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TomahawkTake’s Mid-Season Top 30 Atlanta Braves Prospects – the Ranked List

By Alan Carpenter

Feb 22, 2016; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Akeel Morris (64) throws during spring training work out drills at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 22, 2016; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Akeel Morris (64) throws during spring training work out drills at Tradition Field. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jul 10, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; World runner Jorge Bonifacio (bottom) is forced out by USA infielder Travis Demeritte during the All Star Game futures baseball game at PetCo Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 10, 2016; San Diego, CA, USA; World runner Jorge Bonifacio (bottom) is forced out by USA infielder Travis Demeritte during the All Star Game futures baseball game at PetCo Park. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports /

Prospect Rankings 11-20

20. DERIAN CRUZ

  • 17 years old – will be 18 in October. 6-1/180, SS.
  • International signee by the Braves in 2015, Dominican Republic
  • Along with Cristian Pache, Cruz has made the remarkable leap from the Dominican Summer League to the US Mainland in a single Summer… and now even beyond that.
  • R/Danville
  • The GCL was looking like an easy task… Danville has been more of a challenge early on, which is starting to expose some issues with plate discipline. But still: he’s 17…. it’s way early.
  • GCL: .309/.336/.445/.782 with 10 XBH, 16 K, 2 BB and 4 steals in 26 games/110 AB.
  • Danville: .139/.162/.222/.384 with 2 XBH, 7K, 1BB in 9 games/36 AB.

19. RIO RUIZ

  • 22 years old, 6-1/180, 3B
  • 1st selection of the 4th round in 2012 by the Astros from Bishop Amat HS (CA)
  • Acquired in the Evan Gattis trade along with Mike Foltynewicz
  • AAA/Gwinnett
  • Has been pushed through the system fairly quickly. A late hitting surge in AA likely earned him a AAA gig in 2016.
  • Slashing .273/.355/.391/.746 for the full season with 11% BB, 23% K, 7 homers, 21 other XBH in 428 plate appearances. Just 6 errors at third base for the year.
  • Voters were in fairly tight agreement, with ranks ranging from 14th just out of the Top 30.
  • The question: will his bat play at the next level? The Braves are talking about looking at someone like Martin Prado, which suggests that they aren’t convinced.
  • At his age, it is certainly possible that the team might opt to give him another AAA year to watch for (expected) power development. Regardless, it is also possible that others (Demeritte, Maitan, Riley) could overtake Ruiz if his promotion is delayed for very long.

18. PATRICK WEIGEL

  • 22 years old, 6-6/230, RHP
  • Round 7 pick of the Braves in 2015 from University of Houston
  • Trivia: first player in this list to appear in the Top 30 of all TomahawkTake respondents surveyed.
  • A/Rome
  • 122 innings, 9.3 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 2.66 ERA, 1.10 WHIP. Most innings, lowest ERA, lowest WHIP, most starts on team.
  • Has out-performed all other starters at Rome this year… which is significant, given that this rotation consists of himself, Mike Soroka, Touki Toussaint, Ricardo Sanchez, and Max Fried. Oh, and Kolby Allard is also in that house.

17. CRISTIAN PACHE

  • 17 years old – will be 18 in November. 6-2/185, OF.
  • International signee by the Braves in 2015, Dominican Republic
  • Seems to have been joined at the hip to Derian Cruz, though we’re starting to see just a bit of separation between this pair.
  • R/Danville
  • Worth mentioning again the remarkable leap from the DR Summer League all the way to Danville in one season.
  • GULF:  .283/.325/.377/.702 in 27 games/106 AB.  11K, 6 BB, 7 steals, 6 XBH.
  • Danville:  .343/.378/.400/.778 in just 10 games; 3K, 2 BB, 1 triple.
  • Note the OBP strikeouts and walk rates.  This early show of plate discipline is missing from Cruz’ game and is helping his results at Danville.

16. KYLE MULLER

  • 18 years old until October; 6-6/225, LHP
  • Round 2 selection for the Braves this June from Jesuit Prep in Dallas TX.
  • Kyle was our “Babe Ruth” draft pick – Pitchers Who Rake™
  • GCL Braves… because somebody has to pitch there
  • 7 starts, ~21 innings, 2 ER, 0.87 ERA, 30 strikeouts, 10 walks, 1.06 WHIP, .162 BAA
  • Yes, he should be dominating this league – but he also is doing so, and that’s still a good thing.

