TomahawkTake’s top-30 Atlanta Braves prospects: Nos. 30-21

With the new year upon us and the Winter Meetings behind us, most of the top-tier free agents have signed and trading season is about to crank up for the Atlanta Braves as well as the rest of the major leagues.

The Atlanta Braves have already been named in numerous rumors thus far, as the team is still primarily interested in acquiring a cleanup hitter for the upcoming season, along with any other pieces to improve the current roster.

Trades – if such an acquisition can’t be made on the free agent market – usually involve prospects, and as we already know, prospects come in many different shapes and sizes, hence the need for such a conclusive list of players.

But to arrange such a large listing, we will release our prospect rankings in three different lists, featuring ten players per post. Also, as we always do here at TomahawkTake, the list will run from bottom to top, meaning the series will go as follows:

• Post 1: Nos. 30-21 (today)
• Post 2: Nos. 20-11 (Tuesday)
• Post 3: Nos. 10-1 (Wednesday)

So with the layout of these rankings covered, here are a few other things to keep in mind…

Some nuances to consider

After fighting with several different objective-based models, we have decided to go with a subjective approach for these rankings.

But keep in mind, this list is meant to be the first report for the 2020 season, meaning there will be more versions of these rankings to come later on. Think of this as the Spring report, with a Midseason and End-of-season report to follow. Each version will be updated according to how each player is trending (via performance, upside, promotions…etc).

Obviously, everyone won’t necessarily agree with each and every ranking, as we all have our own opinions regarding these players; although, it’s much easier to look at the list of 30 players overall in terms of tiers instead of attempting to assess the report as a whole.

Consider my tiers for the list below:

• Nos. 1-10 — Tier 1
• Nos.11-20 — Tier 2
• Nos. 21-30 — Tier 3

You could perhaps break the rankings up in to even more tiers or groups if you desired, but the point is that the actual ranking is less important than the tier or group the player is part of. Obviously, the higher the tier means the player has more upside and is closer to the majors.

Remember, these rankings are subject to change, as an updated version of this list will be published around the midseason point of the 2020 season (July-ish).

With all of that now covered, let’s look at the first group of rankings, Nos. 30-21.

Braves Top-30 Prospects: Nos. 30-21

(Spring version)

The table above will increase in size as we move through this series, as I’ll simply add to it as we release each new group of ten.

To provide clarity as to why each player is ranked where, check out the following excerpts on each player listed in the table (each player’s listed age is for the 2020 season):

No. 30: Mitch Stallings, LHP

• Drafted: (ATL) 30th RD, 2019
• Duke University

After absolutely dominating in Danville (11.1 K/9, 1.8 BB/9), Stallings’ K rate took a big downward slide in Single-A Rome, dropping to a measly 4.7 strikeouts per nine.

His strong performance in rookie ball was expected, considering he was a starter for a Power 5 team in college, but his play in Rome this coming season will truly determine whether or not he belongs on this list or not.

No. 29: Greg Cullen, 2B

• Drafted: (ATL) 15th RD, 2018
• Niagara University

Cullen unleashed a little more power in 2019, finishing with 9 home runs in Single-A Rome and showing he might be more than just a slap-hitting middle infielder (which would help his prospect stock greatly).

https://twitter.com/MiLB/status/1129584518577442817?s=19

He has already shown he can hit for a strong average (career .273 hitter), so if he can keep up the power-stroke and get back to stealing 10-15 bases per season, perhaps he’ll move on up by midseason.

No. 28: Hayden Deal, LHP

• Signed: (ATL) June, 2017
• Presbyterian College

Deal isn’t a flamethrower, usually working in the low-90s mph, though his 2019 season featured 22 starts and one relief appearance in Hight-A Florida, where Deal didn’t seem to have any problems.

https://twitter.com/MiLB/status/1123431297710481409?s=19

After pitching to a 3.24 ERA and posting strong K/BB rates (7.5 K/9, 2.4 BB/9) with the Fire Frogs in 2019, I expect Deal to be in Double-A Mississippi either to begin the 2020 season or shortly after.

No. 27: CJ Alexander, 3B

• Drafted: (ATL) 20th RD, 2018
• State College of Florida

Alexander remains on our list based on pure upside and his 2018 performance alone, as his 2019 season was basically a waste (he played just 43 games between High-A Florida and Double-A Mississippi, hitting .117 with 4 XBHs).

Despite being taken in the latter rounds of the draft, Alexander garnered some excitement a couple of years ago; however, if he doesn’t show a pulse in the first few months of the 2020 season, he’ll be off the list.

No. 26: Bryce Ball, 1B

• Drafted: (ATL) 25th RD, 2019
• Dallas Baptist University

It’s hard not to rank Ball higher, considering he took off as a pro and smacked 17 home runs in just his first 62 games as a professional player, also slashing .329/.395/.628.

It’s one thing to rake in Rookie-Advanced Danville and Single-A Rome, but let’s see what he does this coming season before we completely jump onto the Bryce Ball bandwagon (and yes – a line for tickets on that wagon is forming).