Braves Prospects Who Stood Out in High-A

The next stop on our trip around Atlanta’s farm system is the Rome Emperors, where many of the Braves’ top prospects made their mark this season.

As much as I enjoyed following the Augusta GreenJackets earlier in the year, Rome eventually took over that mantle for me. There was simply too much talent in North Georgia to ignore.

Seven of Atlanta’s top 10 prospects on the Braves Today rankings made their way through Rome at some point this season. The three that didn’t included two recent draftees who did not make their professional debuts this year, along with Owen Murphy.

High-A is an important level for prospects because it’s often the last major test before they make the jump to Double-A. Many people, myself included, view that promotion as the biggest step a prospect can make before reaching the major leagues. Triple-A has increasingly become a mix of veteran players, depth pieces and rehabbing major leaguers, while Double-A tends to feature the highest concentration of legitimate prospects.

That makes success in Double-A extremely important, but it also makes High-A a fascinating level to watch. This is where you start to get a better idea of which players are ready for that next challenge.

So, let’s get into the Braves prospects who did more than just perform well in Rome. These are the players who really stood out to me.

The Bats That Stood Out

Alex Lodise (2025 | R2 60 | Florida State | $1,297,500)

Like in my previous piece covering the top performers in Single-A, there was a player I was hesitant about coming into this season. One could say I doubted him, and I would not be able to disagree. Hand up, again. I think I was wrong. I am man enough to say it.

What Alex Lodise did this year was pretty incredible. There were legitimate reasons to wonder how his offensive game would play in professional baseball. The swing-and-miss was already a concern coming out of college, and that issue only became more pronounced last season and into the beginning of this year. At some point, though, something clicked.

After putting together a Golden Spikes Award finalist season at Florida State, Lodise was selected by the Braves in the second round of the 2025 MLB Draft. Many thought he would go higher, but the swing-and-miss was enough of a concern to push him down the board a bit. When Atlanta was able to grab him, I was ecstatic as someone who follows college baseball closely.

The Braves sent him directly to High-A, which seemed reasonable for an accomplished ACC hitter, but the results were not exactly what we hoped for. Lodise hit .252 with a .692 OPS while striking out 38.5% of the time and walking just 4.6%.

Rather than sending Lodise back to Rome to begin 2026, Atlanta assigned him to Single-A Augusta to work through those issues. That is exactly what he did. In 94 games with Augusta, he posted a .256/.343/.483 slash line with an .826 OPS and 21 home runs. More importantly, his strikeout rate dropped to 26.0% while his walk rate climbed to 9.7%.

That alone was encouraging. Then Atlanta promoted him back to Rome near the end of July, and the hot streak continued. In just 17 games, Lodise hit .343/.434/.571 with a 1.005 OPS. The biggest development, though, was the strikeout rate. He struck out just 7.2% of the time in Rome. Yes, you read that right. Lodise also walked 8.4% of the time and lowered his whiff rate from 27.7% to just 19.0%.

The power was always there. The glove was always there. Seeing the swing-and-miss start to disappear is what completely changed the way I view his offensive ceiling.

Lodise finished the year with 23 games at Double-A Columbus and continued to hold his own, batting .283 with a .778 OPS despite making another significant jump in competition. His strikeout rate normalized a bit, but 20.6% is still extremely encouraging considering where he was a year ago.

2027 is going to be extremely interesting for Lodise. He will enter the season at just 23 years old and already has success at both High-A and Double-A. It’s certainly feasible that he could earn a major league look as early as next year. If he can continue what he showed in 2026, the shortstop position of the future may suddenly look a lot clearer than it did 12 months ago.

Eric Hartman (2024 | R20 611 | Holy Trinity Academy | $337,500)

Atlanta’s top prospect across the majority of outlets is a 20th-round prep selection from Canada. Obvious, right?

Eric Hartman burst onto the scene this year and showed just about every tool you could want in a potential future star. After getting noticed on the Canadian prep circuit, most scouts believed Hartman was un-signable and would follow through on his commitment to Michigan. The Braves did not give up, though, and were able to sign him by giving him an above-slot bonus with the final pick of the 2024 draft.

He made his professional debut at the complex in 2025 but spent the overwhelming majority of his season with the GreenJackets. There, he flashed some of the tools that would eventually make him a national name, batting .248 with a .718 OPS and stealing 44 bases.

