#17. Spencer Schwellenbach, RHP
Drafted by ATL: 2nd Round, 2021 from University of Nebraska (NE)
| Age | Height / Weight | Bats / Throws | 2021 Midseason rank |
| 21-years-old | 6’1″ / 200 lbs | R/R | 17th |
The only prospect on my list that didn’t play at all in 2021, Schwellenbach underwent Tommy John surgery shortly after signing with the Braves for $1 million back in July/August. Following the draft, it was reported that the righty was originally Atlanta’s first-round choice, but the need for elbow surgery dropped him down a round. Either way, Schwellenbach will be lucky to log a meaningful amount of innings in 2022 as he’ll likely require most of the season to recover and rehab.
But if you can get over the fact that it’ll probably be 2023 before we really see the kid in action, it’s important to know just what Schwellenbach could provide to the organization. He’ll pitch as a pro, but the former Nebraska star was a touted two-way player in college, hitting .284 with 19 XBH and nine stolen bases in 48 games as a hitter during his final year in Lincoln, to go with a 0.57 ERA and an average of 9.7 strikeouts per nine in 31 2/3 innings as a high-leverage reliever. Put that together and you have a tremendously athletic prospect who won’t turn 22 until next summer.
Missing basically entire year is never a good start for a prospect. But given this kid’s tools, I’d say the wait may be worth it for Schwellenbach.
#18. Victor Vodnik, RHP
Drafted by ATL: 14th Round, 2018 from Rialto HS (CA)
| Age | Height / Weight | Bats / Throws | 2021 Midseason rank |
| 22-years-old | 6’0″ / 200 lbs | R/R | 18th |
Year 3 was more of a challenge for the right-handed Vodnik. The undersized pitcher met his first real taste of adversity in Double-A as part of the M-Braves starting rotation. The kid dealt with injuries that caused him to miss a good bit of time in 2021, but overall he logged a 5.35 ERA (4.06 xFIP) in 11 starts with Mississippi, while averaging just under 11 strikeouts per nine.
Unfortunately, Vodnik’s biggest struggle had to do with free passes this past season. With the M-Braves, he walked 22 in 33 2/3 frames (5.9 BB/9) and then while in the Arizona Fall League he walked 14 in 23 2/3 (5.3 BB/9). However, to be fair, the California native did earn a Fall Stars invite with Peoria.
Personally, I’m not too concerned with Vodnik’s middling performance from 2021. He’s still fairly young, and given he only had roughly 70 innings of work above rookie-ball coming into last year, the jump to Double-A can humble any potential star. Although the bad health isn’t quite ideal, and I hope he’s able to do a better job of staying healthy in 2022. Vodnik has a real chance at becoming a top 10 prospect this coming season. He has the stuff. He just needs a full year to show it off.
#19. Cal Conley, SS/2B
Drafted by ATL: 4th Round, 2021 from Texas Tech (TX)
| Age | Height / Weight | Bats / Throws | 2021 Midseason rank |
| 22-years-old | 5’10” / 185 lbs | B/R | 22nd |
Conley came from Texas Tech this year, where he crushed it in college, slashing .329/.393/.587 with 15 homers, 13 doubles and seven stolen bases in 56 games. As a guy that played all of his games at shortstop for the Raiders, those are some impressive numbers in general, not to mention for a defensive position.
The fourth-round pick got his professional start with Single-A Augusta, and Conley had time to get in on 35 games with the GreenJackets – a healthy sample that resulted in a .214 AVG. The kid didn’t necessarily hit very well in the minors last year, but he held his own and his plate discipline indicates a player not out of his realm; in 161 PA, Conley struck out only 20.5% of the time in Single-A.
As a college bat, and also a guy that plays a position the Braves are rather thin at organizationally, I expect the 22-year-old Conley to be moved up through the minors rather quickly. I wouldn’t be surprised if those 30-ish games in Single-A last year is all he gets as he begins 2022 with High-A Rome.
#20. Darius Vines, RHP
Drafted by ATL: 7th Round, 2019 from California State University (CA)
| Age | Height / Weight | Bats / Throws | 2021 Midseason rank |
| 23-years-old | 6’1″ / 190 lbs | R/R | 23rd |
The recent rise by Vines has been crazy. Coming into 2021, the former seventh-round pick’s latest performance was a rather underwhelming rookie-level campaign in which he allowed a horrid 6.68 ERA in 32 1/3 innings combined with the GCL and Appy League teams in 2019. But in Year 2 (well Year 3 if you count the cancelled 2020 season), the 23-year-old Vines shined. First it was Single-A Augusta, where his 92-93 MPH fastball and “deceptive” slider (per Talking Chop) set down opposing batters with ease. With the GreenJackets, Vines averaged 12 strikeouts per nine and completed the level by posting a 2.25 ERA in eight starts (36 IP).
