Atlanta Braves Top 100 Prospects: 71-80
80. Bradley Roney, RHP
Roney was selected by the Baltimore Orioles in the 18th round out of high school in 2011, but he chose instead to attend Southern Miss. The Braves drafted him in the 8th round in 2014 from Southern Miss, and he’s been striking out guys from the bullpens of Braves affiliates ever since.
Roney really made a big impression with a huge 2015 season that saw him move from Danville to Rome to Carolina, accumulating a 2.98 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over 48 1/3 innings, with a 35/70 BB/K ratio.
The team was hoping to see that level of pitching carry forward, and it really did for his time with Mississippi, as he posted a 2.82 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, and a 16/33 BB/K over 22 1/3 innings before he was promoted to Gwinnett, where he had issues finding the zone, and his final numbers ended up at 3.33 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, and a 55/88 BB/K over 67 2/3 innings.
Roney relies on a monster fastball that has touched triple digits but typically sits 94-96
Roney relies on a monster fastball that has touched triple digits but typically sits 94-96 with a high 3/4 arm angle that allows for an excellent downward plane. He has a hard curve that breaks really well in spite of its big velocity. His curve is definitely his strikeout pitch, but it’s also the pitch that he loses location most frequently with.
Roney relies on a bit of delayed-release sort of delivery from the stretch, tucking in his front side and holding them until exploding at the last moment. The problem is that when he explodes that hard toward the plate, Roney frequently can miss the landing spot with his foot, and when he does that to the first-base side, he opens up his hips before bringing his arm through his motion, which flattens out his curve ball a ton.
When he lands toward the third base side, he ends up throwing across his body, and with his high arm angle, it takes away the good plane he gets on his fastball, leaving it as a straight upper-90s fastball, which really good hitters can tattoo.
Roney’s delivery consistency will go a long way toward his future with the team. He could be a very valuable reliever if he can get his delivery repeatable and consistent. However, that’s a very risky proposition, especially with a reliever, so it’s hard to project him any higher on this list.
79. Ricardo Rodriguez, C
The Braves acquired Rodriguez in the offseason trade that sent Cristian Bethancourt to San Diego. Rodriguez was the top-rated catcher in the 2014 July 2nd international free agent class, but he had only spent one season primarily with the DSL when the Braves acquired him, hitting .265/.336/.374.
The Braves had big hopes for the Venezuelan, sending him to GCL, hoping he’d be the lead catcher among a trio of solid catchers. Instead, by the end of the season, he was the third in the pecking order, hitting .225/.284/.275.
Rodriguez showed a very wrist led swing in his time with the GCL, though he does flash the ability to possibly have future power
Rodriguez was supposed to have high end defensive skills, but what became evident was that while his glove work was tremendous, Rodriguez showed some major issues throwing out runners and blocking pitches. Those are pretty important pieces of catcher defense.
Rodriguez showed a very wrist led swing in his time with the GCL, though he does flash the ability to possibly have future power if he can work to sync his swing with his hips as he would release his hips in his swing before making contact.
Rodriguez still has high pedigree, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him return to GCL next year. He’ll need to work on the footwork in the run game and his bat skills for sure in order to be more than high pedigree that fizzles out.
Next: #78 & #77