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The Atlanta Braves have not had a high-ranking farm system in quite some time. That is okay given how they develop talent and push players aggressively. They also have most of their position players locked up for the foreseeable future.
Today, we will cover the Atlanta Braves' top 10 prospects heading into the 2025 season as part of the MLB Prospect Rankings For Each Team series. There is a ton of talent to know here for dynasty leagues. RotoBaller readers can see reports on the top 10 Atlanta Braves Top 10 fantasy baseball prospects below and can see the full 30 by heading to the Dynasty Dugout!
So, who is on the way to Truist Park, and what do those players bring to the table for fantasy baseball dynasty leagues? Let's dive into the Atlanta Braves' top 10 prospects for 2025.
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No. 10 Braves Prospect - Didier Fuentes, RHP
Age 19, 6-foot-0/170 pounds, Single-A
The number of players who began the year in full-season ball that were 18 years old or younger were few and far between, especially on the pitching side. Fuentes reached Single-A during the 2023 year and took a massive step forward in 2024. In 17 starts and 75.2 innings, Fuentes posted a 2.74 ERA with 98 strikeouts to just 21 walks.
Fuentes is an impressive strike thrower for his age, posting a mark near 67 percent. He walked just seven percent of batters faced, while also missing bats. Locations are good and Fuentes has induced weak contact.
His fastball was in the 93-95 range, topping at 97 this year. It comes in with a very flat VAA and 16 inches of IVB while having 13 inches of horizontal movement. The biggest issue is that he throws the fastball 70 percent of the time, which is definitely more of a reliever trait.
The slider has good traits, sitting around 83 mph with some carry and four inches of horizontal movement. It has spin rates north of 2400 rpm. The splitter sits around 86 mph with strong traits and is an offering I would like to see him use much more than six percent of the time.
It averages six inches of horizontal and seven inches of IVB while having spin rates just south of 800 rpm. The movement profile resembles Kevin Gausman’s but with much less spin. If that pitch further develops, it could be a strong third offering.
Fuentes may be young, but he is extremely talented and is an impressive strike-thrower for his age. The development of the secondaries will take him far. I would not be surprised to see Fuentes explode in 2025.
Braves No. 9 Prospect - Drue Hackenberg, RHP
Age 22, 6-foot-2/220 pounds, Triple-A
Hackenberg’s progression this year was something to watch. After being selected in the second round of the 2023 draft as a draft-eligible sophomore, some questioned Atlanta, especially given his numbers at Virginia Tech. But the Braves knew better, and Hackenberg got an overslot deal for a reason.
Hackenberg hits his spots as well as any pitching prospect in the minors. When I saw him early in the year, his fastball was in the 90-93 range, but by season's end, he was averaging 94 and touching 96.
Hackenberg works comfortably on both sides of the plate, painting the corners. The Braves have differentiated the fastball into a four-seam and a sinker, with the four-seam up and the sinker down.
He throws a low-80s slurvy curveball to both left-handed and right-handed batters. It has a nice two-plane break, averaging over ten inches of arm-side movement and negative six inches of horizontal movement.
Hackenberg rounds out the arsenal with an upper 80s cutter with short horizontal movement. His 86-88 mph changeup plays very well off his fastball, especially with the added velocity separation late in the year.
Hackenberg ended the year with 129 innings pitched, showing nice durability and good results, shown by a 3.07 ERA and a 3.21 FIP. He keeps the ball on the ground, posting a 54 percent ground ball rate, and induced a ton of weak contact.
Hackenberg allowed just two home runs while facing 547 batters while also striking out 144. It is not a flashy profile, but it feels like one the Braves will develop extremely well.
No. 8 Braves Prospect - Jose Perdomo, SS
Age 18, 5-foot-11/180 pounds, Dominican Summer League
Perdomo was the star of the 2024 class at a young age and grabbed a bonus near $5 million. A lot changes over the time that a player makes a verbal agreement with the team and when they actually sign and Perdomo has seen significant changes with his body.
He has bulked up but has gotten stiff in some ways. Perdomo has still made it work with the body changes and still has a polished hit tool. The bat speed may be lagging behind some, but Perdomo’s bat path leads to consistent solid contact. The power is presently to the pull side which is strong for someone who just turned 18 years old in late September.
