Atlanta Braves Midseason Top 50 Prospects: Top Ten
6. Max Fried, LHP, Low-A Rome
The headlining prospect in the Justin Upton deal, Fried was known to miss all of the 2015 season after Tommy John surgery early in the 2014 season, and the Braves were more than willing to allow him that recovery time. Fried’s high school teammate Lucas Giolito had come back from his own TJS and become one of the elite prospects in the game, and the Braves were banking on a similar recovery for Fried.
As with most TJS survivors, the last thing to return is command of pitches. Fried had back his incredible 12-6 curveball and velocity that ticks up to 96 early on in the season, but he was struggling with control as well as command. He began to work much better around the plate in May, but his issue was that he was missing his spot in the zone, leading to his balls getting hit hard.
Fried has been working with the Braves’ low-in-the-zone, lower-velocity-more-movement philosophy throughout the season, but it has really taken hold since the beginning of June. He has posted a 1.13 ERA over that time with an exceptional 1.06 WHIP and an 11/41 BB/K ratio over 32 innings in that time span. Overall on the season, he’s posted a 3.59 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP with a 39/81 BB/K over 80 1/3 innings.
In his first season coming off of surgery, I’d be surprised if the Braves let Fried throw more than perhaps another 40 innings or so, so he may be getting close to the end of his season. I also wouldn’t be surprised if, due to him being 22, they moved him to high-A Carolina to finish out the season in their rotation. He’s certainly shown that he’s got his feel on his pitches back in the last month, and if he can finish like that, he’ll be at the top of the Braves pitching list in the offseason rankings.
5. Ronald Acuna, OF, Low-A Rome
Arguably the player with the most buzz in the entire system coming out of the 2015 season, Acuna was on his way to leaping into the national consciousness when he hurt his thumb in early May and hasn’t returned to the field. With no timetable for his return, right now, we’re just hoping to see him get back to the field this season to get some more at bats in to prepare him for 2017.
Acuna was signed out of Venezuela in the lauded 2014 international free agent class, which could go down as one of the better IFA classes in recent memory the way things are going thus far for the Braves. He made his debut stateside with the GCL team, and he hit and ran well enough to warrant a late-year promotion to Danville, where he actually hit even better. Overall on the season, he had a .269/.380/.438 line with 4 home runs, 4 triples, and 16 stolen bases in only 237 plate appearances. On top of that, Acuna was receiving incredible scouting reports. People were raving about his natural power, his blazing speed, and his mature approach for a 17 year old.
Over the offseason, we heard more great conversation about Acuna, and during spring, I had one scout tell me that Acuna is the most exciting teenager in the Atlanta system since Andruw Jones. That’s incredible praise for a young outfielder, so I pried a little further, and I asked the scout to compare and contrast the two. He told me that on the “five tools” (hit, power, run, field, arm), he’d rank Acuna as having a better hit tool and a better run tool, but that what has commonly become a sixth tool for offensive players, batting eye/approach, was also a big win for Acuna. I had to clarify, so I asked, and he agreed that he was stating that based on the six tools modern scouts evaluate hitters on, Acuna was split with Andruw 3-3.
Of course, this was after I’d submitted my top 100 list already, so I simply took note and thought that man, if there was indication of this going forward, we could be looking at an elite player. Then Acuna came out and simply hit .300/.389/.391 with 12 steals and a 15/20 BB/K ratio with Rome this season. As an 18 year old. He also played some of the most instinctive center field since, well, Andruw! Needless to say, even with having no plate appearances since May, Acuna was hard to put this low on my list. I had him #3 for a long time before finally settling at #5.
Acuna’s future profile isn’t really that of Andruw, however. He’s not going to be a guy to hit 50 home runs in any season for the Braves. He does have very solid power that I think would have come out more as he adapted to the pitching at Rome, and I could absolutely see a guy similar to
A.J. Pollock‘s 2015 at his absolute peak offensively, with double-digit home run power and 30+ steal speed being very probable along with excellent strike zone judgement.
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