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Atlanta Braves midseason top 50 prospects – A-ball

By Benjamin Chase

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL - MARCH 03: The glove, batting gloves, and bat of Matt Lipka #86 of the Atlanta Braves it on the field before the game against the New York Mets on March, 3 2014 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images)
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL - MARCH 03: The glove, batting gloves, and bat of Matt Lipka #86 of the Atlanta Braves it on the field before the game against the New York Mets on March, 3 2014 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images) /
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Catchers/Infielders

William Contreras – Few in the Atlanta Braves blogosphere have been a Contreras fan as “hard” and as long as have I. Reports from the DSL that he had a world more floor than his brother and could even have a higher ceiling got me very, very excited 3 years ago, and now the fruits of that are beginning to take hold as Contreras very well could end up a top 50-75 prospect in the game by year’s end. His defense has a chance to be plus-plus with a definite plus to plus-plus arm. Add in excellent maturity at the plate and in his approach along with much more power than I was ever led to believe would be there (I had him pegged as a 2004 Johnny Estrada offensive profile with premier defense in my views). This is one of the biggest climbers in the system, and a guy that will not be seen until very near the top of the list on Friday.

Derian Cruz – An elite prospect when the Atlanta Braves signed him out of the Dominican Republic in 2015. He’s still just 19, but he’s starting to already seem like a guy with a ton of potential and no polish. He’s hitting .211/.242/.303 in 97 games, and in spite of plus to plus-plus speed, he’s actually been caught stealing more times than he’s been successful this season.

Braxton Davidson – Needless to say, Davidson is being profiled as a token measure more than as a realistic consideration for the top 50. He may drop off of my top 100 in the offseason as well. Davidson has moved back to first base, and he’s finally hitting for the power everyone has been waiting for from him for ages. The issue is that his contact skills have never improved, and he’s slashing .177/.283/.375 with 16 home runs.

Lucas Herbert – While the defense is solid, Kolby Allard‘s high school teammate has not turned out to bring the stick to go with that defense, and it’s not the level of defense alone that would get Herbert to the bigs, which leaves him as a “tweener” prospect or an org guy unless he figures something out with the bat, but as a high school catcher, that’s not out of the realm of possibility.

Drew Lugbauer – Lugbauer endeared himself well to Atlanta Braves fans by pounding out 13 home runs between Danville and Rome in just 60 games after being drafted in the 11th round out of Michigan. The name “Slugbauer” because commonplace on Braves social media discussion boards, and discussions about the need for the DH in the NL erupted. The 2018 season has not inspired such discussion as Lugbauer is hitting just .241/.323/.395 with 11 home runs over 91 games.

Michael Mateja – From Division III North Central College in Illinois, Mateja didnt exactly have a big profile coming out of high school, and when the Braves drafted him in the 25th round this June, many didn’t think a ton of it, but he’s shown to have a very good control of the strike zone and an ability to make consistent contact while playing 2B/3B/LF. Whether there’s a future utility guy here or just a post-draft spike in performance remains to be seen, but so far, so good for Mateja!

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