Atlanta Braves Minor League Ag Report, August 27

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Oct. 14, 2014; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Houston Astros third baseman

Rio Ruiz

(30) plays for the Salt River Rafters during an Arizona Fall League game against the Surprise Saguaros at Salt River Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta Braves Minor League Ag Report

Last week we highlighted the hitters of the DSL Braves team, coming into their last weekend of the season. This week, we’ll highlight the GCL Braves team for the same reason, and as we did last week, we’ll highlight the hitters:

The first guy I’ll highlight could be one of the biggest jumpers in the Braves system this year, Isranel Wilson. Wilson played center field for the GCL squad this year, but as of February, he was a 16 year-old shortstop from Saint Martin, a tiny island just northeast of Puerto Rico. The Braves didn’t assign Wilson to the Dominican League, and instead immediately moved him stateside, showing a ton of belief in his ability. Wilson has shown very good skills in center field, though he’s still very obviously raw. The stat line shows that raw ability, with a .230/.358/.504 line with 10 home runs and a 25/52 bb/k ratio over 135 at bats. Wilson batted leadoff for much of the last month of the season for the GCL team. Wilson has been compared to Preston Wilson, though the speed hasn’t translated to stolen bases yet. Wilson was 17 for the entire season this year, and I would be surprised if he doesn’t stay in short-season ball next year, but he might have earned the very rare move to advanced rookie Danville as an 18-year-old. He’s absolutely a guy who’s moved into the top 20 of Braves prospects, and he could draw plenty of national attention in the next year.

While Wilson will get a lot of attention over the offseason, a guy who has flown very under the radar until a recent explosion of power has caught the eye of a few Braves beat guys was catcher Jonathan Morales. Morales was drafted in the 25th round this summer from Miami Dade Community College (the same school where the Braves drafted catcher Victor Caratini, one of my former personal favorites, from in 2013). Morales didn’t have Caratini’s build or pedigree, but at 5’11, 180, he’s built like a true catcher. His 2015 season led to a .274/.353/.492 line with 7 home runs and a 13/14 bb/k ratio over 124 at bats. Morales was born in Puerto Rico, and he’s only 20. This could be an under-the-radar catcher for the future. Reports on his defensive abilities highlight a tremendous arm, as evidenced by his 43% caught-stealing rate this year, and good vertical movement up and down with pitches, especially in blocking, but he struggles some in his horizontal movement. If that defense continues to prove passable and his bat can keep up, Morales could be a huge late-round find for the Braves.

There are a number of other players to highlight who played for the GCL team, but many of them were bumped up to Danville for additional playing time in the last few weeks, so we’ll review them when it comes time to looking at Danville’s squad.

Pull up a bale of hay, and enjoy this week’s report!

Next: Gwinnett Braves Report