Atlanta Braves select Auburn pitcher Blake Burkhalter in 2022 MLB Draft

Blake Burkhalter will have the opportunity to leave Auburn and play professional baseball but he will not have too far to go. In the 2nd Round Compensatory section of the 2022 MLB Draft, the Atlanta Braves selected Burkhalter and he will be staying close to home.

Described as somebody who could make a “quick move” into the majors by Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball, the cutter is where Burkhalter excels. He throws it at nearly 90 miles per hour, while the fastball sits in the mid-90s. He spent all of his time on the Plains as a relief pitcher, never making a start for Auburn.

Now, he will go into the minor leagues and attempt to move up the chain as quickly as possible. If he does make it to Atlanta before the end of the season, he will be joining a team in the thick of a division race in the NL East.

Of note for Atlanta fans, this selection was made with the pick acquired from losing Freddie Freeman to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Since the World Series champ decided to leave for free agency, the Braves got a draft pick from out west. Burkhalter be viewed as the compensation package for Freeman as his career moves on.

Atlanta will be banking on Burkhalter continuing on the progress made during the 2022 season in Auburn. According to his MLB.com scouting report, the pitcher “had trouble locating his pitches” as a freshman and sophomore. The issues were fixed this year, which caused Brukhalter to fly up draft boards.

Burkhalter pitched over 46 innings this season, sporting a 3.69 ERA. He struck out 71 batters and allowed just seven walks. A straight reliever all the way, Auburn never allowed Burkhalter to throw more than 2.2 innings in a single outing.

For such a high draft pick, taking a reliever can be interesting. But if Atlanta is looking for the rare instant help from the MLB Draft, Burkhalter could be their guy.