The Braves drafted the left side of Georgia Tech’s infield Monday – shortstop Luke Waddell in the fifth round and third baseman Justyn-Henry Malloy in the sixth.
Waddell was the 157th overall selection and Malloy the 187th pick of MLB’s annual amateur draft.
Here’s what Braves vice president of scouting Dana Brown had to say about the two Yellow Jackets:
On Waddell, who hit .309 with eight home runs and an .876 OPS for Tech this year: “We just feel like you have a guy that can play shortstop, second base. Very good defender. (Makes) a lot of contact, doesn’t strike out. And when you look at a major-league team, you’re always looking for that type of player: a guy that can get on base, a guy that can play multiple infield positions and a guy that is a contact bat from the left side. And we’re real excited about him.”
On Malloy, who hit .308 with 11 homers and a .994 OPS for Tech this year: “Malloy was very intriguing. We think Malloy could play infield and potentially play the outfield as well. He walks a lot, and he definitely has some power. So we think we get him in a professional environment, and he’s got a chance to take off. … He’s really just hitting his stride now because he was a Northeast kid (from New Jersey). They don’t get to play as much up in the Northeast, so we think this may be an early-detection thing where we got him.”
MLB held the first round of its draft Sunday night and the next nine rounds Monday. The draft will be completed with 10 more rounds Tuesday.
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