The 2019 Atlanta Braves’ rookie of the year candidates
By John Le
Here are some dark horse names that could really surprise in 2019. These names are names that still qualify as prospects while others are prospects that aren’t expected to spend enough time in the majors but as with Riley, plans could change.
Luiz Gohara
Coming off a tough year with dealing with multiple personal issues, injuries and an overall poor performance season, Luiz Gohara is going into 2019 with a mission. He’s looking to prove the doubters wrong while regaining his value and status as a top prospect. He has started well: losing a notable amount of weight during the offseason.
Gohara caught a lot of attention when he had a short but impressive 2017. Heading into spring last season, some thought he could even become a “sneaky All-Star candidate” and become a potential rotation piece. However, it immediately went away as his performance began to slip due to all the obstacles.
Now in 2019, Gohara will most likely be looking at a bullpen role with occasion spot starts but at 22-years-old, his stock is still at a high level. As such, he could be a potential dark-horse ROY candidate.
Cristian Pache
It’ll be kind of hard to predict when Cristian Pache will make his debut for the Atlanta Braves. Throughout the offseason, many of us were wondering if he might not be a Braves player at all with all the trade rumors going on.
Anything can change but if Pache remains a Braves prospect, there’s a good chance he’ll be in Atlanta at some point this season. He still has areas of improvement needed (almost entirely on offense) but 2018 was a big step forward for the 20-year-old.
Pache has been highly regarded for his defense with some, including MLB Pipeline, calling him the best defender in the minor leagues. He’s believed to be the Braves future at center but he has also step up when it comes to his bat.
Last season across two levels, he hit a .279 average including 9 homers and 47 RBIs. Then he went to the Arizona Fall League and hit .279 there. Not to mention the 2 homers he hit at Sun Trust Park during the Braves vs Future Stars exhibition game as his first pro-career homers last March.
Ian Anderson
Ian Anderson has quickly taken the title as best Atlanta braves pitching prospect or at least one of the tops. Baseball America has him as the best pitcher and only behind Austin Riley as best Braves prospects overall. Like Pache, it’s up to when he will get his call-up and how much time he gets to pitch there and show his stuff.
However between Pache and Anderson, I think Pache will get called up first/spend more time in the majors. Anderson will most likely be a September call up and most likely contend for the ROY title next season.
In 2018, Anderson pitched to a 2.49 ERA between high A and AA. He’ll most likely get to start again at AA for 2019 since he only appeared in 4 games there but he’s someone I can see speed through the minors.
Kolby Allard
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Kolby Allard is another name like Gohara who’s stock and value really dropped in the large mix of pitching prospects. With the guys like Wright, Soroka, Anderson, and Toussaint quickly rising, the 2015 1st round pick for Atlanta has kind of quickly dropped in the prospect rankings.
Here’s some of the ranking positions where Allard currently sits:
He hasn’t been forgotten but people haven’t really talked about him much, either. It also didn’t help that he struggle during his brief stint in the majors.
He won his debut start against the Marlins though allowed 4 earned runs over 9 hits. However after that, he continued to struggle, turning in a 12.38 ERA in 3 games for 2018. He’s also still young at 21 but will definitely look to have a do-over in the majors for 2019.
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One player that I don’t think will be in Atlanta in 2019 but more of a tease for 2020 to get you excited is Drew Waters. After getting high praise by the coaches, as David O’Brien reported, Waters is someone to watch for. If you don’t already know him, keep your eyes open this spring and throughout the season.