Braves Report: Your No. 1 draft pick

Howdy, Braves fans.

We’ll talk about Eli White and Wednesday’s dramatic 4-1 win in a minute.

First, we’ve got a look at what’s coming up — and an intriguing thought experiment inspired by the NFL draft.

THE SERIES AHEAD

No game today. Then it’s on to Arizona.

📺 How to watch: Friday through Sunday games are slated for 9:40, 8:10 and 4:10 p.m., respectively. All on FanDuel Sports Network.

⚾ Probable starters: The Braves expect to send Chris Sale, Grant Holmes and Spencer Schwellenbach to the mound.

📝 The scouting report: The Diamondbacks sit in fourth place in the mighty National League West. They’re 14-10 heading into their series finale against Tampa Bay tonight.

PLEASE INDULGE ME

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Imagine Major League Baseball is starting over. Like, all the way over. They’re throwing every existing player into a (metaphorical) bucket and holding a draft.

And you, my friend, are the Atlanta general manager in this scenario. You can select anyone you want — with a catch.

Your first-round selection? That’s gotta be a current Braves player.

🤔 Who are you picking to form the foundation of your franchise?

I figure there are four clear tiers to things.

1️⃣ All things being equal, the obvious choice is either Ronald Acuña Jr. or Spencer Strider.

But all things aren’t equal! Acuña’s had two knee surgeries now. Ditto Strider, but elbow. A third for either could be devastating.

You cool with chancing that?

2️⃣ Maybe! Or maybe you’d be more interested in someone like, say, Austin Riley. Or Matt Olson. Important positions, power bats. Southern guys, too, which we like.

Maybe the strongest contender of all here, if you’re partial to pitching: Spencer Schwellenbach.

3️⃣ Looking for a more vibe-centric pick? Say hi to Ozzie Albies and Michael Harris II.

Both delightful people and immensely talented, though not necessarily grand slams. Albies is in one of those gets-hurt-every-other-season ruts, and Harris hasn’t quite put it all together yet.

A lot of your fellow fake GMs would be happy to have either — but is either one the best choice for you?

4️⃣ I call this the Falcons tier.

Are Marcell Ozuna and Chris Sale exceptional players? Sure! So are, say, Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin. But selecting any of them in the first round would leave everyone else very confused.

All that considered ... I think I’m going Schwellenbach because I’m too chicken to take Acuña or Strider.

But who are you taking?

ELI’S COMING*

Credit: Mike Stewart/AP

Credit: Mike Stewart/AP

OK, about Wednesday’s game: Bryce Elder pitched well (6 innings, 1 run), but the Braves couldn’t muster much off St. Louis starter Miles Mikolas.

Michael Harris II tied things at 1-1 with an RBI single in the seventh inning — then Eli White, getting a rare start, launched the deciding three-run shot in the eighth.

Pretty good stuff.

🥲 White said this afterward: “I haven’t showered yet because I can’t stop sweating. It’s an amazing feeling to just be able to come through for the team there and help the team win a series. It was big. I was super excited to contribute there.”

White’s been a Brave off-and-on for parts of three seasons — and you probably know him mostly as “that fast pinch-runner guy.”

🥲 Here’s a little more about him:

*My father sent me these words after the game, then informed me they’re the title of a song from the classic rock band Three Dog Night.

DOWN ON THE FARM

A couple interesting notes from the Triple-A level, where the Gwinnett Stripers played in Jacksonville on Wednesday.

A FINAL THOUGHT

What if I had told you before the season that the Braves would start 10-14, despite little or no contribution from Acuña, Profar, Strider and Reynaldo Lopez? And with Chris Sale struggling, too? You’d have taken it, right?

Glass half full, folks!

Thanks for reading Braves Report. Tell a friend — and maybe give the AJC’s Sports Daily newsletter a shot, too.

Until next time.