KLaws top 5 Braves Prospect Rankings

Krgrecw said:
13. Lucas Braun, RHP

Height: 6-0 | Weight: 185 | Bats: R | Throws: R | Age: 23

Braun’s delivery looks very relieverish, with some cross-body action and a big whippy finish, but he throws strikes and has three average-or-better offspeed pitches to give him potential as a back-end starter. He sits in the 92-93 range with his four-seamer, which is his worst pitch on any level, so he throws 60 percent non-fastballs, highlighted by a low to mid-80s slider with a lot of horizontal break. He’s got the changeup to get lefties out even with a delivery that gives them a longer look at the ball. The light fastball is one concern, as is his tendency to give up a lot of contact in the air, as those two things together often make a pitcher homer-prone in the majors. He’s a starter until proven otherwise, though, especially after he finished strongly in Double A last year, with a 2.38 ERA and a 27.7 percent strikeout rate in 79 1/3 innings.
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I love the way he ****s all over the guy and then at the end for the money shot it's oh yeah, had a 2.38 ERA and a near 30% K rate over 80 innings.
 
Enscheff said:
"a slider that’s hard but doesn’t have much spin"

"he has a lot of time to try to find a real out-pitch"

Sorry, but that's not a high end SP prospect. If anyone wants him for a guy like Cease or Lopez they can have him.
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He was poorly scouted and overrated. Doesn't even seem like a Braves pick. Should have been one of the stupid teams that falls in love with the radar gun. He can't find home plate and never will. Spin rates and velo don't matter with 35 command.
 
Hudson2 said:
I've seen several places that said he was a good defender. I wonder if they would try trading Murphy after this season if Baldwin shows out. At Baldwins price tag it would probably be worth keeping them both.
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Man..they fall in love with the overall prospect but although his defense is improved he is not Langeliers defensively. He can call a solid game and he moves surprisingly well, but I'll be the lone one to say he's good...not otherworldly. And that's nitpicking.
 
We missed our chance to trade Murphy. Once he ****s the bed again this year he will have negative value and we will be told no one could have seen this coming. Should have traded Murphy and kept TDA a few more years.
 
cajunrevenge said:
We missed our chance to trade Murphy. Once he ****s the bed again this year he will have negative value and we will be told no one could have seen this coming. Should have traded Murphy and kept TDA a few more years.
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I think Murphy bounces back and has a huge year. It's hard to get in a rhythm when you only play half the time. The talent is there no doubt to be a top 3-5 catcher.
 
You know who is the Top 1 catcher in MLB (aka "the best"), 27 years old, making $6M in 2025, and just posted back to back 5+ fWAR seasons?

The guy AA traded away for Murphy. No amount of hopeful homerism can change the fact it was a disastrously bad trade/extension. Easily AA's worst trade with the Braves, and is was bad the moment it happened.

The dubious reasoning "the pitchers hated throwing to him" is even dumber. Which pitchers? Sale? Lopez? Schwelly? Those guys never even threw to Contreras, and he was supposedly traded to accommodate pitchers who aren't even here anymore. Meanwhile, he's the best catcher in the sport for the Brewers. Pure and utter stupidity.
 
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Enscheff said:
You know who is the Top 1 catcher in MLB (aka "the best"), 27 years old, making $6M in 2025, and just posted back to back 5+ fWAR seasons?

The guy AA traded away for Murphy. No amount of hopeful homerism can change the fact it was a disastrously bad trade/extension. Easily AA's worst trade with the Braves, and is was bad the moment it happened.

The dubious reasoning "the pitchers hated throwing to him" is even dumber. Which pitchers? Sale? Lopez? Schwelly? Those guys never even threw to Contreras, and he was supposedly traded to accommodate pitchers who aren't even here anymore. Meanwhile, he's the best catcher in the sport for the Brewers. Pure and utter stupidity.
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We know.
 
Enscheff said:
You know who is the Top 1 catcher in MLB (aka "the best"), 27 years old, making $6M in 2025, and just posted back to back 5+ fWAR seasons?

The guy AA traded away for Murphy. No amount of hopeful homerism can change the fact it was a disastrously bad trade/extension. Easily AA's worst trade with the Braves, and is was bad the moment it happened.

The dubious reasoning "the pitchers hated throwing to him" is even dumber. Which pitchers? Sale? Lopez? Schwelly? Those guys never even threw to Contreras, and he was supposedly traded to accommodate pitchers who aren't even here anymore. Meanwhile, he's the best catcher in the sport for the Brewers. Pure and utter stupidity.
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I'm not even gonna harp on it, but I called this and a couple of us were told we were hating on AA. AA is not infallible and we owe him respect as a helluva GM...but trading Bill will always haunt me. Oh well...I do hope Murphy returns to form. That sitting crap Snit loved, cost Murphy.

Last caveat...TC said the same thing defensively about Baldwin that I did. In any case...there's another stud behind home plate.
 
I’m a huge Contreras fan, and was on him earlier than most because of his hard-hit rates; I hated that we traded him, even for a very good player in Murphy.

Having said that, he does become the defensively-adequate catcher he is now of he stays with the Braves. The Brewers have some special juice there, re the rest of MLB. It’s been written up multiple times.

Still, hated to lose Contreras. At least we have Baldwin now.
 
Anyways I like our farm in the sense that we have a lot of players on the cusp. Baldwin and Nacho look to start as bench players. AJSS/Waldrep both should get another shot this year. We might even see Hackenberg and Braun too. You never know someone might come out if no where. Who has Schwellenbach and Holmes breaking out in the majors going into last year.
 
Listing out names does not make them impact options just because you know the names. Baldwin is the only guy likely to make an impact this season.
 
For my minor league fans...I thought it would be a decent exercise to note some of the last five years of prospect EYE BALL observations I made during my yearly minor league trip experience. I cut back a lot, but I get to see many lower level prospects still and thought some of you might like a few cliff notes I made on a few of the Braves prospects. There's plenty I have...but I thought these were interesting.

Left out the easy ones: Strider, Swelly, Elder (I thought he was solid...nothing more), Waldrep, Hackenburg (the lower guy on him), Caminiti,

Lucas Braun - A lot of Bryce Elder in him to me. Nothing overwhelming, but secondaries look good to me. FB around 93 ish? I could be wrong on that.

Didier Fuentes - Oh my. To be so young and have decent command...up to about 95 when I saw him. Low release...I'm a big fan. Lots of volatility though.

Luis Guanipa - I can see the attraction. Dreamy bat speed...but he swings if it's within a mile of the plate. Speed is lovely. Defense....love it. His bat will make or break his ascension.

Ambrioris Tavarez - My man crush. May not make it, but that glove is more exciting than any prospect I've seen at SS in the Braves system in a long time.

Shea Langeliers - Pop. Plenty of it. Defensive stud.

Braden Shewmake - Why? Decent glove....solid, unspectacular.

Micheal Harris - Might be an all star one day. Easy to wish upon.

Stephen Paolini - Surprisingly athletic. Nothing great as a baseball player I see. But i see why they dreamed.

Tanner Gordon - lot of extension. On top of hitters. Sneaky FB. Got a chance.

Vaughn Grissom - Hitter. Awkward looking, but gets it done.

Joey Estes - Love this dudes arm. Lively. Bulldog. He could be a stud.

Jesse Franklin - Toolsy and squat. Baseball rat, but doesn't ooze MLB.

Cal Conley - Another solid dude. But seen one, seen two.

Luke Waddell - See Cal Conley. Solid only. These types make it sometimes.

Justyn Henry Malloy - surprised with how he adapts. Bat is solid, defense...meh?

Tyler Collins - Speed and nothing more. Can't steal first.

Andrew Hoffman - Nasty slider, but as with many Braves pitchers, can he get to it enough. Middling FB to me.

Christian Robinson - Big fish probably at one time, but other than "looking" athletic, eh

Owen Murphy - seems average one time, and studly the next. I think he can settle in at a 3-4.

JR Ritchie - Another favorite. Mid 90's FB. I see 3 solid to plus pitches. Scout next to me loves him.

Blake Burkhalter - They're gonna have to expand his pitches if he's starting. He's got 3 at this point, maybe 4. I was told they brought his slider back. I would leave him relieving. He could be deadly.

Drake Baldwin - Calling card is his bat in my opinion. He's solid enough at C though. I see him improving though. Love that work ethic.

Derian Cruz - Lazy azz. Think's he's made the majors already.

Christian Pache - Complete opposite of Cruz. Works his tail off and is humble. I like him a lot.

Ozzie Albies - Who is this bat boy? Those wrists are quick and he's got sneaky power. He's going to be a major leaguer.

Nacho Alvarez - Eh. I guess. He's solid, but I'm not overwhelmed at all.

Kevin Kilpatrick - tools that'll never play up? He is tooled up for sure.

Isaiah Drake - If he puts it all together, his projection is as high as anyone. At this point though....Eh.

Ok. I just dug some of this out and thought why not. LOL. Enjoy.
 
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