Atlanta Braves Prospect MAILBAG: The One Prospect Nobody is Talking About

Why is the Atlanta Braves farm systems always underrated? Who will be the top hitting and pitching prospect at the end of the year? We'll answer those questions and many more on today's prospect mailbag episode of a locked on Braves. You are locked [music] on Braves. Your daily Atlanta Braves podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hey, and welcome back to Lockdown Braves, part of Lockdown On Sports Atlanta, where we cover your favorite Atlanta sports teams each and every day. Also part of the Locked On podcast network, the number one sports podcast network. I'm your host, Jake Mastriani. Been covering the Atlanta Braves in both the written and podcast for over 10 years now. And once again, this is Locked on Braves, your daily connection to all things Atlanta Braves. And we have another mailbag episode for you, but this one a little bit different. We're going to be focusing just on the prospects. And it won't be me. I'm going to have Gorov joining me here in just a second to answer all of your questions. But this episode is brought to you by MLB the show26. Visit MLB the.show/lockedon and use code locked on to unlock a pack for use in Diamond Dynasty. Pre-order now available March 17th. That's tomorrow. So get ready on PlayStation 5, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch rated E for everyone. All right, Gorov, it's another week here. We're talking prospects with you and we got a lot of questions to answer on today's episode. A lot of fun questions, too. This will be the third straight mailbag episode. I do my typical mailbag episode on Friday, and I had so many questions that we had to break it up into two. We might have to do the same thing here because also had a lot of questions for you on the prospect side of things. So, excited to get your take on all of these uh questions as well as I think it's exciting exciting time for racing. I think we've seen a little bit of that already in spring training and I cannot wait to see more of it throughout the minor league season. So, Gorv, our first question here comes from Suds Burned who says, "Do the Braves focus on making major leaguers over top prospects and what is that why we're nationally underrated but always have key prospect contributions?" Oh, you're m muted there, Gora. Yeah, that that certainly could help uh if I had it unmuted. But I mean, I think the stigma really associated with the with the overall DR uh Braves [snorts] system as is is the lack of depth in the upper minors. It's not necessarily a making major leaguers over top prospects. I think everyone in the in the in the league wants to have major leaguers regardless. Uh there's there's what what is really difficult at this time is we see a new influx of talent overall in the organization, but most of them are 20 and under. When you're looking at those rosters getting filled out closer to opening day, you're looking at, you know, Rome, Columbus, and and Gwynette, you're not really seeing any high impact players. You're seeing more positional depth. You're seeing a lot, especially when you look at Gwynette, too. It's going to be filled with these like quad A type players, players that have been cut from other organizations. And that's really what the overall like national media is really talking about. It's not necessarily that the Braves don't have a lot of talent. They do have a lot of talent. Of course, a lot of it is pitching, but now we're seeing that influx of positional players itself. I really it's the fact that there aren't that many notable uh notable positional prospects that really have that high impact ceiling. And that's that's really the biggest issue and and the reason why the Braves have continually been, you know, 25 or higher when it comes to their national ranking. Now, I do see that changing over the next, you know, this year as well as next year when we're looking at two draft picks in the top in the top in the first round in the top 30 as well as what's expected to be a really loaded international uh free agency period as well. So, we're going to see that change. We're going to see the story change as well. Uh plus, we saw great, you know, great progress with a lot of those prospects last year and the lower miners. So if they continue to develop as they start pushing towards high A and Columbus, I think that 27 28 might soon become in the top 20s and then as long as the Braves nail the draft and again the upcoming free a international free agency period, you're looking at potentially a top 15 farm system in the league. >> Yeah, I definitely think there's more coming. I've always made the the argument too that the Braves never give these prospects long enough to actually become top prospects. like they get to double A and Michael Harris is coming up. You know, Spencer Strider breaks out, we're calling him up. Even a guy like Drake Bowwin, if Shawn Murphy were healthy and were the starting catcher last year and Drake Bowwin spends most of the year in AAA, he's probably a top 50 prospect this year, if not even higher than that. So, I I think that plays into it is that the Braves are very aggressive in calling guys up. And, you know, it didn't really hurt DDA Fuentes either. you know, he's still a top 100 prospect by most people, but you know, they call him up and then he struggles, takes some of the shine off of him as well. So, I think you could say the same for like an AJ Smith Shaver who maybe was called up too early and struggled a little bit. Um, but you're seeing the Braves just be very aggressive and sometimes that works out great and they are Spencer Strider, Michael Harris right out of the gate. Sometimes that can take a little bit of the prospect shine off of them too if they come up early before they're ready and they struggle a little bit. So, I think there's that plays into