5 surprising prospects who will shine at Braves spring training
Spring training is right around the corner and some less familiar names could make some noise.
By Eric Cole
It is fair to assume that the Atlanta Braves are probably pretty close to done making moves this offseason. While it wouldn't be crazy to see some minor moves made right before spring training for depth off the 40 man roster, the Braves' offseason checklist seems pretty well completed in the wake of the Braves trading for and extending Chris Sale in addition to the fact that Atlanta's payroll appears close to tapped out for the moment.
Reasonable people can disagree as to whether or not the Braves made the right moves as both Sale and Jarred Kelenic come with a fair bit of risk. However, we will all know soon enough the early returns as spring training is just a matter of weeks away.
Spring training this year will probably be mostly uneventful for the Braves this year outside of the competition for the last rotation spot. Most of the other roster spots are set in stone. However, what should be interesting is how some of the Braves' prospects look especially when they get a good amount of the playing time early on this spring before they are sent back over to minor league camp.
The goal here isn't to highlight the names that everyone knows. AJ Smith-Shawver has already seen real big league innings and plenty of people have written about Hurston Waldrep's potential at this point. This is a look at some of the lesser known prospects that could make some noise in spring training even if they (probably) can't make the team right out of camp.
Cody Milligan
If Cody Milligan was just at tad bigger or hit for a bit more power, a lot more people would be talking about him. Though he lost a big chunk of time due to injury in 2023, he still posted an .803 OPS while spending the bulk of his time at Double-A Mississippi while stealing 24 bases in just 71 games. He can hit to all fields, run, and is a strong and versatile defender.
That versatility is what is likely to stand out in spring training. Milligan isn't likely to hit 450 foot bombs, but what he can do is give quality at-bats every game and play literally anywhere on the field. Assuming he plays well this year, he could end up being an excellent utility knife bench piece for the Braves, although he may end up being more valuable as a trade piece than that especially to a team that could give him more playing time.