Braves Prospects: Ceballos and Alvarez continue surges, quartet of pitchers debut

Outside of a few games, there were just overall steady performances throughout the organization last week. Most important were the new league debuts for Hayden Harris, Domingo Gonzalez, and Lucas Braun.

Nacho Alvarez Jr. continues to surge

Nacho Alvarez Jr. continued to impress fans last week as the shortstop made a few great plays in the field while also maintaining his absurd pace since being promoted to Triple-A. Nacho appeared in all six games last week for the Gwinnett Stripers, all he did was hit .348/.483/.522 with a pair of extra-base hits. Since being promoted to Triple-A Nacho has appeared in 16 games and has hit .358/.442/.612, which has moved his full-season line to .291/.398/.397.

Drew Compton settling in at High-A Rome

After putting together a strong college career at Georgia Tech, Drew Compton was a bit of a surprise undrafted free agent that the Braves were able to sign last year. Drew started the year in Augusta where he appeared in 43 games and hit .295/.406/.430 and was one of the league's top hitters. That spell earned him a promotion to High-A Rome where he got off to a bit of a rough start, but he really turned things around last week. Drew appeared in five games where he hit a robust .350/.435/.500 including three doubles, four RBI, and a stolen base. While he's considered 1B/3B it's first base where Drew gets a majority of his playing time so progression with the bat is especially important. It's very encouraging to see Drew begin to settle in.

Sabin Ceballos continues to rake

Much like Nacho, Sabin was discussed in last week's recap, and much like Nacho, he continued his strong stretch of play. Sabin appeared in six games where he hit .393/.469/.607 with three doubles, a home run, nine RBI, and five walks. On June 25th, specifically, Sabin drove in six runs thanks in large part to this grand slam.

After being declared first-half champions, Rome has gotten off to a 5-4 start in the second half with a +15 run differential. Rome trails the Asheville Tourists by .5 a game, and it's safe to say with their -16 run differential, Asheville won't be at the top of the standings for much longer. If you live near Rome, they are worth the drive to watch.

Cody Milligan beginning to turn things around

After an extremely rough start to the season that lead his season slash line to be .244/.298/.374 across 62 games, Cody Milligan's last six games have been very encouraging for a prospect that has MLB potential. Milligan had a great year in Double-A in 2023 as he batted .280/.377/.414 in 69 games with a home park considered one of the worst offensive ballparks in the minors. With a lot of expectations coming into the year, he has struggled significantly but hopefully, this past week is a sign of things turning around for the 25-year-old. Across six games, Cody slashed .458/.480/.875 with four doubles, and two homers while driving in five runs.

Hayden Harris and Domingo Gonzalez debut for Gwinnett

The dominating reliever duo took their talents from Double-A Mississippi to Triple-A Gwinnett and didn't miss a beat. They both made their debuts last Thursday for the Stripers with Hayden working an efficient inning (1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K), and Domingo dominating (1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K). Despite the low 90s velocity, Hayden was overpowering hitters with it thanks to his unique vertical approach angle. Meanwhile, for Domingo, his fastball/slider combination kept hitters stumped and off-balanced while trying to figure out what was coming next. The two have pitched well all season and look to make a push for Atlanta towards the end of this season and Spring Training next year.

Lucas Braun and Drue Hackenberg debut for Mississippi

A frequent visitor of this series, Lucas Braun, made his Double-A debut and more than held his own. Don't the line scare you (5.2 IP, 10 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 9K), a lot of the contact Lucas gave up was of the very weak variety. Lucas struck out nine batters and generated another eight ground balls. Meanwhile, Drue put together six fantastic innings himself (6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K) in his debut with an additional seven groundballs himself. The duo look to add more stability to the Mississippi rotation which has had players move all season, the last two being Hurston Waldrep and Spencer Schwellenbach. With Lucas and Drue firmly planted in the rotation, along with Ian Mejia - you have a trio of intriguing arms that also include Luis De Avila.

More from House That Hank Built