The barrel control is extremely impressive. Perdomo has all the makings of a top-of-the-order bat. Unfortunately, we did not get to see much of him. Due to a hamstring strain, Perdomo missed the early part of the Dominican Summer League season and played just eight games, collecting five singles.
The Braves could opt for him to repeat the DSL next year, but more than likely, he will begin 2025 at the complex.
No. 7 Braves Prospect - JR Ritchie, RHP
Age 21, 6-foot-2/185 pounds, High-A
The former 35th overall pick in 2022, Ritchie seemed primed to breakout before his season ended after just four starts. A UCL injury resulted in Tommy John Surgery. The 2023 season ended. In the small sample, Ritchie was incredible, posting a 0.63 FIP in 13.1 innings with a 47.2 percent strikeout rate and just a 5.7 percent walk rate.
Fast-forward to the 2024 season, which saw Ritchie return, and the results were there again. In eight full-season starts, Ritchie posted a 2.34 ERA, with two of those starts coming in high-A. He struck out 48 batters while walking just 12.
The fastball sat at 94 and has been up to 98 mph pre-surgery. This year, the velocity did not fully come back, sitting in the low 90s, often closer to 91 mph. Location really allows the pitch to play up.
His slider sits between 83-85, with nice sweeping action generating most of his whiffs before the injury. Ritchie does an excellent job landing it for strikes in strong locations, but also getting chased out of the zone.
Ritchie’s change-up also showed flashes of an above-average offering. He mostly uses it against lefties, but it does show good potential.
He threw strikes at an above-average clip this year, coming back from Tommy John, which is an encouraging sign. The swinging strike rate of 14.5 percent was also above-average. 2025 will be a telling year for Ritchie, but the upside is there for him to be a mid-rotation starter, especially if the fastball velocity comes back.
No. 6 Braves Prospect - Nacho Alvarez Jr., INF
Age 21, 5-foot-11/190 pounds, Major League Baseball
Alvarez has always been one of the best contact hitters in the Braves organization and one of the better pure hitters in the minors. He hit zero home runs in 202 Double-A plate appearances before mashing ten in Triple-A across 289 plate appearances- just to further demonstrate how hard it is to hit in the Southern League and in Mississippi.
Having plus contact skills and plate discipline, Alvarez is a tough out anytime he gets in the box. Alvarez made contact on 82 percent of swings, with a number near 87 percent in-zone. The chase rate was in the plus range, as well, near 23 percent.
The exit velocities are better this year, but still lower than you would like to see. Having a 90th percentile exit velocity of around 101, the power is presently below average. He is the type of hitter who sprays it all fields and is likely to post high batting averages.
In the wake of the Ozzie Albies injury, Alvarez made his MLB debut at 21 years old. While the surface numbers were underwhelming, Alvarez did make contact at high rates. Alvarez will begin the 2025 season as a 21-year-old.
Having a bit of a smaller and stocky frame, it is hard to see him tapping into more power, but Alvarez does feel like a great fit as a future utility type in Atlanta with a strong hit tool.
No. 5 Braves Prospect - Hurston Waldrep, RHP
Age 23, 6-foot-2/210 pounds, Major League Baseball
After coming out of the gate slowly in 2024, Waldrep picked things up quickly. An eight-start stretch between April 20 and June 2 saw him post a 1.68 ERA across 48 innings, leading to his MLB debut. It seems like many are quick to write off a player who comes up and struggles.
Waldrep made two MLB starts, allowing 13 earned runs over seven innings. It was a small blip and did not define the rest of the season or his long-term outlook.
Unfortunately, Waldrep hit the IL with elbow inflammation, which was bothering him in both MLB starts. Upon his return and getting his footing back in August, Waldrep finished his final six starts with a 2.30 ERA across 31.1 innings. Command was an issue as he walked 20 batters, but that could have been lingering fatigue.
Waldrep’s strike-throwing is a bit of an issue as he finished the year with a rate just north of 61 percent which is below average. He misses bats at a solid clip, having a 15 percent swinging strike rate. If he can clean up his command some, there is plenty of potential here thanks to the arsenal.
It starts with the fastball for Waldrep, which plays well at the top of the zone, averaging above 95 mph but can get up to 99. It does not get much horizontal movement, but with 15 inches of IVB, it will play, considering the velocity and the secondaries.
