was a critical piece in the Braves making a run to the 2022 division title, and he also got the Braves Chris Sale. Grissom is a fantastic contact hitter and the Braves really did a great job at identifying his ability and his raw potential, and he is still only 24 years old with potentially more power to be tapped into. Getting an 11th rounder to the big leagues is already somewhat of a win, but for Grissom to be even briefly good and then key to a significant trade makes this a valuable pick for Atlanta.
Joey Estes – 2019, 16th round
Estes was a monster as a 19 year old in Augusta before the Braves made him the third piece in the Matt Olson deal. Estes made his major league debut in 2023, but hasn’t yet carved out a significant role with the A’s. Estes lacks a go-to strikeout pitch, so despite his ability to command the baseball he hasn’t been able to consistently shut down big league lineups and has floated around as a replacement-level player. He’s faced a velocity decline this season that has hurt him as he was already below average in that department, and the Athletics have him at Triple-A to try to figure things out. Still he is only 23 years old and is hoping his improved sweeper can help him find that next gear.
Spencer Strider – 2020, 4th round
Do we really even need to go too deep on this one? Strider went from relative fourth round obscurity to a Cy Young candidate (I would argue he deserved it) in just three years and never really missed a beat. Strider is one of baseball’s most dominant arms and though he is still on the mend from his brace procedure he is one of the brightest young pitching stars in the game today. The future of the rotation is in his hands, and that of the next entry on our list.
Spencer Schwellenbach – 2021, 2nd round
I mentioned it earlier, but the Braves were absolutely in love with Spencer Schwellenbach in 2021 and kudos to them for nailing that scouting job. I understand a second round pick is still a big enough investment that it’s hard to call it a true “steal” (though really any MLB draft pick being a solid big leaguer is a win). However he wasn’t a first round pick and it’s impossible to appropriately tell the story of the recent drafts without mentioning Schwellenbach. Even with the injury risk the Braves were willing to take a chance in a player their models liked and a person they believed in and they were right to do so. He hasn’t missed a beat as a major leaguer and it’s unfortunate that he suffered that broken elbow when the Braves really couldn’t afford to lose any more pitchers.
AJ Smith-Shawver – 2021, 7th round
Similar to Schwellenbach, Smith-Shawver got a lot of money and it’s not a true out-of-nowhere steal, but this was an impressive pickup for Atlanta and I still believe Smith-Shawver is going to be a critical piece of Atlanta’s future. He finally seemed to turn the corner this year at just 22 years old, but Tommy John surgery threw yet another hurdle his way. Every time Smith-Shawver takes a huge step it seems like an injury comes along to interrupt his momentum, though that is the life of a big league pitcher, and there is still a chance he drifts down into the bust category if he can’t come back the same guy. However he is young, has all the talent in the world, and has found real big league success (3.51 ERA, 3.75 FIP in his past 10 starts) so there is all the reason to trust him to come back strong.
Drake Baldwin – 2022, 3rd round
It’s fair to mention that as a staff we were a bit critical of this pick. Baldwin had some red flags in his profile and there was significant concern he wouldn’t stick as a catcher, but it didn’t really take long for him to prove the early doubts wrong. Baldwin was great in his first professional season, showed off drastically improved defense, then in 2024 exploded onto the scene as the best position player prospect the Braves have had since Michael Harris. He got the opportunity to make the big league roster due to the injury to Sean Murphy this season and has been so good that he forced the Braves to keep him in the major leagues when they had initially planned to give Murphy the vast bulk of starts. Baldwin does everything well, with the fourth-best wRC+ and third-best xwOBA amongst MLB catchers to go along with average to slightly-above-average defense. He very well may end up being the best player that Alex Anthopoulous has drafted so far.
Nacho Alvarez Jr. – 2022, 5th round
A lot has been made of Alvarez looking terrible in Atlanta last season, and those concerns are real issues that he needs to work on to stick at the major league level. However, from the Braves perspective this is a guy who came out of nowhere. We really didn’t even know anything about him after he was drafted and he came in to be one of the best pure hitters we’ve seen in years. You can question if the power will ever get there, and he is likely already been cast to third base permanently, but Alvarez can put the bat on the ball and was only 21 years old when he debuted. Alvarez still has time to figure things out and in a very small Triple-A sample was doing a better job of lifting the ball.
