The MLB Draft concluded over the weekend, with the Braves adding a ton of intriguing prospects to their system — three of which landed in Kiley McDaniel’s latest top 10 for the organization.
Braves Updated Top 10 Prospects
- Tate Southisene
- Eric Hartman
- Cam Caminiti
- Owen Murphy
- AJ Garcia
- Briggs McKenzie
- Kaiden McCarthy
- Jensen Hirschkorn
- John Gil
- Alex Lodise
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For the first time in a while, the Braves’ top 10 features more position players than pitchers. Most prospect outlets have Eric Hartman as the #1 prospect in the organization after his remarkable 20/30 first half in High-A Rome. He’s an unbelievable athlete with real power who’s also outstanding in the outfield — a true five-tool talent who should really get tested in the second half with a move to Double-A.
Nobody should have much of an issue with Southisene taking the top spot, though. In his first full season of professional baseball after being drafted in the first round, he posted a .929 OPS with 30 steals in Low-A Augusta, earning him a promotion to Rome. Things proved a little tougher there initially, but he’s begun to pick it up significantly, recording a hit in five of his last six games, including three multi-hit efforts.
Caminiti entered the season as the Braves’ #1 prospect and hasn’t really done anything to lose the top spot. Hartman and Southisene have just been that good. Owen Murphy is now with the major-league club, and we’ll get a real good look at him this weekend as he makes his first MLB start against the Rangers.
The fifth spot is where we see the first member of this year’s draft class, AJ Garcia. The outfielder is coming off a monster season for the University of Virginia, hitting .354 with 14 home runs and an OPS north of 1.100. The Braves went underslot with both of their first-round picks, with the clear intention of targeting high school arms in the second and third rounds — which turned into Kaiden McCarthy and Jensen Hirschkorn.
Hirschkorn was particularly pricey, which is what it took to convince him to sign instead of heading to Baton Rouge. The nearly $4 million signing bonus he received is the largest ever for a player taken outside of the first two rounds.
“There’s not a whole lot [Hirschkorn] can’t do,” Braves vice president of amateur scouting Ronit Shah said, via Mark Bowman of MLB.com. “He’s athletic. He’s a big-time basketball guy. We’re really excited to see what he can do. He throws a ton of strikes. We saw him in the summer at a big-time event, the Area Code Games. He struck out nine guys in three innings. It’s hard to do better than that.”
The top 10 is rounded out by a couple of shortstops. John Gil looks the part of someone who could be starting in Atlanta for a long time, but his 2026 has been somewhat underwhelming to this point compared to his teammates. In 82 games, he’s hitting .247 with 11 home runs and a .733 OPS.
Alex Lodise, the Braves’ second-round selection last year, was another player who looked sluggish earlier in the year. That’s changed considerably over the last month, though. He has 10 homers in his past 22 games and is now sporting an .805 OPS on the season.
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(Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)