4. Kyle Wright, RHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 10/2/1995 (22)
2017 teams/levels played for: Gulf Coast League Braves, high-A Florida Fire Frogs
2017 Stats: 9 GS, 17 IP, 2.65 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 8.8% BB, 26.5% K
Info: Considered one of the top college arms in the entire 2017 draft, the Atlanta Braves were overjoyed to have Wright available at the 5th overall selection.
The Braves went overslot to sign Wright, and they feel it’s going to be definitely worth it
The Braves went overslot to sign Wright, and they feel it’s going to be definitely worth it as he should move quickly through their system. Wright works with a fastball that can touch 98 with excellent late movement. He commands and gets better movement when he works in the 92-94 range.
Wright features a pair of breaking pitches that flash plus, with a late-breaking curve and a hard slider. His change has excellent arm deception and showed good late movement in his pro debut.
The Atlanta Braves will want Wright getting used to a pro rotation schedule, so his destination to open 2018 is in question, but a move all the way up to AA to open wouldn’t surprise, an indicator of just what kind of expedited path he’ll be on to the majors.
3. Luiz Gohara, LHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 7/31/1996 (21)
2017 teams/levels played for: high-A Florida Fire Frogs, AA Mississippi Braves, AAA Gwinnett Braves, MLB Atlanta Braves
2017 Stats: Minors: 26 G, 25 GS, 123 2/3 IP, 2.62 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 8.5% BB, 28.4% K; Majors: 5 GS, 29 1/3 IP, 4.91 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 6.5% BB, 25.2% K
Info: Signed out of Brazil by the Mariners, Gohara struggled with his conditioning, ballooning up to near 300 pounds before really dedicating himself to his craft in 2016 and seeing his stuff play up as a result, especially in the Arizona Fall League.
The Atlanta Braves acquired Gohara before the 2017 season along with reliever Thomas Burrows and Gohara responded well to the Braves focus on teaching change ups and control.
Gohara works with a pair of double-plus pitches, a fastball and a slider that are each 70-grade each, if not both 80-grade on the 20-to-80 grade scouting scale. He uses a fastball that reaches 99 MPH, and he has a slider that works into the mid-80s with exceptional arm deception and late break. The Braves focus on change really clicked with Gohara, and he began to really get better arm deception out of the pitch, though he struggled with consistency in movement and control of the pitch.
While Gohara had an excellent showing in the majors in 2017, his quick ascent could lead to the Atlanta Braves giving him a start back in AAA to open the season if he doesn’t show out in the spring, though he should be up soon in 2018.
Next: #1 and #2