15. RONALD ACUNA

  • Age 18; 6-0/180, CF.
  • International signee of the Braves in 2014
  • Here’s another kid who was brought stateside early, and made that jump from GCL to Danville quickly.
  • A/Rome
  • OPS’d .800 at GCL in 2015, then .851 at Danville
  • Was off to an great start with Rome until a thumb injury in early May derailed his season… he has not played since.
  • Rome:  30 games/110 AB.  .300/.389/.391/.780 with 5 XBH, 15 BB, 20K, AND 12 steals just in that one month.
  • We said to have been close to getting a ‘Top 100’ nod overall until the injury.  We’re fairly bullish as well, but would like to see some more game results.

14. TRAVIS DEMERITTE

  • 21 years old until September 30th.  6-0/180, 2B… maybe 3B
  • Round 1 selection of the Texas Rangers in 2013 from Winder-Barrow HS (GA)
  • Acquired from Rangers in the Lucas Harrell/Dario Alvarez trade because the Diamondbacks had run out of 1st round to give us, so Coppy had to pick on another team to work his magic.
  • One of two Braves at the Futures’ Game this Summer (Swanson).
  • A+/Carolina
  • Showed great power at Hickory (NC) in the Sally League  in 2014 (25 HR in 398 AB) and again at High Desert in the California League early this year (25 HR in 331 AB).  But that’s High Desert for you.
  • Carolina:  14 games/50 AB so far… .220/.350/.500/.850 with 7 XBH (3 triples, 2 HR in most recent game as this was written; 10BB/21K).
  • The deal for Travis is the strikeouts:  146 of them in 381 AB plus 51 walks (33.8% K Rate).  He must get that number into the lower 20’s to be considered a serious prospect.

13. LUCAS SIMS

  • It seems strange, but Sims is still only 22 years old.  6-2/220; RHP with shoulders about 3 feet wide.
  • Round 1 pick of the Braves in 2012 from Brookwood HS in Snellville, GA
  • AA/Mississippi
  • Consistency of control is the deal for Sims.  His ‘stuff’ is there, his ERA is even there (at least at AA).  It’s the walks that have plagued him, though the are starts with beacons of hope followed by teeth grinding.
  • GWIN:  7.56 ERA with 37 walks in 50 innings, 58 K, 1.86 WHIP
  • MISS:   2.01 ERA with 41 walks in 67 innings, 79 K, 1.19 WHIP
  • If Sims can get that walk rate down in the 3’s per 9 innings, then he’s a major leaguer…very similar to the path of Mike Foltynewicz (without that much pace on the fastball).  If not, then he will continue to slowly push through the minors.

12. JOEY WENTZ

  • Will turn 19 in early October; 6-5/210.  LHP.
  • Chosen at the end of the 1st Round by the Braves in 2016 from Shawnee Mission East HS (KS), the “other” Kansas native selected in the early part of the draft (Riley Pint).
  • Rookie/Danville
  • A petition of the GCL clubs requested that Wentz be removed from the GCL Braves and promoted to Danville because he was being unfair to their hitters.
  • GCL line: 12 innings, 0.00 ERA.  0 runs, 3 hits, 5 walks, 18 K, .083 BAA, 0.67 WHIP.  Nice.
  • Danville:  14.2 innings, 11 hits, 11 earned runs (thanks mostly to one very bad outing).  6 BB, 17 K, .298 BAA, 1.57 WHIP.
  • Danville is presenting more of a challenge, but he’s sticking with his command of pitches, regardless of the results.

11. AUSTIN RILEY

  • Still just 19 years old; 6-3/220, 3B
  • Drafted by Atlanta at the end of the 1st round in 2015 from DeSoto Central HS (Southaven, MS)
  • A/Rome
  • Burst onto the scene last Summer with a bunch of homers – 12 in 60 games between the GCL and Danville, hitting ~.305 in the process.
  • Been critiqued for a ‘slow bat’ by a couple of scouts, though recent videos suggest that he might be a little quicker through the hitting zone at this point.
  • ROME: 108 games, 414 AB, .261/.316/.449/.765 with 14 HR and 34 other XBH.  128 K and 33 BB, so that’s a 28.6% K rate, but he’s accelerating to the finish line of this season.
  • As with Demerrite, the strikeouts need to be reduced.  Do that and the Braves will find space for him someplace… even if he can’t stick at third base.

Next: The Top 10

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