Atlanta Braves 2017 Top 100 Prospects: #41-60

60. Jasseel De La Cruz, RHP, GCL/Danville

Born: 6/26/1997
2017 Stats: 11 G, 10 GS, 42 2/3 IP, 3.80 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 18/36 BB/K
Info: De La Cruz is a guy who is certainly off of the main radar coming into 2016, but he threw so well that he pushed his way up to the GCL from the DSL and did the same up to Danville this season. While I see De La Cruz’s prime future as a reliever due to his delivery, he’s made so much progress that he certainly could prove me wrong. De La Cruz works with a fastball that can reach the upper 90s, sitting 92-93. His primary secondary pitch is a sweeping slider that works with his long arm action, but he’ll lose the feel for the pitch. His change is good, but it really struggled to get movement at all. De La Cruz isn’t a tremendously tall guy, but he’s got fairly long arms and a big arm swing in his delivery that reminds me of Mauricio Cabrera. While Cabrera fell in love with his velocity and didn’t develop anything else, De La Cruz has a good angle to work on something like a split change or even a slider/cutter hybrid pitch to go along with his sweeping slider as a strong third pitch to stay in the rotation going forward.

59. Luis Valenzuela, IF, GCL/Mississippi/Gwinnett

Born: 8/25/1993
2017 Stats: .278/.321/.404, 300 PA, 2 HR, 5 SB, 15/48 BB/K
Info: On his third organization, Valenzuela was acquired by the Braves from the Kansas City Royals for Jonny Gomes in 2015. He only got about a week of time with the Braves system in 2015 before the season was over, and he was injured for a lot of 2016, so he had really his first full season with the Braves system in 2017. Before he again was injured with Mississippi this season, he was a system leader in doubles, and that is really where Valenzuela’s offensive value is highest. If he maximized his value, he’d be a guy who fit Martin Prado‘s “bad” seasons as a major leaguer, likely a bench piece. However, Valenzuela has shown well at the upper levels already, which raises his floor significantly, allowing him to have a strong chance to get a call someday, somewhere, which means he’s worthy of putting here over many of the guys below who have more ceiling but a much smaller chance to make it.

58. Livan Soto, SS, GCL

Born: 6/22/2000
2017 Stats: .225/.332/.254, 208 PA, 0 HR, 7 SB, 27/26 BB/K
Info: Of the three major shortstops that the Braves signed in the 2016 IFA class, Soto was the most certain shortstop. His signing profile mentioned a guy who had a high baseball IQ, solid batting eye, and a legit plus glove and arm at short. Sure enough, Soto didn’t do anything that really stood out at the plate, played tremendous defense, and the things that he did well on offense were a function of his maturity and positive eye (more walks than strikeouts, stealing 7 bases with what was graded as 50-55 speed). I really liked the video I saw of Soto, especially in the field. Physically, he’s got work to do to fill in his frame, but he’s not got a ton to add to his 6′, 160-170 pound frame. Soto’s a way off, and he is the lowest of the three 2016 IFA shortstops listed here, but it would not surprise me at all if he was the one who made the first start at shortstop in the major leagues. Watch him close in 2018 as his quick bat starting to find holes in the defense more frequently could allow him to really jump up quickly in the system.

57. Yoeli Lopez, OF, DSL/GCL

Born: 7/31/1997
2017 Stats: .235/.339/.333, 178 PA, HR, 11 SB, 15/57 BB/K
Info: An incredible athlete that moved from Florida to the Dominican to be able to sign early and bypass the draft, Lopez showed some of that raw-ness in his first season in the minors in the DSL in 2016, flashing impressive power at times with incredible speed, but also striking out a ton. In 2017, he moved quickly out of the DSL to the GCL and showed much of the same. His walk and strikeout rate both worsened in 2017, but he did utilize his power and speed better in game as well. He’s still very raw for sure, and he won’t likely move quickly. Lopez may have a ceiling as high as any outfielder who finished in the GCL (and, yes, that includes a certain 2017 2nd round pick). However, he has a very low ceiling due to his lack of polish, and it would not surprise if he couldn’t make it out of Rome. The one thing that Lopez has going for him is an elite defensive skill set. He tracks well in the outfield, though he works much better in corners than center, and he has a laser arm. One story from a group of Talking Chop staff that went to a GCL game this season was of a throw Lopez uncorked from right field to third base that drew “Wow!” comments even from the visitor’s dugout. While he’s a ways away and the risk is high, Lopez is a guy to watch close.

56. Troy Bacon, RHP, GCL

Born: 9/26/1996
2017 Stats: 13 G, 18 1/3 IP, 3.44 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 7/22 BB/K
Info: After an incredible stat line for Santa Fe Junior College this season, Bacon was the Braves’ 4th round selection in June. Bacon comes after hitters with a fastball that sits around 95 and can reach 98 with a plus change and a pair of breakers that have mixed reviews. I have seen some that believe he could start down the line. I don’t believe that his fastball is such that he can start as it’s not a pitch that has a ton of movement or offspeed stuff that is tremendous swing and miss stuff, living primarily on keeping his control excellent. Bacon was a highly recruited shortstop prospect in high school, committing to Florida as a two-way player, and he has attributed his velocity continually increasing to distance from playing every day at shortstop and more rest for his arm. I could see Bacon possibly working into a starter if the Braves hold him with Rome and Florida each for full seasons to work on fastball movement on his four-seam and two-seam, but outside of that, he’s got stuff already to be an effective reliever that could move quickly through the minors and find Atlanta in 2019 out of the bullpen. His speed through the system will depend on his role.

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