Atlanta Braves Top Prospects - Just Missed Edition

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source: ESPN.com

Atlanta Braves Top Prospects – Just Missed

More from Tomahawk Take

The Tomahawk Take staff has been revealing the top 20 prospects this week. Like I mentioned at the beginning of the week, this list was done as a compilation of participating writers from the site, so a number of writers felt strongly about certain prospects that didn’t end up making the top 20.

Each writer wrote up a piece (or a few pieces) on guys we thought the average Braves fan might want to have on his or her radar coming into the 2015 season.

Hit next to see the list!

Dilmer Mejia, Left Handed Pitcher

From TT writer Ryan Cothran:

Ricardo Sanchez is getting all the praise as a top-rated, young LH starting pitching prospect. And while the praise is worthy, there is a player that was already in the Braves organization that’s essentially the exact age as Sanchez whom I think deserves equal praise. Dilmer Mejia pitched in the Dominican Summer League and in the Gulf Coast league as a 16-year old last year. In 74 innings, he dominated much older competition, showing 3 pitches that should grade as plus with more development, and an other-worldly control of the strike zone for such a young age.

CB Wilkins, known Braves’™ prospect guru and Braves’ freelance photographer (follow him on Twitter if you’re not already!) said there have been conflicting reports of Mejia being a power guy or a control guy but those conflicts may just be due to the fact that his control really blossomed this year and the power (fastball in the low to mid 90s) was already present. Regardless, both he and I agree that Mejia deserves as much attention as Ricardo Sanchez, and will likely get it this upcoming season. It i™s fun knowing names before the other guys, and I would be willing to bet my house that Dilmer Mejia will climb the Braves’™ prospect chart very rapidly. While there are few reports out there about Mejia, the most eye-popping came from a group of guys that take pride in finding the talent in the lower minors before the players get real exposure. Here’™s what Under the Radar Minors had to say about Mejia:

The talent within the DSL is suspect at best and the cream usually rises quite fast, but a 16-year old putting up these numbers is astounding. Through five starts, the lefty Mejia has only allowed one earned run over 25 innings, with 22 strikeouts and 4 walks. Could we possibly be seeing another Julio Urias, but rising from the lower levels? The Braves know how to handle their young arms and Mejia will get the proper development. And though it may take him longer to rise through the system, Mejia could possibly “someday” surpass Urias’™ ceiling.

Urias, the #2 prospect for the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to the 2014 season, graded out at a B+ by John Sickels prior to the 2014 season, and likely will be an A in Sickels’™ new rankings, and the Top-10 in the entire MLB. It says a lot that serious Minor League scouts are comparing the 2. While Sickels doesn’™t have Mejia listed this year on his Braves’™ prospect list, it may be more about lack of exposure than anything else. Look for Mejia to move stateside for the full year (had stint in the GCL last year) this upcoming season, likely at Danville with a promotion to Rome should his growth continue. If his growth continues, he could go from relatively unknown to MLB’s top-100 in a year. Ricardo Sanchez, Dilmer Mejia, and Garret Fulenchek in the same rotation? That should be lights out for opponents.

Andrew Thurman, Right Handed Pitcher

From TT writer Benjamin Chase:

Thurman was the third player in the Evan Gattis trade, along with Mike Foltynewicz and Rio Ruiz, who were mentioned in the top 20. He was a 2nd round pick of the Astros in 2013 out of the University of California-Irvine. His profile was as a command-and-control sort of guy who profiled as a 3/4 starter or a middle reliever. Then he showed up to 2014 spring training touching 97 and sat 91-95 in the 2014 season, which has drastically changed his profile. He possesses an above-average slider and changeup, but with the increase in velocity, he seemingly lost the touch on those pitch and struggled with consistency.

At 6’3″ and 225 pounds, Thurman has the frame to support his new velocity. At 23, he’s not got a lot of development time ahead of him by standard development, but he has been noted to increase his off speed offerings each season since high school, when he was a fringe draft prospect.

Thurman spent all last season at low-A, and the Braves will likely send him to full-season ball, either low-A or high-A. If he can maintain his new-found velocity and bring back in his superior command, his upside is truly ace-level. The likelihood of him getting to that level is quite low, but that chance is still there, which makes Thurman a great one to keep an eye on.

Cedric Hunter, Outfielder

From TT writer Benjamin Chase:

Hunter was the subject of no less than 4 articles from Tomahawk Take writers this season. The 26 year-old signed with the Braves as a minor league free agent for the 2014 season, and he produced an excellent .295/.386/.495 triple slash line at Mississippi with his corner outfield defense rated as quite high. He was a Georgia high school boy before being drafted by the Padres in the 3rd round of the 2006 draft. After a huge splash in rookie ball, he was rated as a top-100 prospect by Baseball Prospectus before 2007.

He had a quick ascent up the Padres system, but then stalled out at AAA. His offense was never in question – while not excellent, he was always solid, with his low strikeout rate a notable trend throughout his career. He’s moved off of center field, where he started his career, but his defense is still highly regarded.

