Biggest Questions for Atlanta Braves Prospects in the 2024 Season
The farm system of the Atlanta Braves is chock full of high-ceiling pitchers, with several intriguing position players scattered throughout the prospect rankings.
With pitchers and catchers reporting this week to get the road to the 2024 season underway, what development steps do we need to see taken this upcoming season?
Is there a true shortstop here?
One of the Braves weakest positions, on paper, is at shortstop, with only a few prospects at the most important defensive position in our farm system rankings.
The three players we’re looking at to possibly be the shortstop of the future are Jose Perdomo (#6), Ignacio Alvarez (#7), and Sebin Ceballos (#14), and they’ve all got outstanding questions.
For Alvarez, the biggest question is also the most basic – can he play the position? Drafted as a third baseman out of Riverside City College in 2022’s 5th round, Atlanta didn’t start playing Alvarez at short until the 2nd half of his post-draft debut, when he moved from rookie ball to Single-A Augusta. Opinions are divided amongst the prospect
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apparatus whether or not Alvarez can stick there, with Baseball America noting that he’ll suffer from foot speed and range concerns at shortstop and speculating that he’s bound to be a third baseman when it’s all said and done.
Ceballos has similar questions to Alvarez about his fit at third base – also a third baseman at college, in Oregon, he doesn’t have the benefit of Alvarez’s 117 professional games at short to begin to provide answers. But with his heritage as a Rawlings Gold Glove winner at third base, there’s going to be an attempt to try him at shortstop in 2024 to see if his preparation and defensive instincts can give Atlanta a future option at the position.
