The Atlanta Braves opened the 2026 MLB Draft on Tuesday night by using their two first-round picks on collegiate outfielders — a draft strategy the team had rarely employed in the 61-year history of the modern selection process.
Atlanta selected University of Virginia outfielder AJ Gracia with the ninth overall pick, then added Indiana State outfielder Carter Beck at No. 26.
Mike Kelly (second overall in 1991) had previously been the only collegiate outfielder selected by the Braves in the first round of the draft, which began in 1965.
“[College outfielders] wasn’t an area we were narrowing down, but these two guys for hitters, we were really excited to get,” Braves vice president of amateur scouting Ronit Shah said.
Gracia is considered one of the most polished college bats in the draft class, a left-handed-hitting center fielder with above-average speed and a strong arm. He hit .342 with 18 home runs and 25 stolen bases in his junior season at Virginia.
Beck, a fifth-year senior, wasn’t widely projected as a first-round pick. But because he will sign for less than the $3.58 million value attached to the 26th pick, the Braves can use the money saved to sign two highly regarded high school pitchers — Vermont’s Kaiden McCarthy (No. 48) and California’s Jensen Hirschkorn (No. 84) — they took with their third- and fourth-round picks.
The Braves added another 17 players in the later rounds on Tuesday and Wednesday, finishing the draft with 21 new prospects in the system.
The team’s strategy this year mirrors last year’s, when the Braves took five position players in their first six picks. The previous year, they had used three consecutive first-round picks on high school pitchers — a strategy that yielded Spencer Strider, Hurston Waldrep, and Owen Murphy, the latter of whom is recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The Braves’ first-round picks are scheduled to report to the team’s spring training complex in North Port, Florida, by July 18.