Atlanta Braves Top Prospects via Tomahawk Take, 11-15

Compliments of MILB.com

15. 3B Dustin Peterson

Dustin Peterson– It’s all about projection, ‘bout projection, not production.  I know, lame but it’s most definitely true for Padres 2nd round pick in the 2013 draft. Younger brother of D.J. Peterson and drafted right out of high school, Dustin Peterson is a 6’2 180 pound right-handed 20 year old 3rd baseman that has just finished his 2nd lackluster year in professional baseball. 2014 was actually his first full season and many scouts thought he should have gotten a taste at Rookie ball before being thrust into Low-A.  Regardless, it happened and things weren’t so sparkly for the then 19-year old Peterson. The power and run production was there as he slugged 10 HR and drove in 79 runs, but this isn’t 1980, and we all know not to put too much weight into either of those sexy stats.  The main concern for Peterson is his high-K rate that is, unfortunately, escorted by his low-BB rate. That’s great if you’re a pitcher.  Hitter?  Not so much.

And while there were some adjustments made from a defensive standpoint, Peterson still committed 38 errors in 128 games.   But like I said, it’s about the projection.  Scouts project Peterson to be an average to above average offensive 3rd baseman with 20 HR power, but caution evaluators to project cautiously as much of his projections rely heavily on decreasing his K-rate and increasing his BB-rate.  Let’s hope that 2015 will be the beginning of these changes and a new organization will light a new fire under Dustin.  He’ll likely start at Rome, which is the Braves low-A affiliate, and could see a late promotion to the Carolina Mudcats should he prove successful.  As of now, both he and Rio Ruiz are projecting at about the same path and both play 3rd base.  If one has to make a move to the OF, it’ll likely be Peterson. If his growth continues, expect the same in ‘16, then ‘17, with 2018 being the year he hits The Show.

14. RHP, Arodys Vizcaino

Arodys Vizcaino- At one point in time, Vizcaino was part of the next “big 3”, when  he was paired with 2 other Braves’ top prospects Randall Delgado and current ace of the Braves, Julio Teheran.  That seems like ages ago, and in a baseball journey sense, probably feels like it for “Vizzy”.

 After being acquired from the Yankees half a decade ago (yes, its been that long),  Vizcaino pitched 2 years of promising baseball with the Braves and was on the fast track to the majors as he advanced from Low-A all the way to AAA in a matter of months.  Then, in August of 2011,  he was called up to the Majors to help bolster the bullpen.  Apparently, it was too much for his arm and in the spring of the following year,  he came down with the Tommy John bug, and it bit him HARD (actually, he was diagnosed with a partially torn ligament almost 2 years prior and chose rehab over surgery, delaying what we now know was inevitability).

 In July of 2012, the Braves traded the rehabbing Vizzy and Jaye Chapman to the Cubs in exchange for Reed Johnson and Paul Maholm.  The Cubs were hoping that Vizcaino would regain form for next season and be an anchor in their rotation for years to come, but there were setbacks… about a year and a half of them.  Finally, in 2014, after almost 900 days of relevant baseball, Vizcaino started pitching again.  For the most part, it was successful and much of his arsenal was back to normal, but apparently the Cubs soured on him as much as the Braves missed him.  And in November of 2014, the Braves reacquired the RHP from the Cubs in exchange for Tommy La Stella and some international blah blah blah. The shine might have been rubbed off a bit, but it’s still there.

Fastball used to be mid-to-upper 90s, but now reports are surfacing that it’s dropped to low-to-mid.  His 4-pitch repertoire still helps him profile as a starter but, due to injuries, he’ll likely be limited to a relief role (although I’d love to see him in a starter position, but realize the risk involved) with the Braves.  Look for Vizcaino to try to put his stamp on the 8th inning role at some point in 2015, especially if the Braves trade the veterans signed in the offseason.  With a RH relief core of Kimbrel, Vizcaino, and Simmons, the bullpen should be a force for years to come. It’s up in the air whether Vizcaino will start in Atlanta or Gwinnett. Regardless, we shall see him in Atlanta at some point during the season should he prove healthy.

