As long as he is healthy for the stretch run Worst case it gives a Wright/Davidson/Wilson/Anderson some additional opportunities
Pache 3-3 though Camargo and Duvall are at least hitting so far All things that will mean nothing once the season starts
Klaw's Braves prospect rundown. He had Atlanta with the #2 overall system. Atlanta has promoted quite a few pitchers to the majors the past few years, as well a former No. 1 overall prospect, and yet the Braves’ system is still strong and seems to have just gotten much stronger with the very positive early returns on their 2019 draft class. The Top 10 1. Cristian Pache, OF (Top 100 rank: No. 5) From the Top 100: Pache is an elite defender in center field, often compared by scouts to Andruw Jones, in part because Pache is also in the Atlanta system but largely a testament to how easily Pache plays the position. The last two years have seen substantial growth in Pache’s development as a hitter. He’s gone from zero pro home runs in his first year and a half in pro ball to 21 in the last two years as he’s marched up to Triple A. He has 25-homer power; the issue has been getting himself into counts where he can take advantage of it. He’s done a much better job of that as Atlanta challenged him to improve his approach, cutting his strikeouts as the season progressed — but perhaps at the cost of some power in Triple A — while his walk rate returned to its 2017 level. He may never be an average OBP guy, but it looks like he’ll control the zone enough to hit for average and get to that 25-homer level, while providing grade 80 defense in center field, enough to make him an elite every-day player. 2. Ian Anderson, RHP (Top 100 rank: No. 27) From the Top 100: Ol’ Locomotive Breath posted a 2.68 ERA in Double A with a 32 percent strikeout rate despite being just 21 years old, earning a late-season promotion to Triple A where his control issues finally threw up a roadblock to his progress. Anderson looks the part of a high-end starter, with a durable build and clean delivery that gets him extended way out over his front side so all of his pitches play up. He can sit in the mid-90s with a plus changeup; his curveball doesn’t have a huge spin rate, but hitters still swing and miss at it. He has the weapons to miss bats but needs more consistency to the delivery — and just to flat-out throw more strikes, because when he gets ahead of batters they have a hard time hitting him. His range of outcomes is still wide, but he has real No. 2 starter upside thanks to the extension and that filthy changeup. 3. Kyle Wright, RHP (Top 100 rank: No. 61) From the Top 100: Wright has the makings of a durable mid-rotation or better starter and has had success up through Triple A, but his two major-league stints haven’t been as promising and he clearly has work to do on his command. Wright was throwing as hard as ever in the majors last year, and his slider, already a plus pitch, was even sharper. But major-league batters hit his four-seamer hard, and he seemed to have trouble commanding it. It’s up to 98 and has generally above-average (but not elite) spin, yet hitters put it in play 24 times against just five swings and misses. Those are small samples but are concerning given the pitch’s characteristics. That’s the bad news; the good news is nobody hits his slider, which touches 90 mph, and he has a viable changeup and curveball, as well, along with a workhorse build. He misses spots too often with that four-seamer, and it might be because his arm is a tick late relative to his front leg. His stuff is too good for these results. 4. Bryse Wilson, RHP (Top 100 rank: No. 65) From the Top 100: Wilson has one of the best fastballs among minor-league starters, and his success with it, along with changes the Atlanta player development staff helped him make to his delivery after he was drafted, is the main reason he raced to the big leagues in just two years out of high school. His fastball sits 93-96 mph, and he throws it a lot — more than 70 percent of the time in the majors — yet hitters consistently swing at it and miss, even when the pitch is in the zone. Wilson’s disease is his breaking stuff. He throws a curve and slider, but neither is average, as he doesn’t get great spin on the ball; he’ll often get better spin on his four-seamer than on his breaking stuff. His early arrival in the majors has thrown off his timeline, but he just turned 22 in December and has a fastball that will play in some role. If he can get to just an average breaking ball, more likely a slider at this point, he’s a mid-rotation starter. 5. William Contreras, C (Top 100 rank: No. 75) From the Top 100: Contreras’ older brother is Willson, the Chicago Cubs catcher (for now), but William is the toolsier player and has a lot more upside on both sides of the ball. As a hitter, he has a very easy swing with good follow-through, makes a lot of hard contact with strong exit velocities and doesn’t strike out excessively despite always being young for his levels. Atlanta challenged Contreras to improve his defense if he wanted to get to Double A, and he did, getting better at blocking and framing during the course of the season to earn the promotion, while throwing out a third of opposing runners. He’ll play all of 2020 at age 22 and looks poised to take a big step this year at the plate, given his hard contact numbers and the fact that he’ll get to repeat Double A to start the season. His ceiling remains extremely high, a true catcher who provides value with his glove while hitting for average with 20-plus homers. 