Atlanta Braves Minor League system is still loaded
Many of the most prominent baseball publications recently released their top 100 prospect lists and the Atlanta Braves were a prominent fixture in all of them.
Much like the previous seasons, the Atlanta Braves are well represented on prospect rankings, which have been released over the past few weeks.
Baseball America (subscription required) came out with its rankings two weeks ago, while Baseball Prospectus and MLB Pipeline came out with their rankings last weekend.
The Braves had as many as six prospects on Baseball Prospectus’ list, with as few as four prospects on Baseball America’s version.
There were four prospects that were on all three lists: Cristian Pache, Ian Anderson, Drew Waters and somewhat surprisingly Kyle Wright.
Baseball Prospectus and MLB Pipeline ranked Shea Langeliers, who was the Braves’ first-round pick in 2019, while Baseball Prospectus ranked Kyle Muller.
While the system is still quite good, the graduations to the majors of the likes of Ronald Acuna Jr., Austin Riley, and Mike Soroka have made it not as elite as it once was.
With that being said, this is still a really deep system, especially at the higher levels where there are so many players ready to make an impact in the big leagues.
After years of having one of the worst farm systems in baseball, the Miami Marlins had four or five players in the rankings, which along with the Braves, was best in the NL East.
Tampa Bay was the consensus top farm system, as the Rays had six or seven prospects on the lists.
Let’s take a closer look at each of the players that made a list, as well as where FanGraphs projects them going forward.
The big four
There was no question who the Braves top prospect is. Pache was ranked 12th by Baseball America, 13th by MLB Pipeline, and 22nd by Baseball Prospectus.
Fangraphs Future Value of Pache is 60, which means his role will be one of an all-star and annual WAR of 3.4 to 4.9.
In the first part of 2019, Pache impressed at Double-A Mississippi where he hit .278 with 11 home runs and 53 runs batted in.
He was promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett on August 4th and was solid for the remainder of the season. Pache hit .274, though the power was missing as he hit just one home run.
From a defensive perspective, Pache is elite and this will be the reason he gets to Atlanta sooner rather than later.
The expectation should be that Pache patrols center field in Truist Park sometime this summer.
The Braves’ first-round pick in 2016 has cemented himself as the top pitcher in the organization and the rankings reflect that.
Anderson as ranked No. 37 by MLB Pipeline, No. 38 by Baseball Prospectus, and No. 44 by Baseball America.
FanGraphs has Anderson’s future value at 55, which means he will be an above-average player with an annual WAR of 2.5 to 3.3.
Anderson started last season at Double-A, where he went 7-5 with a 2.68 ERA in 21 starts. He had 147 strikeouts in 111 innings.
Once promoted to Triple-A, Anderson didn’t find as much success as he went 1-2 with a 6.57 ERA in five starts.
Much like Pache, Anderson should make his debut at some point this season, with him being further entrenched in the rotation this time next season.
In most other organizations, Waters would be the top outfield prospect, as he has grown leaps and bounds since being drafted in the second round of the 2017 draft.
Waters was ranked 26th by MLB Pipeline, 36th by Baseball America, and 42nd in Baseball Prospectus.
FanGraphs has Waters’ future value being 55, so an above-average player with a yearly WAR around 3.
He, like Pache, took care of Double-A pitching hitting .319 but then struggled to adjust to Triple-A pitching. He struck out 43 times in 107 at-bats with Gwinnett.
Waters will most likely be in Atlanta by September, but it wouldn’t be a huge shock to see him stay in Gwinnett this year and then make his debut in 2021.
Still, though, the future outfield is Waters-Pache-Acuna.
Kyle Wright
After being selected with the fifth pick in the 2017 draft, Wright was viewed as the next big pitching prospect in the Braves system, but thus far, he has not met those expectations.
Still, though, he was viewed as a top 100 prospect in baseball. MLB Pipeline has Wright No. 52, while Baseball America has him at No. 64, and Baseball Prospectus has him at No. 89.
He has a FanGraphs future value of 50, which means he will be an average player, with a WAR of 1.6 to 2.4.
Wright made the Opening Day roster last year, mostly because of injury, and was not exactly stellar as he gave up 11 earned runs in three starts (14 innings). He was then sent down to Gwinnett for most of the season, where he went 11-4 and a 4.17 ERA.
It seems like 2020 is kind of “put up or shut up” year for Wright, who will get a chance to win the No. 5 spot in the rotation in the spring.
While there is still time for Wright to make an impact with the Braves, the confidence is definitely waning at this point.
The partial lisers
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The Braves 2019 first-round pick spent his 2019 season with Rome where he hit .255 in 54 games with 34 runs batted in.
While the bat is still developing, Langeliers’ reputation is behind the plate, which will quickly move him through the system fairly quickly.
MLB Pipeline ranked Langeliers No. 70, while Baseball Prospectus ranked him No. 77. Baseball America did not have Langeliers in their top 100.
FanGraphs projects Langeliers to be between a low-end starting player to an average starting player with an average WAR of 2.
William Contreras was once thought of as the Braves’ future catcher, but it now seems like Langeliers has taken the label.
With Tyler Flowers and Travis D’Arnaud both under contract this year and a viable option in Alex Jackson at Triple-A, it seems like Langeliers’ debut will likely hold off until 2021.
This is the guy that is getting more and more love each year and for good reason. Have you seen his offseason videos?
At 6-foot6 and 225 pounds, which judging by the videos he posted this winter seems low, Muller is a workhorse who will likely be in all three lists this time next year.
But as of right now, Muller is ranked No. 60 by Baseball Prospectus, while not being ranked in the other lists.
Last season at Double-A Mississippi, Muller went 7-6 with a 3.14 ERA in 22 starts. He struck out 120 batters in 111.2 innings.
Muller will likely start the season at Double-A but soon could get promoted to Triple-A with an outside chance at making his debut sometime this summer.
Next. Do Braves measure up in the NL?. dark
In conclusion…
The Braves have so much talent currently on the big league roster, but there is so much more coming fast.
Former Braves GM John Coppolella talked about prospects making an impact with the Braves in waves and it looks like we are there.
We saw one wave with Albies, Acuna and Soroka and last year with Riley and Wright, and now more waves are coming.
The Braves are just getting started.