5. Kevin Maitan, SS, GCL/Danville
Born: 2/12/2000
2017 Stats: .241/.290/.340, 176 PA, 2 HR, 2 SB, 11/49 BB/K
Info: Possibly the most hyped international signing since Miguel Cabrera, and certainly since Miguel Sano, Maitan was strongly tied to the Braves for almost two full years before signing, though he was very actively recruited by a number of other teams before finalizing his deal in July of 2016. Maitan opened his professional career in the Gulf Coast League, moving to Danville after a short 9-game stretch in the GCL. Maitan played all shortstop on the season, and he showed quality instincts at the position, though his range had already started to be limited by his increasing size. Maitan may be moving to third soon, and there is some legit concern about Maitan keeping his size in check as he matures, but for a 17 year-old in his first professional at bats, Maitan showed well. He was aggressive within the zone and had good zone recognition, but his pitch recognition still could use some polish. Maitan’s bat was impressive in the raw power he was able to display in batting practice, but he’s still working to translate that to game power. The ceiling is such that he’d be the #1 prospect, yes, even over a certain outfielder. However, he’s also still just 17 and likely to play at Rome for his first experience of full-season ball, which is why I have him at 5 for now. I certainly won’t have an issue with seeing him #1 very quickly, however!
4. Kolby Allard, LHP, Mississippi
Born: 8/13/1997
2017 Stats: 27 GS, 150 IP, 3.18 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 45/129 BB/K
Info: Okay, time for some crow. This spring, when Allard was promoted up to AA to open the season, I was more than just a little skeptical. After watching of both, I was certain his fellow Rome rotation mates that were jumping over Florida would be fine, but I was worried about Allard based on what I’d seen with him at Rome. That had nothing at all to do with the raw stuff. Allard has stuff that’s as impressive as any pitcher in the entire system, and coming from the left side, that’s even more impressive. It had to do with how Allard had responded in 2016 to challenging situations and mistakes behind him – essentially things that could use a slower path, not a quick jump to the upper minors.
Instead, Allard made me look silly for worrying in the least. No, he didn’t strike out batters at the same rate as in Danville and Rome in 2016, but he really showed a ton as far as his composure on the mound, his ability to handle a bad outing, and working through tough situations within an inning or even an at bat. He had hitters missing the barrel on all of his pitches, rarely squaring a pitch well along the way.
Allard is likely headed up to Gwinnett in 2018 to open the season, but he’s shown enough to certainly believe he could push the major league rotation by the end of the season. Either way, I could see him factoring into the rotation in a major way by at least mid-2019.
3. Luiz Gohara, LHP, Florida/Mississippi/Gwinnett/Atlanta
Born: 7/31/1996
2017 Stats: Minors: 26 G, 25 GS, 123 2/3 IP, 2.62 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 44/147 BB/K; Majors: 5 GS, 29 1/3 IP, 4.91 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 8/31 BB/K
Info: Immediately upon acquiring Gohara last offseason, I put him into the top 10 of Braves prospects, and I heard some hard feedback that it was way too soon, he hadn’t done enough yet, etc. A year later, and there could be a very strong argument that he’s the top pitching prospect in the entire system!
Gohara struggled with injury and keeping his delivery his first few years with the Mariners system before dropping almost 75 pounds total from offseason to his lowest weight. He gained some of that back, but he’s certainly seen the benefit of being nearly 40 pounds lighter in repeating his motion and staying on the field.
In 2017, Gohara immediately was one of, if not the best, pitchers in the entire Florida State League. He was promoted after 7 starts to Mississippi, where he showed very well before another 7-start stop in Gwinnett. Finally, Gohara made a handful of starts with the big league club with an ERA that was not fitting his peripheral numbers at all.
Gohara works with a fastball and slider that are both at or near 80-grade pitches, top of the scouting grade scale. His change ranges from below-average to above-average depending on the day, but he really doesn’t even need the pitch to be great, just a “show me” pitch enough to keep hitters honest. With that two-pitch arsenal, a guy like Randy Johnson had a long big league career. While not 6’11”, Gohara is a big man on the mound, and with his intimidating presence and stuff, he should fit very well into the Atlanta rotation in 2018 from opening day.
2. Mike Soroka, RHP, Mississippi
Born: 8/4/1997
2017 Stats: 26 GS, 153 2/3 IP, 2.75 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 34/125 BB/K
Info: So, while I had concerns with Allard, I had the least concerns with Soroka of any of the Rome staff with the jump to Mississippi. That in spite of Soroka being a teenager for the majority of the 2017 season.
Soroka showed exactly the stuff and composure that I assumed he would in the challenge of the jump to AA. He sported his lowest ERA and WHIP of his three-year professional career in 2017 as a teenager in the upper minors. He also cleared 150 innings, his second season over 140 innings, which is a positive sign for increasing his innings to a full MLB season’s workload in 2018.
Soroka has excellent stuff, and he is tremendous about pitching around the zone with that stuff. He’s able to manipulate all of his pitches in multiple ways to really give him 8-9 looks for a hitter that he could throw, and that constantly keeps hitters from getting the best part of the bat on the ball.
Soroka will likely open 2018 in Gwinnett, but as calm and collected as he is on the mound, he could earn a promotion to Atlanta by the end of the season.
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1. Ronald Acuna, OF, Florida/Mississippi/Gwinnett
Born: 12/18/1997
2017 Stats: .325/.374/.522, 612 PA, 21 HR, 44 SB, 43/144 BB/K
Info: Is there truly any question who would end up here? Heck, Acuna very well may end up #1 in all of baseball, so ending up #1 on the Braves list is a given at this point.
Acuna missed out on a lot of 2016 due to a thumb injury. Because of that, the Braves sent him to the Australian winter league, where he was absolute dominant. Then he had little time off before spring training started, where Acuna made a huge impression in major league spring training before heading to the minor league portion late in the spring.
He opened the season with Florida, and interestingly, he hit worst at high-A, and not just in batting average. His walk rate with Florida was 6.3%, and he struck out at a 31.7% clip. With Mississippi, that went to 7.4% walk rate and 23% strikeout rate. Finally, with Gwinnett, he finished the year with a 7% walk rate and a 19.8% strikeout rate.
Acuna has elite skills across the board, but while he’s stealing bases at a good clip now and should maintain above-average speed, his biggest offensive tool as he matures should certainly be his power, which is plus-plus raw and is already showing as plus in-game power. In the Arizona Fall League, Acuna has picked up where he left off, hitting .344/.425/.672 over 17 games with 5 doubles and 5 home runs.
If the Braves can clear one of the corner spots, Acuna should move into a starting spot at the major league level in 2018. If not on opening day, he should certainly push for that spot soon into the season.
That’s it! What did you think? Any surprises? Questions? Comment below!!