Atlanta Braves Top 100: 46-50
50.Alejandro Salazar, 19 (10/5/96), SS, GCL
Stats: .284/.352/.361, 9.1% BB, 14.6% K
Salazar was signed out of Venezuela before the 2014 season, and he acquitted himself quite well in his first experience stateside in 2015. Salazar is listed at 6’0, 170, and I’d wager that he’s still growing as my only viewing of him would have had me guessing more about 6’1-6’2 and 185, but he’s long and lean, so probably not the build to add a ton of power, but he does a nice job of squaring up balls and putting them in gaps. The best attribute of Salazar with his relative inexperience is his eye at the plate. He walked at a very solid rate, and he was able to hold his strikeout rate down as well. Salazar has a cannon of an arm, but his instincts at short aren’t tremendous, which is why he’s seen some time at 3B and 2B in his two seasons in the Braves organization. I could see Salazar being a solid 3B if he gets much bigger or even possibly moving to CF. Salazar at the plate has not shown a ton of power, but he uses his speed well in base running. I heard very little about him from outside sources, but guys who saw him in person spoke very highly of Salazar. I’m curious to see how he develops.
Professional comparison: The comparison is not mine, but I’ve heard Ruben Tejada as a comparison for Salazar from scouts, so I’ll go with it here.
Likely 2016 starting destination: Danville
Expected time of arrival: 2019
49.Bradley Keller, 18 (12/15/96), LF, GCL
Stats: .245/.321/.350, 8% BB, 30.9% K
Keller was selected in the 15th round this last June out of high school in North Carolina. The outfielder is a complete toolshed, flashing power, speed, and the ability to hit balls well out of the zone to all fields. The issue with Keller was two-fold – he wore down heavily as the season went on, and his strikeout rate makes such slumps often difficult to come out of. I saw him early in his time, and he caught my eye with his raw athleticism. Keller represents the type of guy that the Braves have targeted since they overhauled their scouting department after the departure of Frank Wren. He’s got tremendous upside, but he also has a very low floor. He could explode up the rankings next season or be out of baseball in two seasons. Guys like that have the chance to become huge stars, and that’s the type of guy that seemingly was not pursued in Wren’s time in the GM seat.
Professional comparison: Michael Taylor made his first big league impression this year at 24, and Keller could be a guy who takes time to develop.
Likely 2016 starting destination: Danville
Expected time of arrival: 2020
48.Carlos Castro, 21 (5/24/94), 1B, Danville
Stats: .319/.340/.412, 3.7% BB, 19.5% K
Castro was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2011. He’s taken some time to work his way to the US and succeeding at Danville this year. Castro was signed as a catcher, and he moved to first base as he gained size. Castro has added 3 inches in height, and I’d estimate he’s added 40 pounds to his size, and not all bad weight. Castro may have the most raw power just short of Austin Riley in the system. Castro does have defensive limitations, but he has a bat with a ton of potential. I really want to see how Castro adjusts to full-season ball. Castro’s biggest knock is that he struggles with good breaking stuff, but he has shown the ability to hit even fastest fastball. I witnessed Castro take a 96 MPH fastball off the wall to right-center, which is a feat many hitters at the short-season level can’t claim.
Professional comparison: His walk rate and strikeout rate led me to C.J. Cron quickly, but the more I looked at it, the more the comp worked – “bad body”, big power, and defensive limitations.
Likely 2016 starting destination: Rome
Expected time of arrival: 2019
47.Brandon Barker, 23 (8/20/92), RHP, AAA
Stats: 12-10, 146 ⅔ IP, 3.25 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 6.7% BB, 17.8% K
Barker was selected in the 16th round in 2014 out of Mercer University in Macon, GA. The 6’3 righty has average stuff all around, but he excels in his location of that stuff, keeping it low in the zone. Barker led the organization in wins and did very well in Carolina for most of the year. He was bumped to Gwinnett for a couple of spot starts and acquitted himself quite well. He’ll not blow anyone away on the mound physically or with stuff, but Barker simply gets the job done, as seen by the numbers: 13/27 starts going at least 6 innings, a streak of 8 straight 6 inning starts. Barker will be someone to watch next year as he has shown to be quite valuable at every stop so far.
Professional comparison: Anthony DeSclafani was similarly downplayed throughout his minor league career and was even argued to not be “valuable enough” for Mat Latos this offseason, but he’s definitely shown his value, and Barker has similar pitch types and results so far.
Likely 2016 starting destination: Barker will likely start at AA Mississippi, but his solid showings in Gwinnett last year may show his readiness to jump forward as an inning-eating guy.
Expected time of arrival: 2016 late season
46.Chris O’Dowd, 25 (10/4/90), C/RF, AA
Stats: .304/.429/.468, 18.2% BB, 19.2% K
Acquired in the David Hale trade during spring training, the expectations were low for O’Dowd after he struggled with a .676 OPS in a half season in the hitter-friendly Texas League for the Rockies. Instead, O’Dowd was locked in offensively from day one, showing his typical good eye, but displaying tremendous power compared to his previous stops in the minors. O’Dowd had always displayed solid athleticism, stealing as many as 23 bases in a season. O’Dowd was a mediocre defensive catcher when he was acquired, so the fact that he was moved out to the outfield isn’t surprising. What surprised everyone was the PED suspension that ended O’Dowd’s season June 10th. We’ll have to see what O’Dowd returns in 2016, but if he’s 90% of what he showed in 2015, that’d be a valuable guy off the bench with the ability to play corner outfield and catcher and switch-hit.
Professional comparison: The guy who he reminds me most of is Ryan Doumit, but of current players, John Jaso has the closest skillset to what O’Dowd has shown thus far.
Likely 2016 starting destination: AA Mississippi Braves
Expected time of arrival: 2017
Next: 41-45