Today, the Atlanta Braves have released their full 40-man Spring Breakout roster. It’s filled with their top prospects who will compete against the Yankees on March 21. This is just a preliminary roster pool, as only 27 of those 40 players will actually make the final roster.
Below you will find a list of the 40 players to make the roster, as well as a guess at the 27 players who will actually participate in the game – assuming they stay healthy. The number next to them is their ranking on the Battery Power Top 30 list that was updated this winter.
40-man Player Pool
PITCHERS (21)
Blane Abeyta, RHP, NR
Ethan Bagwell, RHP, No. 25
Landon Beidelschies, LHP, Honorable Mention
Lucas Braun, RHP, No. 19
Garrett Baumann, RHP, No. 12
Blake Burkhalter, RHP, No. 18
Cam Caminiti, LHP, No. 1
Didier Fuentes, RHP, No. 3
Isaac Gallegos, RHP, NR
Drue Hackenberg, RHP, No. 30
Hayden Harris, LHP, No. 28
Herick Hernandez, LHP, No. 20
Jhancarlos Lara, RHP, No. 11
Briggs McKenzie, LHP, No. 7
Ian Mejia, RHP, NR
Rolddy Munoz, RHP, NR
Owen Murphy, RHP, No. 4
Raudy Reyes, RHP, No. 23
JR Ritchie, RHP, No. 2
Luke Sinnard, RHP, No. 8
Luis Vargas, RHP, NR
CATCHERS (3)
Archer Brookman, C, NR
Colin Burgess, C, NR
Manuel Dos Passos, C, NR
INFIELDERS (9)
Lizandro Espinoza, UTIL, NR
John Gil, SS, No. 9
Jim Jarvis, SS, NR
Alex Lodise, SS, No. 10
David McCabe, 1B/3B, Honorable Mention
Cody Miller, SS, No. 16
Jose Perdomo, SS, No. 21
Tate Southisene, SS/OF, No. 6
Dixon Williams, 2B, No. 26
OUTFIELDERS (7)
Owen Carey, OF, No. 17
Patrick Clohisy, OF, NR
Isaiah Drake, OF, No. 15
Conor Essenburg, OF, No. 14
Luis Guanipa, OF, No. 13
Eric Hartman, OF, No. 24
Diego Tornes, OF, No. 5
Predictions
I predict the Braves will take 11 pitchers, 2 catchers, 7 infielders, and 6 outfielders to this game, with 1 wildcard spot open.
With the pitchers I think it can be safely assumed that Cam Caminiti, Didier Fuentes, Owen Murphy, and Jhancarlos Lara will all be heading to the game. JR Ritchie is only outside that group as the Braves could decide to hold him back as they consider him for a big league spot after his strong start to the spring. I also believe that Luke Sinnard, Lucas Braun, and Hayden Harris are likely, with Herick Hernandez being close to that group as another lefty option to go with Caminiti and Harris. That is eight or nine guys out of the 11, and we haven’t even gotten into talented prospects like Briggs McKenzie, Raudy Reyes, Garrett Bauman, Landon Beidelschies, or Ethan Bagwell, or more experienced arms like Blake Burkhalter, Rolddy Munoz, Ian Mejia, or Drue Hackenberg
I will pick Caminiti, Fuentes, Murphy, Lara, Sinnard, Braun, Harris, and Hernandez for the first eight slots, leaving Ritchie off the team in favor of keeping him with the big league squad. Beidelschies is the next pick, giving the team a fourth lefty. Hackenberg gets a slot here as the Braves hope he can put a forgettable 2025 season behind him. With the final spot going to young fireballer Raudy Reyes, just to give him a chance to throw gas in this game.
Catcher is going to be the toughest spot to pick as none of the names in the pool are significant prospects. I am going to go with Archer Brookman for one of the spots, as the Braves just added him via the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft this winter, so they may want to give him a look. With the other spot, young Manuel Dos Passos is the pick over Colin Burgess, as Dos Passos is the most intriguing prospect in this pool.
With the infield I believe two things are fairly safe bets. Based on how he has been used this spring plus his late promotion to Double-A last year, John Gil will be a lock if healthy. I also think David McCabe is going to go because of the need for a first baseman. The three recently drafted shortstops in Tate Southisene, Cody Miller, and Alex Lodise will all be strongly considered, as will also recently drafted second baseman Dixon Williams. But you can make an argument for former top international signee Jose Perdomo, who is finally healthy and in camp in the best shape we have seen since signing. Though minor league veterans like Lizandro Espinoza and Jim Jarvis would add a little experience to the team.
Two of these guys will need to be left out, and unfortunately I believe one of the more intriguing prospects will be in that group, as I can’t picture the Braves leaving off both Jarvis and Espinoza for their experience, versatility, and being the most advanced. I will leave Jarvis off in favor of Espinoza, and also Perdomo due to his struggles to this point in his career. That makes the group of infielders Gil, McCabe, Southisene, Lodise, Miller, Williams, and Espinoza.
The outfield is most likely to bring top prospect Diego Tornes and the most advanced player of the bunch, Patrick Clohisy. That means one Top 30 prospect will need to be squeezed out here. Top prospect Conor Essenburg seems like the most likely to get the squeeze due to his not playing in a professional game that counts yet, and I chose him over Luis Guanipa as the player not to make the cut. That means the outfield would be Tornes, Clohisy, Isaiah Drake, Owen Carey, Eric Hartman, and Luis Guanipa for the six spots. That is going to be an impressive group of young players to watch.
With the wildcard spot it would be a tough decision. On the hitting side there are prospects Perdomo and Essenburg, versatile veteran Jarvis, and a third catcher in Burgess. If they decided to go with a 12th pitcher there are prospects like top draft pick McKenzie, young prospects like Baumann and Bagwell, more experienced options like Burkhalter, Mejia, and Munoz. I am going to take Baumann over Jarvis with this pick, as he is a highly regarded prospect getting ready for his first taste of the upper minors.
Predicted Roster
PITCHERS (12)
Landon Beidelschies, LHP, Honorable Mention
Lucas Braun, RHP, No. 19
Garrett Baumann, RHP, No. 12
Cam Caminiti, LHP, No. 1
Didier Fuentes, RHP, No. 3
Drue Hackenberg, RHP, No. 30
Hayden Harris, LHP, No. 28
Herick Hernandez, LHP, No. 20
Jhancarlos Lara, RHP, No. 11
Owen Murphy, RHP, No. 4
Raudy Reyes, RHP, No. 23
Luke Sinnard, RHP, No. 8
CATCHERS (2)
Archer Brookman, C, NR
Manuel Dos Passos, C, NR
INFIELDERS (7)
Lizandro Espinoza, UTIL, NR
John Gil, SS, No. 9
Alex Lodise, SS, No. 10
David McCabe, 1B/3B, Honorable Mention
Cody Miller, SS, No. 16
Tate Southisene, SS/OF, No. 6
Dixon Williams, 2B, No. 26
OUTFIELDERS (6)
Owen Carey, OF, No. 17
Patrick Clohisy, OF, NR
Isaiah Drake, OF, No. 15
Luis Guanipa, OF, No. 13
Eric Hartman, OF, No. 24
Diego Tornes, OF, No. 5
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