6. Braden Shewmake, SS (Top 100 rank: No. 94) From the Top 100: Shewmake was expected to end up at third base out of the draft, but opposing scouts who saw him during the summer now think he can stay at short. His approach now is geared toward contact, but he has 60 raw power, and the thinking is that he can get to that in time as he adjusts to pro ball. Atlanta sent him right to Low-A Rome out of the draft, and he responded by hitting .318/.389/.473 with just a 12.8 percent strikeout rate, incredibly impressive for a player who had just spent all spring hitting with a tin bat against college pitching. He might end up an absolute steal between his promise of future plus defense at short and the outside chance he gets to that plus raw power in games. 7. Drew Waters, OF (Just missed) From the just-missed list: Waters keeps hitting for average and seems to have good hand-eye, but he has no approach to speak of, and it’s hard to see how he’s going to make that work against better pitching. He can play center field and has speed, although he doesn’t steal bases, and his above-average power doesn’t translate into homers. He did hit .319 in Double A last year in 108 games, just as he hit .303 in Low A the year before. If he does that and plays 60 defense in center, then he’s a regular or better, and he’s too low on this list. I just don’t think you can swing and miss this much in Double A and hit .300-plus in the big leagues. 8. Patrick Weigel, RHP Weigel came back slowly from 2017 Tommy John surgery and didn’t really take off until the calendar turned to July last year — almost exactly two years after the surgery. From July 1 on, he looked more like his pre-injury self, striking out more guys and cutting his walk rate versus the first half. He has been up to 99 in short bursts, and his long arms (he’s 6-foot-) give him a little extra deception, but his arm is late, and there’s some recoil here that may put him in the bullpen, where his breaking stuff should be tighter, too. 9. Shea Langeliers, C The Braves’ first first-round pick last year, a compensatory selection after they didn’t sign Carter Stewart the year prior, Langeliers is an elite defense catcher across the board, including the more nebulous aspects of the position like game-calling, but his bat was always a little light for a top college prospect. If he hits, he could get to average power, so there’s a gap between his outcomes — either he’s an above-average regular who gets to 15-plus homers with some OBP, or he’s a glove-first backup. 10. Tucker Davidson, LHP Davidson had good offspeed stuff when I saw him in 2018 but just an average fastball; last year, after a commitment to conditioning in the winter, he was sitting 92-plus and touched 98 and could still spin it, so he might be a back-end starter and has a high bullpen floor. The next 10 11. Huascar Ynoa, RHP Ynoa is an easy guy to stick in a bullpen, as he’ll sit 96 and hit 100 with a wipeout slider, but he has just enough changeup to start if he can improve his control, and if that happens — not a small “if,” I admit — he’s a number four starter or better. 12. Jasseel de la Cruz, RHP De la Cruz’s numbers haven’t matched his pure stuff yet — he’s at 95-100 mph with a plus slider and feel for a changeup, with the first two pitches missing bats when he locates them, but he never has racked up strikeouts as a starter in the minors and last year walked too many guys. It’s a command question, not one of stuff; obviously he’d be a premium relief candidate but this is too good of a package to give up on him starting. 13. Kyle Muller, LHP Muller is huge but not very athletic and had a terrible time finding the plate last year, with a 14.5 percent walk rate that was the worst in the Southern League. The scouting consensus now is that he’s a bullpen guy if he’s anything. 14. Freddy Tarnok, RHP Tarnok was banged up early in the season but was at 94-97 mph in instructs. He’s still rawer than the typical 21-year-old because he was more of a position player in high school, with some spin on the curveball but not much feel for it. 15. Victor Vodnik, RHP A 14th-round pick in 2018 out of Rialto High School in California, Vodnik opened a lot of eyes last year in Rome, although he’s a sub-6’0″ right-hander, and everyone wants to put that profile right in the bullpen. He sat 95 last year and touched 99 with a promising changeup and an improved breaking ball, generating a lot of weak, groundball contact in Low A. If the breaking ball develops and he continues to refine his command and control, he has third or fourth starter potential. 