it a little bit why the Braves farm system overall is not great at well because sometimes these guys just don't get a lot of time to shine at the prospects. >> Absolutely. Absolutely. No, and that and honestly, it's it's what I love about the Braves as well. When a player that they deem as good enough for the majors is ready, they believe he's ready and they and they'll give him the opportunity and and I know like if we if we focus on Fuentes, the outcome might not have been exactly what we were looking for on the major league side. when you look at what he did in the minors, it checked all the boxes. So, logically it made sense, but not necessarily maybe not in the right point of his career to do that kind of move, uh, you hit it right on the on the head there, though. It's it uh they are aggressive. We've seen that happen and it could happen again this year with J.R. Richie and him seemingly being forced into the rotation after yet another fantastic outing in spring. So the you're right, the Braves are definitely super aggressive with prospects and I think it's just a combination of both those things that really end up resulting in, you know, that lower ranking, but we are seeing that big influx of of of um talent and lower in the minors and as they continue to develop, we will see them rank higher and higher over the next couple of years. >> Yeah, definitely think so too. I think this year we could see a lot uh coming in there. Next question from MD Hoffman01. He says, "This time next year, who will be the top three Braves hitting and pitching prospects?" So, what do you got, Gorov? Who's going to be the top three? >> Definitely going to have Diego and John Heel there. Those two are the highest ceiling positional prospects in all of uh the Braves organization with five standout tools. I'll definitely have to go with them two. Now, it's really interesting what that third spot is going to be. Now, right now, I know a lot of people have Tate South pretty high up there, but there's still a lot of work that he needs to do. If we're talking about immediately being the highest positional prospect, I and if you've watched the last couple of episodes, I'm probably going to have to go Cody Miller. I just I believe in his Yeah, I believe in his approach. I believe in his ability to to read the breaking pitches and his willingness to go to all parts of the field. He does have that power. as long as he shows what he's capable of in double A, we're going to see his stock really really skyrocket this year because the the the main issue with him has always been he did it at East Tennessee. Can he do it against premium, you know, premium prospects and I believe he'll get that chance in hia Rome and Columbus this year. So, as long as he, you know, kind of checks all those boxes, I think it it'll be Diego, uh, John and Cody Miller in terms of the positional. Uh, when we talk about pitching, you know, it really depends on who is going to technically be a prospect and who's not. It's it's easy to assume. If I have to assume J.R. Richie is making the staff, uh, I'll probably go Cam. Um hopefully Fuentes will be in Atlanta as well. So we'll go ahead and take him off that list. So with Fuentes and J.R. Richie off, I'll go Cam Owen Murphy. O I'm going to go high on Briggs McKenzie. I like I like the potential. If he if he shows the fast ball at a at a higher velocity, I think his I think his ceiling is a little higher than someone like a Luke Sennard who does a lot of things really well, but Briggs has the potential to be special. So, all that considered, yeah, I'd probably go Cam, Owen Murphy, and then Briggs McKenzie. >> Okay, I like that. I thought you might put your guy Sinard in there, but uh >> there's a lot to choose from, and like I said, that's the good thing about the Braves pitching prospects. There's a lot to choose from. Uh, next question from Vault Till Fall says, "Gorov, who is the one prospect nobody is talking about that could be a huge star? The problem here is Gorav, we've talked about everybody. So, I'm guessing this is nationally who they're not talking about because we've covered every prospect, I think, so far on this podcast." >> No, totally. And it depends on what your definition of a star is as well. Um, it it's tough. We've talked about Owen Care. We talked about Eric Hartman. I think both of those both of those players have, you know, potential high ceiling uh high ceilings as well. If I had to choose one whose name isn't Cody Miller because he feels like he's kind of like the easy one to pick, I would probably go with Dixon Williams. Uh he does look like he's got that major league caliber uh bat. He plays second really really well. we know the issues with Azie over the past couple of years and and wanting to have someone to compete with him over the next few years. I don't know if I would necessarily put the star on him. Uh but all things considered with who we've talked about in the past over the past few weeks, if I had to say one person that's kind of not on a lot of radars, it would have to be Dixon Williams just because he can play a really good second. Uh if he has to change positions, there is a possibility. I like what he can do with the bat. He's got a good approach. Walks at a decent clip. Um maybe not necessarily again that that star definition that that the uh reader was talking about, but I do see him potentially climbing some some ranks with a strong 2026. Again, especially if he starts in high a Rome and then gets opportunities in Columbus and continues to hit well. if you show as a hitter, if you show that you can hit that kind of uh premium pitching in doublea, you typically can check the boxes off in AAA. So, yeah, if I had to pick someone that maybe not be in that national spotlight, I have to go with uh Dixon Williams. >> This 2025 draft could be a could turn out to be a really good one. And then