8 Braves prospects who have struggled to start the 2023 season
The Atlanta Braves' farm system has seen better days. This is hardly news to anyone who has followed the minors closely over the last couple of years. Between lower draft picks, not being able to sign international free agents of note until recently, a series of successful promotions, some high profile trades, and the usual attrition, the depth in the Braves' farm system is decidedly lacking.
However, that isn't to say that there are not really interesting prospects in the system because that is just not true. AJ Smith-Shawver is well on his way to being a top 100 prospect in all of baseball as he is striking out everybody with a retooled delivery and just got promoted to Double-A. Most of the Braves' pitching draft class from 2022 has impressed including Owen Murphy, JR Ritchie, and Seth Keller. Again, there is real talent down on the farm especially on the pitching side.
Then we have the class of prospect that we thought would have been better to start the season and has instead struggled for one reason or another. These struggles could easily be temporary, but its important to make note of them to keep an eye on them going forward. Here are some Braves prospects that have not gotten off to banner starts to the 2023 season.
Braden Shewmake
There are some positives that can be taken away from Braden Shewmake's start to the season. He is still a strong defender at shortstop and his five home runs during the first month of 2023 or so is a welcome sight for a guy who has struggled to consistently impact the ball as a pro. The downsides? He is only hitting .250 while repeating at Triple-A and his .283 OBP thanks to just 5 walks to start the season points to some issues with his approach at the plate right now. Shewmake was a fun story this spring, but his offensive profile remains pretty murky right now.
Luke Waddell
The former Georgia Tech star missed a big chunk of time last year with an injury, so a slow start to the season isn't a huge surprise. Waddell was actually raking in his first few games at Double-A Mississippi before getting promoted to Gwinnett and struggling there so far. His current line through 15 games at Triple-A currently sits at .193/.314/.246. While the batting average can be explained away a bit by a small sample size and the walk rate is encouraging, the lack of power is not new and it is hard to see a path for him to the big leagues without impacting the ball more even if he is never a home run threat.
Jared Shuster
Both Dylan Dodd and Jared Shuster have had their struggles since being sent back down to Gwinnett, but we are pointing out Shuster here for a couple reasons. One, Dodd has still been striking out batters at a high clip (16 strikeouts in 14.2 innings) while Shuster (12 in 13 innings) hasn't been missing as many bats which isn't that surprising given the disparity in stuff. Second, while Dodd hasn't exactly been filling the strike zone either, Shuster has walked 10 guys in 13 innings of work. A fringe fastball, not missing bats, and struggling to find the zone is not a great combination.
Cal Conley
After a really strong campaign in the Arizona Fall League, Cal Conley was getting a lot of attention from some prospect gurus. Unfortunately, 2023 has not gotten off to a great start as he has slashed .205/.303/.244 so far. Mississippi's home park is well known to suppress power numbers (except for Drew Lugbauer apparently) so that could explain some of this, but the results have not been great. He has also made 4 errors at short in 19 games which is not what you want, either.
Victor Vodnik
Victor Vodnik is now officially a relief prospect after struggling to stay healthy as a starter. Vodnik's arm talent and fastball are undeniably intriguing, but he hasn't been able to put things together for a while now. He is still striking out guys at a nice rate (12 batters in 10.2 innings of work), but the walk rate isn't particularly good and it is hard to ignore that he got demoted to Double-A and currently sports an 8.44 ERA in eight appearances this year.
Brandol Mezquita
Brandol Mezquita looked like a guy that could break out during the first half of 2022, but he has struggled to be consistent at the plate since then and those issues have carried over to 2023 as he has slashed .200/.267/.364 so far. Again, small sample size to work with here, but his strikeout rate at high-A last year at 34.8% was already a bit of a red flag and it has gotten worse so far this year as he is getting set down at a 41% clip in 2023.
Didier Fuentes
Didier Fuentes is being included here, but not because we had lofty expectations going into the season, but instead as a note to keep an eye on him as he is still a teenager making his full season debut with really intriguing stuff from a tough arm slot for hitters to pick up. However, he is very much still learning his craft (again, he is just 17) and his 8.22 ERA and six walks in 7.2 innings of work so far has reflected that. Don't let the numbers fool you too much here, Fuentes is a guy to keep an eye on.
Ambioris Tavarez
The Braves spent big money to sign Ambioris Tavarez as their first marquee international free agent after the sanctions against them began to be lifted and things have been anything but smooth for him as a pro. After missing a lot of last season recovering from thoracic outlet surgery, Tavarez has only managed to post a .174/.305/.217 line for Augusta so far. He stance and swing are a bit funky which, combined with the delays in his development, could cause some issues going forward, but the defense at shortstop has largely been good at least.