16. Tyler Owens, RHP Atlanta took Owens in the 13th round in 2019 and signed him away from a Florida commitment; he’s only 5-10 or 5-11 but sits 94-96, touching 98, with some explosiveness to the fastball and a curveball that projects to plus. If he were 6-2, he probably goes a lot higher in the draft and costs a lot more money to sign. 17. Alex Jackson, C Jackson has made himself into a useful player: a solid defensive catcher who frames extremely well and has power. He is very vulnerable to breaking stuff away but hits left-handed pitching well enough to have some kind of part-time role in the majors. His splits last year were comical: He had just a .288 OBP against lefties but hit 13 homers against them in 104 PA, good for a .660 slugging percentage. 18. Michael Harris, OF A third-round pick in 2019 out of a Georgia high school, Harris was a two-way player as an amateur who was up to 93 but went out as an outfielder with a power/speed combination and destroyed the GCL for a month before Atlanta gave him a taste of Low-A pitching. I don’t think he’s that advanced at the plate right now but there’s 25-plus homer/20 steal upside here. 19. Trey Harris, OF Harris was a senior sign in the 32nd round in 2018 but mashed his way through Low A and High A last year before finally slowing down in Double A, where he still hit .281/.318/.411 but with a 33/4 strikeout to walk ratio. He was old for the first two levels anyway, whereas when he saw better offspeed stuff in Double A and then the AFL, he started chasing and didn’t make the adjustment. He’s a great story, but if we’re realistic, his tools are light, and he has a ways to go with the bat, with a likely extra outfielder ceiling. 20. Bryce Ball, 1B Ball was a young junior at Dallas Baptist last spring, turning 21 a month after the draft when Atlanta took him in the 24th round to bet on his bat; he’s 6-7 with huge power — he was second in the Appy League with 13 homers despite only playing about half a season there — but has shown some feel for the strike zone, as well. Others of note Phil Pfeifer is 27 but went off last year and may turn into found money for the Braves’ bullpen. The left-hander and former Vanderbilt Commodores player misses bats now with his fastball and breaking ball and last year threw more strikes, too. … Mahki Backstrom, an 18th-round pick last year, didn’t turn 18 until October but had a solid debut at the plate in the GCL; he has plate discipline and power but at 6’5″, 220 pounds already, he’s going to be first base only. … Lefty Thomas Burrows is another bullpen candidate for this year, behind Pfeifer with a similar profile because the latter throws more strikes. 2020 impact Any combination of Wright, Wilson or Anderson could end up in the major-league rotation for some or most of the season. Weigel seems likely to win a bullpen spot, either in March or shortly thereafter. Pache’s glove is ready for the majors right now, but the Braves don’t exactly need a center fielder at the moment and can afford to wait his bat. The fallen Greyson Jenista was a second-round pick in 2018 out of Wichita State as a bat-only first base/DH type but didn’t hit at all in his full-season debut, hitting .223/.312/.361 in High A, then getting an inexplicable promotion to Double A where he “improved” to .243/.324/.338. Sleeper I like a lot of these projection arms, but Vodnik has the most complete arsenal of the group and the ability to get groundballs when he’s not missing bats. His height isn’t that much of an issue if he shows he can keep the ball out of the upper part of the strike zone.
I was fucking sold on Drew Waters when I saw him go oppo in the gap and go in standing up for a triple at a game in Augusta a few seasons back
He's got a massive gap in his game at the plate. Idk if that's enough to hold him back, but his K rate and near zero walks is a bit concerning.
Former Braves employee Kiley McDaniel, now at ESPN, just dropped his top-100 prospects list: 17. Cristian Pache, CF, Atlanta Braves Age: 21 (11/19/98) Bats: R | Throws: R 6-foot-2 | 185 pounds Top level: Triple-A Tools: Hit 40/50, Game Power 35/45, Raw Power 55/55, Speed 65/65, Fielding 70/70, Throw 70/70 Future value: 60 I've always joked that if Pache had been born in America, he would be a wide receiver at LSU because these sorts of domestic athletes rarely pick baseball. Pache was an 80 runner a few years ago, but his pure speed has regressed a bit as his raw power and bulk have increased. That said, his elite defensive instincts are still present, so you can see why fans want to say Pache will be Andruw Jones; the defensive skill set is pretty similar. Offensively, scouts have been waiting for the Pache breakout for years. He has made more incremental progress to the point that he is probably still a solid everyday player with no future improvements, but he could be a perennial All-Star if he hits his above-average offensive ceiling. 