That’s nothing compared to what we saw this year. Starting the season in Rome, Hartman went from a relatively unknown prospect to one of the most talked-about players in the Braves system. In 94 games, he posted a .273/.364/.525 slash line with an .888 OPS, 133 wRC+, 24 home runs and 38 stolen bases.

The swing-and-miss did come back to bite him as the season went along. Hartman struck out 23.0% of the time in Rome while posting a 30.9% whiff rate and a 30.2% chase rate. The encouraging part is that he still walked 11.0% of the time. If he can clean up some of that swing-and-miss and chase next season, this offensive profile has even more room to grow.

And then there is the speed. Despite being just 20 years old, Hartman was promoted to Double-A, where he understandably struggled with the jump in competition. Hopefully, some of those struggles become valuable experience heading into next season.

Hartman was one of just 12 minor league players to record a 25-25 season. His 56 stolen bases led that group, and he was the second youngest player to accomplish the feat at just 20 years old. He also became the first player since Andruw Jones to go 25-50 in a minor league season.

That is some pretty impressive company. The future is incredibly exciting for Hartman. He has legitimate star potential, and while he will only be 21 next season, there is at least a chance we see him in Atlanta at some point, given how willing the Braves are to push their prospects. That will depend heavily on what happens in Double-A, but the Braves have an obvious need for a corner outfielder who can provide both power and speed.

If Hartman proves he is ready, an outfield featuring Ronald Acuña Jr., Michael Harris II and Eric Hartman suddenly does not sound nearly as far away as it did a year ago.

Owen Carey (2024 | R15 P461 | Londonderry HS | $150,000)

Stop me if you have heard this before: one of Atlanta’s best-performing prospects was a low-round draft selection. Actually, do not stop me. There is even more of that coming.

Just a few rounds before Eric Hartman, the Braves selected New Hampshire prep outfielder Owen Carey and were able to sign him away from college as well. Carey started his professional career last year directly in Single-A and, for a prep draftee from a state like New Hampshire, performed quite well. He slashed .258/.330/.345 with a .676 OPS, although the power had not quite shown up with a wood bat yet.

This season, at just 19 years old, he opened the year in High-A. In his first 12 games, Carey collected 12 hits, including three doubles, a triple and a home run, while also drawing four walks and striking out seven times. He would eventually land on the injured list with a heel injury that kept him out until the end of May. After a brief rehab stint at the complex, he returned to Rome. From there, he played another 41 games and finished the season with a .272/.347/.480 slash line, a .827 OPS and a 120 wRC+.

The approach is what I like most about Carey. He only walked 8.4% of the time, but he kept his strikeout rate down at 17.8% while starting to grow into more power. Carey was extremely aggressive on pitches in the zone while keeping his chase rate unusually low. In other words, he is willing to swing, but he is especially focusing on attacking pitches in the zone. As he has gotten stronger, he’s also started pulling the ball in the air more often, which is allowing some of the power that was missing last year to show up.

Carey ended the season in Double-A Columbus. The numbers were not quite the same after the promotion, but honestly, I am not overly concerned about that yet. The fact that a 19-year-old played significant time at Double-A is impressive enough for me. In fact, Carey was one of just five players age 19 or younger to play at that level this season. The other four? You may have heard of them: Leo De Vries, Jesús Made, Braylon Payne and Rainiel Rodriguez.

I would like to see Carey start back in Columbus next year, but there is a chance the Braves decide to start him in Rome and look for a quick promotion. Either way, Carey has quietly been one of the more impressive prospects in the organization over the last two seasons. He may not get the attention of some of the higher-ranked names in the system, but I would not be surprised if that changes pretty quickly in 2027.

Will Verdung (2023 | R13 P399 | Itawamba CC | $150,000)

There has been plenty of talk around Braves Country this season about finding a way to add a more contact-oriented, on-base-focused hitter to the major league roster. Will Verdung may not be ready to start for Atlanta today, but he fits that description almost perfectly.

