Keith Law calls Braves ‘stacked’ in NL East prospect roundup

Fresh off of releasing his Top 100 prospects list for 2018, ESPN.com’s Keith Law is now taking a team-by-team look to go a little deeper in each system beginning with the NL East. The Braves’ Top 10 prospects made his Top 100 ranking so there is no mystery there.

Here Law adds 16 more names and this really shows off the depth of Atlanta’s system and why they are ranked No. 1 in his organizational rankings.

11 - Kolby Allard
12 - Kyle Muller
13 - Patrick Weigel
14 - Austin Riley
15 - AJ Minter
16 - Ricardo Sanchez
17 - Travis Demeritte
18 - Alex Jackson
19 - Drew Waters
20 - Dustin Peterson
21 - Tucker Davidson
22 - Freddy Tarnok
23 - William Contreras
24 - Drew Lugbauer
25 - Derian Cruz
26 - Huascar Ynoa

Law was criticized a bit for the omission of Allard and Riley from his Top 100 list. Here he points to a regression in Allard’s stuff as a reason for him slipping. He acknowledges Riley’s improvement with his body and defense but still questions his bat speed which he says led to struggles in High-A before his promotion.

Law’s sleeper on the list is catcher William Contreras who could jump onto Top 100 lists as soon as next year if he continues to hit. He also ranked 2017 second round pick Drew Waters 19th but said he didn’t impress scouts in pro ball with many questioning whether he will hit.

There is no question that the MLB penalties hurt the system’s depth. Just looking at this list, you see a few guys like Travis Demeritte and Dustin Peterson that seemed to stall a bit. Then there are guys like Freddy Tarnok and Tucker Davidson who seem ready to climb up the board.

Comparing to other teams in the NL East, the Phillies and Nationals had six prospects each ranked in Law’s Top 100, the Marlins had three and the Mets one. That is a pretty good illustration of the Braves’ depth and why they are ranked No. 1 by Law.