Atlanta Braves: Will Any Other Top Prospects Make Their Debut This Year?

The Atlanta Braves have had a wave of top prospects come in this season and many of them established their names and why they were there. Could we see more before the season ends?

This question comes up after Touki Toussaint made his Atlanta Braves debut earlier this week in Game 1 of the double-header against the Miami Marlins. In six innings of work, he struck out four, allowed only two hits and a run while also earning the win. Impressive.

This year we also got the likes of Shane Carle (Kept rookie status after appearing in only three games for the Rockies), Jesse Biddle, Kolby Allard, Mike Soroka and of course, Ronald Acuña Jr. making their major league debuts/rookies making their Atlanta Braves debuts. We also got to see more of Max Fried.

All of them has had different levels of success so far: Carle and Biddle have been vital arms in the bullpen but also have had a couple bad outings each, Allard won his first start but blew up his ERA when he came in as relief, Soroka made good starts but is expected to be done for the season with his injury, and though Acuña had a rough month back in May, he has been outstanding and a strong ROY contender favorite.

However, the prospect wave may NOT be done just yet as other young stars are still knocking, down in AAA especially, and could too make their debuts in 2018. Guys like Austin Riley and Kyle Wright are just a call away in Gwinnett with other possibilities in the forms of Travis Demeritte, Josh Graham and Jacob Webb. These names were based on MLB Pipeline’s Braves prospect list.

Let’s Take A Look

I’m not breaking down the prospects and doing scouting reports on them but rather if they could be on the major league squad at some point this season and if they should. Also keep in mind that there are guys that have made their debuts that could come back to Atlanta to contribute at any time including Luiz Gohara, Rio Ruiz, Dustin Peterson, etc.

Austin Riley (ETA 2019 – Reached AAA with .293 BA on season)

Austin Riley is the big, contact slugger that the Atlanta Braves have waiting in AAA. Ever since he was drafted, many believed him to be the Braves third baseman of the future and still was early this season. However, Johan Camargo has emerged and possibly has taken that title with the way he’s produced offensively and defensively and his bond with the other guys on the team.

Out of all the guys that I have here, Riley seems like the most likely to have an appearance or two in the majors this season. He’ll probably be a part of the call-up when rosters expand. Riley can still have a future with the Braves, most likely in the outfield with his size but it all depends on how the club views Camargo and whether they add a significant player in either position whatever way.

Kyle Wright (ETA 2019 – Reached AAA, currently a 3.59 ERA across two levels)

The guy that many have said to have the most Ace-material out of all the Braves pitching prospects with his looks, skills sets, age/experience and development (this guy has climbed through the farm quickly).

Currently number two in MLB Pipeline’s ranking of Atlanta Braves prospects, Wright COULD also see some time come September. I personally feel he has proven his argument almost as much as Riley has. In his first start for AAA, he allowed no hits over 5.2 innings. In his second start, however, he gave up five runs in six innings.

On Monday though, he came back throwing seven innings and gave up only a hit. To add to that, he also struck out eight batters.

Tomahawk Take’s Ben has said, he’s concerned about Wright’s control AND command issues. If he can fix it by September, he’ll join the class of 2018. As of now, he probably should stay in AAA if a call-up thought came up.