Waldrep’s splitter is nasty and one of the better splits in baseball. It can range from 85 to 89 mph and completely falls off the table with a ton of separation from the fastball. Having low spin rates that averaged near 800 rpm, the pitch has carry before its late dive.
The curve and slider are both distinct pitches and flash signs of being plus, with the slider showing more horizontal movement and the curve being a 12-6 shape. There is about four mph separation between the two. The slider is a gyro shape with short horizontal movement, averaging around one inch.
The fastball shape needs to improve for the entire arsenal to work. Command also needs to improve. Waldrep, though, is still just 22 years old, and it is far too soon to write him off.
No. 4 Braves Prospect - Cam Caminiti, LHP
Age 18, 6-foot-2/195 pounds, Single-A
Caminiti made one start in his pro debut in Single-A with the Augusta Greenjackets. It surprised some that he fell to the Braves at 24th overall, especially considering the buzz near the top 12 range.
Being young for the 2024 draft class, Caminiti was 17 years old on draft day as he reclassified from the 2025 class, but just turned 18 on August 8. Dominating the prep showcase circuit and high school hitters, Caminiti ended the 2024 season- pitching 52.2 innings with 119 strikeouts and just 14 walks. The ERA sat at just 0.93.
Jumping from high school ball to facing Single-A hitters is no easy task, but the Braves were confident that Caminiti was up to the test. Coming into the draft with a four-pitch mix that included a fastball, changeup, slider, and curveball. At this particular start, Caminiti was fastball-heavy.
In his pro debut, Caminiti touched 96 but was routinely sitting in the 93-95 range early. Toward the end of the start, Caminiti was sitting closer to 93, which is still impressive considering he is a young 18 year-old and has had such a long layoff between starts. The pitch shows around average IVB from a 5’8” release height and has good horizontal movement.
Caminiti first featured his slider to top 100 Blake Mitchell, with whom he got his first professional strikeout. After getting a called strike on a fastball on the outer half, Caminiti proceeded to bury a beautiful sweepy slider down and away and got a whiff. Strike three came on a front door slider that Mitchell was completely fooled on to freeze him for a called strike three.
The new look slider is a pitch that Caminiti worked on this spring. It has long horizontal movement, registering 15 inches of sweep consistently. The shape was inconsistent, some during the start, with some having more depth and others more carry.
It is highly possible it was the curve blending into the slider, but his slowest breaking ball thrown was 79 mph, after seeing his curveball sit in the low-to-mid 70s this spring.
Caminiti did throw one changeup, an 86 mph hanger that he left up to Austin Charles, who smacked it up the middle for a hustle double. In the past, the changeup has been Caminiti’s best secondary offering, so it is something to watch moving forward.
From a mechanical standpoint, Caminiti repeated very well considering he just turned 18 years old. He is a good mover who shows good athleticism on the mound. He has a loose arm action that is quite smooth. The biggest question some have is that Caminiti is a natural pronator which can make it harder to spin the ball, but the movement profile on the slider he threw was pretty good.
The development path here will be fun to follow. The Braves have often “stripped” pitches away from pitchers they draft to solely focus on two before integrating them back in.
It happened with AJ Smith-Shawver who entered his pro career with four pitches and the org decided to focus on developing the fastball and slider before integrating his curve and changeup back in more. That could be the case for a young Caminiti.
There is a chance we could be looking at four above-average offerings when all is said and done. There is some projection on the frame, and it would not be shocking to see him improve and sit around 95-96 consistently. With the right shape, the fastball can be a good pitch to set up the rest of the arsenal.
Getting a consistent breaking ball or even two in the slider and curve will be a big piece of Caminiti hitting his upside. We could be looking at a mid-rotation starter, but it is still very early in his development to project that.
No. 3 Braves Prospect - Owen Murphy, RHP
Age 21, 6-foot-1/190 pounds, High-A
If Murphy had stayed healthy all year, we are probably talking about him as the top pitching prospect in this organization. You could still make that case. Seeing Murphy live in 2023 and then again this year, he was a different arm.
