One of the Braves top prospects had to exit the Danville game in 3rd inning
Atlanta Braves Kevin Maitan is one of the newest bright spots within the organization and has a tremendously bright future. The Braves signed the then 16-year-old to a $4.25 million contract in 2016 as he was the international first pick.
Maitan began his professional career as a 17-year-old in 2017 with the Gulf Coast League Braves. After just nine games and hitting .355 with three doubles, three RBI’s, five runs, a stolen base and two walks, he was promoted to the low Single-A Danville. Not to be a Debbie downer, but he also had 10 strikeouts.
The 6’2″ 190-pounder did have to miss some time at the start of the 2017 season because of a hamstring injury. Maitan was unable to play the first week of their season. That injury was behind him, right?
We’ll get back to that in a minute…
Since being promoted to Danville, Maitan has played in 13 games batting .216 with a homer, six RBI’s, four runs scored, two walks and has 17 strikeouts. Yeah, the batting average is low and he’s striking out a lot, but he’s still trying to get used to the game…remember his age.
On Monday evening, he went 1-2 at the plate with two RBI’s. After his single, he came up hobbling and it looks like a hamstring injury has popped back up.
Kevin Maitan w/ 2-RBI 1B in 3rd inn for @DanvilleBraves. Pulled for a PR. Appeared to tweak R leg last inn, running out ground ball. #Braves
— Nick Pierce 🇺🇦 (@npierce84) August 1, 2017
Update on Kevin Maitan: tweaked hamstring running out ground ball in 2nd inning. Was pulled for PR in 3rd inning. #Braves
— Nick Pierce 🇺🇦 (@npierce84) August 1, 2017
From @DanvilleBraves MGR Nestor Perez, could not yet confirm if same hamstring for Maitan. Will give him off day tomorrow. #Braves
— Nick Pierce 🇺🇦 (@npierce84) August 1, 2017
“It’s his hamstring. He didn’t want to push too hard so it wouldn’t get worse,” Danville manager Nestor Perez said after the game. “We just pulled him out of the lineup just to be precautions with him. We have a day off in two days so it’s better to take him out of the game today, don’t play him tomorrow and have the day off. He may be good to play when we get started on the road in a couple days.”
Maitan is considered one of the most exciting players in the Braves organization — probably right behind Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna as a positional player. MLB Pipeline has ranked him as the Braves #6 ranked prospect and #44 in all of baseball.
The Venezuelan teenager has already been compared to Miguel Cabrera and Chipper Jones.
Hopefully, this hamstring injury isn’t anything serious and we can see Maitan back on the field before too long. Though, being that young and having these hammy issues is kind of concerning.
Next: Can Julio Teheran take the Braves to promise-land?
We’ll keep you updated when we hear more news about this youngster. Right now, we’ve got to consider Maitan as the prototypical baseball term…day-to-day. Let’s hope for the best, but we won’t know anything until he shows up tomorrow and tells the trainers how it’s feeling.