<img alt="Tampa Bay Rays v Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rarXS8MYFFJvzCiAqoQcDmIUKDY=/0x0:4755x3170/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73702673/2157899976.0.jpg">
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
Another arm that flew through the system, the Braves’ first pick of the 2023 draft did not have a pleasant cup of coffee in the majors With their first pick of the 2023 MLB Draft, the Braves selected right-hander Hurston Waldrep from the University of Florida. Waldrep made eight starts across four different minor league levels after being drafted, and then flew up the minor league rungs again in 2024, even earning a two-start cup of the coffee in the majors. Unfortunately for him and the Braves, those starts were rough, and an elbow injury shelved him for part of the season.
How acquired
As mentioned, Waldrep was the 24th overall selection in last year’s MLB Draft. He made one start in A-ball, three in High-A, three in Double-A, and one in Triple-A before the 2023 minor league schedule concluded.
What were the expectations?
Waldrep was generally the beneficiary of positive prospect grades, entering the season as a 50 FV-type and sliding onto leaguewide top 100 lists. He quickly made good on those rankings in Double-A, with a 2.99 FIP / 3.52 xFIP across nine starts. Perhaps critically, he kept his walks in check in that stint, and while that came with a diminished strikeout rate, it was enough to get him bumped up to Triple-A. (Waldrep was dominant in his last seven starts prior to the promotion, after a couple of rough ones to begin the year. After allowing two homers and posting a 4/5 K/BB ratio in his first seven innings, he then put up a 41/12 K/BB ratio without a single homer allowed across his next 42 1⁄3 frames.)
He then had a crazy game against the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate, striking out 11 in six innings with only one walk, and that punched his ticket to The Show. The expectations probably weren’t that he’d make a huge impact right away, but there was strikeout potential to dream on.
2024 Results
After two big-league starts, the dream needs to be kept alive, because the results weren’t there. Waldrep’s MLB debut came against the Nationals on June 9, and he threw a clunker: one strikeout, four walks, and a homer in 3 2⁄3 innings. Waldrep actually faced just one over the minimum the first time through, but after getting the first out in the fourth, things collapsed on his head. Single-walk-flyout-single-homer-walk-single-walk, and it was time to hit the showers, as a 2-0 lead became a 4-2 deficit.
The Braves gave him another turn in the rotation, this time against the Rays, and it went about the same. He did double his strikeout total from his debut... but also gave up two homers, while walking four once again. This time, he struggled nearly the whole way, walking two in the first, giving up a homer in the third, and then giving up a grand slam in the fourth.
The Braves placed Waldrep on the Injured List with inflammation in his throwing elbow the next day. After about five weeks on the shelf and some rehab work, he was sent down to Triple-A, where he spent the rest of the year.
Waldrep’s first two major league starts saddled him with -0.4 fWAR and a nasty 402/292/203 line (ERA-/FIP-/xFIP-).
What went right?
Well, he flew through the minors and made his MLB debut. The stuff leading up to those two MLB starts was pretty good, too. His freaky splitter/split-change thing had a 40 percent whiff rate.
What went wrong?
The MLB starts, of course. But perhaps even more disappointing was that Waldrep wasn’t actually particularly good in Triple-A after returning from the elbow woes. Sure, some of that may have been him making pseudo-rehab starts, but he never really found his footing. Waldrep ended up making seven Triple-A starts after being activated from the Injured List, and he had a double-digit walk rate in the first six. Meanwhile, his strikeout rate exceeded a quarter of batters faced just twice in seven tries: his first start after returning, and his last of the season. He had a K/BB ratio of 1.00 or lower in three of the seven starts.
And, yeah, the MLB starts were pretty horrible. This slider was the bad kind of frisbee.
2025 outlook
Waldrep has some clear things to work on heading into 2025. He’s definitely in the running to be called up should the Braves need a spot starter (and they will, of course), but he’s got a lot of catching up to do if he wants to join the club of “Braves guys wot flew through the minors and then dominated in the majors” like some of his compatriots. He could probably serve as an okay one-time-through swingman type, but the Braves have been very loath to leverage that sort of player, and will probably just try to see if he can develop his craft enough to stick as a routine starter before getting more creative.
