ATLANTA, GA – JULY 26: Outfielders (from left to right ) Ronald Accuna, Jr. #13, Ender Incciarte #11 and right fielder Nick Marckakis #22 of the Atlanta Braves kneel during a pitching change in the seventh inning during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at SunTrust Park on July 26, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /
With the minor league season complete, it’s time to take a look back at the performances in the Atlanta Braves system this year.
With the major league club reaching success, many Atlanta Braves fans have shifted their focus from the intense scrutiny of the minor league system that was the norm for the last few seasons to a more concerted cheering for the big league squad – and that’s expected. However, there were some very notable things to happen in the minor league system this year, so it’s definitely worthwhile to review all that happened!
This will part of our positional reviews here at Tomahawk Take. We will begin with catcher and work our way through the infield, outfield, right-handed starters, left-handed starter, and relievers. Finally, we will announce our Tomahawk Take 2018 Atlanta Braves organizational team of the year and team awards. That will all lead up to the top 100 prospect list that will once again appear on this page after a year’s hiatus while our Benjamin Chase was working with other sites (though he did produce a top 100 last season, just not with TT!).
We will have the schedule as such: Tuesday, September 18 – Catchers Sunday, September 23 – Corner Infielders Monday, September 24 – Middle Infielders, Outfielders Tuesday, September 25 – Starting Pitchers (2 posts) Wednesday, September 26 – Relief Pitchers
We’ll finish the final week with our awards, starting Thursday, September 27th. So, let’s take a look at the outfielders in the Atlanta Braves system…
Position review
Coming into the 2018 season, the Atlanta Braves had the enviable position of having the #1 outfield prospect in all of baseball. Certainly, Ronald Acuna, Jr. did nothing to disappoint in his 2018 season, but is there anything left on the farm?
The AAA level for the Braves in 2018 was primarily stocked with older veteran outfielders who likely wouldn’t have a long-term future in Atlanta. Below that, however, are a few of the most dynamic talents in the farm system. In fact, when all is tallied on my personal list, two of the top four position players are outfielders, and the overall top position player is an outfielder, so there are more pieces on the way for sure.
The impressive part in 2018 was seeing that a number of the high-upside, low-floor players took a step forward, while many of the high-floor players continued on a path to make themselves viable big league players.
Let’s dig deeper into those players!
DENVER, CO – AUGUST 16: Left fielder Danny Sanntana #23 of the Atlanta Braves makes a juggling catch for an out in the fourth inning against the Atlanta Braves at Coors Field on August 16, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) /
Upper minors
His pure numbers are not what you would consider elite, but Cristian Pache is absolutely among the elite prospects in the game. Pache’s got plus speed, but he’s not a tremendous base stealer, so his 7 steals on the season doesn’t turn a lot of heads.
He made big strides in a ton of areas, including accessing his natural power, hitting 9 home runs as part of 38 extra base hits on the season, posting a .279/.307/.410 line on the season. On top of everything, Pache is an absolutely elite defender, a guy that some scouts believe would compete for a Gold Glove immediately.
The Atlanta Braves have enjoyed the presence of Lane Adams in their system the last two seasons, though he did not spend a lot of time with the Gwinnett squad this year, spending just 30 games, hitting .191/.238/.266.
Like Adams, Xavier Avery has been a steady, veteran presence in the Gwinnett lineup the last few seasons. This year, he put up a .261/.356/.365 line with 4 home runs and 9 stolen bases in 80 games.
The big surprise this year in the upper minors was former Brewers farmhand Michael Reed, who worked his way all the way to the major leagues, simply hitting all the way. He opened the year with Mississippi, and he finished the year hitting .342/.453/.520 with 11 home runs and 10 stolen bases over 97 games between AA and AAA.
Another veteran patrolling the Gwinnett outfield, Danny Santana had big numbers on the season for the Stripers, leading the team with 16 home runs, hitting .264/.294/.497 and stealing 12 bases as well.
Converted to the outfield in 2018, Travis Demeritte flashed his incredible tools again, though he struggled to find consistency, hitting .222/.316/.416 with 17 home runs and 6 steals, striking out 140 times in 494 plate appearances. Many believe that he could have a future as a high-impact athlete playing infield and outfield, but his contact rate will need to improve.
