5 Atlanta Braves minor leaguers who could surprise this year

Prospect rankings tell us a lot, but they don’t tell us everything. Naturally, we’re going to rank things according to importance, potential value, and current value. But, sometimes a baseball prospect can surprise even the best general manager or scout. I’m not saying the Atlanta Braves have “that guy” in their system, but heck, you never know.

Many top prospects have ended up being really good in the majors. Mike Trout was a number 1 prospect, but so was Byron Buxton just one year later. Guys like Darryl Stawberry, Ken Griffey Jr., and Alex Rodriguez were all top prospects, just to name a few.

But for many superstars like the above mentioned, there’s many un-ranked players who end up not being terrible. Jim Edmonds was never a ranked prospect according to Baseball America.

Jeff Kent was never ranked by BA or even by his very own organization. Studs like Mariano Rivera, Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield, Robinson Cano, Josh Donaldson, Daniel Murphy, and James Shields were never top-100 Baseball America prospects. Do the Atlanta Braves have a guy like this in their system currently?  Baseball has a weird way of playing itself out and only time will tell.

Here are 5 guys in the Atlanta Braves system who I think could end up surprising fans and scouts.

Outfielder – Tyler Neslony

When I interviewed Mike Soroka last summer, I asked him if there’s a player who doesn’t get a ton of media attention who should. He told me Tyler Neslony was that guy.

Prior to Mike telling me this, I had taken a liking to Neslony’s approach. He’s got a super clean lefty swing and reminds me of a young Nick Swisher. I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but the kid is good.

Tyler is a former Texas Tech Red Raider and was taken in the 9th round last year. If you follow the draft closely, you’ll notice that the Braves seem to love the Texas area, and have a heavy scouting presence there. Tyler killed it in Danville last year and did decent in Rome. So far this year, with the Braves’ advanced-A club, the Florida Fire Frogs, Tyler’s slashing .375/.512/.719. That’s not terrible.

So far this year, with the Braves’ advanced-A club, the Florida Fire Frogs, Tyler’s slashing .375/.512/.719. That’s not terrible.

We’ll see what Tyler’s really made of if he makes it to Mississippi. Can he hit good pitching? Can he adjust to the adjustments made towards him? Time will tell, but I’ve got a good feeling.