A look at the organizational depth within the Atlanta Braves system.

We’re in the middle of spring training now and while teams are starting to shape down their rosters down to the best 26 guys, prospects and bounceback players are doing their best to either make their respective teams out of the gate or set themselves up for potential promotions down the line. Today, we continue our series of examining how the Braves stack up in terms of depth at each position. And we move to a position where one man will likely get 150+ starts barring injury – first base.

40-man roster

The Braves have one of the best in baseball manning the first base position in Matt Olson. He had such a strong year in 2023 that in a normal year – as in one without Ronald Acuna Jr. and Mookie Betts having ridiculous years, he would have been a front runner for the NL MVP award. Olson is a leader in the clubhouse and will hit for average and power while playing strong defense. You can pencil him in for around 150 games should no health issues pop up.

Olson is the only true first baseman on the roster, but the team does have a few other guys who could play there if it was needed. The most obvious candidate would be Austin Riley, who is one of the top third basemen in the league, but does have some experience playing first. Backup/platoon catcher Travis d’Arnaud is the other player with big league experience at first base.

One new addition to the position is designated hitter/left fielder Marcell Ozuna has played in a small handful of games at first this spring. Ozuna has never played first in his big league career, but based on what we’ve seen this spring he could be the first candidate to get some time if needed.

If you are looking at the non-roster invitees, Phillip Evans, Luke Williams, and Jordan Luplow are the three who have some big league experience at the position – though none of them have much experience at first.

Top prospects

First base has been a position pretty bare in the Braves system for years, and this year continues that trend. The only Top 30 prospect in the system that is a first baseman is sharing time at third base, 2022 draftee David McCabe. McCabe is a slugging prospect, who got to see time in the Arizona Fall League last year, but he has to show he can hit more advanced hitters in the upper levels of the minors before he gets a chance for a contender. McCabe is likely to open in Double-A and it wouldn’t be out of the question that he could be ready later in the year – but counting on him to fill in at the big league level this year seems like a stretch.

The Braves have some other prospects at other positions that could eventually shift over to first, but don’t have much or any experience at the position. That would include guys like Drake Baldwin or Sabin Ceballos.

2023 draftees & 2024 international signings

Ceballos is the most experienced of the 2023 draftees at first, logging a pair of games there for Oregon last spring. The Braves third round pick has played elsewhere in the infield, mostly third and may get a look at catcher, but first base is a potential landing spot for him as a below average runner.

Jace Grady, an outfielder drafted in the 11th round, is the only other draftee to see time at first in his amateur career. Grady played exactly one game at the position in a summer league in 2020.

None of the prospects the Braves signed in the international signing period are guys who clearly project as a first baseman.

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