Three young pitchers claim the top of the Braves top 30 list
In recent years the top prospect or two in the Atlanta Braves farm system has been a relatively easy-to-parse equation. Each season it seems like one player or the other has a major breakout and gets near-unanimous support in the top spot, only to get shuttled to Atlanta and immediately graduate from prospect status. This midseason list, following the graduation of Drake Baldwin, was a much tighter affair at the top, though there was a clear top three in voting. The top tiers of the system are dominated by the pitching, no surprise given their investment in that market over the past few seasons, and a few players in particular have stood out. In addition two position players have gotten massive support from the voting crew, filling out some offensive talent to excite fans in hope for the next cornerstone hitter.
We appreciate the support and the readership of everyone in our prospect roll out this past week. These sorts of projects, and sharing our opinion on the system as a whole, is our favorite part of the job. We have you have all enjoyed it as much as we have, and if you missed any of our earlier segments you can find them below.
7-12 | 13-18 | 19-24 | 25-30 | Honorable Mentions
6. Nacho Alvarez – 3B
How he got to the Braves: 2023 MLB Draft, 5th Round
Nacho Alvarez’s ascent through Atlanta’s was as surprising as it was rapid, with him proving to be a fifth round gem that never struggled to produce at a high level. His plate discipline and ability to make contact in all parts of the strike zone allowed him to put up a 131 wRC+ as a 20 year old in 2023, then in 2024 he repeated that performance at the upper levels all while drastically increasing his power output. Unfortunately the good feelings were short-lived, as his debut in the major leagues was short and terrible, his bat speed and troubles hitting fastballs getting exposed quickly. He was sent back to Triple-A where he had success the rest of the season, but in a 2025 where there has been plenty of opportunity for Alvarez to stake his claim to a big league role he has spent most of the season hurt.
In a short time at Triple-A this year Alvarez has continued to produce wild on base numbers, but there is so little sample that it is hard to judge what if any improvement he has made in his ability to pull the ball effectively. In a very small sample size he has been lifting the ball a bit more this year, but isn’t hitting it as hard as he did last season. He made it to Atlanta for 8 more games and was much more successful, but still not nearly on a level that allowed him to stick. He also has been moved off of shortstop, stressing his bat even more. Still, Alvarez’s prior success and his elite on base skill at the minor league level make him an interesting prospect to follow. His defense at second base and third is much better than at shortstop, with him potentially being a plus glove at the hot corner, and while his power is ultimately limited by his bat speed he has the contact rates and plate discipline to be a high on base bat with 12-15 home run power at the next level. Whether he is a bench player who shuffles between Triple-A and the major leagues or a starter will come down to how much his approach and ability to turn on pitches improves, and if the Braves and Alvarez can come up with an effective solution to his problems against velocity. Alvarez is still 22 years old and only has a 16 game major league sample, whereas in the rest of his professional career he has been a dominant hitter.
5. Owen Murphy – RHSP
How he got to the Braves: 2022 MLB Draft, 1st Round
Tommy John surgery stunted Murphy’s rise in the system, where he likely would have been competing for a major league role at this point if he was healthy, but he is back on the field now and getting ramped up to finish the season in Rome. After being a 2022 Murphy has excelled, putting up a sub-4 FIP at every single level and a strikeout rate north of 31.3% at every level except for his three start sample to end 2023 in Rome. What makes Murphy special is his command and athleticism at his age, as he is adept at placing his high carry fastball at the top of the strike zone and getting swing and miss with it. Murphy projects to plus or better command, produces above average spin on his breaking balls, and is already working on the side to implement a changeup.
