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Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
The middle of Atlanta’s top prospects list is extremely pitcher-heavy, with a lot of guys who could feature in the Braves’ plans in the next year or so We are at the midpoint in our look at the top prospects in the Atlanta Braves system, and so far the pitcher-heavy nature of the system hasn’t made itself fully apparent. Well, it will here, as all of the prospects in this area of our list are pitchers and display the depth the Braves have managed to build in terms of guys who could provide serviceable big league innings in the near future. There are some interesting guys in this group that all have one substantial flaw or another, but also bring strengths that the Braves are really hoping to build on and maximize.
If you need to catch up on the first few parts of the list:
19-24 | 25-30 | Honorable Mentions
- Drue Hackenberg - RHP
How he got to the Braves: 2023 MLB draft, 2nd round pick
The Braves showed more faith in Drue Hackenberg than any other team, making him a surprise second-round selection and then handing him an enormous over-slot bonus of $2,000,000. A draft-eligible sophomore, Hackenberg had struggled in Virginia Tech’s inflated run environment, but was still seen as a fairly safe option to eventually fit into the back of a major league bullpen. The Braves, however, could see him a bit differently.
The problem so far with the Braves’ view of Drue Hackenberg is that he often hasn’t been very good. He flashes brilliance like his electric 16-strikeout performance in his last start, but hasn’t had command of his pitches this season and tends to throw across his body in his delivery, leaving his plus athleticism to try to compensate. The command so far just hasn’t been big-league quality, but Hackenberg has still gotten solid results. Even with his command issues, some of his raw stuff jumps off of the page. Hackenberg was formerly a sinker-heavy pitcher, but the Braves now have added a four-seam fastball to his arsenal, which has done better at getting swing and miss in the zone. So far at Double-A it has been his primary fastball, though this could be an effort by Atlanta to have him working on his command of that fastball specifically. His sinker, which like the four-seamer, sits in the mid-90s, tends to pepper the bottom of the zone and produce high groundball rates, and he does command it better than his fastball.
Hackenberg has four secondary pitches, the slider being by far the best. His slider is a sharp, high-spin, nasty offering that produces high whiff rates when located. But, he hasn’t been able to land it at all consistently this year, and it hasn’t been as effective as it could be. His curveball also flashes above-average potential, though its shape has a tendency to blend with the slider; refining the shape of his breaking pitch is probably a good place to focus going forward. His cutter can be an average major league offering and provides another look at fastball-ish speeds. He also mixes in a changeup that is well below average and may ultimately be scrapped. The Braves tend to like pitchers using a curveball in lieu of a changeup against opposite-handed batters, so that will likely be a path to explore for Hackenberg that will mitigate his lack of an MLB-caliber changeup. All-in-all, Hackenberg has the arsenal to possibly project up to a No. 3 or No. 4 starter ceiling, but projects more as a back end starter or starter depth given his issues with command.
- Dylan Dodd - LHP
How he got to the Braves: 2021 MLB draft, 3rd round pick
Taken in the third round of the 2021 draft, Dodd put together a strong first full season where he advanced through three levels, finishing at Gwinnett. All things were trending upwards for the third round pick heading into the 2023 season. He turned in a good performance during the spring and saw action in the rotation as the Braves dealt with an injury to Max Fried. After a good debut in St. Louis, Dodd largely struggled during his time in the majors and posted a 7.60 ERA and a 6.92 FIP in seven starts. Fast forward to 2024, and Dodd again started the season in Gwinnett. So far he’s appeared in 17 games, making 15 starts and has a 4.99 ERA, 8.24 K/9, and an outstanding 2.82 BB/9.
Dodd has a solid four-pitch mix featuring an average fastball, slider, changeup, and cutter. None really jump out at you, but the fastball has solid velocity, sometimes hitting 97 MPH. Unfortunately for Dodd, he hasn’t been able to put everything together and we can point towards some mechanical issues with his release point. When you dig into the data it shows that Dodd has a noticeably altered release point for his fastball, with nearly a 2” vertical difference and even more staggering 4” horizontal difference. Because of this, hitters are able to decipher what’s coming and have hit .277 against him, including a 14.8 HR/FB rate. While the pitch arsenal is MLB-caliber, the dramatic issues with his release point make him hittable and could be a big reason why he has not broken through.
- Cade Kuehler - RHP
How he got to the Braves: 2023 MLB Draft, 2nd Round Pick
editor’s note: These rankings were made before Kuehler was placed on the injured list.
The Braves went heavy on college pitchers to begin their 2023 draft, taking Hurston Waldrep, Drue Hackenberg and Campbell University’s Cade Kuehler with their first three selections. Waldrep has already made his big league debut and Hackenberg is in Double-A. While Kuehler’s path has been a bit slower, the 22-year-old right-hander has still shown signs of a possible future mid-rotation piece for Atlanta if everything clicks.
So far this season, Kuehler has made a dozen starts, with 11 of those coming with Augusta. With the GreenJackets, Kuehler pitched to a 2.52 ERA and a 3.98 FIP across 50 innings. While he did strike out 44 in those 50 innings, he also showed some command issues as he walked nearly half as many batters — 20 — in that same span.
All in all, Kuehler is a very intriguing arm. With a fastball that touches the upper-90s, the stuff is there for him to eventually slot into a big league rotation. Unfortunately for Kuehler, his stuff has backed up this season, and the biggest hope is he can rebound. However, if he wants to get to the major league level, he’s going to have to cut down on the walks and find a way to punch batters out at a higher clip. Ideally, Kuehler could have gone up to Rome and finished off the year strong, potentially getting bumped up to Double-A to end the season and be in a position to make the major league roster at some point in 2025. Unfortunately he was recently placed on the full-season injured list, which likely points to a major injury that is currently rumored to be Tommy John surgery. If so, this would significantly impact his rise through the system and could leave him out for most if not all of 2025.
- Blake Burkhalter - RHP
How he got to the Braves: 2022 MLB Draft, 2nd Round Pick
When the Braves drafted Burkhalter in 2022 with the 76th overall selection, the initial expectation was that he could be a fast-moving reliever with a solid four-pitch mix of a fastball, cutter, a new-look slider, and a changeup. However, injuries and a change made by the Braves’ brass altered those plans just a bit. Burkhalter made just three appearances as a professional in 2022 before he hurt his elbow and had Tommy John Surgery. Fully healthy once again, the Braves have continued to have Burkhalter work as a starter.
While making just nine starts between Rookie ball and High-A, Burkhalter has a 3.73 ERA across 31.3 innings. While those numbers are solid in their own right, the 23-year-old has also struck out 32 batters and has just nine walks on the year. The Braves are clearly being careful with Burkhalter, as evidenced by his low innings total. As he continues to build up his arm strength, we expect to start seeing Burkhalter go deeper into games throughout the second half. So far, the Braves are keeping him fastball-heavy with the fastball and cutter combined for a usage over 70 percent, a strategy not unlike what we’ve seen with others who need to focus on commanding those pitches.
The good news for Burkhalter, unlike other prospects, is that he is making the unusual transition from the bullpen to the rotation. In the event things don’t work out as a starter, he already has a plethora of experience in the bullpen and can pick up where he left off in that role.
- Darius Vines - RHP
How he got to the Braves: 2019 MLB Draft, 7th round pick
Much like Allan Winans, Darius Vines is in that territory of maybe being a serviceable major leaguer, but he’s further down on the starting pitcher depth chart for the Braves. Vines has had an up and down season from a numbers standpoint posting a 5.14 ERA and a 5.43 FIP through 14 starts at Gwinnett.
