Braves Place Seven in MLB.com Top 100 Prospects

The MLB.com Top 100 Prospect list came out on Saturday evening, and even though we may not agree with all of the rankings the Braves did very well. Seven different Braves prospects made the Top 100, with another pair who just narrowly missed.

The first Brave to make the list was 2016 top draftee, Ian Anderson. The young pitcher from New York state continues to be highly thought of by the scouting industry, despite the fact that he hasn't reached full season ball just yet. Anderson came in at #86.

Just a few spots ahead of Anderson came lefty pitcher Sean Newcomb, the prize piece in the Andrelton Simmons deal last winter. Newcomb was ranked at #80, down from this point last winter as his command hasn't progressed as some had hoped but still a guy recognized for great upside.

A third pitcher was in that same small window with Mike Soroka coming in at #78. Soroka had a great first full season with Rome after being drafted from Canada in 2015, and was the first piece of the hyped 2016 Rome Braves rotation to make the list.

After Soroka the next Brave ranked, and the only other member of the Rome rotation to make the list to crack MLB’s Top 100 was Kolby Allard at #53. The Southern California native is the fourth Brave on the list, and the third pitcher selected in the first round by the club in the 2015 and 2016 drafts to make the list.

The fifth Brave to make the list was a bit of a surprise with how highly he ranked, as there weren't many people who would have predicted Kevin Maitan rank inside the Top 35, but that's what he did at #32. The 16 year old may only be the age of the average high school junior and hasn't played a professional game yet, but that didn't stop the most hyped Latin American teen since Miguel Sano from ranking very highly. He became the first Brave bat to make the list.

Joining Maitan as a highly ranked Brave bat is Ozzie Albies at #11. Albies had some ups and downs during an overall successful 2016 season which ended with an ugly elbow injury, but that didn't stop him from coming just a single spot away from the Top 10 in the rankings. That means on Opening Day, Ozzie Albies will be a Top 10 prospect in the game on MLB.com with near absolute certainty.

The only way Albies fails to crack the Top 10 the day after Opening Day is if somehow #4 ranked Dansby Swanson isn't in the lineup. Swanson, the Braves shortstop of both now and the future earned the highest ranking of Braves prospects behind just Andrew Benintendi, Yoan Moncada, and Gleyber Torres.

As if that's not enough, MLB.com prospect writer Jonathan Mayo tweeted back to a fan asking about the placement of a trio of other Braves prospects that both Ronald Acuna and Max Fried were in the 101-110 range in the rankings.

That means a total of nine Braves made the Top 110 prospects in the game, and doesn't even include guys that are also in the mix like Luiz Gohara and Austin Riley.