Murphy’s limitation so far as a professional has been his velocity. While he was drafted sitting in the low 90’s and topping out at 95 his velocity backed up once he was signed and we have only seen him sitting at a higher velocity in shorter outings. The positive news in that regard is that in the one start we have information on in the FCL his velocity was already sitting at his pre-surgery level, and given the tendency for pitchers to add 2-3 mph the further they get from surgery if he can hold that velocity in longer outings his profile would shift dramatically. His athletic profile, feel for spin, and command make him a solid back-end option even if that velocity doesn’t come, though his entire profile would benefit from it. In his post-draft starts he showed a curveball with plus potential and a slider with above-average potential, but those pitches — especially the curveball — have been less effective with the loss of velocity. He also had bouts of trouble commanding them in 2024, though he only had a seven start sample. If he can add power to his arsenal and start to implement his changeup in games he could potentially show four average or better pitches with plus command.
4. Diego Tornes – OF
How he got to the Braves: 2025 International Free Agent
The Braves biggest international signing in this past cycle, Diego Tornes was a bat we couldn’t wait to see begin his pro career this year. After signing for $2.5M out of Cuba, fans were hoping Tornes wouldn’t befall the same fate as the last group of international big ticket signings the Braves made – from Kevin Maitan down to more recently Diego Benitez and Ambioris Tavarez, things haven’t worked quite as well as planned.
Even though we are just 32 games into his career, the things we’ve seen from Tornes are looking to be a change from the recent history. Tornes is hitting .279/.395/.402 with 10 extra-base hits and 24 steals with 23 walks to 29 strikeouts. However more importantly is the praise he has gotten for his play from coaches and scouts, which have been glowing.
We can’t forget that Tornes is still years away, playing in the DSL and hopefully Augusta sometime next year. Still he could end up being the most hyped hitting prospect in the system since Ronald Acuna Jr. with his ability to hit for average and power with big speed and defensive ability. He will be one to watch the second he steps into the US next year, and he is a guy who could skyrocket the national prospect rankings by this time next year.
3. JR Ritchie – RHSP
How he got to the Braves: 2022 MLB Draft, Compensation Round A
Coming at third overall is the talented right handed pitcher JR Ritchie who was taken in the first compensation round in the 2022 MLB draft. On the season JR has moved from A+ (7 games), to Double-A (8 games), and has culminated in him finishing the season in Triple-A (2 games so far). He has found success across each level by showing especially polished command for a 22 year old that before this year had a career high of 49 innings across a single season.
At High-A Augusta Ritchie went 4-1 with an 8.21 K/9 and sizzling 1.30 ERA. In Double-A, where he made 8 starts, Ritchie saw some regression with the walk rate as it went up to 3.96 BB/9, but his strikeout rate also spiked up to 9.54 K/9. He’s only made a pair of starts in Triple-A but his 2.38 ERA, and 1.59 BB/9 have instilled enough confidence that he should be perfectly fine at that level despite the minimal history.
How has he done this you may ask – through a lot of work. JR has added a decent two seam of late to go with his four seam fastball. While the speed difference is minimal it has graded out really good and is essentially another average to fringe above average pitch that he commands well. He’s toyed with a cutter that’s graded out above average, and then also leverages a sweeper, more traditional curveball, and changeup. With the uptick in his sweeper/slider, two seam, and cutter all looking average to above average, and his command seemingly in a great place – there’s a ton to like about what JR can bring to Atlanta potentially as soon as 2026.
2. Cam Caminiti – LHSP
How he got to the Braves: 2024 MLB Draft, 1st Round
No one dreamed Cam Caminiti would be a possibility for the Braves in last year’s draft, considering they picked 24th and he was widely projected to go in the Top 10-15 picks despite being a prep arm. Then things started happening in the draft, and the Braves were able to get the Arizona prep lefty for an overslot bonus.
Cam threw one three inning appearance after signing this year and was projected to open in Augusta, but injuries and conditioning got him started late in the FCL. He was just decent in four starts there, though his 7.94 ERA doesn’t tell the whole story as he gave up come homers to a rehabbing Triple-A slugger that inflated his numbers. He was finally sent to Augusta and has just dominated the Low-A competition.
