Ignacio Alvarez
Ever since the Braves picked Ignacio "Nacho" Alvarez, he has been among the Braves most interesting position player prospects. He is an excellent defender, although he is better at third base vs. shortstop, and his bat to ball skills and approach at the plate are incredibly advanced. If there is a knock against him, it is that he often settles for poking the ball the other way instead of turning on pitches despite having some pop to his pull side.
Come spring training, Alvarez should get some early looks in the field. Showing that he can and will try to turn on pitches and impact the ball changes his long-term outlook tremendously. Right now, he is a curiosity as a prospect who gets on base at a good clip and has some defensive versatility in the infield. If he can show that he can drive the ball more, he could get to the upper minors in a hurry and the first step towards that goal is with a strong spring.
Spencer Schwellenbach
It is weird that folks seem to have forgotten that Spencer Schwellenbach was the Braves' second round pick in 2021. In fairness, part of the issue is that he missed the 2022 season as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. However, the Braves also handled him very carefully last season as he didn't get any higher than high-A despite being a college arm and posting a 2.49 ERA in 16 starts.
Coming off a strong 2023 season, this season will be a pivotal one for Schwellenbach. He will be one year further removed from surgery and a strong spring could put him in position to rocket through Double-A and Triple-A. The biggest improvement to keep an eye on is to see how his stuff plays when he isn't pitching out of the stretch. If he still looks somewhat pedestrian pitching out of the wind-up, then he may need significantly more development and a transition to a relief role isn't out of the question. However, if he misses bats and looks good both out of the wind-up and pitching out the stretch, look out.