Keeping track of every Braves prospect can be a pretty daunting task. With four full-season affiliates, to go with a couple of rookie (or complex) clubs that’ll begin its seasons this summer, there’s a lot to sort through. But each month here at SportsTalkATL we’re going to mention at least the top 10 performers in the system in our Braves Prospect Power Rankings.
A couple of things to know: these rankings aren’t attempting to rank Braves prospects within the organization overall. It’s simply based solely on how they’ve performed for that month. So a guy who had a great April and is ranked no. 3 right now, maybe doesn’t perform as well in May and therefore doesn’t make the cut or is moved down list. Also, for this series, players are deemed a prospect from the 2025 Braves Prospect List found at FanGraphs, with each prospect’s current ranking, according to them, within Atlanta’s system listed at the bottom of each excerpt.
Non-prospects can make our power rankings too (a few nearly did this month), but the initial pool of players come from FanGraphs’ prospect list. However, obviously a hot month from a 29-year-old journeyman in Double-A (likely a non-prospect) isn’t as impressive as a 19-year-old that was recently drafted.
Braves Prospect Power Rankings
#10. Luis Arestigueta, RHP
A – Augusta – 19 yrs old
A teenager for the entire 2025 season (turns 20 in Oct), Arestigueta is one of the youngest prospects in the system currently playing full-season ball. Despite his age, though, the 2023 international signee (out of Venezuela) has shown plenty of promise on the mound. Scouting reports say Arestigueta wields a low-90s MPH sinker and two secondaries that could potentially make him a big league starter. This is a kid that has plenty of developing to do, and the Braves shouldn’t be in any kind of hurry. But it’s cool to see such a young talent perform well as a pro. This will be Arestigueta’s first full-season out of rookie ball, so it’ll be interesting to see how he handles the competition.
FG’s rank: 21
2025 stats: 11 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 12 K
#9. Elison Joseph, RHP
AA – Columbus – 24 yrs old
As Double-A Columbus’ late-inning reliever, Joseph’s triple-digit fastball is sure to rack up the punch outs this season. The Braves have been really patient with Joseph, as he’s now 24 and this is just his second stint at the Double-A level (20.1 IP there in ’24). But if the Dominican righty continues striking out batters at this rate, the organization won’t have a choice but to see what he can do at the highest level of the minors. Unfortunately, Joseph surrendered a run from two hits in his ninth-inning appearance on Tuesday, snapping his scoreless streak at five games. Regardless, his numbers are still strong through the first month of the season.
FG’s rank: 28
2025 stats: 7.2 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 9 K
#8. Logan Samuels, RHP
A – Augusta – 23 yrs old
As a former eighth-round pick in last year’s draft, Samuels is looking like a nice pick up by the Braves. The expectations couldn’t have been too high for the righty, coming out of a smaller college (University of Montevallo). But through roughly his first month in 2025, Samuels is pitching very well, both as a starter and out of the Augusta bullpen. He kicked off the campaign with a five-inning start on April 5, tossing a one-hitter and striking out four. But since then, Samuels has only appeared as a reliever, tallying another 12 punch outs in 10.1 innings and even getting the save in his last appearance.
FG’s rank: 35
2025 stats: 15.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 16 K
#7. David McCabe, C
AA – Columbus – 25 yrs old
After a huge 2023 season, featuring a .276 AVG and 17 home runs in 123 minor league games, McCabe underwent Tommy John surgery and only played in 35 games in 2024. And now at 25-years-old, you know the third baseman is looking to show that breakout performance wasn’t just a fluke. This kid has 60-grade raw power, but those homers in ’23 all came in the lower minors (42 games at Single-A & 81 at High-A). Now facing Double-A pitching, can McCabe still slug? So far the home runs haven’t been as prevalent, but the former fourth-round pick is getting on base at a .444 clip. If his power is indeed legit, as the weather heats up, McCabe’s homer total should climb.
FG’s rank: 38
2025 stats: 19 G, .290 AVG, .864 OPS, 1 HR, 5 2B
#6. Ethan Bagwell, RHP
A – Augusta – 19 yrs old
Bagwell’s prototypical pitcher’s body (6-4, 230lbs) allows him to easily sit in the mid-90s MPH with his fastball, but it’s his slider and changeup that’ll dictate his future in the Braves system. So far so good through his first trio of starts this season as Bagwell has given Augusta a chance to win in each of them, allowing two or fewer runs in all three outings. The strikeouts haven’t really come into play yet, but given how young he is, I’m sure he’ll have plenty of time in Single-A to figure out what works. Bagwell’s sub-2.00 ERA so far is definitely a nice start, though.