<img alt="Tampa Bay Rays v Atlanta Braves" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/rarXS8MYFFJvzCiAqoQcDmIUKDY=/0x0:4755x3170/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73702673/2157899976.0.jpg">
Photo by Todd Kirkland/Getty Images
Another arm that flew through the system, the Braves’ first pick of the 2023 draft did not have a pleasant cup of coffee in the majors With their first pick of the 2023 MLB Draft, the Braves selected right-hander Hurston Waldrep from the University of Florida. Waldrep made eight starts across four different minor league levels after being drafted, and then flew up the minor league rungs again in 2024, even earning a two-start cup of the coffee in the majors. Unfortunately for him and the Braves, those starts were rough, and an elbow injury shelved him for part of the season.
How acquired
As mentioned, Waldrep was the 24th overall selection in last year’s MLB Draft. He made one start in A-ball, three in High-A, three in Double-A, and one in Triple-A before the 2023 minor league schedule concluded.
What were the expectations?
Waldrep was generally the beneficiary of positive prospect grades, entering the season as a 50 FV-type and sliding onto leaguewide top 100 lists. He quickly made good on those rankings in Double-A, with a 2.99 FIP / 3.52 xFIP across nine starts. Perhaps critically, he kept his walks in check in that stint, and while that came with a diminished strikeout rate, it was enough to get him bumped up to Triple-A. (Waldrep was dominant in his last seven starts prior to the promotion, after a couple of rough ones to begin the year. After allowing two homers and posting a 4/5 K/BB ratio in his first seven innings, he then put up a 41/12 K/BB ratio without a single homer allowed across his next 42 1⁄3 frames.)
He then had a crazy game against the Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate, striking out 11 in six innings with only one walk, and that punched his ticket to The Show. The expectations probably weren’t that he’d make a huge impact right away, but there was strikeout potential to dream on.
2024 Results
After two big-league starts, the dream needs to be kept alive, because the results weren’t there. Waldrep’s MLB debut came against the Nationals on June 9, and he threw a clunker: one strikeout, four walks, and a homer in 3 2⁄3 innings. Waldrep actually faced just one over the minimum the first time through, but after getting the first out in the fourth, things collapsed on his head. Single-walk-flyout-single-homer-walk-single-walk, and it was time to hit the showers, as a 2-0 lead became a 4-2 deficit.
The Braves gave him another turn in the rotation, this time against the Rays, and it went about the same. He did double his strikeout total from his debut... but also gave up two homers, while walking four once again. This time, he struggled nearly the whole way, walking two in the first, giving up a homer in the third, and then giving up a grand slam in the fourth.
The Braves placed Waldrep on the Injured List with inflammation in his throwing elbow the next day. After about five weeks on the shelf and some rehab work, he was sent down to Triple-A, where he spent the rest of the year.
Waldrep’s first two major league starts saddled him with -0.4 fWAR and a nasty 402/292/203 line (ERA-/FIP-/xFIP-).
What went right?
Well, he flew through the minors and made his MLB debut. The stuff leading up to those two MLB starts was pretty good, too. His freaky splitter/split-change thing had a 40 percent whiff rate.
What went wrong?
The MLB starts, of course. But perhaps even more disappointing was that Waldrep wasn’t actually particularly good in Triple-A after returning from the elbow woes. Sure, some of that may have been him making pseudo-rehab starts, but he never really found his footing. Waldrep ended up making seven Triple-A starts after being activated from the Injured List, and he had a double-digit walk rate in the first six. Meanwhile, his strikeout rate exceeded a quarter of batters faced just twice in seven tries: his first start after returning, and his last of the season. He had a K/BB ratio of 1.00 or lower in three of the seven starts.
And, yeah, the MLB starts were pretty horrible. This slider was the bad kind of frisbee.
2025 outlook
Waldrep has some clear things to work on heading into 2025. He’s definitely in the running to be called up should the Braves need a spot starter (and they will, of course), but he’s got a lot of catching up to do if he wants to join the club of “Braves guys wot flew through the minors and then dominated in the majors” like some of his compatriots. He could probably serve as an okay one-time-through swingman type, but the Braves have been very loath to leverage that sort of player, and will probably just try to see if he can develop his craft enough to stick as a routine starter before getting more creative.
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