The Atlanta Braves have a ton of high-ceiling pitchers in their farm system, and the prospect rankings include a number of intriguing position players.
What developmental measures must be accomplished this upcoming season as pitchers and catchers report this week to begin the journey to the 2024 season?
Shortstop is one of the Braves’ worst positions on paper, with just a handful prospects at the most crucial defensive position according to our rankings of the farm system.
Jose Perdomo (#6), Ignacio Alvarez (#7), and Sebin Ceballos (#14) are the three players we may consider to be the shortstop of the future, and they all have excellent questions.
The most important and fundamental question for Alvarez is whether or not he can play the position. Alvarez was selected by Atlanta in the fifth round of the 2022 MLB Draft as a third baseman out of Riverside City College. However, he did not begin playing shortstop until the second half of his post-draft debut, when he was sent from rookie league to Single-A Augusta. Whether or not Alvarez can stay there is a matter of opinion within the prospect hierarchy; Baseball America notes that he’ll struggle with foot speed and range issues at shortstop and speculates that he’ll end up playing third base.
Similar to Alvarez, Ceballos is a third baseman in college in Oregon, but he lacks the advantage of Alvarez’s 117 career games to start answering doubts about his suitability at the position. However, given his history as a third base winner who won the Rawlings Gold Glove, an attempt will be made to try him at shortstop in 2024 to see if his conditioning and defensive prowess will provide Atlanta with a future option at the position.
