Our Braves Prospect Power Rankings series continues today. Remember, as mentioned in April’s column, this isn’t meant to be an actual top-ten ranking overall. This is just a list of the ten Braves prospects, in my opinion, that are playing the best at this point in time. Non-prospects can make our power rankings too, although the initial pool of players come from FanGraphs’ prospect list they put out this past March.

Honorable mentions

• AJ Smith-Shawver, SP
• Patrick Clohisy, OF
• Landon Harper, RP
• Isaiah Drake, OF
• Owen Carey, OF

Now with over 50 innings pitched at the major league level (the threshold for pitchers), righty AJ Smith-Shawver technically isn’t a “prospect” any more. And unfortunately, his UCL tear means we won’t see him pitch again in 2025. But, Smith-Shawver still deserves a few words for the season he had put together, posting a 3.86 ERA across nine starts with Atlanta.

An 11^th-round pick from last summer’s draft, Patrick Clohisy is already up to 30 stolen bases so far this season in just 49 games. And his hitting has been solid as well, shown by a .254/.365/.368 slash-line and 14 XBH (10 doubles), all coming together to produce a 124 wRC+. Clohisy didn’t do much to jump off the page in 2024, but as a 23-year-old this season, he’s looking like a legit prospect in the Braves system.

Not very well-known, and perhaps forgotten about by now, 24-year-old righty Landon Harper will be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this coming winter, and he appears to be a great pick-up when he does. Harper, a 14^th-round pick by the Braves back in 2022, is once again dominating Double-A batters out of the Clingstones bullpen, holding a 1.91 ERA in 33 innings this season after finishing 2024 with an even better 1.41 ERA in 51 frames.

Isaiah Drake and Owen Carey are a pair of teenage outfielders hitting well down in Single-A Augusta — the former with a 120 wRC+ and 16 stolen bases and the latter with a 117 wRC+ with nine stolen bases and 14 doubles. It’s sort of expected for Drake to perform this well in the low-minors, as he was a 5^th-round pick two drafts ago. But for Carey (15^th-round in 2024), this is pretty impressive. Drake is 19 years-old, while Carey is still just 18.

Braves May Prospect Power Rankings

#10. Geraldo Quintero, 2B/OF

AA – Columbus – 23-years-old

As you’ll notice with these rankings, currently, the Braves don’t have many position-players in the system performing all that well, at least in terms of young players you’d consider a prospect or potentially one in the near future. Quintero has sort of been a fringe-prospect for the last couple of seasons, though FG did rank him no. 16 in the organization back in 2023. Regardless, the 23-year-old is once again hitting Double-A pitching fairly well this season, and he’s showing some newfound power as well, already just one homer shy of reaching a season-high for him. Since 2019, Quintero has posted a wRC+ of 100 or higher in all but one of his five minor league seasons (no season in 2020), which is impressive. His current 142 wRC+ is by far his best as a pro.

FG’s rank: N/A

April’s power rank: N/A

2025 stats: 34 G, .223 AVG, 142 wRC+, 7 HR, 23 RBI, 9 SB

#9. Dylan Dodd, P

AAA – Gwinnett – 26-years-old

Similar to Smith-Shawver above, Dodd is approaching his graduation from being a prospect as he’s now up to 38 major league innings for his career. His most-recent frames with Atlanta were solid. Dodd appeared in back-to-back games against both the Phillies and Red Sox respectively last week, giving the Braves 1.2 scoreless innings and striking out one with just one hit allowed. The lefty hasn’t posted outstanding numbers in Triple-A Gwinnett so far this season, currently sporting a 5.00 ERA. But it appears some bad luck is hurting him there as his xFIP (2.76) and FIP (3.75) are 1-2 runs lower than his ERA.

FG’s rank: 33^rd

April’s power rank: N/A

2025 stats: MLB – 1.2 IP, H, K | AAA – 18 IP, 5.00 ERA, 3.75 FIP, 12 K/9, 1.5 BB/9

#8. Elison Joseph, RP

AA – Columbus – 24-years-old

It’s been two months in a row that Joseph has pitched well in the Clingstones bullpen. After posting a 2.35 ERA in 7.2 innings in April, the 24-year-old turned in a 4.50 ERA in May, tallying a whopping 14 strikeouts in eight frames — an average of 12.4 K/9. Joseph has been in the system for awhile now, as the Braves signed him as a teenager way back in 2019. He just reached the Double-A level during the second-half of last season, and since entering the high-minors, he’s definitely held his own. In 36 total innings with Columbus since 2024, Joseph owns a 2.25 ERA to go with 50 strikeouts. He still needs to work on limiting free passes, but the punchout stuff is certainly there.

FG’s rank: 30^th

April’s power rank: 9^th

2025 stats: 15.2 IP, 3.45 ERA, 3.42 FIP, 11.4 K/9, 7.4 BB/9

#7. Jhancarlos Lara, SP, RP

AAA – Gwinnett – 22-years-old

After primarily working as a starter in Double-A (and struggling), Lara was promoted to Triple-A in early May and moved to the Stripers bullpen. There, he seems to be thriving as he hasn’t allowed a run in his last three consecutive appearances, currently holding a 3.86 ERA/3.80 FIP overall in 4.2 innings with Gwinnett. Like Joseph above, Lara is a very hard-thrower, reaching 101.1 MPH with his fastball during his Triple-A debut last month. But, also similar to Joseph, Lara will need to do a better job of controlling his stuff as he’s averaging over nine walks per nine at both levels of the minors so far this season. That many walks just won’t work.