Victor Vodnik – 2018, 11th round / Caleb Durbin – 2021, 14th round
Neither of these players made it to the big leagues in Atlanta but are having big league success since being traded. Vodnik landed the Braves Pierce Johnson and has been terrific for the Rockies this season, though he is due for some regression. Durbin went to the Yankees for Lucas Luetge and recently was traded to milwaukee, where he has a 101 wRC+ and 1.2 fWAR this season. Durbin’s lack of hard contact is a concern but he was also a 14th round pick who signed for $50,000, so him even being a positive major leaguer is quite impressive.
Busts
Greyson Jenista – 2018, 2nd round
The entire 2018 class has been a complete disaster, with none of the draftees remaining in the organization. Jenista only played four professional games above Double-A during which he had a wRC+ of 4. Jenista had raw power and started to tap into it with 19 home runs in 89 games in 2021, but his hit tool was never good enough to succeed at the upper levels. He also couldn’t play a premium defensive position, so despite the potential to be a 30+ home run bat, there was just no way he was ever going to have the value to be an everyday player. He last played in 2023 with Kansas City.
Beau Philip – 2019, 2nd round
This is a bust based on draft position and signing bonus, but really no one knows what the Braves were thinking. Philip was a major overdraft and wasn’t ever really good enough to play shortstop, and his Braves career lasted four underwhelming seasons. Philip did occasionally show some flashes of power, but he never made enough good contact or played good enough defense to be considered a legitimate prospect. Philip didn’t necessarily underachieve by our expectations, he was just a major reach in the second round and probably could have used another year at Oregon State.
Stephen Paolini – 2019, 5th round
Most of the Braves busts are, naturally, first and second round picks who never found big league success. Most of the players from here on out are just guys that got big signing bonuses and are clearly not going to be good enough to live up to that for various reasons. Stephen Paolini got big time money in 2019, a bigger signing bonus than Michael Harris in fact, but his hit tool never developed. He still shows flashes of that potential with above average power and solid defensive skill, but has struck out 27+ % of the time at every full season level and only has one stint with a 100 wRC+. In Paolini’s defense, he was in particular need of development when being drafted, and unfortunately lost an entire season of competitive baseball in 2020 as he wasn’t at the Braves alternate site.
Tyler Collins – 2021, 8th round
Collins’s $450k bonus wasn’t that big, but it was just how spectacularly he failed that makes this such a notable bust. He was released from the organization at age 20, having posted a 63 wRC+ in 91 games in 2023 and never showing any real power. Collins had injury trouble and missed nearly all of 2022, and could never get his professional career on track.
Adam Shoemaker – 2021, 11th round
Shoemaker got similar money to Collins and made it to Single-A as a 19 year old, but now as a 22 year old he is still in Single-A. His command has never progressed and he also never added velocity, now sitting as a pitcher who struggles to touch 90 while also walking 20% of batters faced. Shoemaker has a nasty slider and has missed bats at a rate higher than 30% every season at every level, but he just doesn’t throw enough strikes to even be considered a fringe prospect.
Cole Phillips – 2022, 2nd round
It may be too early to give up on Phillips, but it’s been three years and he has yet to throw a pitch in a professional game. Phillips had huge potential and the Braves $1.5 million signing bonus reflects that, but such is the life of a hard-throwing pitcher. He’s only 22 years old and the Mariners will certainly be waiting out his rehab as long as they can, but until he actually pitches it’s hard to call him anything other than a bust.
Seth Keller – 2022, 6th round
While Keller hasn’t been wholly kept off of the field by injury his brief flash of promise in 2023 was dashed by it and he has not been the same player since. It’s easy to forget that prior to getting hurt that season he was keeping pace with Murphy and Ritchie in Augusta, but he came back with his command a wreck and his velocity way down and neither of those recovered. He only threw four innings in 2024 and in 2025 has a 6.59 ERA with 31 walks in 28 2⁄3 innings. Keller’s splitter is still incredible, but he has to gas it up to even touch 90 mph and doesn’t have command. It’s an unfortunate story and one of the dangers of being so heavily invested in arms.
Adam Maier – 2022, 7th round
Maier’s struggles would not be a story at all if the Braves hadn’t given him $1.2 million in 2022. Of all of the players on the bust list he is by far the most likely to work his way off of it. However it is hard to argue that he has drastically underperformed his signing bonus. His fastball velocity is not MLB quality and he hasn’t shown any real improvement in his command, two factors that make it hard to believe he is in for a sudden resurgence. Even so I’m hesitant to put him on this list just yet, however if I didn’t I know he would be brought up regardless. I’m still hoping that Maier can find a way to harness his ridiculous secondary pitches into a useful big leaguer, but he’s facing an uphill battle with his progress not showing on the field.