Even with his struggles, Vines still profiles as a backend rotation/quad-A arm who can pick up bulk innings. His changeup and command still have MLB grades and pair with a decent four-seam, cutter, decent slider, and average curveball. While there have been struggles this year, there’s no reason to believe he can’t continue to get shots in the majors with that pitch mix and command in the foreseeable future, just likely with another organization because of the logjam the Braves currently have.
- Lucas Braun - RHP
How he got to the Braves: 2023 MLB Draft, 6th round pick
The Braves went to Cal State Northridge to nab Lucas Braun in the sixth round of last year’s draft. A former transfer from San Diego, Braun completed his first full season in a college rotation that spring with a 4.83 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. Those numbers and only one full year as a starter during four years of college didn’t stand out. However he popped on analytics models and saw an uptick in stuff that spring. That led to some Shane Bieber comps (the version of Bieber coming out of college, before Cleveland really unlocked his potential) as a strike-thrower and pitchability guy with a bunch of average pitches. That’s the profile of a back of the rotation type of starter, though potentially a bit more if the Braves are able to see another uptick in his stuff, and why the Bieber comps were made.
Braun went out and was excellent in 27 innings after signing last year, split between both levels of A-ball. He opened the year back in Rome and pitched to a 4.34 ERA and 1.23 WHIP with 75 strikeouts to 16 walks over 64.1 innings. That earned him a promotion to Double-A recently and a chance to face more advanced hitters, and in his first four starts he has more than held his own with a 3.18 ERA and 1.32 WHIP to go with 23 strikeouts to six walks over 22.2 innings.
He has a chance to be ready to contribute by the end of next season, as at this point he just needs to refine a few things before being ready for the big leagues. His ceiling isn’t super high because none of his four pitches grade out as plus, but the slider and fastball have flashed as above-average offerings, which along with the pitchability is how he has been able to strike out 10.3 hitters per nine innings as a professional combined between this year and last, over 114 total innings.
<img alt="MLB: Texas Rangers at Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/wasCFWMxN1igwDKgnmRUnclddjI=/0x0:5511x3674/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73479442/usa_today_23084152.0.jpg">
Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
The middle of Atlanta’s top prospects list is extremely pitcher-heavy, with a lot of guys who could feature in the Braves’ plans in the next year or so We are at the midpoint in our look at the top prospects in the Atlanta Braves system, and so far the pitcher-heavy nature of the system hasn’t made itself fully apparent. Well, it will here, as all of the prospects in this area of our list are pitchers and display the depth the Braves have managed to build in terms of guys who could provide serviceable big league innings in the near future. There are some interesting guys in this group that all have one substantial flaw or another, but also bring strengths that the Braves are really hoping to build on and maximize.
If you need to catch up on the first few parts of the list:
19-24 | 25-30 | Honorable Mentions
- Drue Hackenberg - RHP
How he got to the Braves: 2023 MLB draft, 2nd round pick
The Braves showed more faith in Drue Hackenberg than any other team, making him a surprise second-round selection and then handing him an enormous over-slot bonus of $2,000,000. A draft-eligible sophomore, Hackenberg had struggled in Virginia Tech’s inflated run environment, but was still seen as a fairly safe option to eventually fit into the back of a major league bullpen. The Braves, however, could see him a bit differently.
The problem so far with the Braves’ view of Drue Hackenberg is that he often hasn’t been very good. He flashes brilliance like his electric 16-strikeout performance in his last start, but hasn’t had command of his pitches this season and tends to throw across his body in his delivery, leaving his plus athleticism to try to compensate. The command so far just hasn’t been big-league quality, but Hackenberg has still gotten solid results. Even with his command issues, some of his raw stuff jumps off of the page. Hackenberg was formerly a sinker-heavy pitcher, but the Braves now have added a four-seam fastball to his arsenal, which has done better at getting swing and miss in the zone. So far at Double-A it has been his primary fastball, though this could be an effort by Atlanta to have him working on his command of that fastball specifically. His sinker, which like the four-seamer, sits in the mid-90s, tends to pepper the bottom of the zone and produce high groundball rates, and he does command it better than his fastball.
