We are three days away from knowing for sure who the Atlanta Braves will pick at 24th overall in the 2024 MLB draft, but for now we can only accept speculation and prediction as subjects to talk about. Keith Law at the Athletic dropped his third mock draft of the year, with the Braves going a new route in this one and picking up Oxford High School shortstop Carter Johnson with their first pick.
Carter Johnson isn’t a name I have seen floating around for Atlanta, and it is interesting to see this pick projection with North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt and prep pitcher Braylon Doughty still on the board. Johnson is a good prospect in his own right, with a relatively safe projection for a prep hitter with what is seen as a high floor for contact and some raw power to grow into. Johnson’s ultimate question mark is his defense, with most projecting him to move off of shortstop in the future, though Atlanta hasn’t been afraid of taking chances on hitters with defensive questions in the past.
Law brings back up the idea of Atlanta’s connection to Iowa pitcher Brody Brecht, seeing them as the floor for Brecht but having him (along with Benge, Waldschmidt, and Cijntje) going ahead of 24th. There was also an interesting connection made recently by Kiley McDaniel of ESPN, who mentioned the Braves as potential suitors for Theo Gillen, though both McDaniel and Law believe Gillen goes well ahead of Atlanta. Law reiterates Atlanta’s seeming interest in Braylon Doughty, while also mentioning Ryan Sloan, Kash Mayfield, and William Schmidt as other prep pitching options.
