The Atlanta Braves are very much the blueprint for about half the clubs in Major League Baseball: Draft, sign, develop, trade, and extend. That’s the plan, and it’s worked well for Alex Anthopoulos and company.
In order to build a championship team and sustain it, the club’s farm system has to continue to churn out talent. After all the moves they’ve made the past four years, however, the shelves are relatively depleted.
But the Braves have been here before, and look how that turned out for them.
Ages as of July 1, 2023
| RANK | AGE | PLAYER | POS | OFP |
| 1 | 20 | AJ Smith-Shawver | RHP | 55 |
A plus fastball and slider give Smith-Shawver a big-league floor, but he’ll need to find the zone more often to stay in the club’s rotation plans.
| RANK | AGE | PLAYER | POS | OFP |
| 2 | 20 | JR Ritchie | RHP | 50 |
Ritchie’s athleticism projects at least average command of an above-average fastball and slider, but the changeup has a ways to go.
| RANK | AGE | PLAYER | POS | OFP |
| 3 | 20 | Owen Murphy | RHP | 50 |
Murphy has four projectable offerings, led by a plus curveballand he flashed a plus slider in his pro debut last summer.
| RANK | AGE | PLAYER | POS | OFP |
| 4 | 20 | Cole Phillips | RHP | 45 |
Phillips’ fastball is a good foundation for average command, an above0average slider, and a changeup which has a chance to complete his arsenal.
| RANK | AGE | PLAYER | POS | OFP |
| 5 | 25 | Dylan Dodd | LHP | 45 |
Dodd’s ceiling isn’t high but his pounds the strike zone with big-league stuff, including a plus changeup, and has a track record of staying out of the middle of the plate with his average fastball.
| RANK | AGE | PLAYER | POS | OFP |
| 6 | 24 | Jared Shuster | LHP | 45 |
It’s a command-and-feel profile with no out pitch, but he’s big-league ready as a rotation depth piece.
| RANK | AGE | PLAYER | POS | OFP |
| 7 | 21 | Adam Maier | RHP | 45 |
Maier has yet to debut, but his slider projects as a swing-and-miss pitch, suggesting a high floor as a three-pitch middle reliever.
| RANK | AGE | PLAYER | POS | OFP |
| 8 | 23 | Spencer Schwellenbach | RHP | 45 |
Schwellenbach is an intriguing athlete with a shot at two plus pitches (FB, SL), and feel for a changeup.
| RANK | AGE | PLAYER | POS | OFP |
| 9 | 25 | Darius Vines | RHP | 40 |
Vines likely is rotation depth or a long reliever with fringe everything, sans a changeup that helps him miss some bats and garner weak contact.
| RANK | AGE | PLAYER | POS | OFP |
| 10 | 25 | Braden Shewmake | SS | 40 |
Shewmake came to pro ball with a hit-over-power attack, but he hasn’t hit much abobe Class-A ball and is running out of time to develop distinguishing power.
[ninja_tables id=”19869″]
Rankings, OFPs by Joe Doyle.
Player notes by Jason A. Churchill.
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