Hackenberg has four secondary pitches, the slider being by far the best. His slider is a sharp, high-spin, nasty offering that produces high whiff rates when located. But, he hasn’t been able to land it at all consistently this year, and it hasn’t been as effective as it could be. His curveball also flashes above-average potential, though its shape has a tendency to blend with the slider; refining the shape of his breaking pitch is probably a good place to focus going forward. His cutter can be an average major league offering and provides another look at fastball-ish speeds. He also mixes in a changeup that is well below average and may ultimately be scrapped. The Braves tend to like pitchers using a curveball in lieu of a changeup against opposite-handed batters, so that will likely be a path to explore for Hackenberg that will mitigate his lack of an MLB-caliber changeup. All-in-all, Hackenberg has the arsenal to possibly project up to a No. 3 or No. 4 starter ceiling, but projects more as a back end starter or starter depth given his issues with command.
- Dylan Dodd - LHP
How he got to the Braves: 2021 MLB draft, 3rd round pick
Taken in the third round of the 2021 draft, Dodd put together a strong first full season where he advanced through three levels, finishing at Gwinnett. All things were trending upwards for the third round pick heading into the 2023 season. He turned in a good performance during the spring and saw action in the rotation as the Braves dealt with an injury to Max Fried. After a good debut in St. Louis, Dodd largely struggled during his time in the majors and posted a 7.60 ERA and a 6.92 FIP in seven starts. Fast forward to 2024, and Dodd again started the season in Gwinnett. So far he’s appeared in 17 games, making 15 starts and has a 4.99 ERA, 8.24 K/9, and an outstanding 2.82 BB/9.
Dodd has a solid four-pitch mix featuring an average fastball, slider, changeup, and cutter. None really jump out at you, but the fastball has solid velocity, sometimes hitting 97 MPH. Unfortunately for Dodd, he hasn’t been able to put everything together and we can point towards some mechanical issues with his release point. When you dig into the data it shows that Dodd has a noticeably altered release point for his fastball, with nearly a 2” vertical difference and even more staggering 4” horizontal difference. Because of this, hitters are able to decipher what’s coming and have hit .277 against him, including a 14.8 HR/FB rate. While the pitch arsenal is MLB-caliber, the dramatic issues with his release point make him hittable and could be a big reason why he has not broken through.
- Cade Kuehler - RHP
How he got to the Braves: 2023 MLB Draft, 2nd Round Pick
editor’s note: These rankings were made before Kuehler was placed on the injured list.
The Braves went heavy on college pitchers to begin their 2023 draft, taking Hurston Waldrep, Drue Hackenberg and Campbell University’s Cade Kuehler with their first three selections. Waldrep has already made his big league debut and Hackenberg is in Double-A. While Kuehler’s path has been a bit slower, the 22-year-old right-hander has still shown signs of a possible future mid-rotation piece for Atlanta if everything clicks.
So far this season, Kuehler has made a dozen starts, with 11 of those coming with Augusta. With the GreenJackets, Kuehler pitched to a 2.52 ERA and a 3.98 FIP across 50 innings. While he did strike out 44 in those 50 innings, he also showed some command issues as he walked nearly half as many batters — 20 — in that same span.
All in all, Kuehler is a very intriguing arm. With a fastball that touches the upper-90s, the stuff is there for him to eventually slot into a big league rotation. Unfortunately for Kuehler, his stuff has backed up this season, and the biggest hope is he can rebound. However, if he wants to get to the major league level, he’s going to have to cut down on the walks and find a way to punch batters out at a higher clip. Ideally, Kuehler could have gone up to Rome and finished off the year strong, potentially getting bumped up to Double-A to end the season and be in a position to make the major league roster at some point in 2025. Unfortunately he was recently placed on the full-season injured list, which likely points to a major injury that is currently rumored to be Tommy John surgery. If so, this would significantly impact his rise through the system and could leave him out for most if not all of 2025.
