TomahawkTake’s Mid-Season Top 30-ish Atlanta Braves Prospects – Honorable Mentions

The Best of the Rest, Part 2

TYLER NESLONY

• 22 years old, 6-1/190, OF
• 9th round pick by Atlanta in 2016 draft; Texas Tech University
• Recently promoted to A/Rome from Danville
• Was destroying Appy League pitching, so quick move to Rome.  In 26 games, has .255 avg/.668 OPS with a homer, 4 doubles, 8 BB/20 K in 104 PAs.
• Texas Tech stats were solid:  .306/.400/.536/.936 (10 HR) in 235 AB.
• Has been playing both corner OF positions thus far.  Excellent arm for either.
• Kind of resembles a cross between Dansby Swanson and Andrew Benintendi.

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MATT CUSTRED

• 22 years old (23 next month), 6-6/240, RHP
• 31st round pick of the Braves in 2015, another Texas Tech product
• A/Rome
• relief pitcher
• Struck out everything with a bat in 2015 (12.79 K/9 in almost 32 Danville innings)
• Suffering control issues this Summer:  6.46 BB/9 with 3.42 ERA in 47 Rome innings.  Strikeouts still just over 1 per inning, with low/weak contact rates (.214 BABIP).
• Definitely would be an imposing sight on the mound at his size.

ANFERNEE SEYMOUR

• 21 years old, 5’11/165, SS/CF, SWH
• 7th round pick of the Marlins in 2014 (American Heritage HS, FL).
• Acquired in the recent Hunter Cervenka trade
• 80 grade speed – said to be the fastest player in the organization now
• A/Rome
• Has 38 steals for the year (107 games).
• Needs to improve hitting skills:  average, walk rate, K rate, and general OBP to be able to turn his speed into an effective weapon.

JASON HURSH

• Closing in on 25 years old; 6-3/195, RHP
• 1st Round pick of the Braves (#31 overall) in 2013
• Converted to relief duty in 2015
• Now attempting his 2nd stint at AAA/Gwinnett
• Was hoped to be able to ride a heavy fastball to a starter’s role; now trying to make that an out pitch from the bullpen, and it seems to be working.  2.05 ERA in 57 AA innings; 0.00 in 3 outings at AAA (7 innings).  Strikeouts are light (1-2 every 3 innings), but walk rate is managable and WHIP has been in the 1.1-1.3 range.  BABIP elevated in AAA, but he’s certainly a candidate for the Atlanta bullpen next Spring.

UPDATE THIS MORNING:  MAYBE SOONER THAN THAT…

Seems that with the way the Braves’ bullpen handled Milwaukee (they didn’t) on Thursday, changes are afoot.  So congratulations to Jason!

JUAN YEPEZ

• 18½ years old, probably about 6-2’/220, corner infielder
• International signee in 2014 from Venezuela
• Made the GCL in 2015, but has been playing in the shadow of others (Riley); also had some injuries to keep him off the field
• A/Rome
• .306/.402/.400/.802 at Danville in 2015; .260/.315/.400/.715 in limited action at Rome
• Full scouting report

ALEJANDRO SALAZAR

• Will be 20 years old in October, 6-0/170, SS
• International signee in 2013 from Venezuela
• Came to Florida in 2015 as well after a nice Dominican Summer League effort in 2014.
• A/Rome
• .284/.352/.361/.713 for the GCL Braves in 2015
• .284/.313/.313/.626 for Rome in 78 games/302 PA in 2016.  12 errors at SS isn’t bad at this level

ISRANEL WILSON

• 18½ years old, 6-3/185, OF/DH
• International signee from St. Martin
• Clubbed 10 homers in 48 games with GCL Braves in 2015, though hit .222 in the process (.828 OPS).
• A/Danville
• In 31 Danville games this year, 2 HR and average has dipped to .205 with a very high K rate (~33%).

ABRAHAN GUTIERREZ

• 16 years old, 6-1/180, Catcher
• 2016 International signee, Venezuela
• Will likely be assigned to Dominican Summer League for 2017.
• Ranked 17th to 22nd among entire J2 class for this season.
• Has been compared favorably to Javy Lopez with excellent defense.

ZACH BIRD

• 22 years old, 6-4/205, RHP
• Selected in 9th Round of 2012 draft by Dodgers out of Murrah HS in Jackson, MS
• Acquired in the original Hector Olivera deal with LAD and Miami.
• Currently A+/Carolina; has been bouncing between High-A/AA over last 2 seasons.
• Was highly-ranked in the Dodgers’ system; has stalled in development with a suddenly high walk rate (~8 per 9 innings) and corresponding ERA (8.66 at Carolina).

JACOB WEBB

• His 23rd birthday happens in 3 days, 6-1/200, RHP
• Round 18 pick of the Braves in 2014… while on the shelf with a Tommy John surgery.  Born in Riverside, CA; found at Tabor College (KS).
• R/Danville
• Found both at Rome and Danville, this season, Webb is a reliever who has been destroying opponents at Danville as a relief pitcher.
• The reality check:  2 outings with Rome (totaling 1.2 innings) didn’t go according to plan, but we’ll set that aside for now, given the small samples (2 walks, 3 hits, 3 earned runs, 16.20 ERA, 3 WHIP, 3K).
• Danville:  9 innings, ERA 1.0. twenty-five strikeouts, 4 walks, 4 hits, .129 BA.
• A couple of other words about Webb (his first name isn’t David, but maybe we should go ahead and nickname him ‘Jacob Bourne’?) from others:

From Martin Gandy:

"18th Round (553): Jacob Webb, RHP — A junior from Tabor College in Kansas, Webb was a workhorse starter this season. In 15 games started he completed 10 of them, including 2 shutouts. He works his fastball in the low-90s, and complements that with a slider/cutter hybrid pitch in the low-80s. Webb rounds out his four-pitch arsenal with a change-up and curve. This is an intriguing pick for the Braves. I’ll be interested to see how his stuff plays in the pros. He could be a sleeper pick, much like Gus Schlosser was in the 17th round a few years ago."

Next: This Week in the Minors

Wow.  He could move fast if that continues at anything approaching what he’s already done.

Next Week:  our new Top 30 list.