A flurry of trades over the last several years has certainly diminished the top-end talent in the Atlanta Braves system. But the development of a few highly encouraging bats in 2024 has scouts bullish on the fruits their system could produce in 2025.
The biggest question surrounding the Braves’ farm in 2025 will be whether their staff of arms can stay healthy.
DEVELOPMENTS
Catcher Drake Baldwin has been nothing short of a success from a draft and development perspective. A third-round pick in 2022 out of Missouri State, Baldwin has taken the industry by storm the last two seasons. Baldwin’s 35 extra-base hits across Double-A and Triple-A last season ranked among the best at his position in minor-league baseball. He set Twitter/X ablaze with a monstrous homer in the Futures Game last summer too.
Baldwin has worked exclusively behind the plate and projects to stay back there as an average defender. It may only be enough to platoon at the next level, especially sitting behind Sean Murphy, but Baldwin has a loud enough bat to DH on his days off. And it’s not as if Murphy has been a beacon of good health in recent years either.
Baldwin figures to debut in 2025.
That 2022 has proven rather fruitful for Atlanta as their fifth-round pick, third baseman Ignacio Alvarez, also finds himself knocking on the door of a prominent role next year. He got his first cup of coffee in the big leagues last summer, though he struggled.
Alvarez is a slappy hitter who has moving parts in the box. He employs rhythm and waggle in his setup and load but is consistently on time and boasts tremendous contact rates. Alvarez doesn’t have the juice to project an impact regular at the next level, but his skill set may be perfect as a utility player.
Austin Riley will be the Braves third baseman for the better part of the next decade. Alvarez will have to carve out playing time around the diamond if he’s to get regular run.
The Braves were awfully lucky in the 2024 Draft to find lefty Cam Caminiti fall into their lap at pick No. 24. He was projected to go 10-15 spots higher than he did, so landing a talent like that when they did was a no-brainer. He’ll be just 18 years old next season and will likely be on an innings count at Low-A.
The Braves have dealt with too many arm injuries to count in recent years with high school pitcher draft picks. Keeping Caminiti healthy early in his pro career will be critical to buck an unsettling trend.
QUESTIONS
Depending on the evaluator, the Braves have as many as seven pitchers in their top 10 prospects and more than two-thirds of their top 30. Keeping them healthy and on schedule would play into the hands of a winner in the majors, but there are some doubts about the upside and probability.
Right-hander Hurston Waldrep, who debuted in 2024, has the stuff to serve near the top of the rotation but has yet to throw strikes consistently. He carries reliever risk that derails his ceiling. The same can be said for AJ Smith-Shawver. Both have good fastballs and at least one secondary that projects to miss bats. Neither has developed the kind of control or command evident in big-league starters.
Right-handers Owen Murphy (stuff), and JR Ritchie (UCL surgery) have questions to answer in 2025, as do RHP Drue Hackenberg (role), and Cade Kuehler (control, ETA).
If Baldwin continues to develop, the Braves could end up rolling soon with one of the more talented catcher duos in baseball, or perhaps end up using the depth on the trade market.
Right-hander Jhancarlos Lara, 21, has a huge fastball into the upper 90s, but his lack of command and a third pitch strongly suggest a bullpen role. He hit Double-A last season but issued 60 walks in 82.2 innings as a starter.
Most of the club’s top hitting prospects hit a snag in 2024, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens in 2025, including the org’s acquisition plans.
| LEVEL | TEAM | W-L | TOP PROSPECT |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Gwinnett | 72-78 | AJ Smith-Shawver, RHP |
| AA | Mississippi | 63-73 | David McCabe, 3B |
| A+ | Rome | 64-64 | Garrett Baumann, RHP |
| A | Augusta | 49-80 | Cam Caminiti, LHP |
| R | Braves | 20-39 | Douglas Glod, OF |
| DSL | Braves | 15-37 | Jose Perdomo, SS |
ADDITIONS & SUBTRACTIONS
The Braves had an active summer from a player acquisition perspective, as is tradition, but not until the deadline, and it was lighter than recent years.
The club did acquire Elio Campos from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a cash deal in June, but it was a quiet spring.
In July, the Brvaes acquired included 3B Sabin Ceballos in the Tyler Matzek trade to the San Francisco Giants, getting back OF Jorge Soler, and RHP Luke Jackson.
Atlanta added Caminiti in the first round of the 2024 Draft. They parlayed that with three more pitchers in rounds two, three, and four in Carter Holton, Luke Sinnard, and Herick Hernandez, respectively.
GRADUATIONS
Spencer Schwellenbach, RHP
Daysbel Hernandez, RHP
Grant Holmes, RHP
BIG-LEAGUE RADAR (yet to debut)
Hayden Harris, LHP
Baldwin, C
Ian Mejia, RHP
Hackenberg, RHP
Lara, RHP
Luis De Avila, LHP
SCOUT SAYS
“It’s been interesting to watch them evolve over the last 10 years with two changes at the top of their baseball department. While they have slowed down getting impact major leaguers on their own, it’s simply due to the club’s trades. They haven’t had a good collection of young talent down there for a little while.
“(Ronald) Acuña (Jr.), (Ozzie) Albies, (Austin) Riley, (Spencer) Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach, Michael Harris (II), all from within, and they used that system to grab Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, and Chris Sale, or maybe they would be better set up in the minors. But that’s not the goal, is it? To have a good farm system? The goal is to win, and there may not be a team that’s done a better job of using its system to win in the majors as the Braves.”
- Farm System Snapshot: (Oakland) Athletics - December 31, 2024
- Farm System Snapshot: Arizona Diamondbacks - December 30, 2024
- Farm System Snapshot: Atlanta Braves - December 27, 2024
