With the Atlanta Braves draft position being settled in as of Tuesday evening, it is now time to start taking a look at some of the potential targets for the team in the 2026 MLB Draft. This series will take a look at 10 players who will have some chance to be available for the team with the ninth pick. We will be skipping over the four guys who as of right now have no shot at falling that far, the top three shortstops (Roch Cholowsky, Grady Emerson, Justin Lebron) and the top pitcher (Liam Peterson).
We will continue our series with a second shortstop in Tyler Spangler. This group of players is based on how things look ahead of the spring, as players could see their stock or even game change significantly over the next eight months.
Tyler Spangler is a prep shortstop from California’s famed Concord De La Salle High School – though it is more known for other sports. He’s a 6’3’, 195-pound prospect who hits lefty and throws right. One big thing to know about him which could significantly effect his draft stock is the fact that he is the first big Stanford commit in the NIL/pay for play era, which could impact his bonus demands/draft stock – though it’s a bit too early for those numbers at this point in the process, as that stuff is one of the last pieces to fall into place before the draft.
Spangler is seen by some to be the third best prospect in this draft behind just Cholowsky and Emerson after a strong summer pushed him up from first round pick into the top tier of the draft. Others aren’t quite as high on him, but he is pretty universally seen as a guy who belongs in the top dozen picks based on his talent. At the moment I would safely rank him as the best shortstop in the draft outside of that top two, who the Braves won’t have any chance at seeing.
Spangler doesn’t come with any sure thing plus tools, though the power could get there. Instead his value comes from the fact that four of his tools project to be above average, with the average run tool being the one that doesn’t project as better. The main drawback for him is that he is a larger framed shortstop, in the mold of a Corey Seager, and there are some questions on whether he outgrows the position eventually. A move to third base in that event would be the outcome, and he projects to be a strong defender there if he did have to move.
Spangler has all of the tools to become an All Star at either position, though a potential bat first shortstop like a Corey Seager is the ceiling. His advanced, mature hit tool, making consistent hard contact and being able to draw walks, along with his power potential should get him drafted high this July.
