ESPN proclaims there's only one Top 100 prospect in Braves organization

ESPN's Kiley McDaniel isn't as high on the talent in the Atlanta Braves farm system as the rest of the prospect apparatus

We're continuing "Prospect Week" over here at Braves Today, and we've seen yet another prospect ranking for the Atlanta Braves that seems to buck the popular convention amongst the prospect apparatus. 

You see, both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline gave Atlanta two Top 100 prospects in AJ Smith-Shawver and Hurston Waldrep, but Baseball Prospectus went with Waldrep and infielder Ignacio Alvarez, opting to leave Smith-Shawver off entirely. 

And ESPN's Kiley McDaniel, dropping his Top 100 list this morning ($), tends to feel similar to Baseball Prospectus, with Waldrep as the lone Top 100 prospect for the Braves. 

Here's what he said about Waldrep, who he listed at #77 (and proclaimed that he believes sticks as a starter, despite some concern about his command and control): 

Waldrep appeared at some summer events as a high school player but was more a good Division-1 projection type with some effort to his delivery than a true pro prospect. He went to Southern Miss and his stuff spiked, then he transferred to Florida for his draft year.
It was sometimes maddening to watch the pitch calls from the Florida coaching staff as Waldrep's top-of-the-charts splitter would go unused for innings and he'd throw too many breaking balls, so his stats may be underselling who he was but he still racked up 156 strikeouts in 101⅔ innings. I call Waldrep's splitter a knuckle splitter because he holds it deep into his fingers, it doesn't spin much, and it comes out a little differently every time; here's a few from the same start.
Waldrep went to the Braves at the 24th overall pick last summer and was fantastic, making it to Triple-A (with some playoff call-up rumors) with this line: 29⅓ innings, 36 baserunners, 41 strikeouts. He'll always have some trouble commanding his splitter so there's some variance to his outcomes on any given day, but he commands a plus slider well and just needs one more notch of fastball command to be able to turn over a big league lineup, which he might get the chance to do in 20⅔24.

Waldrep's seen as one of the highest ceiling prospects in the organization and a potential frontline starting pitcher once he's up and acclimated to the professional game, but concerns over his walks (4.2 BB/9 in college and 4.9 BB/9 last season in his brief minor league sample) have some speculating that an eventual move to the bullpen as a closer or set-up man is in his future. 

But Atlanta's insistent and positive on Waldrep remaining a starter, with the righty getting a non-roster invitation to spring training in North Port in just a few weeks. 

Hurston Waldrep named prospect to watch for 2024 season

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