A 13th-round selection out of Itawamba CC in 2023, Verdung played 35 games between the complex and Single-A after being drafted, hitting .240 with a .618 OPS. He returned to Augusta for the entirety of the 2024 season and struggled, batting just .215. Then, last season, he spent the entire year in High-A Rome and rediscovered his success with a .279 average and .702 OPS. One thing worth watching throughout all three seasons was his on-base percentage, which steadily climbed from .322 to .343 to .375.

In 2026, Verdung started back in Rome but was sidelined by an early-season injury after just two games. He rehabbed at the complex before returning to Rome in mid-May. In 18 games after returning, Verdung posted a .279/.371/.344 slash line with a .716 OPS and 104 wRC+ before earning a promotion to Double-A.

He struggled a bit with the jump, batting just .204 with a .580 OPS, and ultimately returned to Rome when other promotions opened up playing time. Across his 32 games in Rome this season, Verdung slashed .320/.419/.447 with an .866 OPS and 138 wRC+.

Remember when I said he is the type of contact-oriented player many Braves fans want? Well, take a look at this. Verdung struck out just 15.3% of the time, which ranked in the 91st percentile at the level. Verdung’s 21.8% chase rate and 20.2% whiff rate were both comfortably better than average. And when a pitch does enter the strike zone, Verdung was extremely selective. He swung just 54.6% of the time but made contact on 90.8% of those swings, good for the 91st percentile. Oh, and he walked 13.7% of the time.

That is a lot of numbers, but when you boil them down, you get a pretty simple description of the player they represent. Verdung makes contact. He rarely strikes out. He gets on base. He puts pressure on a defense by keeping the ball in play. That profile has value.

Verdung will not turn 24 until June of next year, but putting him back in Rome probably does not do much for his development. I would like to see the Braves challenge him with Double-A. The bigger issue may actually be finding the playing time.

As you will see with the next player as well, there are only so many everyday spots available in Columbus. At some point, the Braves are going to have to decide who gets pushed up, to Gwinnett, and who potentially gets squeezed out by the sheer number of players reaching the same level.

Logan Braunschweig (2025 | R9 P277 | UAB | $2,500)

The final spot on this list was a serious debate for me between Dixon Williams, who put up an impressive 22 home runs, and Logan Braunschweig. Both have a legitimate argument to be here. Ultimately, I went with Braunschweig.

A ninth-round pick out of UAB, the former Blazer hit .306 across four college seasons before finishing his career with a .319/.437/.500 slash line and .937 OPS as a senior. Atlanta selected him as a senior sign last year and immediately threw him into High-A. In 26 games after being selected, he hit .294 with a .759 OPS. That success was enough for the Braves to start him back in Rome to begin the 2026 season.

He played 57 games at the level this season and posted a .256/.399/.343 slash line with a .742 OPS and 116 wRC+. Braunschweig is a bat-to-ball hitter, striking out just 19.2% of the time while walking nearly as often at 18.2%. Diving a little deeper, his ability to limit both chase at 23.3% and whiff at 23.9% was extremely impressive. The power is limited. He hit just six doubles and three home runs in Rome this year. But that is not really his game.

Braunschweig was promoted to Double-A Columbus for the final 39 games of the season, where the jump in competition ultimately got the best of him. Even then, he maintained a solid 24.3% chase rate and will look to continue showing off the high average, high on-base profile that made him successful in Rome.

Next season, Braunschweig will be 24 years old, so I would like to see him start in Double-A once again. He is a college bat who has already shown success across two different seasons in High-A. At this point, I would rather see the Braves challenge him than have him continue proving something he has already shown he can do.

The Arms That Caught My Attention

Luke Sinnard (2024 | R3 P99 | Indiana | $735,300)

Starting on the mound is a pitcher I may be a little higher on than most, so I was especially happy with what Luke Sinnard showed in 2026. He was selected in the third round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Indiana but did not make his professional debut until the following year.

In 2025, he split time between Single-A and High-A and put together a very solid season. Sinnard posted a 0.92 ERA and 2.45 FIP in seven starts with the GreenJackets before recording a 4.19 ERA and 3.09 FIP in nine starts with Rome.

This year was a bit of an injury-filled season for Sinnard, but he still managed to make 14 appearances across the complex, High-A and Double-A. The majority of those starts, eight to be exact, came in Rome. Across those eight starts, Sinnard posted a 2.73 ERA, 3.48 FIP and 1.15 WHIP. He allowed one or fewer runs in five of the outings and gave up just two and three runs in the other three.

