It's no secret that the Atlanta Braves have an impressive stockpile of talented pitching prospects in their farm system. One of those gifted arms recently returned from an IL stint and rehab assignment. Since his return, he has been shoving in the Braves minor league system.
Blake Burkhalter may not be the most recognizable name to Braves fans but he should be on your radar. The Braves drafted Blake as the 76th overall pick in the 2022 draft out of Auburn. He is currently ranked as Atlanta's 19th-best prospect and has spent time with the Rome Emperors once reinstated from the injured list.
Burkhalter missed all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery and was placed on the 7-day IL to start the season. He was sent on a rehab assignment with the FCL Braves at the end of May before being reinstated from the IL on June 9th.
His fastball velocity looked good upon return, sitting in the mid-90s easily, and combined that with a sharp slider. Burkhalter also features a really good cutter and a changeup. If he hones in the command of his secondary pitches (slider and changeup), he could quickly move up the prospect rankings.
This is how his pitch mix and control breaks down, according to scouts:
Fastball: 55 | Cutter: 55 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 55
So far, Blake has pitched in eleven games, and he's looked very good considering he's come back from a severe injury. Right now, his ERA sits at 2.79 through 51.2 innings with 13 walks and 44 strikeouts.
His walk percentage sits at 6.1% and his strikeout percentage is 20.8%. Also worth mentioning is his impressive 77.3% left on base percentage. That is a good number to see.
His most impressive outing came at the start of August when he started game one of a seven-inning doubleheader. Burkhalter threw a complete and scoreless game, allowing just five hits, no walks, and five strikeouts.
The two starts after that weren't as good but that's expected when a pitcher hasn't seen live action in over a year. There will be bumps in the road along the way. However, if Burkhalter can reign the command of his fastball/cutter and effectively use his slider/changeup to keep batters off balance, he's destined for success.
While he's shown the ability to cover multiple innings, fans will most likely see him in a reliever role at the MLB level. His aforementioned need to improve command will determine when he is ready to make that leap. But he could be a future set-up reliever for Atlanta with an estimated ETA of 2026.