Towards the end of June, the Braves promoted Vines to High-A Rome, and this is where the kid starting really getting some attention. With just 30 or so innings above rookie ball under his belt, the California native was just as strong with Rome, putting together a 3.24 ERA in 14 starts with the team and becoming one of the staff’s more consistent starters. By August, I had Vines pegged as the no. 23 prospect in the Braves system, and throughout the second-half of 2021, he continued to trend in the right direction (featuring a 2.38 ERA in his final six outings of the campaign).
Last season’s Double-A South manager of the year, Dan Meyer, should really enjoy working with Vines in 2022, where the latter will likely join a more depleted M-Braves starting rotation this time around. As he turns 24-years-old just after the regular season begins, this coming year is a big one for Vines, who, because he lacks a ton of velocity, will need to continue to hone in his command and control. This could certainly be a much more well-known name by mid-season.
#21. Luke Waddell, INF
Drafted by ATL: 5th Round, 2021 from Georgia Institute of Technology (GA)
| Age | Height / Weight | Bats / Throws | 2021 Midseason rank |
| 23-years-old | 5’9″ / 180 lbs | L/R | NR |
As a four-year starter at Georgia Tech (and fifth-round pick in this past summer), Waddell was given a pretty aggressive assignment in Year 1, spending 21 games in High-A Rome before finishing out the 2021 campaign in Double-A Mississippi. As a 22-year-old, he played all over the infield on defense, and while with the R-Braves he got hot at the plate, slashing .304/.372/.580 with seven XBH (six HR) in just 78 PA, including a late-August stretch in which he went 10 for 18 (.556 AVG) with four long balls.
Waddell ran into a bit of a wall with the M-Braves, going just 5 for 31 (.161 AVG) during his short stint there to end the year, but even though he failed to produce much with the bat, he still managed to show a strong glove at several different positions (zero errors at second, short and third). Plus, despite only posting a 7 wRC+ in Mississippi, the kid only struck out four times (a 12.1% K rate), indicating he’s plenty able to put the ball in play versus high-minors pitching.
While his power display in High-A was impressive, Waddell isn’t the flashiest in terms of tools, and I don’t believe power is ever going to be his game. For a guy just now entering his first full season as a pro, he definitely has an advanced feel for hitting, though four years at a Power 5 school will help with that. Though he’s probably topped out in terms of prospect stock (and I didn’t even have him ranked back in August), to me, I now believe this is a solid future big league utility-infielder, and his strong performance this fall in Arizona makes me confident that he’s perhaps only a few seasons away from the majors. With Peoria this past fall, Waddell hit .311 with five doubles in 18 games as one of the only Braves to actually produce in the Arizona Fall League. If he can hit in Double-A in 2022, this could be a very interesting prospect going forward.
I’m excited about Vodnik. With how much elite relievers get paid nowadays, I’m not sure why the prospect rankings undervalue relievers. That’s not a critique of your list, Clint; that’s an industry-wide thing. I think Vodnik is a top 10 prospect.
Question for the masses: Martin Prado is probably the greatest Atlanta utility player. Who is second? Infante, DeRosa, Culberson? None of the above?
On a WAR basis, Infante far and away.
Does Infante get dinged for only playing a few seasons in Atlanta?
Infante is the second guy that comes to mind after Prado.
Culberson, 230 games, 0.4 WAR
DeRosa, 393 games, 0.5 WAR
Infante, 300 games, 6.0 WAR
Prado, 683 games, 15.8 WAR
I guess WAR is mostly a batting statistic, which only tells part of the value of a utility guy.
Prado and Infante are in another category altogether.
Brooks Conrad should enter the discussion.
Ramiro Pena was really good that one year and so were Pedro Ciriaco and Johan Camargo.
Let’s also not forget when Hechavarria came over and lit the world on fire.
@Rob
I agree with you about relievers. Guys like Vodnik and Indigo Diaz should rank higher on lists, IMO.
Reliever prospects tend to be rated lower because of their volatility, not their value. (Although their value is still lower than a starting pitcher or position player.) Consider A.J. Minter, who was drafted as a relief prospect, tore through the minors in dominant fashion, but still looked lost at the majors for months on end and had to be demoted multiple times, including after periods when he looked untouchable at the major league level. Unless a guy is an elite major league closer straight out of school, which is pretty rare (and certainly does not describe Vodnik or Diaz), that’s a standard career path for relief prospects.
If a young guy has a good season as a starter or a position player, you’re fairly certain you’ve got something. If a young guy has a good season as a reliever, you’re still in the “maybe he’ll be something” phase. Guys have great relief seasons and then crumble all the time.
WILLIE. HARRIS.
@4 – Looking it up, Keith “The Pictures” Lockhart was apparently worth 3 WAR (per Bref) over his time in Atlanta, which was about 3 more than I was expecting.
Francisco Cabrera comes to mind in that DeRosa/Culberson tier as well— 193 games, 0.6 WAR, but of course one of those W’s he contributed to could be given a bit of a multiplier effect.
Plus, if he had played in a different era, we could have called him ‘F-Cab for Cutie,’ which should count for something.
