Mound Talk

1. Jason Heyward, OF, Rk. Heyward was the top pick of the Braves in 2007 and one of the top high school hitters in the draft. He has excellent bat speed and generates very good power. In high school he showed incredible pitch recognition and plate discipline however, he tends to be too complacent at times. Defensively, he needs to work on his range but he does have a very good arm. He will start in Low-A but is likely to move up if he succeeds.
2. Jordan Schafer, OF, A+. Schafer has a great swing and does a great job of driving the ball. However, the allure here is not necessarily his bat but his stellar defense. Shafer has great range and an incredible arm. There is nothing negative to say about his defense. His offense suggests a future 20/20 producer with the potential for 30/30.
3. Brent Lillibridge, SS, AAA. Lillibridge has good range and arm strength defensively and combines that with a decent offensive base. He has good speed and drives the ball well. Though he won’t be a significant home run hitter, Lillibridge will hit balls to the gaps and aggressively challenge outfielders to keep him at first on long singles. His swing is long but as he moves into a more well defined role, that should change.
4. Brandon Jones, OF, MLB. Jones is a very good athlete with a nice swing. He hits the ball well to all fields and will hit for decent power. His arm is very good and he has good speed as well. He needs to work on his base running skills but that should come with time. He should have a chance to challenge for a spot on the big league club out of Spring Training.
5. Gorkys Hernandez, OF, A. Hernandez has very good speed stealing 54 bases last season. He makes good contact and can drive the ball well into the gaps. Defensively he has good range and a very good arm.
6. Jair Jurrjens, RHSP, MLB. Jurrjens is ready for a big league job and will certainly help the Braves rotation. He works on a strong two-seamer with heavy sink and a decent four-seamer with good movement. His fastball tops at 96 mph but consistently works lower than that. Jurrjens has good control of his fastballs but struggles more with his curve. His change-up is very good with nice downward movement. His overall command isn’t great as he leaves pitches up in the zone too often resulting in balls being crushed.
7. Cole Rohrbough, LHSP, A. Rohrbough is a very good talent who has made tremendous strides in his game over the past season and a half. His arm slot is higher and his velocity shot up to the low-90s. He has a plus curve with great break. His change needs some work but Atlanta is already well on top of that.
8. Jeff Locke, LHSP, Rk. Locke has very good command over his slightly above average stuff. his fastball is in the low-90s with very, very good movement. His curve has great potential but needs some work yet. His change is improving over time but again, still needs consistency.
9. Julio Teheran, RHSP, Colombia. Teheran is a very talented pitcher who threw in instructs this year after being signed. His showed a fastball in the mid-90s and a change that had very good movement. His curve had very good movement. However, all indications were that his command isn’t there. He needs to refine his delivery to become more consistent.
10. Thomas Hanson, RHSP, A+. Hanson has a good moving fastball in the low-90s, a great curve and an ok change. He controls his pitches well but needs to work on his command as he tends to leave pitches up too often. His future is as a #3 starter and he should be able to crack the rotation in 2009.
Flier. Kala Kaaihue, 1B, AA. Kaaihue has shown tremendous power and the ability to hit for average. However, he struggled with his promotion to High-A in 2006 at the age of 21 and struggled with a promotion to Double-A at the age of 22. Actually, to say he struggled in Double-A is an understatement. In 118 at-bats he put up a line of .127/.211/.186. I have notably expressed many concerns with Kaaiuhue in the past and will continue to do so until he can perform well at a level the first time and at an appropriate age. Nonetheless, his power is undeniable slugging over .520 for his minor league career.

The Braves are one of the best systems in baseball. Heyward, Schafer and Jones should provide an incredibly talented defensive outfield for years to come and with above average offensive production. All three have a good combination of speed and power. Lillibridge is a good defender and will step in to fill a role of some sort in 2008 as with Jurrjens. Rohrbough and Locke have tremendous potential and Hanson has