A Look At the Atlanta Braves Waves Of Minor League Players
The next grouping is likely 2020-2021 for arrival, playing in low-A and high-A in 2017. This will be a significant wave that really will have two parts.
Much of the first part of this wave is the group folks saw dominate with the Rome team in 2016, which should excite plenty!
On the hitting side, this wave will certainly be led by Ronald Acuna, who could certainly push himself beyond even this time line. Acuna’s swing generates a ridiculous amount of sound off the bat, and while his path isn’t that of a guy who will likely hit 40 homers, he should pound balls around the field and likely see 25-30 homers at peak.
Other Rome hitters like third baseman Austin Riley, first baseman Juan Yepez (maybe transitioning back to third?), middle infielder Anfernee Seymour, and outfielders Jared James, Leudys Baez, and Justin Ellison are all guys with solid upsides that will need to develop over the next few years, but they certainly are guys to keep an eye on.
Of course, there is the pairing of enigmas that are Alex Jackson and Braxton Davidson. I see a lot of similarities in their swings and issues at the plate currently, but while Braxton has worked hard to make himself a solid outfielder, Jackson is going to try things out behind the plate. That could be a very interesting proposition.
Speaking of behind the plate, Lucas Herbert will be in this grouping, if he can show he can hit. Brett Cumberland should be in this group as well. I personally believe both will be passed in this grouping by William Contreras, who should be in Danville in 2017. He’s shown plenty behind the plate and at it already as a teenager.
Of course, again you have the depth of arms that will make up this tier of guys. Mike Soroka, Touki Toussaint, Luiz Gohara, Kolby Allard, Ricardo Sanchez, and guys like Jeremy Walker, Jhon Martinez, and others that have started as well. The depth in starters that should come in the first half of this wave is currently incredible and should lead to a ton of minor league success for this group as they climb to the big leagues.
Their bullpen should be nothing to scoff at either, with arms like big lefty Chase Johnson-Mullins, 2016 draftees Corbin Clouse and Devan Watts, and big righty Matt Custred to finish out games for them. Lefty Drew Harrington will likely work as a long man, but should have some big value in that role. Jacob Webb is a guy who came back from TJS and blew folks away in Danville in 2016 that could move very quickly in a relief role.
The second half of this wave will be guys essentially filling in the gaps behind the Rome guys who do fall off as they climb the system.
You’ll see Cristian Pache definitely as the clubhouse leader of the offensive movement here, with a personal comparison to Johnny Damon when he was with the Royals, though with a cannon of an arm as well.
Working alongside him will be bats like infielder Derian Cruz, his 2015 IFA signing mate, outfielder Randy Ventura, outfielder Isranel Wilson, and some exciting hitters from the 2016 draft like Ramon Osuna, Alex Lee, Griffin Benson, and Ryan O’Malley, who showed they could really mash the ball at times.
Shean Michel could be an interesting guy to keep an eye on as a sort of Ray-Patrick Didder-lite sort of player with elite defense and base running. I’m also a big fan of the player Anthony Concepcion is, even if he may end up profiling as more of a bench player or platoon guy.
The pitching will be led by the trio of 2016 draft picks in Ian Anderson, Joey Wentz, and Kyle Muller, but there are plenty of other arms that should be working in this group as well, like Jaret Hellinger, Bryse Wilson, Alan Rangel, Dilmer Mejia, Luis Mora (unless he ends up in the bullpen), Luis Gamez, and hopefully healthy returns from Anthony Guardado, Zach Becherer, and Matt Rowland.
The bullpen has a number of options, two of them with the same name as Brandon S. White and Brandon T. White were drafted back-to-back by the Braves. There’s also Cameron Stanton, towering lefty Adam McCreery, Jasseel De La Cruz, Tucker Davidson, and a host of other arms that only scratched the surface so far (not to mention the conversions of starters to relievers.
Next: Wave #4 and beyond