Two Atlanta Braves SS Prospect Among MLB Pipelines Top Ten
Atlanta Braves shortstops Dansby Swanson and Ozhaino Albies were both named among MLB Pipeline’s Top Ten Prospects to Watch this year brining the total to five with the outfield list still to come.
Swanson Song
Just a few weeks ago the Braves caught the Diamondbacks drooling over Shelby Miller and got them to reach into their player wallet and fork over Ender Inciarte, Aaron Blair and Dansby Swanson.
Inciarte figures to be an important part of the Braves outfield moving forward while Blair slipped into the Braves prospect list at number four and has an outside chance of breaking camp with the Braves but will certainly see time with the big team this year. That said no one expected them Diamondback to give the number one pick from last year’s draft for anyone particularly after they paid him $6.5M to sign.
Ranked the number four shortstop to watch this year, Swanson’s another product of the superb baseball program at Vanderbilt. He was name the Most Outstanding Player of the 2014 College World Series and led Vandy back to the championship series this Oh and he was on the Academic Honor Roll at the Vandy in 2013 and 2014.
Tools
On the scouting scale future grades on 20-80 scouting scale Swanson grades out like this:
Hit: 60
Power: 40
Run: 60
Arm: 55
Field: 55
Overall: 55
So Far So good
Swanson moved from second base to shortstop for his junior season has proved he belong there. He’s a solid hitter with an advanced grasp of technically sound hitting. Although he had a late start after being hit with a Yoan Lopez fastball in a sim game and appeared in just 22 minor league games for Arizona’s low A team at Hillsborough.
He managed 99 PA in 22 games but proved his bat was as solid as scouts believed posting a .289/.394/.482/.876 that included seven doubles, a three triples and a homer accounting for 11 of his 24 hits. He walked as often as he struck out – 14 times each – and drove in 11 runs will scoring 19. While he can turn on a ball and deliver a home run, at the plate he’s a patient hitter who makes consistent hard contact and drives the ball top all fields.
After the trade of Andrelton Simmons the Braves needed a top notch middle infielder to pair Albies and Swanson fits that role perfectly. While no one can be expected to make all of the plays Simmons made Swanson will fill the role nicely and adds the thing the Simba lacked; a consistent, dependable bat. He’s often compared to Derek Jeter and not just for this play, though it does look familiar doesn’t it?
The trait that he gets most praise for is his makeup and you can see it in his the way he looks at his role. In an interview for the Vanderbilt Hustler they asked him what it took to become “greatest player who’s every played at Vanderbilt.”
“To me it’s more than stats,” Swanson said. “It involves a lot of creating your own legacy here. Having this place be forever changed because I was in it. I try to make a great impact on the people most importantly. The program, you just encompass everything. You can hit 1.000, but if you’re not a great person, then you’re not a winner in my book. You have every aspect of life in it: Academics, baseball and put it all together, and I wanted to be the best at each of those.”
In the same article James Beavers, the head coach of Swanson’s travel team the East Cobb Yankees says Swanson is a winner.”
“Dansby’s just special,” said Beavers, who has coached a litany of great shortstops including Stephen Drew and Gordon Beckham. “He’s just a special kid in a lot of ways. We used to talk about (Derek) Jeter having ‘it.’ You don’t know what it is, it’s just ‘it.’ That’s what I’ve always felt Dansby has. You can’t put your finger on everything he does, it’s just ‘it.’ He just makes everything happen right. Good things happen to somebody like him.”
It’s no wonder that Swanson made the top ten list Those are things the Braves haven’t had since Chipper Jones left and really needed for the long haul ahead.
Albies Seeing You at Pearl
Ozzie Albies who comes in at number ten on the list is another product of the Andruw Jones influence in Curacao. Other teams ignored Ozzie because he’s small but the Braves gave him $35oK to sign and are glad they did. He was the top prospect in his rookie league in 2014 at age 17 slashing .356/.429/452/.881 at Danville and followed that up with a .310/.368/.404/.707 line at Rome last year.
Ozzie’s game is about getting on base and using his speed. Baseball America ($) quoted scouts as raving about his energy and tools.
A natural top-of-the-lineup batter who should hit for a high average, Albies has a quick swing with plus bat speed from both sides of the plate. He stays inside the ball and makes consistent contact with his superior hand-eye coordination, yet he’s strong enough to drive the ball from gap to gap. His strike-zone judgment is far beyond his years, and he keeps the ball out of the air in order to take advantage of his plus speed.
When the Braves traded Jose Peraza to the Dodgers everyone assumed that Albies would eventually form a partnership with his fellow countryman Andrelton Simmons. Then Simmons was traded speculation had him headed to shortstop. The arrival of Swanson once again makes his future appear to be at second base.
Soft Hands Strong Arms and A Smile
Defensively he has soft hands and a plus arm and quick release with plenty of range for second base or shortstop.He’s a superior defender to Peraza at both positions and a better base runner stealing 56 bags at Rome this year. He does need to improve his technique to get his success rate closer to 80 than its current 65%. He has time to develop that tool more fully however as the Braves have Jace Peterson and Gordon Beckham on hand to man the keystone until he arrive.
Like Swanson Albies brings something long missing from the lineup; a high energy guy with a positive attitude much like Dee Gordon does in Miami but with better glove. The last player we had who consistently provided both of those traits was Rafael Furcal. He’s also a switch hitter who’s not afraid to take a walk or lay down a bunt to get on base. Once there of course he provides a distraction for the pitcher and catcher and more fastballs for the player hitting behind him.
Next: Another Day Another Fantasy.. Player that is; today Shortstops
That’s A Wrap
Swanson and Albies join Austin Riley, Sean Newcomb and Kolby Allard as Braves prospects featured in MLB Pipeline’s ten to watch series.
As it stands now the Braves farm system is well represented and looks better than it has in many years.The GM is saying all the right things – drafting bats that are close to ready etc. – but will likely have to get his trading cards out to flesh out the roster so 2017 is a year where the new ball yard has team capable of providing a real challenge for a division title.