you combine it with what they could potentially do in 26 as well with the the high draft picks. Uh there'll be a lot of lot of talent coming in to the system. All right, we'll continue our prospect questions with Gorov next talking about Alfredo Sena and how that could change things up going forward and could the CBA mess things up there. We'll talk about that here next. Today I am thrilled to be talking about our sponsor MLB The Show 26. The greatest game in baseball is back with its newest installment. Baseball fans are going to have a hard time pulling themselves away from the game just like myself. I've been enjoying it all week since it came out earlier uh last week on March 17th. I've been playing it pretty much non-stop trying to build up my Diamond Dynasty team. I love getting in Diamond Dynasty, going through the grind of all the programs, the moments, playing real live things that have actually happened, especially with the World Baseball CL content back. You've been able to relive some of the top moments from that tournament. And they'll do that throughout the season as well. big moments that happen in the actual baseball season. You can replay them in MLB The Show 26. But maybe you're an offline gamer, you want to build your franchise up. They have some new trade logic there. 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And if you sign up before the NCAA tournament tips off later this week, you can compete in our men's and women's bracket pools on Discord. The winner in each will get a $100 in locked on merch credit. The rest of us commencerate in the members only chat as our brackets get blown up because mine especially will because I've watched maybe two college basketball games all year. But it is March Madness and it is a lot of fun. And as a member of the club, you get an ad free version of this show. And again, it's all free for a month with code march at lockdownbra.supcast.com. All right, Gorov, getting back into our list of questions here. Next one coming from John CLA and then some numbers after that. Uh, could the potential addition of Alfredo SA have an effect in the upcoming draft? Now, correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think it really affects the draft so much, but I think the CBA could potentially affect what happens here. >> Yeah. And let's not even worry about that CBA because I'm very hopeful that the Braves can add a talent like Alfredo Sena. Uh when it when it comes to the minor leagues, yeah, I know the Braves have drafted a lot of shorts stops over the past couple of years, but you just have to go with best player available because you just don't know how each player will progress, if they will hit their ceiling, if they will hit their, you know, if they will hit their floor really. Uh so not not I would say not necessarily has any kind of impact on the upcoming draft. If the Braves have someone like a you know like a Lombard uh available at nine and he's hitting well at the time I still don't see any issues with being able to take him while you also sign and then you have those four or five different pro uh shortstop already in the organization. It it doesn't really matter. you want to just get the best talent that you can and when it comes to Alfredo, you're talking about the top international prospect in the world uh in 2027 and you you can't say no to adding as much talent as you can again, especially considering the Braves needs just some more positional depth and and overall positional talent in the organization. So, I I would say no. Uh, it is something to be really excited about based on all accounts of what I've heard about Alfredo. And like you said, Jake, there is the issue about the CBA. Hopefully, you know, hopefully we have baseball next year. I and I don't foresee that impacting the international free agency class. If there is, you know, implementation of a draft, that might change things, but I don't see that happening as quickly as next year. So hopefully we are looking at a Brave system in 2027 that has four to five premium shorts stops and a lot of a lot to be excited about. >> Yeah, it's a tough spot for me because I've been pushing for an international draft for a while now, but it's like can we just hold off one more year [laughter] that so we can get Alfredo in here? Uh, next question from Calvin McDonald says, "Based off the current prospects in the system, who do you think the starting players will be for shortstop, outfield, second base, and starting rotation in 2031?" So, we're looking quite a ways into the future here, Gor, but what do you got? >> That's a that's a that's a loaded question, too. If we if we start with outfield, you know, Ronald Kun is still going to be there. There's no no there's no reason to believe he won't be. Uh, if I had to go with a couple of other, you know, a couple of other prospects in the outfield DH, I think we'll see Diego Torres. I I believe we'll see Connor Essenberg and his premium power. And then, if I had to choose one more, maybe Isaiah Drake with his plus defense and center and his and his really quickly developing uh hit tool and approach at the plate. So, that's a really really good potential outfield right there. And that includes players like that doesn't even include players like Luis Guanipa. uh Owen Kerry, Eric Hartman, those are just three more really talented players that are potentially available in the outfield position. Uh when you look at shortstop, uh that's that's a really difficult question to ask just because of the number of players available. If the [snorts] outfield plays the way that we just talked about, then you're looking at maybe someone like a Cody Miller at shortstop or second. would love to see a John Heel at shortstop, of course. Um, yeah, I mean, that's that's tough. It's a lot of questions in one. If I had to say, I would Yeah, John Hill at John Hill at shortstop. Let's