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The Atlanta Braves have done a great job finding and developing players into powerful bats, and Joe Dunand might be another one.
The former second-round draft pick out of NC State and nephew of Alex Rodriguez isn't considered much of a prospect anymore at 27 years old, but there have been plenty of examples of late bloomers.
He had a really great showing at The Cape in the Summer of 2016 and then a huge junior year at NC State where he slashed .287/.368/.632 with 18 home runs.
The Marlins took him with the 51st overall pick, but he never produced an OPS over .700 in his first three full professional seasons with the Marlins.
Last year he started to turn a corner at Triple-A posing a .242/.354/.424 slashline, but he wasn't displaying that power he showed in college.
Miami waived him during the 2022 season and the Braves claimed him. Atlanta later designated Dunand off the 40-man roster to make room for Mike Ford but were able to retain him.
That seems like a huge break for the Braves with Dunand having somewhat of a breakout season and finally displaying his power potential.
It's a small sample size -- just 29 games and 105 at-bats -- but he's slashing .333/.412/.667 with 10 home runs.
He has had double-digit home runs only once since 2018 when he hit 14 between High-A and Double-A.
His ISO (Isolated Power) of .333 seems unsustainable as that would currently be tops among MLB qualifiers just ahead of Shohei Ohtani. But even if it drops to .200, that would be the best of his career.
And the one thing that really gives you hope that he's turned a corner is he's putting up some big exit velocity numbers. His average exit velocity on the season is 90.5 MPH. That would put him among the 66th percentile in MLB. But he's also hit 20 balls this year with an exit velocity over 100 MPH -- 12 of them coming in the last two weeks.
Clearly, something has changed to allow him to get to that power more frequently, and if that continues he's going to get another shot at the big-league level.
The one concern that has always been there for Dunand is the strikeout rate. This year it's sitting at about 26.9%, which would be an improvement as he's been around 30% at the higher levels of minor league baseball.
And he does a good job getting on base with a walk rate over 10% the last two seasons.
As far as where he could play, he came up as a shortstop but has primarily played third and first base the last few seasons. He has the arm strength to stay on the left side.
Of course, the DH is also an option.
His change may not come with the Braves as they have defined roles at those positions, but if an injury were to occur he has certainly moved up the depth chart.
And it could also be a scenario now if he continues this power surge that he becomes a trade chip at the deadline for someone looking to plug a player right into their lineup and see if they can find a hidden gem.
It might just be a hot streak for Dunand, but the numbers are too big not to shed some light on them. Hopefully he is just a late bloomer and will get his opportunity soon -- whether it be for the Braves or someone else.
More must-reads:
- Incredible Orioles streak finally comes to end against Cardinals
- Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner tempers expectations for Juan Soto extension
- The 'No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft' quiz
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