Unfortunately, the start I was at in Asheville was his final of the year before Murphy blew out his arm, needing Tommy John. The sad thing is, that start was the best of his career, tossing 6.1 scoreless with 11 strikeouts and no walks.
Murphy made just seven starts this year, having a 1.54 ERA with 60 strikeouts across 41 innings pitched. The strike rate was an impressive 69 percent to pair with a 32 percent CSW. He posted a 15 percent swinging strike rate, as well.
Murphy’s fastball is not overly impressive from a velocity standpoint. It worked 91-93 mph, but the outlier traits on it help to make it a successful offering. It features high IVB numbers, but it is the release point and how well he hides it that makes it a pitch that misses bats, on top of the fact he locates it well up in the zone. Murphy gets plenty of swings under the pitch.
He also features a slider and curveball, both being distinct pitches. The slider sits in the mid-80s with depth and solid sweeping action. The curveball gets plenty of downward action, but also has a two-plane break, sitting near 80 mph.
Murphy does flash a changeup on occasion, and it is a solid pitch, but he mostly uses it against lefties. I would love to see Murphy continue to develop the changeup.
No. 2 Braves Prospect - AJ Smith-Shawver, RHP
Age 22, 6-foot-3/205 pounds, Major League Baseball
Another Braves pitching prospect that people want to write off, but remember, he is just 22 years old. Atlanta rushed Smith-Shawver to the bigs in 2022, which seemingly hurt his development path. This year, an oblique injury cost him nearly two months between May and June and affected him upon return as well.
Smith-Shawver relies heavily on his four-seam fastball, but for good reason. The pitch sits at 95 mph, but can reach the upper 90s with an average of 18 inches of IVB. Its spin efficiency and low VAA make it an excellent pitch that is easily plus. It missed bats at a good 25 percent rate, and it plays up even more, given his 6’8” extension on the offering.
The changeup was a positive development for Smith-Shawver in 2024. It had the highest whiff rate of any offering at 44 percent, and he used it at a near 25 percent mark, up from six percent in 2023. It sits around 84 mph with 11 inches of fade and six inches of carry. Very low spin rates make it deceptive.
The slider is a wipeout pitch between the mid and upper-80s. It has the potential to be a true strikeout pitch, thanks to the late biting action. The curveball he added in 2023 continued to have success as well, having -14 inches of IVB and 11 inches of sweeping action. The Braves added a sweeper to Smith-Shawver’s repertoire but then had him stop throwing it in August and beyond.
Smith-Shawver has five velocity bands and movement patterns. He has all the intangibles to be a successful starting pitcher. The strike-throwing was above-average, but sometimes pitch location came back to bite him.
He allowed 20 home runs which destroyed him, nine of those coming on the fastball. You can see the location of those pitches below. If he cleans the home run problem up, Smith-Shawver can reach his mid-rotation upside.
No. 1 Braves Prospect - Drake Baldwin, C
Age 23, 6-foot-0/210 pounds, Triple-A
Baldwin flew under radars since being drafted. Despite posting strong underlying data, it never really translated to production, at least until he hit Triple-A this year.
An important thing to note for all Braves hitting prospects is that their stadiums largely play pitcher-friendly until Triple-A. Augusta is a fine place to hit, but Rome and Mississippi will skew hitters' surface numbers fast. That was the case for Baldwin.
Having 72 games in Triple-A, Baldwin looks more than ready for the Majors, considering he posted a .298/.407/.484 slash with 12 home runs there. He added four home runs in Double-A to give him 16 home runs on the year with 36 extra base hits.
The contact skills have been plus or better all year and the overall mark sits around 81 percent with an in-zone mark north of 85 percent. Baldwin rarely expands the zone, chasing at a 23 percent clip, which leads to a higher OBP.
The power has been pretty impressive all year too, with an average exit velocity north of 92 mph and the 90th percentile up over 106 mph. The bat is going to play, and Baldwin is actually pretty solid behind the dish, too.
If Travis d’Arnuad is not back in Atlanta next year, Baldwin might be the backup to Sean Murphy. We know how Atlanta operates with catchers, so that could lead to him being a platoon. Baldwin has fully broken out and is deserving of the top spot in the system.
For full reports on the Top 30 Prospects in the Atlanta Braves system and the top 50 ranked, head to the Dynasty Dugout for more of Chris's work!
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