When the Atlanta Braves selected Tate Southisene in the first round of the 2025 MLB Draft, the pick came as a bit of a welcome surprise. For years, the Braves had forged a well-earned reputation for prioritizing pitching with their early picks in the draft and that was really showing in the quality of their bats in the minor leagues. The change in draft strategy was largely embraced, but the devil was always in the details and Southisene (and the other bats the Braves picked early in 2025) were going to have to hit.
Despite being undersized, Southisene was considered to be a top draft prospect last year thanks to tantalizing athleticism, the strong likelihood that he will play up the middle, and a surprising amount of power. There was concern about his aggression at the plate as well as his size, but those concerns did not dissuade the Braves and the hope was that he would acclimate to professional baseball relatively quickly.
Well, the results are in and scouts are already weighing in on Southisene and the news is not great. After what can be described as a disastrous pro debut, Southisene has to get back to basics if his prospect stock is going to recover.
Tate Southisene's rough pro debut should have Braves fans concerned, but hope is not lost already
The numbers themselves are pretty ugly. In a very small sample of 66 plate appearances in low-A, Southisene struck out a staggering 27 times versus just a single walk. Between the swing and miss as well as a lot of ground balls, the first round pick only managed a .219/.242/.297 line. Baseball America and others have routinely pointed out that Southisene looked overmatched and had his very aggressive approach exploited from day one. You just can't swing more than half the time and chase as much as he does and become a big leaguer.
Not all the news was bad, however. Yes, there were a lot of strikeouts and ground balls, but he did hit the ball hard with BA noting that Southisene's 105.4 MPH 90th percentile exit velo was second among all teenagers in the draft class behind just Ethan Holliday who was arguably the best player in the draft. Southisene can also absolutely fly on the bases which gives hope that some of these ground balls will become hits and stolen bases anyways.
The Braves are going to have critics over this pick until proven otherwise. Right now, it appears that the concerns with Southisene have some validity especially when it comes to his hit tool. To change that narrative, Atlanta is going to have to do something they don't have a great recent track record of doing and really develop Southisene into an offensive force. Southisene is obviously talented, but it is also clear that he has a long ways to go and may be more likely to bust now compared to the odds on draft day.