The Braves picked up Brandon Downes when the Royals let him go, and he did not get a ton of time with the Braves, playing just 37 games, but he is an impressive athlete that could be an interesting organizational piece once he’s healthy for 2019 if the Braves choose to keep him around.
At this point, “organizational piece” may be the best way to describe Connor Lien as well. That’s pretty incredible with Lien’s impressive defensive ability and his raw power/speed combination, but after hitting .198/289/.343 with a 26/113 BB/K ratio over 99 games in his third year at AA, Lien may be a guy who is not going to progress to a long-term piece.
While many are big fans of Tyler Neslony, Neslony struggled to show consistency in 2018 in his step up to the upper minors. Already defensively inept, Neslony’s future will rely on his bat, so hitting .244/.297/.333 could be a foreboding warning to his long-term future in the Braves organization.
A-ball
The guy who has jumped up a lot of national boards this year is 2017 2nd round pick Drew Waters. Waters hit .293/.343/.476 with 39 doubles, 9 triples, 9 home runs, and 23 stolen bases. He has received high marks for his overall ability for sure, but there are also some concerns with how Waters has carried himself after struggles, something not a red flag, but definitely a yellow flag.
One of the most impressive parts of the excellent 2018 draft (even when missing out on the top pick) was getting Greyson Jenista in the second round. Jenista was seen as a viable first-round selection through most of the spring. He had a tremendous draft season with the Braves, working all the way to high-A, hitting .265/.328/.395 with 4 home runs, and there is plenty of power to be still tapped into with Jenista’s swing, and he could be a guy to move quickly, likely starting in Florida in 2019 and moving to Mississippi quickly with a chance to move to Gwinnett by the end of the season.
Another Curacaoan player in the Atlanta Braves system, Shean Michel has been one of the best defenders in the minor leagues in the outfield along with possessing elite speed. His .250/.309/.310 line this year in 60 games was solid, but getting caught stealing 6 times in 9 stolen base attempts was not such a good thing.
Drafted out of Grand Canyon in the 16th round in 2017, Gary Schwartz hit very well with Danville in 2017. He spent most of his time with Florida in 2018, and while he’s not likely to be a future top prospect, Schwartz has excellent gap power and plays good defense in right field.
Arguably the most raw talent of any outfielder in the system belongs to Izzy Wilson, but his polish is not there, to say the least. He has incredible power, impressive speed, and the ability to track down balls in the outfield. His discipline at the plate, however, really has limited the impact of those impressive tools. He hit .223/.305/.349 in 2018 with 8 home runs and 16 steals in 108 games. His success rate of over 75% on the bases, even with some bad jumps on the bases tells just how fast he truly is on the bases. Hopefully, he can get some quality work in the Arizona Fall League this fall!
A nice piece of the 2015 international signing class, Jefrey Ramos was discussed as having the most raw power of anyone in that Atlanta Braves signing class. He’s really begun to show it, and if he could combine his 2017 and 2018 approaches at the plate, he’d have an ideal set up. Ramos sold out a bit for power in 2018, hitting .245/.289/.424 with 16 home runs as part of 46 extra base hits, but he does have a very quick bat that showed with his .307 average in 2017. If he can find a happy medium between the two, he has the chance to be a hitter who could offer average and power from the right side of the plate.
Incredibly athletic, Justin Dean was drafted in the 17th round this past June, hitting .284/.381/.412 with 9 triples and 16 steals. Accessing his natural power would be big for him, but Dean’s already made a big splash, which is something to say at just 5’8″!
Drafted in the 32nd round out of Missouri-Columbia, Trey Harris was not expected to be a big piece for the Rome playoff push, but there he was, using his excellent on-base skills and athleticism to help Rome into the playoffs. He finished the year with a .302/.409/.434 line between Danville and Rome with 18 doubles and 7 steals along with a 28/26 BB/K over 53 games.
The Atlanta Braves drafted Justin Smith in the 20th round in 2017, and he hit very well for Danville, struggling some with Rome. Overall, he hit .213/.291/.391 with 10 home runs and 5 steals, but his .815 OPS in Danville showed more of what his impressively athletic 6’2″ frame could put together. He’ll likely open 2019 in Rome again, and the Braves will hope to see him bring his Danville performance to full-season leagues.
