Baseball America has released their Top 10 Atlanta Braves prospects list.

There are a few variations between their and our lists, most notably the position players.

A well-known prospect appraisal outlet Baseball America has revealed their Top 10 prospect rankings for the Atlanta Braves, which are strikingly comparable to our rankings from a few weeks ago.

On the top ten list, we have all the same pitchers in the same range, with both sites naming RHP AJ Smith-Shawver as the #1 prospect for Atlanta and RHP Hurston Waldrep as the #2.

Righties Spencer Schwellenbach, JR Ritchie, and Owen Murphy are ranked 3-5 for Baseball America, although in a different order than we are.

The big difference is in the position players in the bottom half of the top ten – we have infielder Ignacio Alvarez and outfielder Luis Guanipa in our top ten, whereas Baseball America has third baseman David McCabe and catcher Drake Baldwin ahead of Alvarez and Guanipa and outside of the top ten altogether.

There are certain similarities in their scouting grades for all three players: All three players are regarded as below-average defenders, and one of their two offensive ratings (hit tool and power tool) is below “average,” which is represented by a 50 on a 20-80 scouting scale.

With a 50 (average) hit tool and a 40 (below-average) power tool, Alvarez gets the lowest offensive score of the three. Baldwin and McCabe, on the other hand, both have 45s (fringe-to-average) hit tools but average or better power tools, with McCabe having an above-average 55 and Baldwin having an average 50.

As previously stated, Luis Guanipa does not rank among Baseball America’s top 10. He batted.238/.361/.384 in 46 games this summer in the Dominican Summer League as a 2023 international free agent from Venezuela. Scouting reports for overseas free agents are usually difficult to reconcile, given the limited glances most have of those players, and so when he returns to the United States next season to play in the Florida Complex League for “rookie ball,” there will be more consensus on his truly deserved ranking.

More right-handed pitchers round out the top 10 on both lists, including 2023 draftees Drue Hackenberg (2nd round – compensatory) and Cade Kuehler (2nd round – compensatory).

Superlatives for the Braves prospects

Baseball America’s top prospects lists have a quirky component called superlatives, which provide organizational “best tools” rankings. AJ Smith-Shawver not only won “Best Athlete,” but also “Best Curveball” – Smith-Shawver introduced that curveball over the spring, and it’s already proven to be a valuable weapon for him. He has excellent potential and a chance to be a future frontline starter for the Braves with his fantastic fastball, curveball, existing slider, and new split-changeup.

Drake Baldwin’s “Best Power Hitter” award is concerning; as previously said, the actual tool grade assigned to his power is just a 50, which is considered as mediocre. Each minor league club often has multiple players with tremendous raw power potential, but Atlanta’s lesser quantity of ranked position player prospects puts them below the majority of baseball in terms of potential impact sluggers in their minor leagues.