Atlanta Braves Prospects Projected To Move Quickly in 2024
The Atlanta Braves have some questions to answer in their rotation for 2025.
Spencer Strider and Chris Sale are both under contract after this season, but it's the final year of contractual control for lefty Max Fried and Charlie Morton is working on a year-to-year basis, with retirement always a possibility for the 40 year-old.
Luckily, the team's farm system is FULL of pitching prospects, with a few that could be in the rotation full time as soon as next season.
Baseball America, previewing their prospects to watch from each farm system, highlighted two of those potential fast-moving pitchers for Atlanta in righthanders Hurston Waldrep and Drue Hackenberg.
Waldrep, the team's first round pick out of the University of Florida and our #1 overall prospect in the system, is someone Atlanta's been following since his high school days, when he pitched at Thomasville High School in south Georgia.
BA pointed to the fact that four of Waldrep's final eight starts were in the high minors, using that and the team's obvious rotation need in 2025 to make the case that Waldrep could be on the fast track to Atlanta's rotation.
But despite the obvious desire to have him in MLB, he's not a finished product. While Waldrep's splitter, one of the better secondary pitches in last year's draft, is a premiere swing-and-miss option, his fastball command will be what determines his success at the major league level. Waldrep put up a 4.2 BB/9 walk rate in college, following that up with a 4.9 BB/9 during his brief minor league sample last year. Being able to consistently land his upper-90s fastball will be the main determinant for Waldrep's ability to make his major league debut and stick in the rotation.
He's close to ready from a workload perspective, with 131 combined innings between college and the minors last season, and could realistically take on a 160 or so inning workload in 2024 if everything breaks right.
As a non-roster invitee to spring training, look for Waldrep to challenge for the #5 rotation spot during spring training but ultimately start the season in AAA Gwinnett.
Hackenberg could surprise in 2024
While not as accomplished in either college or the minors last season, BA also believes Hackenberg could be a fast mover through Atlanta's system, as well.
The Virginia Tech product made three starts after being drafted, with the last being for AA Mississippi. While the overall results weren't great - six walks in 6.1 innings, with four of them coming with the MLB ball in Mississippi, Hackenberg also struck out 13 batters and picked up eight ground ball outs in his total 29 plate appearances against. Opposing batters hit only .130 against the righty, with two singles and a double.
He's a sinker/slider guy, but potentially the best version of a sinker/slider guy, with our scouting report for the org's #12 prospect discussing his well above-average armside run on the sinker combined with the versatility of the slider, depending on what shape he chooses to utilize for it going forward.
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