The strikeout numbers were especially encouraging. Sinnard struck out 30.0% of batters in Rome while walking just 9.2%. Swing and miss is a major part of Sinnard’s game, and it is going to be important for him to continue getting those whiffs (33.3% in Rome) as he moves up the system. The lack of chase was a little concerning, but his ability to pound the zone while still generating swings-and-misses and ground balls was a major positive.

His Double-A numbers look a little worse at first glance, but looking at the individual outings gives me more reason for optimism. In his first two starts, Sinnard allowed seven hits and four walks, but he struck out six and allowed just one run in each outing. His final start was rougher, as he allowed eight hits and four runs. The good news? He walked nobody and struck out seven.

Sinnard will be 24 next season, but age is not nearly as important for pitchers as it is for position players. I expect him to slot right back into the Columbus rotation, and if he can stay healthy, there is a path for him to move quickly to Gwinnett and potentially even Atlanta.

David Rodriguez (2023 | R15 P459 | San Joaquin Delta | $150,000)

David Rodriguez is not a name you hear often when talking about the Braves farm system, but after putting together back-to-back solid seasons, I think it is time to give him his flowers.

He was selected in the 15th round of the 2023 draft out of San Joaquin Delta College but did not make his professional debut until 2024. That season, he appeared in 16 games, including eight starts, between the complex and Augusta and posted a combined 5.19 ERA, 4.19 FIP and 1.41 WHIP.

Last year was when he really started to become someone worth watching. Rodriguez made 18 appearances, including four starts, with Augusta and posted a 2.34 ERA, 3.89 FIP, and an impressive 0.90 WHIP. He then made seven appearances in Rome, posting a 3.86 ERA, 3.34 FIP and 1.07 WHIP. He was one of just 24 minor league pitchers to appear in at least 20 games, throw at least 60 innings, and record both a sub-3.00 ERA and sub-1.00 WHIP.

This year, Rodriguez returned to High-A and transitioned fully into a relief role. He appeared in 31 games for Rome, posting a 3.38 ERA, 3.44 FIP and 1.20 WHIP. The strikeouts were still there at 24.7%, but the real standout was his ability to limit free passes. Rodriguez walked just 5.6% of batters.

That has become his calling card. He has posted a walk rate below 8.0% at every level over the last two seasons. Since he is more of a contact-oriented pitcher, his ability to generate ground balls at a rate near 50% is extremely important to his success.

Now that he has transitioned into a full-time relief role, Rodriguez should be able to slot directly into the Double-A bullpen. He does not have overpowering stuff, but there is real value in a reliever who consistently throws strikes, limits walks and finds ways to get outs.

Cedric De Grandpre (2022 | R13 P395 | Chipola JC | $237,500)

The second of four late-round selections to make this list is Cedric De Grandpre. Born in Quebec, Canada, De Grandpre played one season at Chipola College in Florida. In that season, he made 18 appearances and posted a 1.69 ERA while striking out 48 batters across 37.1 innings.

That was enough to earn a commitment to transfer to Arizona State, but the Braves were able to sign him away from that commitment during the 2022 MLB Draft. After being selected, he made five appearances between the complex and Single-A, giving up just nine hits while allowing eight runs and four walks and striking out 12.

The following season, De Grandpre posted a 1.95 ERA, 32.0% strikeout rate and 5.6% walk rate across seven appearances in Augusta, including five starts. That performance earned him a promotion to Rome, where his numbers regressed a bit over 12 starts. Unfortunately, Tommy John surgery cost him the entire 2024 season.

He returned last year and made 15 starts across four levels, posting a combined 3.28 ERA, 3.55 FIP and 29.6% strikeout rate. His command was a concern as he walked 16.1% of batters, though understandable as he returned from TJ surgery.

This season, De Grandpre started back at High-A and made 12 starts before eventually seeing time at both the Double-A and Triple-A levels. In Rome, he posted a 4.58 ERA, but his 3.91 FIP and 33.1% strikeout rate tell a more encouraging story. The command started to return, although it was still not back to his pre-surgery levels. He posted a 10.2% walk rate and 1.31 WHIP.

