Several Braves minor leaguers get love from MLB front offices

As the calendar's turned over, a lot of the baseball media world has stopped looking back at 2023 and is instead looking ahead to the 2024 season.

And that's true in the prospect realm, too, where several prospect reporting outlets are putting out various talent lists, breakout predictions, and "players to watch" lists.

And lo and behold, the Atlanta Braves are popping up quite a bit in those lists.

MLB Pipeline, the official prospect coverage of MLB, has been publishing the results of their annual front office survey. They've polled execs from all thirty teams about the various prospects across the minor leagues, with several of Atlanta's arms showing up in their notes.

Infielder Ignacio Alvarez, our #6-rated prospect, is in the "also received votes" section for best defensive prospect and best baseball IQ. Being named Atlanta's first-half MVP by Baseball America, there's been questions about whether he'll stick at shortstop or settle into a corner infield role, but MLB executives appear to be pretty high on his future up the middle.

RHP Hurston Waldrep, our #2-rated prospect, was the runner-up for "best future closer", although we're hoping he sticks as a starter.

Part of the reason is the quality of both his fastball and his splitter, and there's where MLB front offices agree with us. Waldrep's splitter was named the 2nd-best secondary pitch in the entire minor leagues, getting 16% of the vote (versus the 20% going to RHP Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates, last year's #1 overall pick). AJ Smith-Shawver, our #1-rated prospect, is in the "also received votes" section for his slider.

AJ Smith-Shawver shows up again in the "also received votes" section of the "best pitchability" category. (Pitchability is, in essence, knowing how and when to use your pitches to get opposing hitters out.)

And if you think about this, it makes sense. Smith-Shawver was able to debut in the major leagues at the age of twenty, having not been a full-time pitcher until after being drafted out of high school, and not only held his own but made the postseason option and got some playoff action.

A full offseason to work on honing his offerings and the consistency means he could be in line for a big role in 2024, as could Waldrep. Alvarez will get into the upper minors this year and could be one big season away from becoming a major league option, potentially at shortstop.

Not too shabby for a "bad" farm system, huh?

Hurston Waldrep named prospect to watch for 2024 season

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