In eight games with the GreenJackets he has a 2.37 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in 30.1 innings, striking out 43 to 13 walks. Those numbers again don’t tell the whole story, as he really struggled with his command and the heat in his second start there, but he has been excellent in the other seven. In the 28 innings he has pitched outside that one game he has given up five earned runs for a 1.61 ERA, with a 1.07 WHIP and a 43 strikeout to nine walk ratio.
A relative of former NL MVP Ken Caminiti, Cam is still very young as he reclassified from being a 2025 senior to being a 2024 senior. He is still just 18 as of today, and is actually younger than a bunch of high schoolers taken in the 2025 draft. With that said he looks like a professional pitcher on the mound and certainly has big stuff, with a chance to have plus pitches with his fastball, slider, and change. He is a couple years away from Atlanta, but I don’t think it would surprise anyone if he reached Double-A some point in the middle of 2026, and he could start really climbing the prospect rankings heading into next year now that he is healthy and looking great. He possesses legitimate top of the rotation upside, and the highest upside in the system – short of Raudy Reyes maxing out his command and secondary pitches.
1. Didier Fuentes – RHSP
How he got to the Braves: 2022 International Free Agent
It was a split decision for the top player in the system, but despite his struggled in his major league debut Didier Fuentes’s body of work was enough for him to edge out Caminiti for the #1 prospect in the Braves system. Fuentes came out of nowhere as an 18 year old in 2024, shaking off a rough 2023 season to dominate the lower levels of the system with rare efficiency. Fuentes showed command and improved raw stuff, putting up outstandingly consistent strong performances with solid whiff rates. His performance and velocity steadily improved throughout the season, culminating with a major rise in our rankings and heavy expectations entering the 2025 season.
Still, it was hard for anyone to predict just how good Fuentes would look. He dominated with seven strikeouts over three innings in the Braves Spring Breakout game, only to go down to High-A and need only three starts — during which he produced a whiff rate of nearly 40% and a 2.04 FIP — to earn a call up to Double-A. Still aged 19 Fuentes ran into the first level that challenged him a bit in his career, as his whiff rates dropped early on and his lack of depth in his arsenal led to a couple of bad starts. He then immediately kicked it into gear, mowing down hitters with 18 strikeouts to four walks in a three game span, earning yet another call up. Fuentes entered Triple-A and in his first start put up an excellent line with six strikeouts and no walks, prompting Atlanta to give the just-turned-20 year old a shot at the major league level. It went poorly. Fuentes was not ready for that stage and got hammered in four starts, eventually being demoted where he had a couple of rough starts back-to-back for the Stripers. Finally he righted the ship with a magical start to end July, striking out nine batters and allowing just one run across five innings.
Overall, as one of the youngest pitchers in the upper levels of baseball Fuentes has been incredible this year. In 51 minor league innings he has a 3.03 FIP and 3.37 xFIP, but there is still work to do in his profile. Fuentes’s fastball has kept taking steps forward and sits at an average of 96 mph with a flatter than average approach angle and solid carry, producing terrific whiff rates, though plenty of fly balls that have turned into home runs when he hasn’t commanded the pitch effectively. He backs that up with a slider and a curveball that have both had success at every minor league level, his slider in particular being the pitch he has leaned on throughout his career. Fuentes has shown a feel for an above average splitter as well, but it has served as the most remarkably inconsistent piece of his arsenal. His command of the pitch has been spotty and he rarely uses it more than three or four times in a start, and since getting to Triple-A he has had more trouble killing spin on the pitch. The Braves have been cycling through grips and approaches for his splitter over his past few starts, and in his most recent one he used a splitter eight times, averaging his most horizontal movement by a large margin in any outing at Triple-A. His changeup is a key focus for him and the Braves and will be needed for him to stick as a major league reliever, but his ceiling is still impressive. He has two potentially plus pitches, and while his command has faltered a bit at the upper levels he is only 20 years old and has plus athleticism, an easy delivery, and a history of throwing strikes. He has all of the tools to learn a splitter and improve his command, and the Braves aggression with him shows just how much faith they have that he can figure it out quickly and become a consistent piece in the middle of their rotation.