SportsTalkATL’s May Top Prospect List

1. Dansby Swanson
2. Sean Newcomb
3. Kolby Allard
4. Ozhaino Albies
5. Mallex Smith
6. Aaron Blair
7. Lucas Sims
8. Max Fried
9. Chris Ellis
10. Austin Riley
11. Tyrell Jenkins
12. Mike Soroka
13. Manny Banuelos
14. Rio Ruiz
15. Touki Toussaint
16. Dustin Peterson
17. Braxton Davidson
18. Derian Cruz
19. John Gant
20. Jonathan Morales
21. Ronald Acuna
22. Rob Whalen
23. Ricardo Sanchez
24. Juan Yepez
25. Lucas Herbert
26. Christian Pache
27. Daniel Winkler
28. Casey Kelly
29. Jesse Biddle
30. AJ Minter

Also considered: Zack Bird, Andrew Thurman, Max Povse, Mauricio Cabrera, Jason Hursh

Trending Up:

Lucas Sims moves up four spots on the list. It only took three starts for the organization to realize he was ready for AAA. Still adjusting at that level but is tossing strikeouts at a high rate nevertheless. I expect him in Atlanta at some point this season. Chris Ellis also moves up four spots on this list. He is absolutely dominating AA right now, with a 5-0 record and a 1.71 ERA in 7 starts. Expect him in Gwinnett soon. Mike Soroka gets bumped up another couple spots as he has been nearly as dominant as Ellis. The pitching depth in this farm system is unbelievable. Rio Ruiz moves up a spot. He is starting to come back down to earth following a hot start at AAA Gwinnett, but has held his own and is one of the youngest players playing at that level. He could be the starting third baseman for the Braves by season’s end. Dustin Peterson moves up a spot as he appears to be growing into his powerful frame. He has hit five bombs in 126 at bats for AA Mississippi. Jonathan Morales was not featured on this list’s last edition, but boy we made a mistake. Don’t let the fact that this kid was a 25th round pick fool you: he can hit the ball. He could be the Catcher of the future for the Braves. His teammate Ronald Acuna moves up as well, and he looks like he has the potential to be a pretty solid major leaguer. He has a lot of room to grow on this list. Casey Kelly gets thrown on the list as well. He is a former top prospect who is putting together a pretty solid year down at AAA. Perhaps he could be a great reclamation story for the Bravos.

Trending Down:

Tyrell Jenkins has pitched well and Manny Banuelos has been sidelined. They have moved down spots simply because a lot of these guys have stepped up early in 2016. Touki Toussaint has struggled mightily, and though he has nasty makeup, he is going to have to put it together to crack my top 10 anytime soon. Braxton Davidson has struggled and is now a career .231 hitter in the minor leagues. He moves down a spot and needs to get his bat going. Most of the players in the 20-30 range moved down a spot or two due to the emergence of Ronald Acuna and Jonathan Morales down in Rome.

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