Hello Internet,
I am old and stupid. How does one go about getting a Braves tomahawk emoji? If it’s not in the Apple keyboard, then is there no such emoji? Am I allowed to bring in outside emojis or is that considered contraband?
Signed,
Out of Touch
Plus, if he had played in a different era, we could have called him ‘F-Cab for Cutie,’ which should count for something.
One of the biggest missed opportunities of the last half century.
100% agree with @11.
Cabrera was one of the greatest third-stringers in history, but he was a backup catcher, so he doesn’t qualify as a utility guy.
I think I saw ‘F-Cab for Cutie’ on Cinemax back in the ’80s.
@7
I can agree and disagree with this sentiment at the same time. If I see a relief pitcher with two plus pitches and honing in on their craft of mastering command and control on both, they shoot up my lists. I’ll compile my own list when we finish Clint’s, but Indigo Diaz will be right there in the top-10 because of this reason. For relievers that are just failed SPs that have not narrowed down their arsenal, while still throwing the same pitches they had as a starter, they drop quickly for me. This is where Touki is for me now and I’m pretty hacked off at the Braves that they haven’t changed his role to RP.
@12 – There is a whole different category for bench bats and utility guys. Brooks Conrad played 2B and 3B for Atlanta with a game or two as an emergency 1st basemen. I’m not sure if he fits the definition of utility guy. Julio Franco was exclusively 1st base and definitely doesn’t make it as a utility guy, but he has to be my favorite bench bat.
Not really that great, but Eli Marrero had one essentially great year as the right handed side of an outfield platoon and as a backup catcher.
Eli Marrero counts as “utility player”, IMO, and he’s my favorite type: the backup catcher/plays somewhere else on the field. Didn’t we have another guy that served as our backup catcher but played somewhere else? Pierzynski played a little first, but that’s not who I’m thinking of.
Bench bats are definitely different. There only 7 Atlanta Braves with positive career WPA who had at least 40 appearances as a pinch hitter: Jim Brezeale (1.2) Pablo Sandoval (0.9) Matt Joyce (0.8) Charlie Spikes (0.6) Norm Miller (0.4) Mike Jorgensen (0.4) Greg Norton (0.2) https://stathead.com/tiny/78sWV
This doesn’t (I think) count guys who pinch hit and then took a defensive position in the field. So Eric Hinske is out, for example, because he took the field a bunch of times after he pinchhit (not that his WPA was positive.) But I think it’s fair to think of Hinske and Matt Diaz as bench bats, even if they were put on the field after they pinch hit.
Diaz definitely deserves a place in the Julio Franco Hall of Fame. All he did was come off the bench and hit .320 every year.
17 — You’re either thinking of Tyler Houston (mid 90s) or Ryan Doumit ( who was toast the year we acquired him for his bat off the bench).
18 — Hinske also started a decent amount of games in left as a platoon guy in 2010. (He should have been starting in the postseason too instead of Smelky Cabrera.)
When I was a kid I thought Jerry Royster was a pretty good utility player since he seemed to play a lot and play a lot of positions, but that was probably a function of the mostly bad Braves teams that were on Channel 17 in those days. While he accumulated only 2.4 WAR and a career OPS+ of 76, he must have been doing something right to hang around the big leagues for parts of 16 seasons and over 1,400 games.
You know with Snitker’s philosophy of playing his starters 98% of the time and the DH, we may not see a Martin Prado type in Atlanta again for a long time. Of course one injury to a starter may give someone an opportunity.
El Oso Blanco deserves mention here
Gattis is an interesting case. He only had 27 pinch hitting appearances in his two years in Atlanta, while playing 48 games in the outfield and 135 games at catcher. But the 3.3 bWAR and 3.6 WPA over that period was quite solid.
@22
I was literally just about to mention Jerry Royster.
I was definitely thinking of Ryan Doumit, but also obviously forgot Gattis. The problem with both of those guys is that they seemed to be pretty bad catchers. I’m not sure if Marrero was any better, but I think the perfect outcome is one of these guys actually being a quality backup catcher, like we had in Flowers, Suzuki, etc. after these guys left.
Is it April 7 yet?
I don’t think Gattis was a bad defensive catcher. (I seem to remember him scoring well on framing.) It was more that he had back issues and couldn’t handle the workload.
@8
One of my all-time favorite Mac-isms, which doesn’t pertain to the question at hand but is always relevant at this here journal, was an offseason where Washington was signing a lot of our cast-offs to minor league deals, and our beloved founder posted something to the extent of “the Nationals have signed both Pete Orr and Willie Harris to deals this week, which indicates that they plan to 1) run a lot, and 2) suck”
Poetry.
Lineup With Acuna
1. Acuna,rf
2. Albies 2b
3. Olson, 1b
4. Riley,3b
5. Ozuna,dh
6. Rosario, lf
7.Duval, cf
8. D Arnaud, c
9. Swanson, ss
Jayce Peterson played quite a few positions.
New thread and just a reminder that Clint made this list prior to the trade and has since added the prospects to replace some of the guys that made today’s list.