Here's the Braves' Spring Breakout roster
Mark Bowman
@mlbbowmanNORTH PORT, Fla. -- Nacho Alvarez Jr. and Drake Baldwin have made strong impressions as they have both experienced their first big league camp this year. Their talents will be spotlighted when they team up with other Braves prospects to play against a team of Red Sox prospects during MLB's first Spring Breakout weekend.
Alvarez and Baldwin are two of Atlanta's most highly regarded prospects scheduled to participate. The game will be played at Fort Myers' JetBlue Park on March 16 at 1 p.m. ET.
Alvarez has much more than just a cool name. One look at his frame might provide the assumption that he’ll end up as a third baseman. But while that might end up being true, he has shown he still has the range to be a capable shortstop.
“The reports on him are really good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Everybody who was with him last year has said he can really hit. He might look like a catcher when he’s out there playing short, but he makes the plays. Everything I’ve seen with his bat and glove has been really impressive.”
Alvarez, who ranks as the Braves No. 6 prospect, has shown why Atlanta was so happy to take him in the fifth round of the 2022 MLB Draft. The 20-year-old infielder posted a .786 OPS and was successful with 16 of 21 stolen base attempts for High A Rome last year. He played shortstop in all but one of the 108 games he appeared in defensively.
Baldwin has spent the past few weeks showing he has the potential to be a solid big league catcher. That is pretty significant when you think back to what was being said about him before the Braves selected him in the third round of that same 2022 Draft. He was widely viewed as a good hitter, but his defensive skills were questionable.
Two years later, Braves catching coach Sal Fasano is just one of the many who are raving about how much Baldwin has improved.
“I like him behind the plate,” Snitker said. “They do a lot of work here. Sal has the catchers over there doing all their drills every day and they keep that up in the Minors throughout the season. If the kids are willing to work, they are going to get better.”
Baldwin ended up playing a few late-season games for Triple-A Gwinnett, but he spent most of last year with High A Rome. He hit 14 homers and produced a .851 OPS over 405 plate appearances for Rome.
The Braves tinkered with the unique batting stance Baldwin used at Missouri State University. Those adjustments seem to have been as fruitful as the ones the young catcher has made behind the plate.
“I think the style of catching here really helps me to stay athletic,” Baldwin said. “Just the way they go about things with consistent routines throughout the season has gotten me closer to perfecting those routines and it has allowed me to be more confident when I’m catching.”
What is Spring Breakout? MLB Spring Breakout is a four-day event showcasing baseball’s future: the current stars of Minor League Baseball. The inaugural edition will be held from March 14-17 at Grapefruit and Cactus league stadiums during Spring Training. A series of 16 exhibition games will be played between teams comprised of each MLB organization’s top prospects, creating a new touchpoint on the baseball calendar that celebrates our sport’s budding talent.
Here's the Braves' Spring Breakout roster with MLB Pipeline's rankings:
UTILITY
Geraldo Quintero, UTIL, No. 28