Another guy who doesn’t have to contribute right now, but flew through the system last year anyway
We talked about AJ Smith-Shawver yesterday. Let’s talk about Hurston Waldrep today.
In some ways, there’s less to say about Waldrep. He flew through the system last year, but was downright horrible at the MLB level. He was also hurt, and didn’t do anything akin to impressing in Triple-A post-injury, but he was also just 22 and wasn’t exactly acclimatizing to any specific level.
For me, the questions surrounding Waldrep are not really 2025-specific, so he could do nothing meaningful for the big league team in 2025 and still end up a useful player down the line. Those questions have to do with his command and/or whether there’s a greater impetus to move him to the bullpen as a higher-leverage option than some other not-immediately-successful starters. It seems like a lot of people have harder throwers with a promising secondary tabbed as potential bullpen options (see: infinite discussion of Huascar Ynoa, after his brief glimmer of success, once upon a time), but that doesn’t mean the Braves will go that route. But, they might.
Anyway, to wheel it back to the question at hand: what do you think Waldrep will do for the big league team in 2025? Nothing? Some blah spot starts? Full-on high leverage relief work? Something else?