FG’s rank: 20
2025 stats: 14.1 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
#5. JR Ritchie, RHP
A+ – Rome – 21 yrs old
TJ surgery in May of 2023 put a halt to Ritchie’s development as a pro pitcher, which was unfortunate considering it was supposed to be his first full season in the Braves system. It’s been a long road to recovery, featuring just 49.2 innings last season. But when healthy, the former prep draft prospect has performed well. As you can see, this is a huge season for Ritchie. Now 21, he begins the campaign in High-A, and so far, he’s shown consistency. His first four starts with Rome were solid, including his most-recent on Tuesday in which he went a season-high seven innings, striking out six. Ritchie is a potential top-tier pitching prospect in all of baseball, and we’ll find out for sure in 2025.
FG’s rank: 9
2025 stats: 28 IP, 17 H, 6 ER, 9 BB, 23 K
#4. Lucas Braun, RHP
AA – Columbus – 23 yrs old
Contrary to a lot of its young pitchers, the Braves have been pretty aggressive with the former sixth-round pick (2023). Following four starts in Single-A in his draft year, Braun split his time between High-A and Double-A in 2024, where he actually pitched better at the latter level, turning in a 2.38 ERA in 13 outings (79.1 IP). Braun isn’t a hard thrower, but he can touch the mid-90s when he has to. He’s shown flashes of above-average control so far this season, only walking two in his first four starts combined. However, he gave up five free passes in his most-recent outing alone, so hopefully, that isn’t a trend going forward. Keeping his walks down will go a long way to helping him reach Gwinnett by season’s end.
FG’s rank: 10
2025 stats: 29.1 IP, 24 H, 9 ER, 7 BB, 30 K
#3. Luke Sinnard, RHP
A – Augusta – 22 yrs old
Sinnard was a third-round draft pick last year, but as is often the case with a lot of Braves draftees, he was still recovering from TJ surgery. As a result, 2025 is Sinnard’s pro debut, and the numbers have been pretty impressive so far. Other than a season-opening start back on April 8 in which he managed to get only two outs, the 22-year-old is holding his own in Single-A. In Sinnard’s last two starts with Augusta, he struck out 12 batters in 9.2 innings combined while allowing just one earned run (0.93 ERA). Wielding a mid-90s MPH fastball and reportedly a four-pitch mix overall, we may be talking a lot more about Sinnard as the 2025 season progresses.
FG’s rank: 17
2025 stats: 14 IP, 14 H, 2 ER, 6 BB, 21 K
#2. Blake Burkhalter, RHP
AA – Columbus – 24 yrs old
I wrote about Burkhalter last week, as he became the topic of discussion when the Braves big league bullpen was going through its issues prior to the team’s hot run of late. At the time (April 24), the righty was sporting a tidy 1.62 ERA / 2.09 FIP with 20 strikeouts in his first three starts (16.2 IP) with Columbus, looking like one of the better pitching prospects in the system. I believe that title still holds true, even though Burkhalter took the loss in his most-recent start back on April 26 (4 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K). This is an experienced big-time pitcher, having starred at Auburn in college. And if nothing else, there’s some intrigue here given initially it was believed Burkhalter would be a reliever as a pro (despite pitching as a starter in all but three of his 23 career games so far in the minors). He may in fact wind up in the bullpen, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens.
FG’s rank: 14
2025 stats: 20.2 IP, 17 H, 6 ER, 7 BB, 24 K
#1. Drake Baldwin, C
MLB – Atlanta – 24 yrs old
Of course, the leader of this month’s power rankings is Baldwin, as he’s currently doing exactly what a Braves prospect hopes to do, and that’s positively contribute with the big league team. You could argue AJ Smith-Shawver deserves some love on that front, given he looked much better in his most-recent outing on Tuesday against the Rockies. As for Baldwin, though, the former third-round pick – along with Sean Murphy – has helped make the Braves a top-five team at the catcher position in MLB so far in 2025, according to FanGraphs WAR (1.2). Excluding an 0 for 7 start to the season in his first two games combined, Baldwin has slashed .289/.360/.467 with four extra base hits and six RBI. It’s still early of course, but if this even remotely continues throughout the 2025 season, then the Braves have seemingly found an All-Star caliber catcher for the foreseeable future.
FG’s rank: 1
2025 stats: 17 G, .250 AVG, .731 OPS, 2 HR, 2 2B
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Check back next month for May’s Braves Prospect Power Rankings.
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