Top draft pick Hurston Waldrep promoted to AAA Gwinnett; will start tonight

The Gwinnett Stripers, AAA affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, have announced that top draft pick Hurston Waldrep is tonight's starter versus the Durham Bulls.

Four levels in seven weeks. Hurston Waldrep is rising.

Join us in welcoming the Braves No. 2 prospect and 2023 first-round pick to Gwinnett as he starts tonight. pic.twitter.com/Ter3hPE2ZU
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) September 23, 2023

Waldrep, the #24 overall pick in this year's first round out of the University of Florida, will be pitching at his fourth Braves affiliate with tonight's start. He's 0-1 with a 1.80 ERA in his first seven starts, striking out 36 batters in his 25 innings, with 13 walks.

Waldrep will be the first Braves prospect to debut with Gwinnett in the same year he was drafted, per Gwinnett broadcaster Dave Lezotte.

Waldrep's listed as the #2 prospect in Atlanta's farm system by MLB Pipeline, and the common consensus when he was drafted was that his arsenal was almost good enough to be immediately competitive at the major league level, but he needed time to adjust to the physical rigors of a professional baseball schedule - pitching every five days instead of college's standard once a week schedule.

Waldrep's adjusted to professional baseball well; his walk rate of 4.7 BB/9 is in line with his collegiate numbers (5.0 BB/9 in his draft year at Florida), although Waldrep's three AA starts for Mississippi did see seven walks in just ten innings. It's possible differences in the baseball could account for some of that, with AA and AAA using the MLB-standard baseball (and, in the 2nd half for AA, the same rubbing mud instead of a pre-tacked baseball), while the lower minors are still using a different version of the MLB baseball.

Given Atlanta's recent rotation issues - Max Fried was placed on the injured list on Friday morning and Charlie Morton left Friday night's start with finger discomfort - it's entirely possible Waldrep may potentially be an option over the final week of the season at the major level depending on the results of tonight's start, although that would require a 40-man roster move.

(And for the rest of us, tonight's a great opportunity to get Waldrep's pitches logged on Statcast)

Tonight's game is viewable on MLB.tv and all ways to listen or watch are available on GoStripers.com/broadcast.

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