Braves: Hometown product could be answer for Atlanta in MLB Draft

The Braves are mocked to a hometown kid in the MLB Draft, which would be entirely par for the course for how Atlanta typically drafts.

The Atlanta Braves have rostered a handful of players from Parkview High School in Lilburn, GA over the years. Notably, Matt Olson, batting with a 123 OPS+ this season, is a Panther alum.

Also, Jeff Francoeur and Clint Sammons.

While the Braves only drafted Francoeur of that trio, there could be a nice landing spot for another Parkview High School player in the 2023 MLB Draft, with some experts mocking that he’ll fall as 24 for the Braves to pick him up on Sunday: Colin Houck.

Keith Law of The Athletic has Houck falling to the Braves in his latest (subscription required).

Braves could get a massive hometown steal at 25

Colin Houck sliding to 24 would be a dream scenario for the Braves, considering he’s listed as the 12th-best prospect in the draft this year. 

With Houck, the Braves are betting on Parkview as much as they are the actual player here. The school has won three of the last five state championships at the highest level (7A).

But it’s more than just the school name lifting Houck as a prospect. He’s an athletic phenom, also the school’s starting quarterback.

In 40 games as the starting shortstop in his senior season, Houck hit for 50 RBI and 58 hits. He put up a batting average of .487, well above the national average, per Max Preps.

Houck was caught stealing just twice in his four years at the varsity level. He cut his errors down significantly in the three years he became a regular starter, with 11 in his sophomore season followed by 10 as a junior and just seven as a senior.

The Braves have a stacked shortstop pipeline in the farm system, but there’s no harm done in continuing to add talent to the younger end of the pipeline for one of the most important defensive positions out there.

The MLB Draft will be held on July 9.