- Full name Braylon Payne
- Born 08/14/2006 in
- Profile Ht.: 6'1" / Wt.: 180 / Bats: L / Throws: L
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Drafted in the 1st round (17th overall) by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2024 (signed for $3,440,000).
View Draft Report
School: Fort Bend Elkins HS, Missouri City, Texas
Commit/Drafted: Houston
Age At Draft: 17.9
BA Grade: 50/Extreme
Tools: Hit: 50. Power: 40. Run: 70. Field: 55. Arm: 45.
An athletic and lean lefthanded hitter and outfielder, Payne has table-setting, top-of-the-lineup tools, led by his double-plus speed. He’s young for the class, doesn’t turn 18 until a month after the draft and has a ton of physical projection in a 6-foot-1, 180-pound frame. Payne has impressive pure bat-to-ball skills, but over the 2023 high school showcase circuit he employed a swing with a significant step-in-the-bucket action. His lower half often was disconnected and leaked out to his pull side with some back-foot drift. Payne’s swing looked better this spring, with better direction and balance in his lower half—and he pushed further up draft boards because of those developments. Still, he still might be more of a singles and doubles hitter than a 20-homer threat. He gets out of the box quickly with jailbreak run times that will often lead to sub 3.9-second home-to-first times. He is a 70-grade straight-line runner who should be able to handle center field and play above-average defense with more refinement. Payne’s arm is not a weapon, but it should be perfectly serviceable in the middle of the outfield. Payne is a Houston commit who has a chance to be drafted inside the first three rounds.
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School: Fort Bend Elkins HS, Missouri City, Texas Committed: Houston
Age At Draft: 17.9
An athletic and lean lefthanded hitter and outfielder, Payne has table-setting, top-of-the-lineup tools led by his double-plus speed. He’s young for the class and doesn’t turn 18 until a month after the draft, and has a ton of physical projection in a 6-foot-1, 180-pound frame. Mostly a singles hitter now, Payne has a slappy, level swing and solid pure bat-to-ball skills with some sneaky pop when he catches a fastball on the inner half and turns it to the pull side. He’s capable of turning ground balls into singles and blooped flairs into doubles thanks to his excellent speed. He gets out of the box quickly and is also a savvy base runner. Payne does have some refinements to make offensively. He has a significant step in the bucket action in his lower half and consistently pulls out with his lower half. Additionally, while he has good contact skills, he could improve his pitch recognition to better sit back on breaking balls and drive them with authority. Payne performed well at Perfect Game’s WWBA World Championship in Jupiter, where he went 5-for-11 (.455) with two walks and no strikeouts. He is committed to Houston.