go ahead and and plug Cody Miller at second. And then when you're looking at the starting rotation like there's you assume the Braves will of course have a couple of free agents but I mean if you want to do it just based on the prospects you got Cam Kminiti you have DDR Fuentes J.R. Richie Owen Murphy and then you can plug in Briggs McKenzie or or Luke Sinard there to to round out the rotation. You can include players like Lucas Bronn potentially Raven Antonio. All of those players I believe are will be ready by 2031. So you can if you want you can go with a full prospect starting rotation, a full prospect outfield and a prospect uh at shortstop and second. There's a lot to be excited about, but I like the question and the framing if we focus more on the future. There's there's even more to be excited about and talk about. >> Yeah, it's crazy you can you can really look that I mean it's crazy that 2031's not all that far away like one thing. Um I had I had to double check like are we really getting close to that? Um uh but yeah, I mean you could see the potential for what the Braves have to fill up all those spots. And I don't even think I'm not sure I may have missed it. I don't think you mentioned Tate South the scene either. Like he could be at any of those spots, outfield, infield, could be anywhere. So a lot of talent coming through and a lot to be excited about. Uh the next one here from Cal Finn has says, "Is it Diego Torren or Diego Tors?" Uh I see it spelled differently depending on platform. So just a question and it's always hard for me with prospects especially at the lower ranks like until they actually get up to the majors and you hear an announcer say it. I've always wonder and question myself how you would pronounce some of these. >> So I asked the scout just to make sure the way the correctly the correct way to pronounce his name is Diego Torres. So it's definitely the latter and that's something that I have gotten wrong myself. So I'm glad you asked this question so I can ask someone else that knows more than me. Uh but it is Diego Torres. >> Okay. I'll have to change it up too. I've been saying Diego torn. So Torres from now on. That's going to be a a weird one to adjust to. Another question here from Calendo says, "Is Cam Camoniti someone who you think should be untouchable? Sounds like a good few months and he might be knocking on the door mid-season." >> Uh untouchable is such a hard thing. That's that's really someone like a Ronald Akuna where you know he's going to be a superstar. I I would say no. Um, if I had to say that there was one untouchable prospect, there isn't one right now, but if there's one that I believe might be, it would be someone like a Diego Torres. Uh, someone that's got that premium upside that could change the way the game is played kind of deal like a Ronald Akuna. Uh, it's tough to put that on a pitcher, too, just because there's so much that can go wrong. There's so much up in that's you're talking about one player having a massive impact on the on a on each start. I I like his upside. I love what he did last year. That's even including not utilizing his what he considers his best pitch, which is his curveball. I would not say he is untouchable, especially when you consider the stockpiling that the Braves have done on talented arms. You still have a DD or Fuentes. You still have a Luke Sennard. have you have premium pitching talent as well. So I I think if you can get a musthave on your team and the cost is a KMKiti that is the cost of business and that's something that is difficult but you have to do um because not really no one should be untouchable unless you're talking about a franchise altering player and that's just someone that does not come along that often. >> Yeah. No, I've always said that there's nobody in this system for me that it's untouchable in the right trade, right? Like if you got an opportunity to go get a Juan Sodto at the trade deadline, like you give up anybody in your system you have to to go get a player of that caliber. So, uh, but I do agree with you. Diego Torres, I think, would be the only one in this system uh that maybe I'd consider almost untouchable, but even then, in the right move, like if you get a, you know, an all-star caliber type of player, you absolutely have to go do it. All right, we'll wrap things up here next with some more questions for Gorov, including what happened to the elite command of DDA Fuendentes, and what does he need to do to get it back? We'll answer those questions and more next. College basketball is non-stop. Big games, tight spreads, momentum swings every single night. From early tip offs to late night West Coast shootouts, there's always action on the board. 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So was it just some jitters or something that he he needs to work on before he gets another opportunity? >> No. Again, when we last week we talked about command versus control and what Fuentes has is that premium command of his pitches. He he knows where he wants to throw each one, which is why I believe the Braves were willing to give him that chance. He's got he does have some of the highest upside in the miners um within the entire organization and the Braves needed a starting pitcher. I I wholeheartedly understand why they went with him. The only thing I can really think of is those jitters. just it's a lot different pitching in Gwynette than it is pitching in Atlanta or pitching across the the the US on a on a much higher scale and maybe that got to him because of his age and you know just overall experience. I would love to see him work on his splitter just a little more just to have just so he has something that breaks down a little bit because again he's got that really unique release point and he's got that really elite vertical approach angle of close to neg4 so it looks like his fast ball's