Atlanta Braves Top 100 Prospects: Top Twenty

20. Travis Demeritte, 2B/3B, Mississippi

Born: 9/30/1994
2017 Stats: .231/.306/.402, 511 PA, 15 HR, 5 SB, 49/134 BB/K
Info: The New York City native graduated from high school in Georgia before being drafted by the Rangers. Acquired by his home-state Braves in 2016, he showed well in Carolina in a 35-game stint, and then he really made a positive impression in the Arizona Fall League last fall, especially with his defense at second base.

Demeritte’s 2017 season was one of significant streaks. A pair of early examples were his time from May 8th to June 4th when he went .289/.352/.639 with 9 home runs, a 9.3% BB rate, and a 25% K rate. He then followed that with a streak that extended from June 14th to July 23rd, where he hit .126/.209/.233 with 2 home runs, a 8.6% BB rate, and a 31% K rate. Extended streaks like that persisted throughout his season. He finished with a 9.6% walk rate and a 26.2% strikeout rate, which is an improvement on the 32.9% K rate he posted with Carolina after he was acquired in 2016, but there’s still tremendous growth needed.

19. A.J. Minter, LHP, Rome/Florida/Mississippi/Gwinnett/Atlanta

Born: 9/2/1993
2017 Stats: Minors: 26 G, 24 1/3 IP, 3.33 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 12/30 BB/K; Majors: 16 G, 15 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 2/26 BB/K
Info: The hope was to have Minter competing for a big league job early in the season, but injury delayed his start to the season. Minter made an appearance on April 11th and then did not make his second appearance of the season until June 12th. Minter’s electric fastball and double-plus slider is a rare blend of pitches that could be a legit consideration for a top 100 list as a left-handed reliever, which is something that is incredibly rare to see. Minter works well against both sides of the plate, but with his 6′ and 205 pounds frame, the injury issues that he’s seen already are not likely going to be completely gone anytime soon. His big arm should end up being in the Braves bullpen to open 2018.

18. Kyle Muller, LHP, Danville

Born: 10/7/1997
2017 Stats: 11 GS, 47 2/3 IP, 4.15 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 18/49 BB/K
Info: Muller was the third pitcher the Braves selected in the 2016 draft. A two-way star, many thought Muller was certain to go to the University of Texas to have the opportunity to both swing the bat and pitch. Instead, the Braves got him to agree to sign. Focusing on pitching solely has been a change for Muller, and he’s taken some time in his adaption in that role, but the raw skills are extremely loud. His delivery is such that Muller ends up with a high 3/4 arm slot at 6’6″ tall, creating tremendous plane on his pitches. Muller is still filling into some velocity in his frame, adding roughly 20 pounds since being drafted, to between 220-230 now on his 6’6″ frame, and he’s certainly trimmed off some “baby fat” in the midst of that growth. Though he struck out a ton of hitters in high school, his mid-90s fastball is most effective low in the zone in creating ground ball contact, but his curve is still inconsistent in its break. As he tightens that and continues to develop his change, he’ll be elite.

17. Patrick Weigel, RHP, Mississippi/Gwinnett

Born: 7/8/1994
2017 Stats: 15 GS, 78 1/3 IP, 4.14 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 28/68 BB/K
Info: Weigel opened his 2017 the way he’d closed his 2016, dominating hitters, this time at the AA level to the tune of a 2.89 ERA and 1.15 WHIP with Mississippi over 7 starts. He was bumped up to Gwinnett, and after a blow up in his 2nd start at Gwinnett, he was throwing extremely well until his last start, when afterward it was revealed that he would need Tommy John surgery (remove the final start of the year and the 2nd start at Gwinnett, and he had a 1.72 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and 14/27 BB/K over 36 2/3 IP with Gwinnett). Weigel has conquered what was his biggest issue in college at Houston, his struggles with his delivery. At 6’6″ and ~250ish pounds, Weigel has a surprisingly repeatable and consistent delivery. Weigel still possesses a fastball that ranges into triple digits along with two breaking balls that are really polishing off to be plus pitches as well. His change flashed above-average at times, but it really only need be an average major league pitch for Weigel to be an effective mid-rotation starter. If he could get the change to play up to a plus pitch, he has the makings of an elite starter. Even coming back from the Tommy John, which likely won’t happen until late in 2018, Weigel should be one of the highest-regarded pitching prospects in the entire Braves system currently with the high floor he’s established if he even gets a minimal level of his velocity and some feel for his breakers as a power reliever.

16. William Contreras, C, Danville

Born: 12/24/1997
2017 Stats: .290/.379/.432, 198 PA, 4 HR, 1 SB, 24/30 BB/K
Info: The brother of Cubs catcher Willson Contreras, William has flown under the radar with a number of Braves evaluators (though not this one if you’ve been reading my top 100s the last few years), but his 2017 season was truly his breakout year as a prospect. While he’ll likely not get on any top 100 lists, I can tell you from a number of people around the industry that he is considered at the end of those lists right now, and that alone is a huge stride. Contreras is a very impressive package, with defense behind the plate that’s more polished than his brother (albeit without the same level of arm, though that just means plus vs. plus-plus) and bat skills that are certainly impressive and lead to thinking that Contreras could be a guy to not only hit for power, but also get on base at a good rate.

Next: #11-15