Here are the Braves¡¯ 2024 Top 30 prospects
Jonathan Mayo
@JonathanMayoThey say you can never have enough pitching. The Braves are trying to make sure they do.
The top five in their new Top 30 are all right-handed pitchers. Ten of the top 15, with just one lefty, make their living on the mound. And unlike last year, when they entered the season without a representative in the Top 100, two of those arms have pitched their way on to the list.
Both AJ Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep are moving as quickly as humanly possible to Atlanta. Smith-Shawver began the 2023 season in High-A and ended it on the Braves¡¯ Division Series roster. It happened so fast that his overall pitching r¨¦sum¨¦ is still light, having thrown a grand total of 164 1/3 professional innings. That makes it a little harder to figure out what he is, but he has a potential four-pitch mix that could look very good in a rotation.
Waldrep was the club¡¯s first-round pick last year and he made it all the way to Triple-A last summer after signing. His splitter could get big league hitters out right now without a doubt but is he a starter or a reliever long-term? We¡¯ll start to find out this season.
There¡¯s upside to the others in this top five, though JR Ritchie is on the mend following Tommy John surgery. And if you¡¯re looking for some bats to dream on, Jose Perdomo is really far away since he¡¯s yet to play a game, but the Braves didn¡¯t give the shortstop $5 million at the start of this year¡¯s international signing period for no reason.
Here¡¯s a look at the Braves top prospects:
1. AJ Smith-Shawver, RHP (MLB No. 69)
2. Hurston Waldrep, RHP (MLB No. 90)
3. Spencer Schwellenbach, RHP
4. JR Ritchie, RHP
5. Owen Murphy, RHP
Complete Top 30 list ?
Biggest jump/fall
Here are the players whose ranks changed the most from the 2023 preseason list to the 2024 preseason list:
Jump: Jhancarlos Lara, RHP (2023: NR | 2024: 13)
Lara signed for just $10,000 in June 2021 and is a two-pitch guy with a fastball that was up to 99 mph in 2023 and a hard upper-80s sweeping slider that misses a ton of bats. The Braves are letting him develop as a starter for now, which could work if he can find a changeup, but that fastball-slider combination in short stints out of the 'pen could be very nasty.
Fall: Cal Conley, SS/2B (2023: 13 | 2024: NR)
Conley is the kind of hard-nosed grinder you want to root for. He put his name on the prospect map in 2022, his first full season, by hitting 16 homers and stealing 36 bases, then performing well in the Arizona Fall League. His follow up did not go as well. He moved up to Double-A and hit just .219 and finished with a .584 OPS.
Best tools
Players are graded on a 20-80 scouting scale for future tools ¨C 20-30 is well below average, 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average and 70-80 is well above average. Players in parentheses have the same grade.
Hit: 55 -- Ignacio Alvarez (Jose Perdomo, Luis Guanipa, Sabin Ceballos)
Power: 55 -- David McCabe
Run: 70 -- Isaiah Drake
Arm: 60 -- Ambioris Tavarez (David McCabe)
Field: 55 -- Ignacio Alvarez (Ambioris Tavarez)
Fastball: 65 -- AJ Smith-Shawver (Hurston Waldrep, Jhancarlos Lara)
Curveball: 55 -- Spencer Schwellenbach (Cade Kuehler)
Slider: 60 -- JR Ritchie (Spencer Schwellenbach, Cade Kuehler, Adam Maier)
Changeup: 60 -- Darius Vines (Allan Winans)
Control: 55 -- Dylan Dodd (Spencer Schwellenbach, Owen Murphy, Darius Vines, Lucas Braun, Allan Winans, Blake Burhalter)
How they were built
Draft: 20 | International: 8 | Rule 5: 2
Breakdown by ETA
2024: 7 | 2025: 6 | 2026: 8 | 2027: 7 | 2028: 1 | 2029: 1
Breakdown by position
C: 1 | 3B: 3 | SS: 5 | OF: 4 | LHP: 2 | RHP: 15