FG’s rank: 27^th

April’s power rank: N/A

2025 stats: AAA – 4.2 IP, 3.86 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 13.5 K/9, 9.6 BB/9 | AA – 17.2 IP, 11.21 ERA, 7.57 FIP

#6. Didier Fuentes, SP

AA – Columbus – 19-years-old

The Braves are being rather aggressive with Fuentes this season, especially given he’s still a teenager. The 19-year-old began 2025 with High-A Rome, posting a 5.54 ERA in a trio of outings, before earning a promotion to Double-A in late April. But since moving up to Columbus, Fuentes has shown some promising signs as he’s managed a 4.98 ERA / 3.01 FIP in five starts (21.2 IP). And even against stronger competition, his strikeout rate is still above average, going from 12.4 K/9 to 9.9 K/9 since the promotion. For a young kid with still less than 40 innings overall above A ball, Fuentes is looking strong.

FG’s rank: 11^th

April’s power rank: N/A

2025 stats: AA – 21.2 IP, 4.98 ERA, 3.01 FIP, 9.9 K/9, 2.9 BB/9 | A+ – 13 IP, 5.54 ERA, 2.28 FIP

#5. Ethan Workinger, OF

AA – Columbus – 23-years-old

Perhaps it’s time to finally label Workinger a legit prospect? The 23-year-old, former UDFA, just keeps raking in the minors, following up a .749 OPS in April with an even better .840 OPS during the month of May. For a Braves system really thin when it comes to prospect hitters, Workinger deserves the attention, and not just for his three-homer game back on May 1. He’s definitely cooled off a bit as of late, going just 4 for 26 (.154 AVG) in his last eight games. But Workinger’s numbers for the season are still strong, and he’s a player to keep an eye on going forward.

FG’s rank: N/A

April’s power rank: N/A

2025 stats: 41 G, .240 AVG, 140 wRC+, 9 HR, 29 RBI

#4. Luke Sinnard, SP

A+ – Rome – 22-years-old

Last summer’s third-round pick earned a deserved promotion to High-A Rome last week after dominating the Single-A level with a ridiculous 0.92 ERA in his first seven starts (29.1 IP) of the 2025 season. Sinnard did struggle in his Rome debut back on May 28, getting hit with five earned runs from six hits in 5.2 innings. However, the 22-year-old still managed to log a 5/1 K/BB ratio, suggesting he’s plenty capable of retiring High-A batters. Sinnard wields a pretty advanced arsenal at just 22, so it should be interesting to see how he handles his recent promotion going forward.

FG’s rank: 17^th

April’s power rank: 3^rd

2025 stats: A+ – 5.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, BB, 5 K | A – 29.1 IP, 0.92 ERA, 2.54 FIP

#3. Blake Burkhalter, SP

AA – Columbus – 24-years-old

Plenty has been written already this season about Burkhalter as many in Braves Country were even calling for him to earn an MLB debut back in April. He’s been that good. And he continues to be good, posting a 3.75 ERA during the month of May after logging a 2.61 ERA in April. In fact, Burkhalter’s last four outings have all featured two earned runs or fewer (2.84 ERA in that span), to go with 16 strikeouts in 19 innings. Like a lot of these prospect pitchers, he still needs to manage his free passes. But as of right now, Burkhalter is among the top-tier pitchers in the Braves system. A promotion to Triple-A is likely coming soon.

FG’s rank: 14^th

April’s power rank: 2^nd

2025 stats: 44.2 IP, 3.22 ERA, 2.99 FIP, 8.4 K/9, 3.8 BB/9

#2. JR Ritchie, SP

AA – Columbus – 21-years-old

Considered by many to be the current #1 pitching prospect in the Braves system, Ritchie continues to show flashes of absolute greatness, he just needs to be more consistent. He’s tossed a complete-game shutout that featured nine strikeouts, but has also walked five batters in a single start, so there has definitely been some ups and downs. But overall, the 21-year-old is progressing very nicely. Ritchie earned a promotion to Double-A earlier this month after allowing just two runs over his final 27.1 innings (0.66 ERA) with High-A Rome. Since pitching with the Clingstones, it hasn’t always been pretty, but Ritchie’s numbers are still solid.

FGs’ rank: 9^th

April’s power rank: 5^th

2025 stats: AA – 14.1 IP, 3.14 ERA, 5.19 FIP, 8.1 K/9, 5.0 BB/9 | A+ – 41.2 IP, 1.30 ERA, 3.64 FIP

#1. Drake Baldwin, C

MLB – Atlanta – 24-years-old

Once again, Baldwin tops the prospect power rankings, putting together another month of strong play as he hit .389 with three homers and a pair of doubles in 19 games in May, which is even stronger than his April numbers (17 G, .250 AVG, 2 HR, 2 2B). I mean, what else is there to say about Baldwin? He has done everything you could possibly do as a rookie so far in 2025. As long as Baldwin is positively contributing in the majors, he’ll likely remain #1 in these rankings.

FG’s rank: 1^st

April’s power rank: 1^st

2025 stats: 36 G, .321 AVG, 142 wRC+, 5 HR, 15 RBI