13. 2b/SS/3b, Jace Peterson

Jace Peterson– Considered a B- prospect by John Sickels prior to the 2014 season and followed that up by having his best year to date against more advanced pitching, putting up a .307/.402/.447 slash line against AA and AAA pitching.  He’s not making most prospect gurus’ Top-10 lists out of the Braves organization, and that’s a bit of a head scratcher for me.  Jace has been primarily a shortstop, yet could adjust to life anywhere on the diamond. Was deemed by Baseball America, prior the 2014 season, as the Padres best athlete, best hit-tool, and best defender.  Players that receive all 3 of these rankings are few and far between and most of the time become productive Major Leaguers, if not superstars (not predicting that, but merely stating it).  He’s an advanced contact hitter that shows control over the strike zone, and while he doesn’t have much over-the-fence pop, he’s most definitely not a powerless slap hitter. His baseball instincts are well-advanced and uses every bit of his speed on the bases.  While he doesn’t have the speed of Billy Hamilton, he has the basepath instincts that make him highly successful in stolen base attempts (think Nate McLouth). Jace was promoted  a few different times to the bigs and did not share the success that he’d had in the upper minors, and yet, it was kind of expected.  Here’s an excerpt from MinorLeagueBall.com from before the 2014 season:

“Given his lack of upper-level minor league experience, it would surprise no one if Peterson struggles initially in the majors. However, his tools are solid and his broad base of skills, particularly his combination of on-base ability and stolen base potential, makes him one of the more intriguing infield prospects around. He should wind up with considerable value for both a real team and a fantasy squad.”

Prior to last season, Jace’s highest level had been A+ ball, therefore the jump from AA to AAA then to the Majors in 1 year was a bit much for the then 23-year old and that may have taken the shine off of a wonderful 2014 campaign, but not for me.  I ranked Jace very aggressively, at #6 in the organization and I think he has the ability to produce on a team that is built for contact, defense, and speed. I’m drooling over the idea of the Braves having Jose Peraza, Peterson, Mallex Smith, Eury Perez, and Ozhaino Albies all on the same diamond together at some point in their careers.  Some of these guys better find an OF glove, and other teams better have a fire extinguisher in their dugout.

Compliments of Baseball America

12. LHP, Ricardo Sanchez

Ricardo Sanchez– When the Braves traded Kyle Kubitza, a minor leaguer that I had enjoyed following for years, I was a bit distraught.  However, after hearing that a 17 year old LHP that can throw 95 is the piece coming back in the deal, I came back to my senses…a bit (stubbornly, I still think we’ll miss Kyle’s bat in the upcoming seasons and I think he’ll be a darned good major leaguer, regardless this isn’t about him….).

Considered one of the best young arms under 18 in the game, and a top prospect out of the Angels organization, Ricardo Sanchez is the definition of the Braves offseason: high risk/high reward pitchers.  Reigning from Venezuela, Sanchez sports a 3-pitch arsenal with easy mechanics and an above average feel for the strike zone. He’s a high risk due to age and the fact that there are a massive amount of things he must learn and levels he must jump in order to make it to Atlanta.  He’ll likely report to Danville with a handful of other studs and try to build on his “middle of the rotation” projectability.   At the earliest, Sanchez will be in Atlanta in 2018 when he’ll be in his 5th year of pro-ball, but more likely 2019. While I’m all into keeping up with the Minors, I can honestly admit that this will be the first year where I keep both eyes on Danville and Ricardo Sanchez will be one major reason for doing so.

11. 3b, Rio Ruiz

Rio Ruiz- Remember when Freddie Freeman was coming through the Minor League ranks and many scouts debated whether Freeman’s power would translate into Major League over the fence power or gap power?  I can’t recall which scout it was, but one discussed Freddie’s swing and said that the natural uppercut his swing provides combined with his batspeed will, no doubt, produce 20 HR power in the Majors. Thus far, that scout has been right and Freddie’s peak is still a few years off.  So, why do I reference Freddie’s swing when discussing Rio Ruiz? The following piece comes for an excerpt from the crawfishboxes on 10/23/14 where their main focus was discussing the consistency of Rio Ruiz:

A knock on Ruiz was he only hit 11 home runs this past year, but he may be able to improve in this facet: a scouting report noted his swing to be level and linear without an uppercut, and we’ve all heard Alex Presley‘s tale of how the Astros asked him to make his swing more uppercut-like in a quest to reach higher power levels. Ruiz already makes very solid contact; an added uppercut should lift many more balls outside the park.

No, he has not added that patented uppercut that helps Freddie produce 20 HR a year, but just a slight adjustment to his swing could turn 7 or 8 of those 38 doubles into fence flyers.  Make no mistake, there’s no mechanical adjustment that needs to be made for Ruiz is already a well-above average hitter.  Both his walk rate and k-rate are healthy for a player his age with his walk rate really getting a boost this past year.  Ruiz projects to be an above average offensive 3rd baseman who could provide average defense at the hot corner.  He’ll likely begin at AA Mississippi, but could see a promotion to AAA at some point in 2015.  There’s no need to rush Ruiz as he’ll only be 21 in 2015.  Expect the Braves to essentially go year to year with Ruiz with late callups, which would put Ruiz into receiving the beloved cup of coffee in late ‘16, and taking over the hot corner when the Braves open SunTrust.

Stay tuned for the rest of the series!  As always, thanks for reading.