Top-10 Atlanta Braves Prospect Promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett

One of the Atlanta Braves top pitching prospects is progressing nicely up the minor-league ladder in the farm system.

Atlanta Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos has to be pleased with the progression of his young arms in the farm system. / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

One of the Atlanta Braves' top prospects continues his move up the minor league ladder. Starting pitcher and No. 9 prospect Drue Hackenberg has been promoted from Double-A Mississippi to Triple-A Gwinnett.

PROMOTED: 📈

Congratulations to @HackenbergDrue on being promoted today to Triple-A @GoStripers!

Another great 💪 in the pipeline! pic.twitter.com/fZ7vgsG4FD

— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) August 27, 2024

The promotion is coming on the heels of the news that JR Ritchie, another top-10 prospect, is also making the move from Augusta to Rome.

In nine starts with Mississippi this season, Hackenberg had a 3.13 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP and 64 strikeouts to just 16 walks across 46 innings pitched. This will be his second promotion to Double-A in his career. He made one appearance in 2023 giving up a run in two-thirds of an inning pitched. 

He’ll get a serious shot this time around and it will be Hackenberg’s second promotion this season. He made 12 starts with the High-A Rome Emperors pitching to a 3.64 ERA before heading to Mississippi. 

The Braves drafted Hackenburg out of Virginia Tech in the second round of the 2023 MLB Draft. This is his first full season in professional baseball. He made just three minor league appearances last season: the aforementioned appearance in Double-A plus two appearances with the Single-A Augusta GreenJackets. 

Five of the Braves top-10 prospects have now made it to the Triple-A level. In total, seven of the top 30 prospects are in Gwinnett. Those other prospects are No. 2 prospect A.J. Smith-Shawver, No. 3 Hurston Waldrep, No. 4 prospect Nacho Alvarez Jr., No. 5 prospect Drake Baldwin, No. 25 prospect Dylan Dodd and No. 27 prospect Hayden Harris. 

However, unlike some of his soon-to-be Triple-A counterparts, he’s not expected to make the Majors until 2025, according to the MLB dot com prospect rankings. 

That can change quickly though. Alvarez was projected to arrive in Atlanta in 2025 and has already made his Major League debut. Feel free to keep an eye on this guy as he gets work in in Gwinnett the rest of the season and at least to start next season.