The ATL Thread 7/7: Swamp's Midseason Prospect Rankings Edition

As 31, Vol, Okie, Hull and myself have embarked and completed our annual Minor League Baseball tour, I have kept detailed scouting reports on each and every player in the Braves minor league system. Some are known to be up to 25 pages long full of swing tendencies, breakdown of throwing mechanics, and even nudies of their significant others/side pieces. But for today, I'll keep the notes short and sweet.

I'll start at 20 and work myself to the top prospect in the organization, according to myself. Also, I did not include this years draft picks or international signings:

20. Andrew Thurman, SP, A+, 23 years old

2.36 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 6.8 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, 8.9 H/9 in 34 IP

Thurman was the 3rd piece that came over in the Gattis deal and has been together very good numbers, albeit against mostly younger competition. We'll see him move up to AA at some point in the 2nd half and at best will end up as an innings eater at the back end of the rotation for the big club.

19. Mauricio Cabrera, RP, A+, 21 years old

6.18 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 7.5 K/9, 5.2 BB/9, 9.4 K/9 in 27 IP

He was once considered to be one of the brightest prospects in the organization, let's just all be glad this system has been replenished. After working as a starter for the majority of the career, he's found himself in the bullpen for Carolina and the results have not been pretty yet. But he has a fastball that can reach triple digits and has a decent slider, so let's hope he can cut down on the walks and end up being a decent bullpen piece for us in 2017.

18. Max Povse, SP, A+, 21 years old

3.94 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 7.3 K/9, 3.0 BB/9, 8.7 H/9 in 64 IP

Max was last years 3rd round pick, and he is tall as shite at 6'8. He performed very well over 60 innings in A ball this year before being promoted to Carolina, where he has gotten tore up to the tune of 11 ER in just 4.1 IP. But he for the most part has been consistently good in his pro career and could see himself in an innings eater role for the rotation in a couple of years. But the more likely scenario due to the surplus of starting pitching, is developing him as much as possible and then including him in a trade.

17. Juan Yepez 1B/3B, Rk, 17 years old

0 HR, 6 BB, 14 K, 1 SB, .308 AVG, .866 OPS in 39 AB

Juan was an international signing last year and is just now making his pro debut in the GCL. Not a whole lot is known on Yepez yet, other than him having raw power. His ranking here is all on upside, and we'll have a better understanding of him and his game at the end of the year going into next year, but he has been solid in his brief stint.

16. Dilmer Mejia, SP, Rk, 17 years old

4.35 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 7.8 K/9, 2.6 BB/9, 8.7 H/9 in 10 IP

Mejia was an international signing in 2013 and has performed very well up until this point. in 84 innings split between the DOSL and GCL he is only walking 1.9 hitters per 9 innings which is outstanding. He'll be an interesting name to keep an eye on the next couple years as he still only has 24 innings under his belt in the GCL, but the results have been there so far.

15. Arodys Vizcaino, RP, MLB, 24 years old

He only has 9 innings under his belt this year after being suspended for PEDs, but we all know his story. The fastball plays and let's hope he can be a reliable bullpen piece as this team starts to put together a competitive ballclub in the coming years.

14. Dustin Peterson, LF, A+, 20 years old

5 HR, 26 BB, 46 K, 3 SB, .271 AVG, .739 OPS in 221 ABs

He was acquired from the Padres this past offseason and while he played the hot corner in their system, the Braves have moved him to LF. While posting a .681 and .634 OPS in his first couple seasons after being drafted in the 2nd round in 2013, he has put together his best season to date so far showing a little pop and the ability to take some walks. He's also cut down on the strikeouts by a pretty wide margin after striking out every 4.1 PA last year, he's at 5.4 this year. The talent is there, and he's starting to show it.

13. Rio Ruiz, 3B, AA, 21 years old

1 HR, 36 BB, 52 K, 1 SB, .222 AVG, .615 OPS in 225 ABs

Rio came over in the Gattis deal alongside Folty, and up until this year has been successful in his pro career. While the numbers have admittedly been shitty for the Braves so far, he improved in June going from a .571 OPS in April and .468 OPS in May to a .804 OPS in June. Let's hope he was just pressing earlier in the year and June is the start to him continuing a good start to the rest of the season. Other than June, the one other positive is his ability to take walks, even when he is struggling because his OBP is still above .330. I still believe in him as the future at 3B.

12. Ricardo Sanchez, SP, A, 18 years old

5.30 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 4.5 BB/9, 8.30 H/9 in 35 IP

Ricardo was acquired from the Angels this offseason after being an international signing out of Venezuela in 2013. The ceiling of this kid is a top of the rotation starter, as scouts believe he will end up with a mid 90s fastball with a plus curve. While the results this year have not been amazing, he's pitching as an 18 year old in A ball so I wouldn't worry about him all that much. He could have very easily been ranked much higher, but that goes to show how deep this system has gotten in the last year.

11. Lucas Sims, SP, A+, 21 years old

6.46 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 8.3 K/9, 5.0 BB/9, 9.6 H/9 in 35 IP

This is probably the lowest Sims has ever been ranked in the Braves organizational prospect rankings, and he was even ranked as high as the 54th best prospect in baseball by Baseball Prospectus before the year, but for me you have to show results after a while, no matter how much talent you have. Don't get me wrong, the potential is still there for him to pitch at the top of the rotation and he is still very young, but the results this year just are not promising especially after a very pedestrian 2014.