Atlanta Braves 2016-2017 Top 100 Prospects: 100-91

Apr 4, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; The teams lineup and the flag is pulled across the outfield prior to the game between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 4, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; The teams lineup and the flag is pulled across the outfield prior to the game between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
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98. Reilys Blanco, 3B

Blanco was signed last summer, but so late (August 10th) that he could not play anywhere in 2015. An “older” signing (something the Braves tend to specialize in within the Latin market), Blanco is a switch hitter that’s listed at 5’10, 150 pounds. The report I got was that he’s more 175-ish, but still that’s a pretty small guy, so it’s not surprising why he slipped through the typical tryout camps.

Blanco has very good speed and an above-average throwing arm. The guy I talked with believes that Blanco may have attended a tryout or two as a pitcher, though that also would be small for a pitcher. Blanco played mostly third base, but he also spent time at second base and left field. The reports I got were that Blanco could handle third base, but his size is not prototypical at the position.

The highest grades for Blanco came in his offensive ability. He showed an ability to recognize spin and lay off breaking stuff. He is not a guy with present power, and he doesn’t project to be a big time power hitter. He also doesn’t have elite speed, probably grading a 55-60 on the 20-80 scale.

His carrying tools offensively will be his contact and eye, and his .307/.374 BA/OBP line in DSL this year was not simply a product of a small sample size. He’s already 20, so he’s likely needing to move forward fairly quickly to have a future, but there’s enough here to dream on a little.

97. Steve Janas, RHP

Janas was drafted by the Braves in 2013 out of Kennesaw State University in the 6th round. He had two fairly nondescript seasons in the lower levels of the system in 2014 and 2015 before really blowing up last season. He started the season by posting a 0.49 ERA over his first 6 starts (covering 37 innings) with Carolina before he was promoted to Mississippi, where he took the ball on a regular basis and showed he wasn’t out of place.

Janas utilized a five-pitch repertoire as a starter with a fastball, sinker, curve, change, and a cutter that he added in 2015. Moving to the bullpen, he actually utilized all five pitches in games I watched, but he primarily featured his sinker, cutter, and change.

Janas did see an uptick in velocity in the bullpen, but not really in where he sat, more in where he could reach in single-pitch increments, as he sat the sinker and cutter in the low 90s, touching 95 with both. His four-seam fastball did top out at 97, but he rarely uses it.

The change is arguably the best change up in the entire system. It follows his sinker very well with about 10 MPH separation between the two pitches and opposite sink break, where as the sinker has its sink with slight arm side run, the change dips with slight glove side run.

Janas started out in Mississippi’s bullpen this year, working as a guy who could soak up a few innings as needed in the middle innings rather than a back-end guy. He was very productive, however, and he did earn a promotion to Gwinnett, where he continued to put up solid numbers. Overall, he posted a 2.75 ERA and 1.04 WHIP in 85 relief innings in 2016 with a 16/56 BB/K ratio.

Janas pounds the zone with his pitches, and none really have the type of movement to generate swing and miss, so he’s probably best suited as a ground ball specialist in the middle innings in the big leagues, akin to the role that Joe Blanton played with the Dodgers this season.

Next: #96 & #95