AJ Smith-Shawver tops Baseball America’s list of Braves’ 10 best prospects

Baseball America released its Top 10 prospects list for the Atlanta Braves Wednesday morning and the list is loaded with pitchers. Seven of the Braves’ top 10 prospects are arms which shouldn’t be surprising given the amount of pitchers taken with high draft picks in recent seasons.

It is no surprise that AJ Smith-Shawver tops the list, but 2023 first round pick Hurston Waldrep is right on his heels at No. 2. Below is a look at the complete top five.

1. AJ Smith-Shawver - RHP

2. Hurston Waldrep - RHP

3. JR Ritchie - RHP

4. Owen Murphy - RHP

5. Spencer Schwellenbach - RHP

Smith-Shawver began the 2023 season at High-A and moved through three levels of the minors to make his major league debut as a 20-year old. He ended up making six appearances (five starts) in the majors and was in consideration to make Atlanta’s postseason roster. He should figure heavily into the rotation picture at some point in 2024.

Waldrep will be one of the most watched players during the spring. He put up strong numbers across four levels after the draft and could also be in the mix at some point in 2024.

Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo will be chatting about the Braves system at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday and you can go ahead and start submitting questions now.