In 2017, former Braves general manager John Coppolella recieved a banishment from baseball for life due to breaking international free agency rule Not only that, but the Braves funding for the international free agent market was slashed from 2018-2021. This in turn obviously made quite the impact on how the farm system looked heading into more recent years.
Once the calendar turned to 2022, however, they went all in signing Didier Fuentes, Douglas Glod, Diego Benitez, among others. Fuentes we know was an awesome signing, as he is currently helping the big league club in 2026 in a bullpen role and was a top prospect in the system before this season. Benitez and Glod have since been released from the organization...but there is one other player from that class that is still in the organization that has flown completely under the radar...
That prospect is Davis Polo who was signed out of Colombia. Polo is listed at 6'1 and 150 pounds and has been looked at as a highly regarded prospect since signing. However, injuries have kept him from really delivering on that promise, with an injury he suffered in 2024 that kept him from pitching all year in 2025 being particularly troublesome.
Between 2022-2025 he pitched a total of 124 innings with his ERA hovering around 5 between the Dominican Summer League, Florida Complex League, and Augusta. The narrative around Polo has made a complete 180 in 2026, as he has outperformed almost every expectation of him. So much so, in fact, that he has forced the Braves to make a very interesting decision come Rule 5 draft protection time.
Davis Polo has emerged as a Braves prospect worth protecting from the Rule 5 draft
Polo started out the 2026 season with the Augusta Greenjackets and from the start he looked like he was on a mission. He started out in relief but once Kendry Richard struggled to open the year Polo stepped into the starting rotation and never looked back. This was the first glimpse of the changeup that Polo developed this season, and it has looked like one of the best overall pitches in the entire system. With Augusta, Polo went 7-5 with a 3.25 ERA, 26.2 K%, 9.2 BB%, .203 AVG, 1.10 WHIP, and 3.90 FIP. His ground ball percentage also skyrocketed to 52.6% while the fly ball percentage went down to 29.3%.
Polo was getting a lot more swing and miss than we had seen in years past (20.5% in 2024 and 17.3% in 2023, while also getting hitters to hit the ball on the ground when they made contact. The addition of the changeup really helped escalate those particular numbers when he paired it with his plus slider as well. The highlight of his time in Augusta had to be his game on July 28th, where he pitched 7.2 innings with two hits, one run, two walks, and nine strikeouts in a game the GreenJackets won 8-5.
After 18 starts in Augusta, it was clear that Davis was too good for the competition in A Ball so the Braves promoted him to Rome where he spent all of TWO games at. Those two games were electric though as in his A+ debut he pitched five innings with two hits, one run, two walks, and six strikeouts. In his next start he one-upped himself going six innings, four hits, three runs (two solo home runs), two walks, with 12 strikeouts.
The most impressive aspect of this outing was that Polo did not let the two solo home runs get him rattled. He stayed within himself against the higher competition and really stayed on his game plan, which ended up working. Polo's final line in Rome for the year was 1-0, 41.9 K%, 9.3 BB%, .154 AVG, and a 0.909 WHIP. He proved that he was ready for the next step which the Braves promptly decided it was time for as well.
It is extremely difficult to compare Stephen Strasburg's first MLB start to that of a minor league pitcher making his AA debut, but I'm going to do it anyway. Polo's first start with Columbus was one of the most electric debuts you will ever see. Polo absolutely CARVED the Montgomery Biscuits lineup apart including striking out the #12 overall prospect in baseball, Theo Gillen. Polo's final line from his Columbus debut was six innings, one hit, zero runs, one walk, eight strikeouts, and a game score of 77, which was second only to his July 28th game of 78.
One thing in baseball is that it is very difficult to replicate the same success against the same opponent, especially if you face them two outings in a row, which is what Polo had to do in his next outing versus the Biscuits. That game featured a rather wild side of his command as he just didn't seem to have the best feel for his pitches leading to three walks and two home runs. He still pitched into the seventh inning however, and that was a good sign.
With the season drawing to an end, the Braves decided it was once again time to promote Polo, this time to Gwinnett for one final stop. In his lone AAA start, he pitched six innings giving up four hits, zero runs, two walks, and three strikeouts. This was also the first game where we could get pitch data for as it is not available in the lower minors. The biggest thing that stood out was he gave up zero barrels in his six innings. Hitters were not able to square anything up and he was pitching to weak contact.
The Braves have arguably had their hands forced into adding Polo onto the 40-man roster. If they leave him unprotected then he is almost assuredly getting taken at the height of his value in the Rule 5 draft (assuming there is one this year with the lockout). If they do not want to add him to the 40-man then the need to trade him and do it quickly. They cannot let him go for nothing if that is what they choose to do. Adding him to the 40-man roster is the smart move as you can never have too many pitching prospects, especially ones with a plus changeup and plus slider like he has.
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