- Blake Burkhalter - RHP
How he got to the Braves: 2022 MLB Draft, 2nd Round Pick
When the Braves drafted Burkhalter in 2022 with the 76th overall selection, the initial expectation was that he could be a fast-moving reliever with a solid four-pitch mix of a fastball, cutter, a new-look slider, and a changeup. However, injuries and a change made by the Braves’ brass altered those plans just a bit. Burkhalter made just three appearances as a professional in 2022 before he hurt his elbow and had Tommy John Surgery. Fully healthy once again, the Braves have continued to have Burkhalter work as a starter.
While making just nine starts between Rookie ball and High-A, Burkhalter has a 3.73 ERA across 31.3 innings. While those numbers are solid in their own right, the 23-year-old has also struck out 32 batters and has just nine walks on the year. The Braves are clearly being careful with Burkhalter, as evidenced by his low innings total. As he continues to build up his arm strength, we expect to start seeing Burkhalter go deeper into games throughout the second half. So far, the Braves are keeping him fastball-heavy with the fastball and cutter combined for a usage over 70 percent, a strategy not unlike what we’ve seen with others who need to focus on commanding those pitches.
The good news for Burkhalter, unlike other prospects, is that he is making the unusual transition from the bullpen to the rotation. In the event things don’t work out as a starter, he already has a plethora of experience in the bullpen and can pick up where he left off in that role.
- Darius Vines - RHP
How he got to the Braves: 2019 MLB Draft, 7th round pick
Much like Allan Winans, Darius Vines is in that territory of maybe being a serviceable major leaguer, but he’s further down on the starting pitcher depth chart for the Braves. Vines has had an up and down season from a numbers standpoint posting a 5.14 ERA and a 5.43 FIP through 14 starts at Gwinnett.
Even with his struggles, Vines still profiles as a backend rotation/quad-A arm who can pick up bulk innings. His changeup and command still have MLB grades and pair with a decent four-seam, cutter, decent slider, and average curveball. While there have been struggles this year, there’s no reason to believe he can’t continue to get shots in the majors with that pitch mix and command in the foreseeable future, just likely with another organization because of the logjam the Braves currently have.
- Lucas Braun - RHP
How he got to the Braves: 2023 MLB Draft, 6th round pick
The Braves went to Cal State Northridge to nab Lucas Braun in the sixth round of last year’s draft. A former transfer from San Diego, Braun completed his first full season in a college rotation that spring with a 4.83 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. Those numbers and only one full year as a starter during four years of college didn’t stand out. However he popped on analytics models and saw an uptick in stuff that spring. That led to some Shane Bieber comps (the version of Bieber coming out of college, before Cleveland really unlocked his potential) as a strike-thrower and pitchability guy with a bunch of average pitches. That’s the profile of a back of the rotation type of starter, though potentially a bit more if the Braves are able to see another uptick in his stuff, and why the Bieber comps were made.
Braun went out and was excellent in 27 innings after signing last year, split between both levels of A-ball. He opened the year back in Rome and pitched to a 4.34 ERA and 1.23 WHIP with 75 strikeouts to 16 walks over 64.1 innings. That earned him a promotion to Double-A recently and a chance to face more advanced hitters, and in his first four starts he has more than held his own with a 3.18 ERA and 1.32 WHIP to go with 23 strikeouts to six walks over 22.2 innings.
He has a chance to be ready to contribute by the end of next season, as at this point he just needs to refine a few things before being ready for the big leagues. His ceiling isn’t super high because none of his four pitches grade out as plus, but the slider and fastball have flashed as above-average offerings, which along with the pitchability is how he has been able to strike out 10.3 hitters per nine innings as a professional combined between this year and last, over 114 total innings.
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