Braves top prospect Cristian Pache was called up on Tuesday and is ready to make his Major League debut. You might be surprised to find out who will be cheering for him the loudest.

“He and I have done a really good job of not looking at it like a competition,” said fellow Braves outfield prospect and No. 2 in the organization behind Pache, Drew Waters. “I’m cheering for him as much as I’m cheering for myself. He’s cheering for me as much as he’s cheering for himself.”

Well, there goes the narrative about the two 21-year-old outfielders actively trying to outdo each other to reach Atlanta and prove who is better. Sure being around each other certainly helps bring out the best in them -- not to mention the presence of “old man” Ronald Acuña Jr. (he’s 22) -- but this isn’t a survival of the fittest kind of deal.

“I really don’t think between me and Pache, or the three young outfielders, there’s much ‘competition,’” Waters, ranked No. 27 on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects list, said. “We’re competitors, we’re athletes, so of course we’re going to compete against each other, of course we’re going to push each other, because all three of our goals is not only to win a World Series, but to play in the big leagues with Atlanta for a really long time.”

Waters, currently at the Braves’ alternate training site at Coolray Field in Lawrenceville, Ga., is waiting for his turn to contribute to that goal. And after reaching Triple-A in 2019 at age 20, he’s not far off. It’s been a bit of a surreal existence for Waters, like so many players, without real games to play and no real sense of how to measure improvement. It’s compounded by the fact that Waters is at home, where he grew up, but he’s mostly going to the park for his workouts and then back home.

“It’s definitely tough,” Waters said. “The thought of having a summer where you’re not actually playing in games is different. At the same time, it’s nice to have a little bit of the reset button. This time has allowed me to continue to work on things I’ve needed to work on. There’s no secret, there’s definitely weaknesses in my game that needed improvement. One of the positives I can find out of this time where we’re not playing is just being able to really focus on those weaknesses and turn them into strengths.”

Key among those is Waters’ tendency to swing and miss. He’s hit at every level, with a .298/.354/.461 line in his Minor League career, but he’s also struck out in more than 26 percent of his plate appearances. In 2019, that rose to 28.6 percent, and he walked only 6.8 percent of the time (7 percent in his career). The stoppage in play has really allowed him to focus on this part of his game.

“I’m working on learning how to hit with a two-strike approach, just to cut down on some of the K’s,” Waters said. “With my speed and some of the other tools I have to offer, I feel a higher ball-in-play rate might also help my average and help a bunch of different things in the statistical categories.”

He’s also getting a lot more reps from the right side of the plate than he’d normally get in a regular season. In 2019, he had 403 at-bats from the left side and just 124 right-handed. So it’s no surprise that he’s stronger from the left, but it’s something he’s addressing now.

“I’ll be the first one to tell you my right side is behind my left side,” Waters said. “Does that mean I think I can’t hit from the right side of the plate? No, not at all. I am a firm believer that I am the same hitter from the right side of the plate as I am from the left side. I’ve needed time to put more focus on that side of the plate.”

Time. That’s probably been the best gift for Waters. Like many young players, he’s in a hurry to get to the highest level. The fact he made it to Triple-A so quickly only increased his impatience. He believes that’s the main reason why he struggled so much in big league camp during Spring Training (.179/.233/.214 in 28 at-bats): trying to do too much too quickly.

“This whole pandemic coronavirus deal has really shown me how to be patient and slow down,” Waters said. “I think for any 20-year-old that gets to Triple-A at that age, you’re already in a rush, but when you do it at that age, you get in even more of a rush. You have the itch to get to the big leagues and show people what you’re capable of. This time and those guys, those older veterans at the alternate training site, they have done a really good job of helping me slow down, become more patient with myself, just in knowing that even though yes, I’m not in the big leagues today, when I do get that opportunity, because I’m doing what I’m doing today, I’m going to be there to stay.”

And when he does, it’s likely it will be in an outfield with Pache and Acuña. When asked, he puts Pache, a future Gold Glover, in center and Acuña in right, leaving left field for him. But regardless of how the trio is lined up, it’s going to be a lot of fun.

“I feel that some of my weaknesses are some of Acuña's and Pache’s strengths,” Waters said. "Being able to ask those guys, ‘Hey, what are you thinking here’ or ‘Hey, what are you doing to get this result,’ there’s no doubt about it, it’s helped me become a better baseball player.

“I think at the end of the day you’re going to see a fast, explosive outfield. I’m just as excited about it as Braves fans.”