Atlanta Braves: Will Any Other Top Prospects Make Their Debut This Year?

A few more that could end up with the Atlanta Braves

Travis Demeritte (ETA 2019, a .219 BA in AA Mississippi)

Demeritte has a lot of raw power and he’s shown it…but he hasn’t shown it enough. Ever since he came to the Braves organization and playing in less-hitting friendly environments, he’s had a .250 in High A in 2016, .231 in AA for 2017, and .219 in AA for 2018.

I don’t really see Demeritte having a future in Atlanta with the infield and now outfield getting pretty full. In his career, Demeritte has only played second, third, short and recently at left for the Braves plus one at CF.

All of those positions are already stacked in Atlanta. Of the 2nd, 3rd and SS positions, Atlanta has Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson, Johan Camargo, Charlie Culberson and Ryan Flaherty.

In the outfield, there is Ronald Acuña Jr., Ender Inciarte, Nick Markakis, Adam Duvall plus Culberson and Camargo can play out there.

Demeritte will either stick in AA for the rest of the season or at least until rosters expand and guys from AAA will get the call and Demeritte fills one of those spots.

After that, he might be a potential piece in a package for a player this offseason. If not, we’ll probably see him next year.

Josh Graham (ETA 2018 unlikely with high ERA, at AA)

Josh Graham and Jacob Webb are #29 and #30 on Pipeline’s list because they are the only other guys that have 2018 as an ETA that haven’t debuted yet. Graham is a reliever currently in AA Mississippi but hasn’t clicked there.

At High A Florida, he threw a 3.86 ERA and was 1-7 W-L but still got the promotion. However at AA, though he has a 5-3 record, he’s compiled an ERA of 7.63. If he had a similar ERA like what he had in Florida, he’s probably be major-league bound soon at AAA, if not already in the majors.

He seems to need to work on his control some more before and get to AAA first before we see in Atlanta.

Jacob Webb (ETA 2018 – Reached AAA with 3.80)

Here’s another one that could be here sooner than later. An ex-Tommy John pitcher that came back and more-or-less dominated. Tell me if you’ve heard that one. Webb currently is at AAA with a 3.80 ERA and 3.50 on the season. He was also in AA for 21 games.

In Ben’s mid-season prospect update article, Webb is the only one out of the three relievers that hasn’t debut yet. Here’s a small insert to show why he’s one to keep an eye on:

"“…he recorded 31 strikeouts in just 13 innings in his first season back on the mound – to get perspective, he only generated 39 outs on the entire season, and he recorded a strikeout on 31 of them!”"

If he keeps it up, he’ll most definitely be in Atlanta at some point.