His Double-A numbers were actually better. In six starts, he posted a 3.48 ERA, 2.91 FIP, 1.03 WHIP, 31.2% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate. He stumbled a bit in nine Triple-A appearances (eight starts), but still finished with a respectable 4.33 ERA.

De Grandpre has an arsenal that can feature as many as six pitches. He primarily relies on a mid-90s sinker, pairing it with a curveball and cutter to generate swings and misses. He also has a slider and four-seamer while continuing to work on a changeup.

Again, pitcher age does not concern me nearly as much as position player age, but De Grandpre will enter his age 25 season next year and has already shown he can succeed at both Rome and Columbus. I would like to see him enter 2027 directly in the Gwinnett rotation.

If he can continue getting back to his pre-surgery form, I would not be surprised to see the Braves give Cedric De Grandpre a spot start at some point next season.

Mathieu Curtis (2025 | R14 P427 | Virginia Tech | $150,000)

One of my favorite underrated pitching prospects in the entire organization just completed his first professional season. Mathieu Curtis spent two seasons at USC Upstate before transferring to Virginia Tech for the 2025 season. There, he put together solid numbers out of the bullpen and eventually became a 14th-round selection by the Braves in the 2025 draft.

He did not make his professional debut until this season, but when he finally got on the mound, he immediately made an impression. Curtis made eight appearances out of the bullpen with Single-A, allowing just seven hits, one run and five walks while striking out 19 across 14.1 innings. He also stranded 100% of the runners he inherited.

The majority of his season came in Rome, where Curtis pitched 39 innings across 22 appearances. Here, he posted a 3.23 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 1.15 WHIP, 27.7% strikeout rate and 9.0% walk rate. Of the six outings in which Curtis pitched one inning or less, he allowed more than one hit just once. In the 16 outings that lasted longer than one inning, he allowed a run in just eight.

For a pitcher making his professional debut, that is a pretty encouraging first season. Curtis will enter his age 22 season in 2027. He already showed the kind of dominance you want to see from a college arm at the Single-A level, and in my opinion, he proved himself at High-A as well.

I expect we will see Curtis get a lot of work out of the Double-A bullpen next season, and he is one of those lower-round arms I will be keeping a close eye on.

Isaac Gallegos (2023 | R16 P489 | New Mexico | $100,000)

The final player on this list has a legitimate case to be named Atlanta’s minor league Reliever of the Year. Isaac Gallegos was drafted in the 16th round of the 2023 MLB Draft out of New Mexico. He made just one appearance at the complex that season before really beginning his professional career the following year.

In 2024, he appeared in 18 games between Single-A and High-A, posting a combined 3.00 ERA, 3.10 FIP, 1.22 WHIP and 33.9% strikeout rate. The one concern was his 12.7% walk rate. Last year, Gallegos made a team-high 34 appearances with Rome. He lowered his walk rate to 9.0%, although his strikeout rate also dropped to 21.7%.

This season, he started the year in Rome and quickly proved he deserved another promotion. Across 18 appearances, Gallegos pitched to a 1.82 ERA, 2.20 FIP, 0.77 WHIP and 36.4% strikeout rate while walking just 5.1% of batters. Among the 442 High-A pitchers with at least 15 appearances and 20 innings pitched, his FIP ranked 2nd, his WHIP and K/BB rate ranked 3rd, and his ERA ranked 11th. Not too shabby.

He would go on to make 18 appearances in Double-A as well, posting a 3.94 ERA, 3.46 FIP, 1.22 WHIP, 23.2% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate. The jump in competition was clearly more difficult, but Gallegos still showed he could hang.

If you were to look up Isaac Gallegos on either ProspectSavant or TJStats, his High-A card would look a lot like Mason Miller’s. No, he is not Mason Miller, nor does he have that kind of stuff. But that image of red bars helps illustrate just how dominant Gallegos was at the High-A level this season. His 90th-percentile-or-better metrics included ERA, FIP, wOBA, K/BB, ground-ball rate, whiff rate and swinging-strike rate, an absurdly impressive collection of numbers.

Gallegos will enter his age 24 season next year, and after what he did in Rome, I have no doubt that he should start back at the Double-A level. He, along with several others on these lists, has a legitimate path to pitching his way up the organization and eventually breaking into the Atlanta bullpen. And considering where Gallegos started in the organization, that is a pretty fun development to watch.