Braves Pitching Prospect Waiting Long Enough for Call-Up

The Atlanta Braves have a strong option to add to the bullpen, but he continues to wait for his turn in Triple-A

The wait to call up Hayden Harris only becomes more of a head-scratcher | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

As we reached the end of the 2025 season, one burning question is heating up. At what point will the Atlanta Braves think Hayden Harris is ready to pitch in the Major Leagues? He’s not on the 40-man roster either. 

It would make sense that he’s not on the 40-man roster yet because the Braves are waiting until they want to add him to the active roster. 

However, it can’t possibly be that the team doesn’t think their No. 28 prospect is ready for action. The stats, at the very least, show he’s ready. 

He only got better after moving up to Triple-A this season, too. In 18 appearances for Gwinnett, he has a 0.42 ERA in 21 1/3 innings pitched. 

The 26-year-old right-hander earned a spot on the Futures Game roster this season. He's also appeared in Spring Training.

When you represent your organization in that game and report to Spring Training, it’s because you’ve shown what potential for Major League impact you bring to the table. 

There has to be a reason that, despite the upside, the Braves haven’t added him to the bullpen. 

He may have trouble with baserunners and simply limits the damage. That can catch up to a pitcher once he reaches the majors. Nope. That can’t be it. He has a 0.70 WHIP and a .091 opponent average. 

Even if you factor in his walk rate of 3.80 per nine innings, it’s hard to say that alone could be keeping him down in Triple-A. 

So, we can safely assume it’s not performanced based.  

Maybe the team is worried about his service. After all, service time manipulation has been a big talking point for the last few years. 

Maybe, but it still doesn’t make a lot of sense. It’s late in the season, and it wouldn’t do much for his service time. He’ll still be a rookie next year. He’s also already, as mentioned earlier, 26 years old. By the time he’s a free agent, he’s going to be in his 30s and likely past the prime of his career.

If anything, keeping him in the minors right now is more wasteful. 

The last guess is they’re waiting for expanded rosters in September. The 26-man roster will expand to 28. Once they have the extra room, the Braves will add him without having to send anyone else down. 

If he’s not after that, it’s even more of a head scratcher. 

It still doesn’t compute why they would wait until that point. With all the spare parts they’ve been trying to make work in the bullpen, it would make sense to give a prospect who’s doing well in the minors a try. 

There is no reason to delay what feels like the inevitable.