rising and when he's commanding at the top of the zone it just it's really difficult for for hitters to hit it. So, if he's got the sweeper going from from right to left and he's got that fast ball up in the zone that looks like it's rising, then having something like a having something like his splitter being another plus offering, I think would just help keep batters even more honest. Uh he already has enough in his arsenal to be, you know, a top pitcher in in the uh in the league itself. So, I I would say a little more work on that splitter and then just a little more time on the mountain, just getting more getting more um innings under his belt. Last year, he did suffer some some shoulder soreness to end the season, which we could see on some velocity being a little lower. He's coming in the spring hitting 99 with without really any issues. It looks like he's completely healthy. So, if you're able to get that version of him with a completely healthy shoulder and that splitter that's moving downwards, I think that's all you really need to see because he does have really good command and that's something you can't really teach, especially at his age. So, uh yeah, overall just a little more time, a little more innings under his arm, and then being able to locate that splitter just a little more is really all we need to see from Fuentes. that he's got the talent to be in the majors right now. Um, but the Braves do have the flexibility of not having to use them at this time and giving him that overall added development with that splitter I think would be a huge plus for him. >> Yeah, a little uh preview. We uh did a NL East uh round table with some of the other locked on hosts in the NL East and one of the things I said was I think Dave Wendes is a dark horse candidate for rookie of the year this season. I think, you know, with the way that he's looked in the minor, and I know it's spring training, but the way he's looked there and with the the status of the Braves rotation, I think he's going to get an opportunity sooner rather than later. Uh, and so I think he could surprise some people in his second opportunity. And I was also looking, he's from Colombia, and as we're going to the World Baseball Classic, I was thinking, you know, in four years, I bet he's probably pitching for team Colombia, too. So, that would be really, really cool. All right, last question and then we'll put a pin in this one and we'll do a part two of this mailbag episode. But the last one here for this one from Wonder Noma uh says, "If they went for a trade with say Boston for one of the outfielders, Yosha Durant or Twins for Ryan, do you have certain prospects you would tag as do not trade?" I know we already kind of talked on uh nobody being untouchable, but in these scenarios where Joe Ryan for one of the Red Sox outfielders, uh would there be anybody in those particular trades who you wouldn't want to trade for those guys? >> Yeah, that's that's a that's a tough question. My heart says no just because I believe in the upside of of of these positional prospects that the Braves have. Uh yeah, like like we kind of talked about too, like you you can't really label that do not trade on anyone because everyone is still so young and you don't know how they are going to develop. Uh, I have all the praise for Diego Torres right now, but you know, if he comes out this year and and and has similar to like a Joseé Purdomo type of season and that's all the luster, all the shine is off of him and he's more of a, you know, more of someone that we need to watch develop over a longer period of time. So, you you just can't tell with prospects. The the success rate is so so low that unless you have someone like a like a Ronald Akunia, like a Paul Skins, right? someone that you just know is going to succeed at the other level, you can't you can't assume that they will succeed on the highest level because it is a different game entirely. So when it sucks to be able to say, you know, because I I my whole thing is I love talking about the the high upside of these players, but you when it comes to major league regulars like a Durant, like a Yoshida, like a Joe Ryan who has really good upside, you you can't you can't expect uh prospects to have to they can eclipse them, but you don't know if they will or not because they are really good players. So I I would say no. There's no one that's necessarily untradable, but I believe Diego Torres is one that, you know, would be really difficult to to get rid of. >> Yeah, it's a good it's a good question and a good thought process because look, as excited as we are about all these prospects and their 90th percentile, you know, potential, they are still prospects. And so, when you can go out and get a proven commodity at the big league level, you already know what those guys can produce, it's still a question until the prospect makes that jump. So, uh, look, you can look at all the trades, you know, back in the day, especially the ones AA has made outside of Shay, you know, Langelers, maybe he hasn't really given up a prospect that that necessarily, you know, panned out. So, prospects are just that, they're prospects. So, when you can get a proven player at the big league level and you have a better idea of what you're going to get from them, you know, that's almost always going to be more beneficial to you. So, good question there. A lot of great questions. Again, we're going to put a pin in this one. We'll have a part two mailbag episode that'll come out next week as well as I'm going to be out uh for spring break. So, if you didn't hear your question answered on this one, it'll be on next week's mailbag prospect episode. But thank you so much for submitting all your questions. That will do it for this episode of Locked on Braves. Again, make sure you join our every day club. 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