Atlanta Braves Midseason Top 50 Prospects: 50-41

Atlanta Braves Midseason Top 50 Prospects

Every season, I have tried to bring a midseason update to the Atlanta Braves top 100 prospect list that I work on every winter. This year will be a little earlier than most, but we’ll discuss the reasoning for that more in the Friday AQA post.

The focus here is on an increasingly difficult task, narrowing a list to 50 Atlanta Braves prospects. The Braves’ system is one of the top 5 in the game without question, and while there are some elite prospects at the top end, what makes the Braves’ system so incredible is the depth within the system – players who are not even on this list are viable guys that could be major league contributors, if even in a bullpen or off the bench.

We’ll look at all players within the system currently, including those who were recently drafted, but only those who have signed and been assigned. The guys who I will be excluding are those who are or have been in the majors and likely to surpass their rookie limits this season if they haven’t already. That meant that guys like Rio Ruiz, Johan Camargo, Luke Jackson, Sean Newcomb, and Jason Hursh did not make this list. While only Newcomb would have factored in the top of the list, it’s still important to note when you do not see the other names, that is why.

That said, any guys who may make it to the majors possibly this season and burn through their rookie eligibility would require projection, so I won’t exclude them as we just do not know.

I think that’s enough qualifiers for now. Enjoy, and feel free to comment below!!

Next: 49, 50

50. Chase Johnson-Mullins, LHP, Florida Fire Frogs

After a “long” path from high school in 2012, the Atlanta Braves drafted Johnson-Mullins out of Sheldon State Community College in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in the 13th round of the 2015 draft.

The big (6’8″, 275-“ish”) lefty works with a pair of fastballs and a curve, though his best pitch combo is his two-seam fastball and his hard-snapping curve. He can work into the upper 90s with his four-seam fastball, and the pitch is incredibly effective up in the zone after setting up hitters low in the zone with the two-seamer and curve.

After a suspension with Carolina, Johnson-Mullins went to low-A Rome, where he was able to dominate out of the bullpen for the eventual South Atlantic League champions in 2016. Overall, in his first full season in 2016, he tallied a 2.77 ERA in 40 appearances and 55 1/3 innings, with a 1.30 WHIP, and a 26/51 BB/ ratio.

This season, Johnson-Mullins has come out with the Florida Fire Frogs and been absolutely dominant in the bullpen, making 16 appearances, throwing 31 1/3 innings, with a 2.87 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and a 13/34 BB/K ratio.

49. Ryan Lawlor, LHP, Rome Braves

Originally born in Michigan, the Braves drafted Lawlor out of the University of Georgia in the 8th round. He showed very well in his draft year, with a 2.30 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, and a 12/25 BB/K ratio with Danville over 8 games and 7 starts.

The Braves moved Lawlor up to high-A Carolina in 2016, but he struggled with his location and was eventually moved to the bullpen. Lawlor got his location back, but was hit hard in the bullpen. Overall, he posted a 4.66 ERA over 46 1/3 innings in 16 games, posting a 1.42 WHIP and a 29/44 BB/K ratio.

The Braves sent Lawlor to Rome to be the veteran presence in that staff this year. Until he was injured, he was doing even a touch more than that, as he had thrown 47 1/3 innings, with a 4.37 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, and a 16/61 BB/K ratio right when he was putting himself into position to be a guy the Braves could spin in a trade. The increased strikeout rate could allow him to be a solid reliever as he climbs the system ladder.

Next: 48, 47

48. Juan Carlos Negret, OF, DSL Braves

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The Braves have had mixed results in Cuba, having missed out on signing

and then finding him to be a poor choice of a signing when they did trade for him eventually (though trading away Olivera brought in

, so there is a silver lining).

The Braves have seen two offseason Cuban signees have a ton of success in 2017, and Negret is the lowest leel of the two. Negret just turned 18 on June 19th, and his listed size of 6’1″ and 190 pounds could be a bit generous, but he’s already shown very well in his first experience with the Braves.

The Braves sent Negret to the Dominican Summer League this season, and he’s hit very well, going .358/.507/.604 with 8 doubles, a triple, a home run, and 6 stolen bases, showing very good plate discipline with a 10/14 BB/K ratio over his 14 games.

However, Negret did not play with the DSL since June 20th, and some I’ve talked with who scout the DSL have said that he’s really out of place in the league right now, so perhaps the Braves could already be considering a move with Negret.

47. Devan Watts, RHP, Mississippi Braves

Watts went to small Tusculum College in Tennessee, where the Atlanta Braves drafted him from in the 16th round of the 2016 draft.

The Braves made no qualms of their intents with Watts, immediately working him in the bullpen with Danville before he was quickly moved up to Rome, where he was an important anchor in the bullpen for Rome’s championship run last fall. He put up ridiculous numbers with a 0.76 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, and a 6/26 BB/K ratio over 23 2/3 innings in his draft season.