Arguably one of the best runners in the entire system, Jose Bermudez struggled to stay on the field this year, hurt frequently, and he did not hit well when he was on the field. At 21 years old now, he could be on the borderline for the organization moving forward.
Rookie Ball
Typically a 25th-round pick is not the guy that captures the eyes of scouts on your GCL team, but that’s exactly what Michael Mateja did this year, hitting .364 with a .533 OBP before being promoted. Overall, including one game at Rome and most of his time between Danville and GCL, Mateja hit .304/.454/.402 with 7 doubles. He played second, third, and left field. He’ll be very interesting to watch in 2019.
The Braves brought in Carlos Baerga last season and pushed him to Danville this year, and his plate discipline is solid, but there are still things he needs to work on in his overall game, with an excellent line drive approach offensively that led to a .235/.318/.309 line in 2018.
A 6th round pick from UNC-Greensboro in June, Andrew Moritz showed out in his time with Danville, offering excellent plate discipline and solid defense, putting up a .280/.352/.376 line with a home run and 4 steals.
Signed out of Cuba, Henry Quintero got just 9 games in the DSL in 2017. He opened his year with a few games there in 2018 before coming stateside to Danville. He flashed plenty, but his plate discipline still is a work in progress, as he slashed .263/.289/.358 with 12 extra base hits and 2 steals over 188 plate appearances, but also with a 5/41 BB/K ratio.
After years in the infield, the Atlanta Braves moved Jeremy Fernandez to the grass in 2018, and he responded very positively. He hit .281/.322/.492 with 9 doubles, 3 triples, 8 home runs, and 5 steals in 199 plate appearances, really stuffing the stat line, and he was more than adequate in center field, showing impressive natural instincts on routes.
Charles Reyes has a long-limbed build that portends speed and power, but he’s still quite raw in both, but he flashed at times in 2018, hitting .252/.275/.330 with a home run, though his plate discipline still needs work.
With a solid build, many expect Joel Reyes to swing big, and he certainly tried in 2018, hitting .117/.175/.202 and striking out 36 times in just 104 plate appearances as he swung hard for the fences.
A Cuban signee that just turned 17 on July 4th, Christian Zamora played in the GCL, and he showed very impressive skills in the outfield defensively along with raw power to go with his 6’4″, 210-pound frame. He’ll be a guy to watch as he gets more reps under his belt.
The Dominican Summer League outfielders this season really did not have a standout guy, so we’ll do a quick shot through each:
Small in stature at 5’9″, Asmin Bautista swings a big stick for his height, and he knows how to work a count. If he can find his power when he comes stateside, there could really be something here.
Well-built and with natural raw power in his swing, Randi De La Cruz has certain work to do to achieve the traditional right field profile that his raw tools say that he should be perfect for.
Ridiculously fast, switch-hitter Deivi Estrada was able to post a 120-point OBP delta and stole 6 bases, though he was caught 5 times as well. He was compared frequently by scouts to former Braves farmhand Randy Ventura.
A speedy Venezuelan, Jose Hernandez was given time at all three outfield spots and third base with his excellent arm, but also struck out 29% of the time.
Certainly one of the most unique names in the system, Jonaiker Izaguirre was known for solid contact as an amateur, but he significantly struggled with that in 2018 and could spend 2019 back in the DSL.
The one player that stayed with the organization after MLB canceled his original signing, Brandol Mezquita had a very solid season in the DSL, flashing lots of impressive pieces, but never really putting it all together, hitting .212/.347/.327 with 4 home runs and 6 steals.
Incredibly fast and smart at the plate, Jose Palma put up a .365 OBP and 15 steals this year, though he’s not shown the ability to drive the ball. He’s also only been successful on roughly 65% of his stolen base attempts, even with blazing speed. He’ll get a shot at the GCL in 2019.
An impressive physical specimen, Jorge Rodriguez has surprising plate discipline for the struggles that he had, and he has the athleticism to work in any outfield spot right now. He simply needs to hone those skills to take advantage of his natural strength more at the plate.
dark. Next. The top 15 leadoff seasons in Braves history
The system’s outfield grouping is deep with top-end talent, dart-throw players, and some high-floor players as well. It will be very interesting to see how those players continue to progress over the next few seasons!
