The Athletic’s Jim Bowden recently broke down the most underrated prospect in each system, and if you’ve paid attention over the past two seasons, it really shouldn’t be a surprise who the Braves choice was — Bryce Ball.
An excerpt from the piece:
The Braves brought him into major-league camp during the first spring training, and the big-league players gave him the nickname Drago (from the “Rocky” movies). He’s extremely impressive physically with a legitimate bat. His hand-eye coordination is special.
There’s no question about it, Ball is already proving to be a steal after being selected in the 24th round of the 2019 draft. However, if you’ve been following this site for a while, you know that friend of the podcast, Ball, has been on our radar since his first couple of weeks in the minors. We currently have him ranked 12th among Braves prospects, while MLB.com has him at 19th.
In Ball’s first stint of pro-ball, he hit .329 with 17 homers and 18 doubles — good for an OPS of 1.023 — in 62 games between Rookie ball and Rome. It was so impressive that the Braves decided to include him on their 60-man taxi squad last season.
Given Ball’s incredible power, he won’t be under the radar for long, as long as he continues to improve his plate discipline. In 2019, that wasn’t a problem, but that was at the lower levels. The hype train will be at an all-time high if he picks up were he left off. Ball has legit 40 home run power with a beautiful swing from the left side. He’s most definitely one of the top prospects to keep up with in 2021 and beyond.
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