Braves: Most Exciting Prospects to Watch in Spring Training

With pitchers and catchers reporting this week we take a look at some of the most exciting prospects from the Atlanta Braves you should be watching. 

There are always several reasons to be excited about Spring Training for the Atlanta Braves. But for a lot of us who love prospects, it’s seeing the up-and-coming talent that we’re most excited about.

For your star players who know they have a spot in the lineup already, Spring Training is just a way for them to get ramped up for the regular season.

But for the young guys, it’s a chance for them to showcase their talent against Major League players in front of the big league coaching staff — and the fans.

There is even more anticipation for see Braves’ prospects this year after there wasn’t a minor league season in 2020 and we got very little coverage from the alternate training site.

For many, this will be their first chance to show the improvements they’ve made over the past year.

Guys like Drew Waters and Tucker Davidson who are knocking on the door of the big leagues will use this time to try and impress the coaches so they’ll consider them for a possible call-up later in the year.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure we’ll have the kind of video coverage that we’re used to seeing in Spring Training. Televised games may be very limited.

But at the very least, the beat reporters should be on hand to give their opinions on the young guys in camp — who is in the best shape of their lives.

Here are some of the prospects I’m most looking forward to seeing this Spring.

Braves Pitching Prospects to Watch For in Spring Training

Tucker Davidson 

I was one of the ones screaming all year in 2020 for the Braves to give Tucker Davidson a chance. They finally did at the end of the season and things didn’t work out how I was hoping.

Against the Red Sox, he gave up 7 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits and 4 walks over 1.2 innings with 2 strikeouts.

Clearly, the nerves were there for the 24-year-old lefty in his big league debut. He’ll have to learn to manage those nerves if he’s ever going to reach his potential as a middle-of-the-rotation starter.

Now that he has that big league debut out of the way, I can’t wait to see how he responds in Spring Training to prove he deserves another shot at some point in 2021.

He’s a very analytic guy as you know if you follow him on Twitter, and I’m very confident he’s going to figure it out and be a very solid Major League pitcher one day.

Jasseel De La Cruz

De La Cruz shot up the prospect boards in 2019 blazing through Single-A and High-A before settling at Double-A where he posted a 3.83 ERA in 87 innings as a 22-year-old.

I, personally, haven’t seen much of him so I’m really hoping to get a look at the righty this Spring as the stuff sounds electric.

He’s on down the depth chart for starters, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get a shot in the bullpen later in 2021 if needed.

Kyle Muller

Last Spring Training was not pretty for the big lefty as Muller gave up 5 hits in just 1 inning over two outings with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts.

But he’s certainly fun to watch and one to keep an eye on if he can ever learn to command his pitches.

With a fastball in the upper 90s and a plus curveball, he certainly has the makings to be a dominant pitcher — either as a starter or as a reliever.

We’ll see what strides Muller has made with his command this Spring and whether or not he’s ready for a chance with the Braves.

Freddy Tarnok

Freddy is someone the Braves spent a lot of money on when they took him in the third round of the 2017 Draft. But they’re still waiting on him to show what they thought he could be.

He reached High-A in 2019 but posted just a 4.87 ERA in 98 innings with 82 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.44.

Tarnok did improve his walk-rate at the end of 2019 and has received high praise from the Braves staff since then. We’ll see what kind of strides he has made this Spring.