Hunter is one of only two non-roster outfielders to be invited to spring training (along with fellow prospect Mallex Smith), and he should have a legit chance at the left field job going into spring training. He brings a lefty bat with a low-strikeout, high-contact approach that would work well either in the lineup or off the bench.

Wes Parsons, Right-Handed Pitcher

From TT writer Benjamin Chase:

Parsons was a sleeper on many people’s lists going into 2014. He was an undrafted free agent signing in 2013 that produced tremendous numbers at low-A at 20 years old. The Braves moved him up to high-A Lynchburg in 2014, but the results were not as good by any means. In fact, Parsons was mediocre in April and struggled more and more through the end of the season, putting up a nearly 8 ERA in July and August after a DL stint due to shoulder soreness.

Parsons has a good size profile at 6’5″ and while Baseball-Reference lists him at 190, he’s filled out to at least 200 pounds in the last few years. He’s still got the same sinker/slider/change up combination that likely won’t make him a front line starter, but it could lead to a 3/4 starter that eats up innings, which is tremendous for an undrafted pitcher and a huge mark for the Braves scouting department. Parsons will likely return to high-A in 2015 to begin, but if he can regain his control and get back in the lower-half of the zone again consistently, he’ll be moving up to test the AA waters before season’s end.

Victor Reyes, Outfield

From TT writer Benjamin Chase:

Reyes may be the guy most people are most surprised isn’t on our top 20 list. Coming into 2014, Reyes was making “honorable mention” status on top 100 lists from many prospect gurus who are big on upside. Reyes certainly has that, his 6’3″ switch-hitting frame looks like he could add power and maintain his speed as he ages. Instead, he stalled tremendously at Rome in 2014, showing virtually no power at all in his time there before injury ended his season in July.

Reyes still has all the skills you’d like – switch-hitting, big frame, nice swing, good defensive instincts along with a reportedly above-average arm. I’ve been honestly underwhelmed watching him live this season when I’ve seen him, but I can see where there’s plenty to dream on. Right now, that’s what the 20 year-old Reyes has – possibility. He’ll likely start the season in low-A again, hopefully producing enough to force his way up to high-A before the end of 2015.

Joe Benson, Outfield

From TT writer Benjamin Chase (on behalf of writer Fred Owens):

Fred wrote about Benson upon his signing with more detail and easily had the highest ranking on him among the group. Living in Twins territory, I’d heard plenty about Benson over his years in the Twins system, and hearing his name brought in this offseason certainly had a level of intrigue for me. Benson is listed at 6’1″ and 215 pounds, and he really hasn’t changed his build a ton from his days as a high-end defensive center fielder with 20/20 upside. He even played some center field for the Marlins’ AA squad in 2014, but his arm would also play well in a corner.

Benson has struggled with injuries, most recently to his knees. Those knee issues haven’t hurt his defensive scores or his ability to steal a base, though he’s not exactly a 30-40 steal guy. Benson even cut his strikeout rate last season, though it is still too high for most measures. Basically, Benson is the opposite type of prospect reclamation that Cedric Hunter is. He’s a high-strikeout, low-contact guy with good power and speed while Hunter is more of a contact and low-strikeout guy. Both offer similar ability to cover multiple outfield positions. If nothing else, both offer depth in the outfield in the upper levels of the system, something that is fairly missing in the system currently.

Daniel Winkler, Right Handed Pitcher

From TT writer Benjamin Chase:

Winkler was the Braves’ Rule 5 pick in December of 2014, and he’ll likely be stashed on the MLB DL for the entire 2015 season recovering from Tommy John surgery so the team doesn’t have to return him. It’s a sneaky way to get a very high-upside arm that wasn’t being protected by his own club. While Winkler isn’t young (just turned 25 on February 2nd – happy belated birthday!), he was already at AA before his surgery, and his numbers there were simply eye-popping: 1.41 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, 9.1 K/9 all in the typically hitter-friendly Texas League.

Winkler was a 20th round draft pick by the Colorado Rockies in 2011, and he’s been putting up big strikeout numbers the whole way up the system, but he’s always had a worry of arm injury due to his violent delivery. He has a sinking fastball that plays up due to his somewhat-deceptive delivery, but tops out in the upper 80s/lower 90s. He’s one who could jump up and surprise us in 2016, or he might be a waste of a DL spot for 2015, but it will be something to store in the back of Braves fans’ minds until next season.

Others to note:

I know that there are a lot of guys to read on here, but keep in mind that roughly 2/3 of the top 20 going into 2014 is not on the top 20 now through trades, graduations, or being bumped off due to new acquisitions. Prospects rise and fall, but a great way to keep invested in the team is to continually follow those guys who can impact the major league team in the future. I personally will vouch for the milb.tv service as being tremendous. You can watch plenty of games on your computer, tablet, or mobile device any night of the week for roughly $40. Here is a partial list of the guys to watch this season that could be guys on the 2016 top 20 list (or impact the 2015 major league team) that haven’t been highlighted already: