About a month ago, Braves top prospect Eric Hartman entered Baseball America’s list of the top 100 prospects in the game. Now, he’s already among the top 60 as he continues to put up one of the best minor-league seasons in the organization’s history.
At about the halfway point, Hartman has 19 home runs and 29 stolen bases. He’s one more long ball and another swiped bag from putting together a 20/30 first half to go along with a near .300 batting average and OPS well north of .900.
These are unheard of numbers, even for some of the best prospects that have come through the system. With the easiest comparison being the phenom that is Ronald Acuña Jr., who was also a relatively unknown commodity when he signed but quickly burst up the rankings as a teenager until he was eventually the #1 prospect in all of baseball.
As a 19-year-old, Acuña began the season in High-A Rome — the same level that Hartman started this year — eventually working his way up to Gwinnett, and there were seemingly no hiccups. He actually hit better for Gwinnett than he did at any other level, and by the next season, he would make his MLB debut for the Braves.
The organization doesn’t seem too eager to rush Hartman through the system the way they did Acuña, or he’d be in Double-A Columbus already. His numbers this season are better than anything Acuña posted, and the skill set is remarkably similar. Two players that feature effortless power and combine it with elite athleticism. I would even go as far as to say Hartman has far more upside defensively, even if nobody can really match Acuña’s arm strength.
Ronald Acuña Jr. (2017) vs. Eric Hartman (2026)
Acuña (A+-AAA): 139 games, .325 average, 21 home runs, 44 steals, .896 OPS
Hartman (A+): 69 games, .297 average, 19 home runs, 29 steals, .927 OPS
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Of course, this does not mean that Eric Hartman is on the fast track to becoming the Braves’ next league MVP. There are still some concerns about how his hit tool will translate as he continues to move up the system. The most difficult challenges lie ahead, which will give us a much better idea of when he might arrive in Atlanta.
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(Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire)