Braves 2026 Farm System Check-In with Gaurav Vedak

00:00:21
Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and welcome back to the Hammer Terry Story Podcast, a special edition today. My name is Brad Rowlands, and I'm joined by a special guest who is not unfamiliar to our audience. Gorova Dak is here. Hello, sir, how are you?

00:00:34
Speaker 2: I'm doing a little Brad doing a lot better than you. I wasn't up till one watching that Hawks. Man.

00:00:40
Speaker 1: It's been an interesting week for the Atlanta Hawks, which is a different podcast. So if you want to listen to that thought Hawks, is this place to go. But yeah, I think we've been circling this for a little while. I you know, we always love when when you're come on. I don't want to overbear I don't want to overburden you. We can have you on every day, it would be great. But it was a good kind of tent pole because the folks that Battery Power I technically don't work anymore, but I used to work there. I used to host a podcast from there, and I know a lot of my college I think all three of my podcasting colleagues still rite for Battery Power. And you guys released your annual or wait by annual twice a year.

00:01:15
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, preseason, mid season.

00:01:17
Speaker 1: There you go, top thirty Braves prospect list and we don't even excuse to talk about prospects, but it's a good time to do that. And Number one, I want to plug it first. So I have never worked on it, but I know it takes a lot of work from people that have worked on it, including yourself. So people should be reading that battery power dot com. Best place to find it is that correct, That is correct perfect. So we won't give it all the way here. I won't read the list to everybody, but number one read that. Number two, how are you feeling broadly about the system? Because I messaged you every once in a while to say, hey, what's going on with the system?

00:01:53
Speaker 3: All these things? And you know you've got the.

00:01:55
Speaker 1: Rash of national farm system rankings in the last couple of weeks and the Braves are as not shockingly near the bottom of most of them. And that I see that, and then I see people who are really invested in the Braves push back on it a little bit to say, hey, it's not it is like, this is not a disastrous system. It's not thirtieth in the league. Where do you fall on that continue of like, how do you feel about the future of the system basically because that matters for on a story this season.

00:02:20
Speaker 2: But done what, No, for sure, I think the overall evaluation right now is pretty spot on. When when teams and we're an executives say, you know, bottom of bottom of the list twenty five through twenty seven, I think that's more than fair, mainly because when you're looking at the overall composition of each team outside of pitching, there's not too much above rome and so that's why that's why you just see those kinds of ratings. But in terms of the overall growth that we've seen in the system itself, you know, this year was one of our hardest years over the past like four or five years, because we're starting to see that small glit of talent who used to be eighteen nineteen and they're now getting a little older. They progress pretty well, people like Isaiah Drake, people like Owen Kerry as well, take a good step forward. Eric Hartman. We're seeing those players start to develop a little more, and so you're seeing the rankings as of right now aren't that great. But you know, by mid season, if all these players that you know we're high on, if they continue to progress. You know, potentially you're looking at a top eighteen system, and then when you add in you know, the top you know, top what ten draft pick plus twenty six plus the rumors that the Braves are going to be signing Sana from the international signing period itself. That's a lot of tools. That's a lot to get excited about. So, you know, we might be twenty seventh right now, but end of the year you might be looking more towards top twenty, and then entering next year you could be, you know, potentially top fifteen system and all in all of Major League Baseball, and then who knows from there. I really like the talent that they've been doing lately, the acquisition of the talent that they have been, the type of players that they've been going after recently. As long as that trend continues, I mean, we're maybe a couple of years away from the Braves having a top ten system.

00:04:08
Speaker 1: I wonder, and obviously you can't speak for anybody else's list, but I wonder how much of it has to do with the perception. Way you can tell me if this is right or wrong, that it's still pitching heavy. I know your list most of the top guys are pitchers, and there's not inherently it's nothing inherently wrong with that, but it's also a little bit less projectable, like pictures are just more vulntable. Is that is that part of the reason why the Braves might be a little bit lower in the collective consciousness.

00:04:32
Speaker 3: Does that make sense?

00:04:32
Speaker 2: Totally? Yeah, no, totally. You have maybe I think it was like ten out of the thirty or maybe eleven out of the thirty being position players. Of course, our top ranked Diego Torrens, who's got probably the highest ceiling in the entire system. But yeah, that's that's one of the main issues is the lack of position player talent. Again, the last couple of years, they've done a great job of acquiring John Heal, for example, from the international free agency class, and again Owen Kerr Eric Harrman via the draft. Recently, there's still plenty of hope for Jose Perdomo so and then of course Alex slow D's Connor Essenberg from last season's draft. So we're starting to see the talent in the position position player pool start to increase, but it's still pretty far below I mean, going into this year, I would probably be. Yeah, I think it's probably fair to say, similarly to last year, you're not gonna really be paying too much attention to the position players outside of Augusta in Rome still like Mississippi and Guinnette. It's still gonna be kind of rough to watch. There's not gonna be any real position player talent that you're gonna that we're gonna be trying to evaluate. Instead, it's gonna be mainly you know, those Quada players or players that are just trying to find a major league team eventually. So it definitely hurts, but we are starting to see that slowly, slowly start to go away as the Braves continue to really target position players through more than just the international free agency period.

00:05:58
Speaker 1: You mentioned Diego Tor and I wanted to ask you about him because he's an interesting player. He's I believe the highest right hosition player prospect on your personal list and also Battery Powers list collectively, which is by the way, voted all it's not just your list. I should say, that's that's called out in the article. But I'm sure that you are like why did you do this? And you're like, actually, that's not what I had. But he He's a guy that I think you have to be paying attention pretty closely to know about. Yeah, a relatively recentition to the system. He's also seventeen years old at this moment, I believe outfield prospect. But for people that people like me, I will I will want myself down on this. What should I know about Diego Torna's And obviously beyond the fact that he's you just mentioned it as nice high ceiling in the system. That's encouraging, But this is a guy who's still seventeen years old, which means ceiling is probably a little bit further away than most.

00:06:48
Speaker 3: But what's the kind of rundown on him? For people that may not.

00:06:52
Speaker 2: Know for sure? I think it is important to hold those expectations and check just a little bit. Coming into last year, everything you hear about is how polished his approaches, how good his hit tool is, his projectable power, He's got good speed, he's got a great arm, he's good good defense, he makes good defensive reads. So by the looks of it, he is a five a potential five tool player that seeds in all five of those tools. What I heard from out of out of the DSL and the FCL last year or out of camp last year, was that he is a player that is aware of his talents and it doesn't necessarily it's not necessarily bad thing. That's not a bad thing at all. Actually, I have been like dying for a slightly not arrogant, but someone that knows that they're the that they're that they're the good stuff, you know, someone like a Bryce Armor, right, And it really seems like Diego is in that form. By all accounts. Every single scout opposing scouts I've talked to just absolutely have spoken so highly of him. His ability to get the bat on, to find the barrel, I'm pretty much every single pitch he doesn't expand his zone. His ev rates are are pretty crazy. He's cracking out at seventeen, like you said, one hundred and eight hundred and ten miles an hour. Great footwork again, the arm is held up completely. He's looking good defensively right now, he's checking all the boxes. Of course we are taking we were seeing him against much smaller well, there are older talent compared to him, but it's still you know, a little junior. So we'll be interesting to see him come Stateside. How he kind of how he competes against more of the complete arsenals. You know over in the Dominican it's a lot more fastball change up once he's gonna come over here, so a few a few more curveball sliders that things like that. So how he adapts to that, is he's still able to sit for his pitch? Is he still able to drive? Those are things that we're still going to have to see. But by all accounts, when you talk to any count and any coach or any scout, they were absolutely floored by what they see from him and what he projects out to be. And that's really those guys know a lot more than I do, so I definitely trust them. Aj.

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00:10:09
Speaker 1: I wanted to ask you about the most recent draft class and not to lip these guys in. We can talk about them separately, but you know they were in the news because they were drafted. They braves had I think you know three or four guys that were drafted relatively highly. And there's always the part about how you use your bonus pool and all these things. But guys like Tate Salpasine, Brigs McKenzie, I know Alex Lodiz got got in might to spring training for example. Like what's the status of those guys spend what six months, seven months, eight months, that's the draft. Do you feel better or worse about the draft class? After seeing those guys in a small amount of minor league baseball, but just kind of a check in on them because they were other than like Caminitti and those guys will get which we'll get to in a second. They're probably the most top of mind because they were just drafted. So what's the kind of status on the top guys in the draft.

00:10:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's kind of weird when you're in that short season. You know, the draft is right in the at the end of the college World Series or sometimes right in the middle, super weird, long after the high school season ends, so it's players are are ramping back up just to try and get some time in with the organizations. So like it's hard to really account for anything that they do and take anything from it. We saw. The biggest surprise for me was takes south the scene even making a full season debut high schooler. Obviously, he showed enough in the Complex in the Florida Complex League for them to say, let's go ahead and get your season started. Of course it didn't go that great high strike out rates, but but really, I mean, if coaches think enough of him that they're ready to promote him to full season the year that he was drafted while he was a high school senior, that means he showed so much and by all accounts, what some of the notes I read were his unique ability to hit the ball to all parts of the field despite his age. So that's a huge, huge plus Alex Lowdese. Again, we knew what he was as a prospect itself, someone that had tremendous power from the shortstop position. He was going to stay at shortstop because of his great defensive ability. The main issue was his really aggressive swing, and we kind of saw that last year. He expanded his own quite a bond. Strikeout rates really high, not a lot of contact, but again we saw those kinds of changes happen with players like Isaiah Drake last year. So in terms of Alex Lowdese, I love the organization he's in to be able to utilize his full skill set. And then you look at you know, Dixon Williams. He was fantastic when he made his full season debut. The likes of Connor Essenberg and Briggs Mackenzie, the high schoolers that didn't really get started. Last year. I haven't heard too much about them, but what I have heard has been nothing but positive. And then the real wild card pick was the third round pick, Cody Miller from East Tennessee State. The main mark against him was his level of competition, but all he did this year he then was made his professional debut, was hit and hit for power and show off his speed. So all in all, it's one of the toolsiest drafts in recent memory. And on top of that, it actually brings a lot of high level potential with the position players, which is something that the Braves have kind of lacked for quite some time. Again, I'm not talking about the previous one where we saw, you know, I said, Eric Cartman and Owen carry quite a bit already, but then the other one with Isaiah Drake. But before that, you know, we we saw really, really the Braves were more to more let's see, the Braves were more likely to go after a college bat that maybe didn't have that ceiling but had the floor meant like a like a braid and shoemaker who didn't really work out. But we're starting to see those changes, and this is one of the classes that I'm looking forward to seeing the most just because we have enormous upside with a lot of those picks.

00:13:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, it makes total sense. I just you know, people want because they're the names people recognize. It's like, where it's going on with these guys, and where are they ranked? And all I get that impetus, but they are.

00:14:07
Speaker 3: They were not.

00:14:07
Speaker 1: Supposed to be arriving terribly soon, most of them anyway, So we'll see.

00:14:11
Speaker 3: How that goes.

00:14:12
Speaker 1: I wanted to go back to the actual top of I think ever list I've seen. I think Kemnity's number one on ever list that I've seen, including you guys. That's just guess it's probably a spoiler to some degree, but not a huge surprise. First I pick it Twiny twenty four if you don't remember, still nineteen years old until August, so very young, very talented. I will be as broad as possible and simply ask you this question, how good is Kim Kimminity and how excited are you about him given that he's been in the system now for you know, a year and a half, two years.

00:14:44
Speaker 2: I was I was a little reserved on him coming into last year, just because it's hard to live up to those kind of accolades. But when he showed up, he showed up, and that there's no other way to say it. It was clear what the brains were working on and what cam Kemmineddy was working on last year, and that was going to be fastball, fastball command and getting his his sorry excuse me, his sweeper slider shape to where he wants to in the confidence to throw it. And he did it to make a picture of his caliber into mainly a two pitch pitcher. And then watch him succeed to the level that he did, I was like, oh, okay, those guys were definitely right about him. And now we enter his next real full season where expectations are going to be as high as they ever will before him, and I'm expecting him to show off his curveball that he literally never threw last week last year. Well, I'm really looking forward to what kind of upside he's gonna have because he checks all the boxes right. He's able to locate that fastball in the upper third at will, He's able to generate whiffs with that pitch. He's able to throw his sweeper to both lefties and righties, to both sides of the plate. He's able to work the change up down low. He's able to work the change up away now when you add in that curveball and mostly and I believe a recent report came out that he's also going to be incorporating a cutter, Like I want to see how that cutter works. But if it's like every other pitch he has, you're looking at someone with the top of the rotation potential, and that's something that you don't really talk about at all outside of him. Maybe maybe Fuentis has that kind of potential, maybe an Owen Murphy, but I see more of a middle rotation guy of guy. To have a real top of the rotation kind of arm is not something a lot of organizations have, and there's in our minor system, in their minor leagues at all. And so being able to say that pretty confidently is a sizeable thing. And I, as you can imagine, I'm very excited to see how he can continues to develop this year.

00:16:40
Speaker 3: Yeah, I am too.

00:16:41
Speaker 1: And you know, it's one of those things where you drop to prep arm and you know there's volatility even if the arm is great, it's just he's seventeen years when you take him, and you know it's a long way away even now, Like I almost don't even want to ask the question of like how soon he can be up because it's like he's nineteen, it's gonna still be a little while and very very rarely do you see a picture up before they're twenty one to twenty two at the earliest. But also there's some uniformity on him. It's not like you guys are super high on him to create everybody else. He's he made the top fifties.

00:17:12
Speaker 3: I saw this this.

00:17:13
Speaker 1: Cycle, like he's he's really kind of uniformly agreed upon high end prospect. It's just the Vallati. He's still there, I think. I mean, I'm not an expert on this, but like you kind of have to acknowledge that when a nineteen year old pitcher, you know, injury wise and also just like will you pan out wise? But the upside for you to say front end starter, I know, I know you how you operate. You don't want to get people too excited for no reason. You don't say that without without any uh yeah, you have reservations usually, So that's that's that's a notable framing from you.

00:17:40
Speaker 2: I think, No, no, I totally agree, it's not something Those kinds of expectations are just really difficult to put on a on a player because there's what a handful of them in the majors itself. Yeah, I see that kind of upside with cam Uh. He's got tremendous ability to throw, a tremendous feel for all of his pitches, his ability to locate all of his pitches to everywhere he wants to, and by all accounts, he was getting o's on a few of those games with the with the strike zone from umps. Never let it get to him. He would just attack the next better. So like, he's got the mentality, he's got the overall arsenal. It's just he's just so young. He did it could go a million different ways, But if I was a betting man, I would say I like his odds of you know that I'm not gonna say of becoming a frontline starter, but of a major league caliber player.

00:18:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, where is he going to spend most of his time this season? As far as like what levels do you think he's gonna end up being at the because you know, he's probably the one he's definitely the most famous prospects in the system. I mean the name probably helps too. At first round pick. If Braves fans are like, hey, maybe once in a while I want to watch some like somebody maybe finally came.

00:18:47
Speaker 3: Where's he gonna be?

00:18:49
Speaker 2: I think the bulk, if not all, just because of his age, the bulk of his season is going to be in Rome. But if he turns out a season like he did last year at Rome, I think f on his way up to Columbus next year, which would be just absolutely insane. But he's got that kind of potential.

00:19:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, if you can be nearing Columbus by age twenty, that's a probably good track to be ridiculous picture. I am gonna purposely put these three guys together, and not because they're the same picture. They're all very different pictures. But you have the next kind of tier of prospect pictures in the system and no order. I will let you guys click on the article at Battery Power to tell the order or score wants to share it. But you have your poet says, which people I think have forgotten. He's a real prospect because of how crazy last season was and the whole bit when I'm talking about again, but he came up to early o those things.

00:19:43
Speaker 3: But then you have Jr.

00:19:43
Speaker 1: Richie people are excited about, and also Owen Murphy, who you already briefly mentioned but a former first round pick, had some injuries. But it's like kind of running back into form and seems like what should people be looking for with these three as far as you know, who might help the most the soonest, I think Diddier probably has the highest upside what I've seen, But I don't want to put words in your mouth. What is the consensus of those three guys kind of in the next group beyond Kevinitty.

00:20:07
Speaker 2: No, I think you're right, Flintis has the highest upside. I think Jr. Is probably the safest because he does a lot of the things really well. He just doesn't have that one pitch that is above all. He just does everything very well, and he commands all of his pitches very well. So I think he's probably the safest bet to have a long MLB career. Owen Murphy, he came back from Tommy John surgery and it was like he missed nothing. He was commanding every single one of his pitches and it was, honestly, it was ridiculous to see him perform at the level he did, so I honestly don't know what my expectations for Owen are going to be, are actually going to be coming into twenty twenty six because he responded so well post Tommy John. Normally I would say it's going to be a watch this season. Let him build that stamina in his arms, let him get the control down with his pitches. But he showed his ability to do that already. He showed his ability to throw his fastball in the upper third already. So you know you're looking with Owen, you're looking at someone who might be knocking on the door of a major league a major league spot, and that brave rotation. When you're talking about all those I mean looking at last year, all all the arms that got injured, there's serious potential, there's serious possibilities that we see all three of them in the majors in twenty twenty six.

00:21:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, Murphy, I mean, I know, he got drafted a while ago. He's still only will be twenty two all season. He was drafted very young. So a guy that's like almost as that out of mind to people that are not in this every day, Like I know the name, I know the name very well, and you know he was out for a year plus with Tommy and all that stuff. It's like, hey, this guy's still really young and really talented and the first front pick for a reason when he was drafted. I do want to ask you a general question. You can pick one or two if you want to. I've seen you posted your own personal list on Twitter. People can go find that. But I want to also ask you, like who do you find yourself being higher on than your colleagues? Like who do you have like a guy or two that's like your guy of a system. Maybe it's something we already talked about, But do you have a favorite Maybe it's a deeper, sleeper, whatever it is. You're a guy who's like when you're in a group chat with Matt and those guys, it's like, who do they make fun of you about being too high on?

00:22:17
Speaker 3: You know what I mean? Everybody has their guys. Who your guys?

00:22:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, so this year is definitely Cody Miller. I just he checks everything. He checks all the boxes. He did extremely well against Power for Opposition in college despite being at East Tennessee. He's got a really good ev data. He doesn't expand that often. You know he's hitting the balls to all part. He is not hitting the ball on the ground that often. It's just so much to like about him. I know I was the highest on him going into this cycle. I believe I had him at number twelve, that everyone else had him closer to eighteen to two. And you know, it's gonna be a big year from him. If if he ends up hitting in double A Columbus, then you know everyone's gonna be all over him. He's gonna be the guy that is the king of advanced metrics in college because he kind of showed off at East Tennessee State. So if he you know, if he goes off in Columbus, everyone's gonna be like, Okay, who is the next Cody Miller at East Tennessee State that we can look into and develop Because he does everything right. He can play short, but because there's kind of a logjam, and because he's so athletic, he can play multiple positions. They can put him in the center field if they want to, they can put him in second. And it's not because he doesn't have a true place. It's because he's that talented and he's got that kind of athleticism that they can put him where they need to and he can eventually get to at least average at the position, which is ridiculous to say. So I would say out of everyone, I'm probably the highest on Cody Miller. Had to pick another one, I think it would probably be Jose Perdomo. And that's mainly because I, you know, I've heard so many scouts say so many positive things about him that I haven't watched him, so I can't. I personally can't move him down without you know, someone telling me that he isn't what he what everyone said he is, and without being able to watch it. Like okay. So even despite the struggles, despite the injury concerns, the soft tissue injury concerns, which is something you really don't want to see from someone that young, I still have really high hopes for him because of his overall skill set.

00:24:37
Speaker 1: So as we're recording this on Super Bowl Sunday, pictures and catchers report in a couple days, we're getting close, right, uh, And I wanna we're into a little bit of major we talk at the end, because you are more than qualified to talk about that as well. But from the minor league side, people are gonna be watching spring training games, and obviously it's from a from a far or going down there. Even potentially what is interesting to you that you're watching for in spring training that prospects can either show or maybe that you're worried about or something like with a prospector too, like what's something that you can actually maybe take stock of in spring training? Because I always kind of roll my eyes about spring training to be honest with you. Yeah, as far as the game results for conservatives or anything that you're actually looking for, it's like actionable.

00:25:18
Speaker 2: It's definitely process of a results. I don't care how John Hill if he goes over twenty in spring training. I want to look at the quality of it. Beats, is he chasing? Is he not chasing? Is he just getting overwhelmed by a ninety nine mile an hour heat If he is whatever, he's nineteen years old, right like, he's going to continue to get those reps and then get better. So I'm just looking at the process. I want to see how they're acclimating to the talent around them, because everyone is going to be around players that are better than any player they've ever been around, and so are they Are they calm and composed, Are they using their resources? Are they trying to be sponges? You know those pitchers that are there. You have the likes of a Chris Sale right in your grasp. Are you talking to him? Are you trying to soak up everything he's got? Like, those are the really things I care about. What they do, how they perform. I don't really care what they'll show me. H, They'll show me what they can do over the course of a full season. Spring training isn't gonna isn't gonna tell me that at all. So it's really just the process of how they're handling themselves, how they're handling the environment, and what they're trying to do with their time with the access to all these incredible talents.

00:26:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, you get the press release that says who the invites are going to be non roster and you know guys like low Dis and Heel are notable on those lists.

00:26:35
Speaker 3: But it's also like, how long are they going to be there? Probably not that long.

00:26:39
Speaker 1: But it's a nice thing to see, But it's it's it's a little bit of a stamp of an approval from the organization to say, hey, we think we have enough of you to bring you to camp.

00:26:47
Speaker 3: That's more than what it is. But you're right.

00:26:49
Speaker 1: It's if you're nineteen or even twenty one or twenty two, like just soaking it up. You know, a new manager in town. I don't know what w how Walt's gonna approach screen training. All these things are uncertain at this stage, but bracepoint throw it out there.

00:27:02
Speaker 3: Okay.

00:27:02
Speaker 1: I have a bridge question to major league and it's if I was to ask you who the most likely prospect is to help the team, not just play, but actually proactively help the Braves in twenty twenty six.

00:27:16
Speaker 3: Who is that? I have an idea? Is it? Okay?

00:27:19
Speaker 1: I thought I thought you were gonna say him or John Carlos Laura, those are those are my two options.

00:27:24
Speaker 2: I know that's also also a great a great person to pick with Laura. It's if his walk rate is under like four, then he's a major leaguer. Doesn't matter. He's he's gonna be in the majors and he's going to be pitching as much as they can. But in terms of just overall, we we saw all the issues with starting pitching from last year. These these players pitching, it should be legal if we're thinking about it, like just putting your body through That doesn't make sense whatsoever. With Luke, he's got five He's got four plus pitches in one and A and a really quickly developing current ball. He's he's someone that at six eight two fifty us looks the part, doesn't even look the part. He looks like a linebacker for being honest out on the mound, but he checks all the boxes. He's a little bit older, he's got college experience, and he showed his ability to pitch well in the AFL and notorious hitters Haven. So yeah, if I had to pick one, it's probably Luke Scenard. But yeah, Jean carlosar is gonna be one A.

00:28:23
Speaker 1: And I guess you know, Hayden Harris already debuted, but he's still eligible, so maybe he counts to I know, there are a lot of brace fands that love Hayden Harris.

00:28:32
Speaker 3: Sure, it seems like he's fine.

00:28:34
Speaker 2: Hayden Harris, Blake Burke Alter, like Lucas Brown, all four of them. Really, I could totally see them having roles in Atlanta. But in terms of like the biggest impact, if I had to pick one, I would have to go with SNAr just because the overall polish on his game right now.

00:28:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, on one hand, I feel like the most easiest place to break in is probably the bullpen. But if you get a rash of pitching injuries and this stort I rotation like guy's gotta make story, that's how you end up with diddy Er pitching last year. And while he was not ready for that, Oh I should ask you about that now that how do they handle Didier now? In your mind because you know it's it's all different. He debuted, so like, yeah, they thought enough to fast track him, but it went so poorly and I wonder how they What do you think about how they're gonna handle him for this season?

00:29:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I understand. I totally understand the logic behind him making that those starts, and it was because one of the enormous ceiling and then to his ability to again execute in the upper third, which is something most minor league pitchers have an issue with, is being able to locate that flastball up in the zone and generate whist from That's what DeTar was really really good at. I understand the thought process behind it, and it was someone Okay, maybe we'll catch lightning in a bottle and he will just completely take off and then he just fills in that role for the rest of the year moving forward. It didn't work that way because again, he's just super duper young, and you can't really, you know, having those kinds of expectator. I'm not going to say they had expectations of him being a stalwart in the in the rotation to begin with, but you know, it's I know he didn't wasn't overwhelmed because that's not who he is or anything like that. He just has to learn a little more and he's just got to get more reps and that's really all it comes down. All it comes down to. I think he starts the year in Gwinnett and he's the first arm up should there any should there be any kind of substantial injury to a starting pitcher, because what he has is there, He's got major league tools. He is a major league caliber pitcher. I don't want to see him spending too much time in the minors because there isn't that much he needs to learn. It's mainly just getting those continual reps and just getting more familiar with his armstot for all his pitches and being able to repeat those mechanics over and over and over, because when he's on the mound, like it doesn't matter, he doesn't get frazzled. It's not an issue. But what we saw last year was, yeah, it was it wasn't great, but that's not really indicative of who he is. I again, I I don't think it was handled incorrectly because I understand the logic that went behind it. It just didn't work out the way that they did. And sometimes that just happens.

00:31:22
Speaker 1: I wonder this is probably two galaxy brain. I wonder if the Braves, because they had been kind of running hot on those decisions when they when they had fast track guys in the in the recent past, it actually worked like more often than not. And I wonder if I got a little high on their own supply on that one, like, Hey, this is this keeps working for us, why don't we try it again? And I get it too, Like like you said, he as young as he is. They had a need which we talked about a million times. I'm gonna ask you about a second actually about that same need potentially, but he's still twenty, he'll be twenty till June, Like, this is a guy who's has a long runway and a lot of upside and they I I know that Alex and company are not always under percent popular, and I understand why they're also not buffoons. They didn't just decide to throw them up there for no reason, you know what I mean. Like, I don't like to I don't like to do the appeal to authority thing like guys make mistakes, and Alex make mistakes, Like, but there's not They're not just doing that for They weren't thinking this guy has no chance, let's pitch him like they.

00:32:16
Speaker 3: You know what I mean?

00:32:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, it is what it is.

00:32:20
Speaker 1: Kind of on that topic, I want to ask you a couple of major league things, probably but the probably the biggest storyline in the last couple of weeks is the starting pitching market. Finally from Er signed, but still you got at least three projected, you know, eight figure a season pitchers still available in Zach Gallan, Chris Bassett, Lucas Giolito, and the Braves don't have as much of a need there. Even I'm on record as saying I hope the Braves sign of starting pitcher.

00:32:49
Speaker 3: I want them to. I think they probably should.

00:32:51
Speaker 1: They don't have as glaring of a need as some teams do in that area. I will grant that, But where do you kind of fall on this, Like do you think the Braves need to do something else? It's February eighth, it's getting kind of late early, and it's weird these guys are not sign at this point report this week.

00:33:04
Speaker 3: But what do you think about the rotation? Like the state of the rotation? Do they need another arm?

00:33:07
Speaker 2: Like?

00:33:07
Speaker 3: How do you stack up on that conundrum? Right now?

00:33:10
Speaker 2: I'm firmly on your side. I want a veteran pitcher. I want someone that's been through the course of a full season. For me, it's it's Chris Bassett. I like what he can provide is anything glamorous, No, but it's someone you can depend on and someone that you can pencil in every fifth day. And that that alone, after last year, like that alone is so much added comfort that you don't have to necessarily worry about what's gonna happen the next day. And so I truly believe you know they have the huge glut of arms. We're not even talking about aj snishav Or, who was on a roll before his injury, and I'm eagerly waiting for him to come back. But they have a lot of pitching, a lot of it's super young. I for someone with with for a team with World Series aspirations, I would love for them to add a veteran pitcher that can get through a full season, accumulate some innings, and just provide that dependability in the staff itself, because uh, yeah, I guess I've already said my reasons, but I'm I'm I'm right there with you. I would love to see Chris Bassett. Giolito is fine, but there's that injury risk with him too. And then Zach Gallon with the it's hard to give away a compick for someone, Yeah, it's gonna be like a one year a one year player really.

00:34:28
Speaker 1: So that's the thing about Gallon is like if if he didn't have the QO, yeah, like he would be a very logical target for like a high pretty high av short term yuel.

00:34:39
Speaker 3: But like that's a harder sell.

00:34:40
Speaker 1: Even for me as someone who doesn't value probably the draft stuff as much as others YT, I still probably wouldn't be super interested in that unless it was came at a bargain basement price that just doesn't realistic. So for a long time that's just been my guy too, So we're we're't allowed with there. I thought it's interesting though, I know, I know you want to do this is not you, but I think people are gonna think, oh, the prospect guy wants them to sign a veteran Starry Fitcher to block the prospects. But it's it's more about, like you just have to get through a whole season, and it's not that you can't have.

00:35:09
Speaker 3: Room for Waldrip, who's going to be around.

00:35:12
Speaker 1: I think that he will maybe start the season in Gwinette because he has options, but like he'll mix, he'll mix darts. Did your you already? I mean Richie, Richie could be up the season. That wouldn't surprise anybody, I don't think. So there's plenty of runway and look in the unlikely scenario where everyone stays healthy all season, cool, like that's not a bad problem to have.

00:35:36
Speaker 3: I would say.

00:35:39
Speaker 1: Anything else that you're even beyond minor leag stuff anything else. You're like looking forward to the season. I mean, and then it's early. Maybe we'll have you all before opening day again or something. But there's a I think there's a little bit of buzz about the Braves.

00:35:52
Speaker 3: I don't. I don't. Fangrafts.

00:35:53
Speaker 1: Fangrapts is very high on the Braves. The projections. That doesn't mean anything. I mean, it means something, but it doesn't mean everything. Like I'm start to feel like optimism again. Maybe I'm ready to be hurt again or something.

00:36:05
Speaker 3: I don't know.

00:36:05
Speaker 1: Last season was a disaster, but major league level, Like, how are you feeling about the situation heading into twenty six because obviously they changed not they haven't changed a ton, but they've added to the roster, like they're in better ship than they were a few months ago.

00:36:17
Speaker 2: They've added to the roster, they brought in new coaches, you know, they they've made whole organizational changes and it's it's it's been a lot, you know, even talking about the pitching coordinator down in the minors, Paul Davis was let go and they still haven't filled that position. There's a lot of question marks, there's a lot of unknowns, and that's what makes twenty twenty six so interesting. How do the Braves adapt? How do these new coaches, Like, how does the organization adapt to to Hefner at the top. Now you know he's someone that loves to have the multiple fastballs with a with a with a with a pitcher itself. Is that something they continue to Are we going Are the Braves going through? Uh? Gonna be targeting more reclamation projects just like the Mets did, because they like to turn relievers into starters. Like there's so many things that I don't know what's gonna happen that we get to see develop in real time, and and it's gonna be like super exciting. And and that doesn't even state the fact that I think the Braves should be one of the favorites in the league to win the World Series, especially if they add another veteran pitcher, someone that's been through the full season grind and knows how to knows how to just get through it, Like I like the Braves chances. Of course, what are you gonna do if you go up against the Dodgers and they're forty seven starting pitchers, and you know, you have to get it done on the on the on the field itself, and that's where you gotta let your players talk. And I like what the Braves have done a full season of profar like that's gonna be changing. A full season of Drake Baldwin and his confidence, that's gonna be that's gonna help so much. Uh, fully healthy Ronald Acuna like yes please.

00:38:02
Speaker 1: So yeah, that's that's the thing that people people are maybe not understand, like not recognizing, like maybe Runnie's running had a full season, a full season to like be healthy. Yeah, be himself, and that's that's usually good thing for him.

00:38:14
Speaker 2: And then then you saw, yeah, I always like all Vranie and then you saw Ozzie rebound towards the end of the season. Can he keep that up? If he's an eight hundred ops kind of player, then that's pretty much everyone and the Diamond that's an eight hundred ops player once Kim comes back, so you know you have to well as long as Michael Harris also, you know.

00:38:34
Speaker 3: I was gonna say question, Yeah.

00:38:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, if those two, if those two play to their capabilities, and everyone's you know, close to an eight hundred ops player. When you have a bullpen like the Braves have started to develop and you got two dynamite closers at the end, and then you have no potentially gian Carlos Laara, you already talked about Hayden Harris his ability to now locate his sweeper to both sides, like, there's so much to be hopeful for that. I'm actually going in with pretty sizable expectations and I just hope that doesn't hurt me. It has in the past. But there's a lot to like and a lot to really pay attention to this year, and that's what's going to really make twenty twenty six fun.

00:39:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, the old Hope Springs Eternal is definitely in. I'm right there with you at this point in time. Well, thank you number one for coming on the pod. We talk a lot offline, but I don't want to burden you too much by asking you to come all the time. It's like I'll watch my asks every once in a while. We'll do this, but I thank you for doing it. We plugged the list already, but we're number one. Play anything you want to. Where else can people find all your coverage? You're always dialed into things, but not just minor league stuff, major league stuff work.

00:39:47
Speaker 3: If folks be following you if they want to.

00:39:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, So, like you said, I do my writing over on Battery Powered. This year, I'll be debuting over on Lockdown Braves, and I'll be doing some podcasting over there, some video podcasting over there covering the miners as well, and then all things and all things data and analysis. You can see some of not necessarily my work, but the work I help get out there over at Baseball Perspectives.

00:40:17
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I'm supposed to be mortal enemies with locked On Braves for some reason, that's not the case, and I also work I also work at locked On, so it's kind of like interesting back and forth there.

00:40:28
Speaker 3: But listen to that show.

00:40:29
Speaker 1: There's plenty of room for all of us into space, so it's not a head to guy competition. And follow Gore for sure. Thank you, sir for doing this. Very valuable and I always raise my hand. I know Scott does as well. Steven's a little bit better than we are, and Sean, but I don't follow the stuff that closely. I wish I had more time to do so, but you helped me fill in the gaps, so I sincerely appreciate it.

00:40:49
Speaker 2: You do the same thing for me with the Hawks, man, so I appreciate your work. Yeah.

00:40:54
Speaker 1: Dms are open for Hawks questions if anybody has them. Anyway, as everybody else please subscribe to this podcast your search Hammer Territory and any podcast player, Apple, Spotify, YouTube, et cetera. Ratings, reviews, importantly, tell your friends follow groves work.

00:41:08
Speaker 3: We'll see everybody next time.