Watts uses a slight delay just as he goes to put his lead leg down in his move toward the plate, and he throws with a very heavy sinking fastball that has been noted up to 96-97, though some of the radars could be a bit on the hot side. He frequently sits around 94-95, though, and the weight of the ball he gets is incredible for a guy just 6′ tall.

Watts uses his slider to get a ton of swing and miss. He manipulates his slider to have it behave like a cutter, like a slurve, and in other ways outside of a normal slider break.

This year with Florida, Watts made 19 appearances, throwing 26 2/3 innings, posting a 2.02 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and a 7/34 BB/K ratio. He was recently promoted to AA Mississippi, working to likely make his way to Atlanta sooner rather than later.

Next: 46, 45

46. Keith Curcio, OF, Mississippi Braves

I will always have a bias for a guy who puts 100% effort into every play. I’m a big fan of Curcio for that reason. Curcio has good contact skills, though he’s streaky at times with his results due to the low trajectory orientation of his batted ball profile.

The Braves originally drafted Curcio out of Florida Southern College in the 6th round of the 2014 draft. He hit well in his draft year, working his way all the way to Rome.

In 2015, Curcio hit so well early on with Rome that he was promoted just 32 games into the season, hitting .342 at the time. He immediately hit a rough spot in Carolina, fueled by a team struggling after the bus crash in Carolina. He recovered by the end of the season to a .241 average in his time with Carolina.

The Braves sent Curcio back to Carolina for the 2016 season, and he had his streaks on the season, finishing with a .271/.352/.389 with 29 doubles, 8 triples, 3 home runs, and 24 stolen bases.

This season, Curcio has moved up to Mississippi, and he’s struggled more than had success this year, but he’s shown the same streaks in his contact that’s he’s shown before, and he’s just one of his hot streaks away from a line similar to his final line the last two seasons.

Curcio is the type of guy who profiles as an excellent 4th outfielder, and he’s even shown well at 2nd base defensively. He can defensively handle all three outfield spots with the type of contact skills that would allow him to be a positive off the bench and speed enough to pinch run off the bench.

Curcio’s the type of hard worker that often over plays his projection, so this placement is part in parcel some expectation of him ending up finding 2-3 years where he’s a worthwhile starter, a la Gregor Blanco.

45. Braulio Vasquez, IF, GCL Braves

One of the 2016 international free agents who could play right away because he was 17 already when he signed, Vasquez made a big impression with his play in the Dominican Summer League last summer, hitting .333/.416/.374.

While he hasn’t shown a ton of power, he has a line drive approach that should allow for excellent gap power along with plus to plus-plus speed. He does struggle some with his instincts on the base paths, but the raw speed is definitely there.

Vasquez also flashed big time defensive skills with an arm that is above average and range that is above average as well. His instincts at shortstop were less than ideal for the position as a pro, so the Braves played him about half at short and half at second base last season, though everyone I’ve talked with that’s seen him in person has said he’ll definitely stick up the middle, whether in the infield or outfield.

I had multiple people discuss Vazquez as a 40-45 FV player, but one person really liked him, and he’s the same guy who put me onto Ray-Patrick Didder while he was still in rookie ball, so I trust his opinion on guys, and his opinion had Vazquez as a Cristian Guzman clone, which would be a very solid profile if he can play it out.

Next: 44, 43

44. Alejandro Salazar, SS, Florida Fire Frogs

I am unabashedly a huge fan of high quality defense, and there is no one in the Braves minors right now who is more aesthetically pleasing to watch defensively than Alejandro Salazar.

Salazar was originally signed out of Venezuela in 2013. He made his pro debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2014. He has always shown good contact skills with the ability to keep his strikeout rate low, but he also has struggled to show much in the range of power or speed.

Salazar’s swing would seem oriented more for a ground ball and low-line drive approach, so the lack of power production is not surprising. He uses a quick path through the zone to get to the ball, and he’s often in poor coordination with his upper and lower half due to incredibly quick wrists that can make up for his hips committing early on a pitch.

Salazar reminds me a lot of Johan Camargo at a similar stage, and I think there’s an adjustment to the swing that could allow him to become more than just an elite glove.

43. Akeel Morris, RHP, Gwinnett Braves

Many in Braves country thought I had Morris low last winter, and likely many feel he’s low here as well, but I do tend to rate relievers low in general. The other reason I was down on Morris coming into 2017 was that while it’s always a positive to fleece the Mets for yet another backup bench piece, Morris’ strikeout rate was not nearly as above average as his walk rate was – in a negative way.

Morris walked 14% of hitters overall in 2016, and it was only a hair better than that (13.8%) with the Braves after he was acquired. This season has seen a significant change in his consistency of his delivery, and it’s been notable in his walk rate, still high, but down to 12%.

Morris has also shown better pitching in games this season, using his incredibly elite change up in better counts and with better sequencing. He seemed to lean on it too much at times in 2016.

I do think he’s quite close to the majors, though those who believe that he’s a future closer are misguided, in my opinion, as I see him as a future 7th inning guy.

Next: 42, 41