Atlanta Braves top 3 prospects called up to AAA — What this could mean

Monday marked an important day as the Atlanta Braves top three prospects made the jump from Double-A to Triple-A.

Number one overall Atlanta Braves prospect according to mlb.com, Cristian Pache, leads the surge of top talent to Gwinnett Stripers.

Pache, who before this year was not thought to be much of a hitting prospect, has put up much-improved numbers.

He has batted .278 with 11 home runs and 28 doubles for Mississippi. To put this in perspective, Pache has never hit more than 9 home runs in an entire Minor League season.

Pache always has been regarded as a terrific defensive outfielder and speedster, those traits — coupled with his improved bat — has led him to be the number 11 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB.com.

Joining Pache in Triple-A is fellow outfielder and number 2 Atlanta Braves prospect Drew Waters. Waters is considered to be another 5-tool outfielder, and his hitting ability is his main calling card. The switch hitter batted .319 in Double-A with 5 home runs and 35 doubles.

Waters is the 27th best prospect in baseball according to MLB.com.

With Pache and Waters being only 20, the power will come later, but the proof of a pure stroke is in their doubles numbers making them a deadly pair in the top of the order.

Next up to Triple-A is RHP Ian Anderson, the Atlanta Braves third-best prospect according to MLB.com. Simply put, Ian Anderson is dominating batters at Double-A, only hitting .202 against him.

He carries a 2.68 ERA while striking out 11.9 batters per nine innings, causing him to become the 34th best prospect in baseball during MLB.com’s midseason rankings.

Tucker Davidson also has been promoted to Triple-A and might be overlooked considering who he got promoted with. However, he shouldn’t be. It says something that he is apart of this group being called up and his numbers speak for themselves.

He’s been tremendous for Double-A Mississippi with a 2.03 ERA and averaging 9.9 strikeouts per nine. Batters have hit just .224 against him and he comes in as the Atlanta Braves 13th best prospect.

This Gwinnett Stripers team is now overflowing with talent carrying 4 of the top 40 prospects in baseball and 8 of the Braves top 15 prospects. Not to mention multiple former Atlanta Braves relievers in the pen.

This can’t be a match up any other Triple-A team looks forward to and this may be the time to checkout a Stripers game considering you can see all the top prospects at once.

If not, we are close to what Braves fans have been waiting for — the star farm players in the bigs. I think this is the Atlanta Braves giving the top prospects a taste of Triple-A and if they perform well, perhaps a taste of the Major Leagues when the roster expands.

Even if they aren’t promoted to the Major Leagues, this will give the Braves a better understanding of the time tables going into Spring Training for their top farmhands.

Braves fans, we are one step closer to seeing a three-headed monster roaming the outfield in Ronald Acuña Jr., Pache, and Waters. Not to mention the one brewing in the rotation of young arms in Soroka, Anderson, Wright — exciting times.