2024 was unfortunately not kind to many of Atlanta’s top prospects
Yesterday we had a chance to talk about the rising prospects in the Atlanta Braves system, and unfortunately today it’s time to take a look at those who most disappointed. You’ll be likely unsurprised that poor hit tools and injuries dominate this list, though there are still a handful of guys here we hope have futures moving forward.
Diego Benitez
Preseason 2024: 13th | Preseason 2025: NR
There was plenty of hype for Diego Benitez coming into the 2024 season, but his season in Augusta fell flat and his career with the Braves may be hanging on a thread at this point. Benitez is still only 19 years old, but looked as bad as any player in minor league baseball with a 41 wRC+ in Single-A to go along with 18 errors in just 33 games. Benitez has the strength to be an impactful power hitter, but his approach, hitting ability, and defense are so far away it is hard to project him even reaching the upper levels of the minor leagues.
Dylan Dodd
Preseason 2024: 17th | Preseason 2025: 27th
There is still some hope for Dylan Dodd to turn things around, especially if he is moved to the bullpen, but the past two seasons of stagnation have been a concern. Despite the best efforts of Dodd and the Braves he just has not found a secondary offering that can produce swing-and-miss results, and his velocity regression has dulled the effect of his fastball. Dodd toyed with a slider that had some success this season, though he struggled to land competitive pitches with it. Dodd turns 27 this season, and is probably approaching his last chance to start with the Braves before they will make other decisions.
Isaiah Drake
Preseason 2024: 20th | Preseason 2025: NR
Isaiah Drake just missed our top 30 list, and while some of it was his own underperformance this season much of it could be attributed to the other young players in Augusta just showing us more. Drake was horrible early in the season and it knocked him down a ton, but an improved approach to end the season does have him trending in the right direction. There is still plenty of hope that Drake can make his mark going into next year, but he simply didn’t show enough in 2024 to justify having him over players who made leaps forward.
Douglas Glod
Preseason 2024: 18th | Preseason 2025: NR
Another of the international prospects who seemingly can’t find a hit tool Glod repeated the FCL this season and actually got worse. Glod hit for less power, struck out more, and given concerns about his athleticism is going to be tested to stick in a corner outfield spot. Glod has as much raw power as anyone in the system, but he isn’t getting to contact enough to make it happen right now and the Braves didn’t even try to push him to full season ball this year.
Seth Keller
Preseason 2024: 16th | Preseason 2025: NR
Keller was one of the system’s most impressive pitchers early in 2023, and we held out hope that his late season struggles were going to be helped by an offseason of rest. Unfortunately that didn’t happen. A forearm injury cost him parts of 2023, and when he came back he simply was not the same guy, walking 24 batters and striking out only ten in 23 innings along with significantly reduced velocity. That pattern held through two games this season where he walked six and struck out two before being shut down for the rest of the season. Hopefully Keller can come back healthy and reclaim his early 2023 form, but unfortunately it hasn’t looked good for Keller in his short professional career.
Cade Kuehler
Preseason 2024: 15th | Preseason 2025: 23rd
Cade Kuehler had an interesting year, which unfortunately ended in Tommy John surgery accounting for much of his loss in positioning. Kuehler came out with a revamped delivery, and early on all of his pitches took a step back from where they were in college. Kuehler missed his fair share of bats at Single-A and his command did improve, but he never really got going or showed the upper-90’s velocity he did at Campbell. Kuehler’s surgery may give him a chance to pitch in 2025, though it’s unlikely we’ll see him back at full strength until 2026.
David McCabe
Preseason 2024: 8th | Preseason 2025: 30th
McCabe effectively lost all of 2024 to his Tommy John surgery, playing only 45 games where he clearly was not himself. McCabe’s timing was all out of whack throughout the season, and though we saw a couple of flashes of power he just wasn’t hitting the ball solidly at all. His strikeouts skyrocketed, and as someone who will start 2025 at age 25 he’ll have to show he can hit relatively quickly. The good news for McCabe is that he has the raw power and approach to be a high on base/power guy, but with his likely home being at first base or designated hitter he is going to need to maximize his hit tool.
Darius Vines
Preseason 2024: 10th | Preseason 2025: NR
A terrific major league debut in 2023 along with a history of success gave us plenty of confidence in Darius Vines as a major league pitcher coming into 2024, but a year later and Vines was DFA’d and has lost his 40 man spot. Vines’s below average fastball continues to be a significant issue for him, and when his velocity backed up even more in 2024 it made it even harder for him to get away with it. Vines has a weapon in his above average changeup, but his breaking balls have all plateaued and unless he finds some late career velocity he will likely land as merely an organizational arm.