Should I Stash Hurston Waldrep In Redraft Leagues? Fantasy Baseball Prospect Outlook

Due to the season-ending injury to superstar ace Spencer Strider (elbow), the Braves have had an open spot in their rotation for almost the entirety of the 2024 season.

Bryce Elder and fellow prospect Spencer Schwellenbach have been used as options in the fifth spot in the Atlanta rotation but have struggled and have yet to prove they deserve a spot.

MLB.com's 72nd-ranked overall prospect and number two in the Atlanta system, Hurston Waldrep, was recently promoted to the major leagues and could become a permanent member of the starting rotation and is worth stashing in deeper leagues.

How High Is Hurston Waldrep's Fantasy Potential?

Waldrep, a product of the University of Florida, was drafted with the 24th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. The young right-hander made his minor league debut on August 5 with Single-A.

The 22-year-old needed just one start at that level to move up to High-A. Before the season's end, he reached Triple-A to log his final start of the campaign, a quite impressive feat.

Hurston Waldrep once again looked FILTHY today

2.1 IP
3’K’s

Fastball up to 98 mph 😮‍💨

The future of the Atlanta Braves rotation pic.twitter.com/xyQ2qDEjVm

— Peyton (@PeytonTowry) March 8, 2024

Waldrep opened this season with Double-A and logged 49 1/3 innings to the tune of a strong 2.92 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, and 17:48 BB:K ratio. However, his ratios were vastly inflated by his first start of the season where he allowed a career-high seven earned runs. Without this outlier, he posted a 1.74 ERA and 1.22 WHIP.

Then, on June 2 he returned to Triple-A Gwinnett to log his second career start at that level and tossed six innings of three-run ball against the strong Norfolk Tides where the budding superstars of Baltimore play. In this start, he tallied an impressive 11 punchouts.

First Triple-A strikeout for Hurston Waldrep comes via the splitter. 86 MPH, 539 RPM. Filthy pitch pic.twitter.com/TWeXI3e6e7

— Gaurav (@gvedak) June 2, 2024

When Might Hurston Waldrep Get A Major-League Opportunity?

On June 9, Waldrep got his opportunity in the major leagues. However, it did not go as planned as he threw three 2/3 innings with seven earned runs, four hits, four walks, and only struck out one.

He got through the first three frames allowing just one base runner via a walk and looked quite comfortable. Unfortunately, in the fourth inning, he was unable to find his command and eventually got chased out of the game.

Welcome to The Show, Hurston Waldrep!

First career strikeout for the @Braves No.2 prospect making his Major League debut! 💪 pic.twitter.com/1Mg4kG0Njm

— MLB (@MLB) June 9, 2024

While this start was not ideal, the Braves will more likely than not give their top prospect another opportunity to prove himself. In deeper leagues, you should trust the prospect pedigree and add Waldrep if he is available. However, in shallow leagues, it may be smart to lean on the side of caution until he posts a strong start on the major league level.

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