Atlanta Braves Top 100 Prospects: 81-100

Feb 23, 2015; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher

runs during spring training workouts at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta Braves Top 100: 96-100

100. Zach Quintana, 21 (4/15/94), RHP, Rome
Stats: 113 ⅔ IP, 3.25 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 7.4%, 14% K
The return in the Kyle Wren trade, many Braves fans would probably be upset if they were told before the season that Wren’s trade would only return the organization’s #100 prospect, but that isn’t a knock on Quintana at all. Quintana started the season as a swing man for Rome, but by the end of the season, he was the anchor of the team’s rotation and its most consistent member. Quintana came into the season with scouting reports that were much less than glowing, and by and large the reason for those poor reports was his previous struggles to command and control his low-90s heavy fastball. This year, that wasn’t the issue, and his change up and curveball both played up as a result. He’s not a big guy at around 5’11-6’ with a fairly lean build, but he certainly showed an ability to pitch in repeating low-A in 2015, and there’s hope for an inning-eater type to emerge here.
Professional comparison: While Jeremy Guthrie isn’t a name that will conjure up thoughts of Cy Young awards in Quintana’s future, that’s who he really reminds me of. I’ve never been blown away by Guthrie, but when he is locating his fastball where he wants it, his average secondary offerings allow him to eat up innings of league-average pitching, as evidenced by Guthrie’s 5 200-inning seasons with a career 98 ERA+.
Likely 2016 starting destination: Carolina
Expected time of arrival: 2018

99. Mauricio Cabrera, 22 (9/22/93), RHP, AA
Stats: 48 ⅓ IP, 5.59 ERA, 1.59 WHIP, 15.7% BB, 23.8% K
The Braves made the move of Cabrera to the bullpen full-time in 2015, and you’ll notice in my rankings, being moved to the bullpen knocks you down pretty dramatically in my rankings. Cabrera still has the same “holy cow” stuff with an upper-90s fastball and a slider that breaks multiple planes, but he also has no idea where it is going as he throws it, and he has a bad tendency to over-throw in tough situations, which makes me worry that his bullpen conversion may not end up curing what ails Cabrera. His overall numbers aren’t skewed by a struggling promotion, either. He was pretty much a mid 5’s ERA guy all season long who put on a lot of base runners.
Professional comparison: While he’s had a solid big league career, most relievers would not find John Axford as a great comparison to attain, but that’s Cabrera right now, a guy with incredible raw stuff, but needing to be able to find location for any success. Cabrera will return to Mississippi most likely to start 2016, and a step under a 10% walk rate would sky-rocket him toward the majors.
Likely 2016 starting destination: Mississippi
Expected time of arrival: 2016 late season

98. Patrick Weigel, 21 (7/8/94), RHP, Danville
Stats: 51 ⅔ IP, 4.53 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 10.9% BB, 20.6% K
Weigel was drafted by the Braves in the 7th round in June, and he turned some heads in Danville with a blistering fastball that touched triple digits on some guns and registered consistently in the upper 90s on the top end. The issue is that he has minimal feel for a third pitch, and his slider is a hard slider, meaning it has more velocity than break, and it showed with his very high hit rate for a guy hurling 100 MPH heat. Weigel does also struggle some with repeating his delivery, more in his arm slot than in repeating anything else in his delivery, with his best stuff when he’s a pure ¾ delivery, but when he presses, he finds himself finishing between ¾ and sidearm, and when he does that, he shows the ball a long time.
Professional comparison: Tyson Ross came immediately to mind the first time I saw Weigel, and the more I saw him, the more the comparison makes perfect sense. Weigel’s secondary stuff is on the same caliber as Ross’s, but his delivery issues will be the thing that holds him back from achieving that sort of level as a starter. Ross was always a guy who was considered to have a floor as an elite reliever, and I think Weigel can also be considered in that class as his velocity and hard slider would work well in the back-end of a bullpen if he doesn’t work as a starter going forward.
Likely 2016 starting destination: Rome
Expected time of arrival: 2018

97. Gabriel Henry, 19 (11/16/95), RHP, DSL
Stats: 44 IP, 3.07 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 9.7% BB, 16.7% K
Henry was signed July 2012 out of Panama, and his scouting report upon signing was that he had no change up, but if he could develop one, his low-90s stuff and his curveball could have him leaping up the system like his country-mate Randall Delgado once did in the Braves system. It took two years to really develop that change up, but he has not only learned a change, but he’s also learned how to make his curve a strike pitch rather than a chase pitch, and that drastically reduced his walk rate to the point where he could have a future in the big leagues. Henry could come state side to the GCL squad in 2016, and it would be interesting to see how he builds on his leap forward in 2015.
Professional comparison: Jorge de la Rosa may have had a higher prospect pedigree coming up, but in reviewing his major league performance, you quickly see the similarities with Henry. When de la Rosa’s fastball is locating well, even though it’s low-90s, his secondary stuff plays up to the point where he’s a very solid #3 starter.
Likely 2016 starting destination: GCL
Expected time of arrival: 2020

96. Justin Ellison, 20 (2/6/95), LF, Danville
Stats: .247/.313/.416, 5 HR, 6 SB, 9.1% BB, 18.9% K
Ellison was drafted by the Braves in the 12th round out of Western Oklahoma State College, and most thought he would require a good chunk of change to keep him from going to a “big” school out of CC. He had high level talent, but his signing “demands” likely dropped him out of the 6th-10th rounds, where most teams aim to save money by drafting college arms, including the Braves in 2015. The Braves’ selections of college arms with low signing demands allowed for a selection of Ellison, and bringing talent like his into the system is a big thing. He was a high school kid from Columbus, Georgia who really established himself in JuCo. Ellison has power, speed, and solid defensive skills in the outfield. He’d probably grade about a 50 power, 55 speed possible sort of guy, and if he can continue to improve his eye at the plate, there’s a very solid player that could shoot up this list.
Professional comparison: Finding a good match for Ellison was proving hard, until I took a look at Christian Yelich. While Yelich has ridiculous talent that Ellison doesn’t have, what Yelich has done on the field is what Braves fans could put as a ceiling for what Ellison could provide the team.
Likely 2016 starting destination: Most likely Danville, unless the team wants to be aggressive and start him at Rome.
Expected time of arrival: 2019

Next: 91-95