ESPN Gives Surprising Order for Top Braves Prospects on Their Prospect Rankings

The Atlanta Braves are seen by most to have their minor league strength be pitching, but ESPN apparently disagrees

The Atlanta Braves have a farm system that's dominated by pitching, specifically, right-handed starting pitching. 

Unless you ask ESPN, that is. 

Kiley McDaniel, unveiling his National League top prospect lists, has a surprising order to Atlanta's top prospects, with two position players in the first two spots behind #1 prospect Hurston Waldrep, his #77th overall prospect. 

It's not the first time we've seen AJ Smith-Shawver outside of the Top 100 or outside the team's top two, with Baseball Prospectus doing the same thing by putting him at #3, behind infielder Ignacio Alvarez. 

ESPN wanted to do one better, putting Smith-Shawver at #4 behind both Alvarez and catcher Drake Baldwin, who slot in at numbers 124 and 125 in ESPN's overall prospect rankings. 

McDaniel's high on both Alvarez and Baldwin to "click" in 2024, explaining that he thinks they're undervalued at the moment because they're lesser known to the general public. (Alvarez was drafted out of junior college, while Baldwin went to Missouri State.)

McDaniel doesn't really give an explicit explanation for having Smith-Shawver at 4th in the system, rather stating that his development is progressing right about how it should for a player of his age. 

Smith-Shawver had a meteoric rise from High-A to the big leagues last season given that he was a two-way, dual-sport prospect in high school who had thrown very limited innings and had little polish when the Braves gave him $1 million in the 2021 seventh round. His stuff ticked up and his fastball command came together earlier than expected, but his solid-average offspeed stuff and command of it is about where it should be for a 21-year-old. 

McDaniel does name his two breakouts for the system, proclaiming Baldwin and RHP Cade Kuehler as his two prospects he expects to significantly rise up prospect lists this season. 

The full piece is available for those subscribed to ESPN Insider.

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