38. Drew Waters, CF, Atlanta Braves Age: 21 (12/30/98) Bats: B | Throws: R 6-foot-2 | 183 pounds Top level: Triple-A Future value: 55 Waters is one of the more polarizing prospects on this list, due mostly to varying takes on his pitch selection and makeup. I was working with the Braves the year they drafted Waters and can see why his personality would be a question to outside observers. He's loud and can rub some people the wrong way, and this is especially likely when someone just watched him from the stands for a few games or spent a day or two around him in a clubhouse. Some teams were convinced Javier Baez and Bryce Harper were bad makeup guys in high school and early in their pro careers, and though all of these instances aren't the same, there's a bit of the same thing going on here. Waters is definitely a hitter who likes to swing and is prone to chase, with bat control that has bailed him out until the upper levels of the minors. Sometimes this is Lewis Brinson, Josh Vitters, Delmon Young or Jeff Francoeur, and sometimes it's Starling Marte or even Ronald Acuna Jr. It's an issue with a number of players high on this list, including Luis Robert, CJ Abrams and Oneil Cruz. Pitch selection can be improved, but often not dramatically, and there are different flavors within that narrow definition. What it normally comes down to is makeup, which becomes a proxy for being able to make adjustments, and bat control, which is the ability to hit pitches that aren't center cut (think Vlad Guerrero Sr. or Ichiro as examples of 80 bat control). I think Waters is above average in both regards. 49. Ian Anderson, RHP, Atlanta Braves Age: 21 (5/2/98) Bats: R | Throws: R 6-foot-3 | 170 pounds Top level: Triple-A Future value: 50 Anderson's stuff has changed a bit since his high school days. His curveball was above average to plus at times when he was an amateur but has settled as an average pitch now. Anderson's changeup was a third pitch that wasn't used much and flashed potential -- even above average at times -- but is now consistently plus. The rest of the profile that led to Anderson going No. 3 overall in 2016 is essentially the same: a near ideal frame, arm action and delivery, throwing fastballs into the mid-90s that work best at the top of the strike zone, with above-average command projection. 83. Shea Langeliers, C, Atlanta Braves Age: 22 (11/18/97) Bats: R | Throws: R 6-foot | 190 pounds Top level: Low-A Future value: 50 Langeliers bounced back quickly from a broken hamate bone during his draft spring and already appears to have added more power to his game. There was no question at draft time about his above-average defense and plus arm, along with above-average raw power and some feel for contact at the plate, but the overall offensive package was still just solid. I heard about some offseason swing adjustments that were adding raw power, and a source mentioned that Langeliers' spring training exit velocity so far has been much better than it was in 2019. 98. Braden Shewmake, SS, Atlanta Braves Age: 22 (11/19/97) Bats: L | Throws: R 6-foot-4 | 180 pounds Top level: Double-A Future value: 50 Shewmake was a somewhat boring 2019 draft prospect at first glance, as a lanky infielder who made lots of contact but without much pop or lift and didn't seem to have enough range to stay at shortstop. Some teams, including the Braves, looked deeper and saw a deceptively rangy shortstop with at least above-average speed and latent power that might be unlocked soon. Shewmake had a very loud debut and might be another large-framed everyday MLB shortstop in short order, though he won't have the power of Seager or Correa.
SSS asidr it appears Kyle Wright has had a good spring. Only 17 batters faced, 1 hit 15/17 retired. Riley 3ks in 19abs GOAT doing well too. Sounds like Snit is going to be stubborn and stay with the mindset players can only play one position vs what the dodgers are doing. GOAT can player 2b,3b,ss,RF. I'd guess he could make 12 starts at 1B and not be terrible. He claims he needs constant ABs... We can't get him 4 starts a week and thr primary pinch hitter?? Seems he'd be a waste in AAA
I think our $18 million pitcher being hurt and our $18 million cleanup hitter wishing he were in another city hurt more.
If we're starting a list of guys whose spring training stats I don't care one bit about, #1 is Ronnie.
Cole was absurdly risky, especially coming off an injured year. Pitchers are stupid expensive. I'm amazed Ozuna said what he did. Hopefully it was a bad quote and didn't mean it that way. Just really fucking weird and completely opposite of what Josh said last year
Seems we're going to need that. Our ACE has an ERA around 9 and Bryce Wilson is out there in the 20s!!!1!!1
Phil Pfeifer might fuck around and make the 25 man roster Kurt Hoekstra looking good on the mound too
??? showing 2 innings of no run ball for me https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/teherju01.shtml
sometimes when i am feeling too happy or excited and need to level myself out, i think about how liberty media after record breaking revenues last year punted on a world series window by letting jd walk always does the trick
Had a dream last night that I was at the home opener, and they had Mark McGwire out on the field singing a tribute song to The Chop as the entire crowd chopped along sadly one last time.
That combined with a little boozin last night led to the interesting dream. Is there another kind of dream?
He doesn't want to be here and hates Atlanta, so I assume he'll be fucking terrible. We aren't going to get a pick next year but he'll sign a long deal with the Cards and ball out
not even looking at stats for the spring. it doesn't mean anything. ozuna is gonna rip dingers all year for us.