Format = Position Player | Age on 4/1/2025 | Highest Level Played | Estimated Time of Arrival
1. LHP Cam Caminiti | 18 | A | 2028
At 6’2” 195 lbs with 98 mile-an-hour heat from an athletic delivery, Caminiti declared a year early for the draft and landed at 24th overall. As a two-way player, he patrolled center field and was good enough there that a decision had to be made about his role. He’s shown three solid pitches (curve, slider, change) along with the fastball, making him an alarming and unique matchup for hitters at the lower levels. Atlanta didn’t even bother breaking him in during complex league play, sending him instead to Low-A late in the season. He threw just three innings there, allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts and zero walks.
2. RHP AJ Smith-Shawver | 22 | MLB | 2023
Since a dominant stretch at the beginning of 2023, success has been a little elusive for Smith-Shawver, who has had a tendency to pair a dominant start with a wild one. That’s life for a young arm playing against older players, and AJS-S has always played up and played well given the context. At 6’3” 206 lbs, he’s still refining his delivery. Over his last seven starts, he’s thrown 36.1 innings with a 3.68 ERA and 0.98 WHIP, showing improved fastball command throughout the zone and making himself an option for the postseason roster.
3. C Drake Baldwin | 24 | AAA | 2025
Sean Murphy has hit .196 this year, but he’s also battled injury and he’s under contract through 2028. You could tell me he’s the best defensive catcher in the world, but I’d still want to take a peek behind door number three and see if maybe I’ve got a taker for my 30-year-old backstop with a long track record in the trainer’s room. In 72 Triple-A games this year, the left-handed Baldwin struck out just 54 times (16.2 percent) while drawing 52 walks (15.6 percent) and slashing .298/.407/.484 with 12 home runs. He put the cherry on top of a great season when he blasted a home run to left center in the futures game.
4. RHP Hurston Waldrep | 23 | MLB | 2024
This ranking reflects a WHIP concern I have with the splitter-heavy Waldrep, who has this year posted a 1.40 and 1.45 in AA and AAA, respectively. His ERAs at the levels were 2.99 and 4.19, so the walks haven’t disqualified himself so far, even if relief still seems like his most likely MLB role, at least in the near term.
5. SS Nacho Alvarez | 21 | MLB | 2024
Nacho got his first dip in the big leagues this year and failed to deliver the flavor, hitting .100 with zero walks in eight games and encouraging the organization to hit the waiver wire in search of a third baseman. At 6’0” 190 lbs, Alvarez is starting to grow into some power and should be good enough with the glove to carve out a utility role even if he can’t force his way into the lineup. If he does become a regular, plate skills will be the calling card. He slashed .297/.398/.463 in 64 Triple-A games, and while that was the best offensive output of his career, he has always controlled the zone and minimized strikeouts.
6. RHP Drue Hackenberg | 23 | AAA | 2025
A 2023 2nd round pick out of Virginia Tech, Hackenberg has chewed through three levels and has a 1.52 ERA through four Triple-A starts covering 23.2 innings. He has allowed just two home runs all year in 129 total innings, and both of those were hit in High-A. On the mound, the 6’2” 220 lb Hackenberg employs a plus slider and increasing velocity of a four-seamer that plays well up in the zone, mixing in a developing mix of curve, change and cutter when he can.
7. RHP Owen Murphy | 21 | A+ | 2025
A first-round pick in 2022, Murphy enjoyed a breakout stretch at High-A this season, posting a 1.54 ERA and 0.73 WHIP in seven starts covering 41 innings. Going about six innings per start, he managed a 31 percent strikeout-minus-walk rate thanks to improved command of his nasty off-speed stuff. He can drop the curve into the zone from above or bury it down and out, and he can spot his slider in similar fashion to steal strikes or generate whiffs. His fastball is just enough right now to let his command and off-speed eat, but it’s on the uptick as well in an organization that clearly knows how to develop inexperienced arms. The club has been prioritizing underdeveloped pitching in the draft for a while and now has a host of arms waiting in the wings.
8. SS Jose Perdomo | 18 | DSL | 2029
Atlanta pulled out the pocketbook for Perdomo, signing him for a $5 million bonus in January, the biggest bonus allotted to any player this international acquisition period. He played just eight games in the Dominican Summer League this year and posted a 66 wRC+, so there might be a bit of a buying window for deeper dynasty leagues. He’s a 5’11” 180 lb power bat whose plus hit tool and advanced approach should play well given time to settle in at a level.
9. RHP Lucas Braun | 23 | AA | 2025
I just wrote about the 6’0” 185 lb Braun the other day in Prospect News: She Says She Talks To Luisangel:
“A sixth-round pick out of Cal State Northridge in 2023, Braves RHP Lucas Braun (23, AA) has been muscling up this year, burying his slider and commanding his changeup to the tune of a 2.38 ERA and 1.07 ERA in 79.1 Double-A innings. I’m sure it’s a shock to us all that Atlanta has drafted and developed another viable pitching prospect for very little cost in a very short time.”
10. RHP JR Ritchie | 21 | A+ | 2026
The 35th overall pick in 2022, Ritchie is yet another high school arm drafted, developed and made in Georgia. He’s thrown only 77.1 innings as a professional, but the 6’2” 185 lb righty has impressed when healthy thanks to plus control of a three-pitch mix (fastball, curveball, changeup).
Thanks for reading!
