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Atlanta Braves prospect, Ray-Patrick Didder, is a diamond in the rough

By Josh Brown |
Aug 25, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Detailed view of Atlanta Braves hat and glove in the dugout before a game against the Colorado Rockies at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 25, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Detailed view of Atlanta Braves hat and glove in the dugout before a game against the Colorado Rockies at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

These days, with the power of Twitter and the abundance of baseball websites, prospects have our attention like never before. This is true across baseball, but especially among Atlanta Braves fans.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the Atlanta Braves have been undergoing a beautiful and painful rebuild. The old regime, under Frank Wren, depleted the farm system and the new regime is trying to  remedy this by drafting smart and retaining young talent. After four of the Braves’ six minor league affiliates just clinched their divisions for the first time in 27 years, it’s safe to say the rebuild is working.

But with this new rebuild and with all of this special attention on prospects, rankings seem to be thought of and written about as if a player’s prospect ranking is their destiny chiseled in stone.

One of the players in the Braves system who is not ranked and who just might have the most talent to surprise many fans and writers is Ray-Patrick Didder.

Didder is sort of a late bloomer. He finished his 2016 campaign here in Rome, and at age 21 he was good three years older than most of his teenage teammates. But its important to note that Didder came from Aruba, an under-scouted area. It’s also important to understand how the Atlanta Braves manage the Rome Braves operation.

Rome Builds In a Year

Atlanta treats Rome like a year-long rich learning experience. The Atlanta Braves like for most players, regardless of their numbers, to spend an entire year in Rome. In other organizations you’ll often see guys like Didder or Ozzie Albies breeze through Low-A ball. The Braves like Rome because they feel it has an extremely strong field staff, its far away from any distractions (not much to do in Rome), and they like to be patient with their talent.

With all of this said, Didder, now 22-years-old, will be moving on from Rome and either starting his 2017 campaign in High-A or Double-A. Based on his talent and age, Double-A could make the most sense for him.

The Arm Plays

Didder came to the Braves as a shortstop and was quickly transitioned to the outfield. Between him and Acuna, he is perhaps the best outfielder in the Braves minor league system. If you watched him play center field and right field in 2016, you would never know he was new to it. His speed and range are elite but what makes him really good is his ability to read the bat off the ball and know when to start running.

Often in Low-A ball you might see a guy with similar tools as Ray-Patrick Didder. You’ll see guys who are fast, but you often will not see guys who have as much instincts. What makes Didder arguably the best outfielder in the Braves system right now is not just his speed, it’s his arm. Ray-Patrick Didder has a cannon.

In 2016 Didder spent most of his time in center field before moving to right once Acuna returned from the DL. He had 19 assists at center field. Compare that to the guy who is listed as the No. 5 prospect in all of baseball, Red Sox center fielder Andrew Benintendi, who had 6 on the year.

Didder is not only special in the outfield, the man can hit and get on base almost at will. He led the league in getting hit by pitches and had the second highest OBP (.387). He also led the league in runs, thanks in large part to his teammates.

If you watched Ray-Patrick Didder in Rome in 2016, you watched an elite lead-off hitter in the making. Didder would step up to the plate, get on base via either hitting the baseball or getting hit by the baseball (which opposing teams and announcers really loved, BTW) and before you knew it, he was standing on third base. This was a regular occurrence.

More from Tomahawk Take

Didder’s mostly a contact hitter who only hit 6 homers in 2016. But if you watch him, he appears to have potential to be a 15-20 homer guy if he really wanted to be. He finished his season slashing .274/.387/.381 with 9 triples, 6 home runs, and 37 stolen bases, and .292/.452/.375, 6 runs scored, and 3 stolen bases during Rome’s historic playoff run.

When it comes to prospect rankings and Ray-Patrick Didder, its important to know that while so many top prospects have made it big, so many of them never did, and so many non-prospects ended up being stars. Jim Edmonds was never ranked by Baseball America. Jeff Kent was never ranked by BA nor his very own organization. Guys like Mariano Rivera, Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Robinson Cano, Josh Donaldson, Daniel Murphy, and James Shields were never top-100 Baseball America prospects.

Next: A look at the 2017 Mets

With prospects, you never know. What makes baseball the best, is the fact that its the hardest. Its a long, strenuous process to make it to the big leagues. If Ray-Patrick Didder continues on his path, he could surprise a heck of a lot of people.*

* Editor’s note:  we noticed… he’s 22nd on the TomahawkTake Top 100!

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