Hurston Waldrep #26

Attended Thomasville High School (Thomasville, Ga.)...Ranked as the 14th-best RHP in the state of Georgia by Perfect Game in 2020...Collected Region 1-AA Pitcher of the Year honors and Region 1-AA First Team accolades...Won three Region 1-AA titles (2017, 2018 and 2019)...Son of Cliff and Debbie Waldrep...Has one brother, Ryan and two sisters, Morgan and Edon.

2025

Split the year between Atlanta and Triple-A Gwinnett, going 6-1 with a 2.88 ERA (18 ER/56.1 IP) in 10 Major League games, nine starts, this season...Earned his first career win in on Aug. 2, scattering three hits over 5.2 innings of one-run ball against Cincinnati in Bristol, Tenn....Waldrep became the first player in Major League history to record a win the Volunteer state...He was appointed as the additional player for the continuation of the MLB Speedway Classic, after returning INF Jonathan Ornelas to Triple-A Gwinnett...Won his third game of the year with Atlanta on Aug. 15, holding Cleveland to two hits over six scoreless frames while fanning seven hitters...Became just the fourth rookie in Atlanta franchise history (1966) to win at least four of his first six career games; last: Matt Wisler in 2015...Earned his fourth win of the season and his third quality start of the year, scattering four hits over seven scoreless frames with seven strikeouts and just one walk against Chicago-AL on Aug. 20...Became the second MLB rookie in the modern era to earn the win in each of his first four appearances of a season while allowing one run or fewer in each outing... The other was Fernando Valenzuela in 1981...Research courtesy of StatsPass...Also became the youngest pitcher in Braves franchise history to open the season 4-0 and the first since Rick Mahler in 1985...Since 1963, only five other Braves have finished their fourth game with a 0.73 ERA or lower (min. 20 IP): Greg Maddux (1998, 2001), Tim Hudson (2007), Aaron Harang (2014), Max Fried (2023) and Reynaldo López (2024)...Waldrep went 4-0 with a 0.90 ERA in his first five outings of the season...Joined Hall of Famer Greg Maddux as the only Atlanta-era hurlers to earn four wins, pitch at least 30 innings and have a sub-1.00 ERA in the first five outings of a season...Maddux posted a 0.88 ERA in his first five starts of 1994. Struck out a career-best nine hitters against Philadelphia on Aug. 31...Began 4-0 with a 1.33 ERA in six starts and one long relief appearance with the Braves...Snapped his four-game winning streak on Sept. 12 against Houston...Owned a 1.33 ERA (6 ER/40.2 IP) in the Majors through Sept. 6, spanning his first seven appearances (six starts) with Atlanta...His 1.01 ERA in August was the lowest in the month by an Atlanta-era starter (min. 35 innings pitched) since Kris Medlen also went 4-0 while posting a 0.50 ERA in 2012...Earned a win in his final game of the season and became the only rookie in Braves franchise history (modern era) to earn six wins while only losing one game in a season as a primary starter...In his final start, Waldrep improved to 6-1 and held a .857 win-loss percentage on the year, the highest rate for a Braves rookie in a single season with at least 10 outings in franchise history...Went 7-8 with a 4.42 ERA in 19 starts with Triple-A Gwinnett.

2024

Went 0-1 with a 16.71 ERA in two starts with Atlanta...Posted a 3.45 ERA (35 ER/91.1 IP) while going 5-7 between Single-A Augusta, Double-A Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett...Opened the year with the M-Braves, going 3-4 with a 2.92 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, .269 BAA, and four quality starts in nine outings...Finished the season with the Stripers, going 2-2 with a 3.38 ERA and 43 strikeouts in eight starts...Posted a 1.06 ERA through 17.0 innings pitched over his final three starts...Made his Major League debut on June 9 at Washington, surrendering seven runs and suffering the loss in 3.2 innings pitched.

2023

In his first season in the Braves system, rose four levels from Single-A to High-A to Double-A to Triple-A, posting a 1.53 ERA (5 ER/29.1 IP) in eight starts...His 41 strikeouts were more than any other hurler in the 2023 MLB Draft class...He issued 16 walks, while holding opponents to a .179 batting average (19-for-106)...Made his professional debut with Single-A Augusta, August 5 vs. Columbia (3.0 IP, 1 ER, 8 K, 2 BB)...Earned his first promotion to Triple-A on Sept. 23...Became the first Braves farmhand to reach Triple-A Gwinnett (est. 2009) in the same year he was drafted...While with High-A Rome, notched his season­ high for innings pitched (4.2) and strikeouts (10) in the same outing, Aug. 26 vs. Greensboro...In three starts with High-A Rome, struck out 17 and allowed one earned run and four hits in 12.0 innings...Pitched to a 2.70 ERA (3 ER/10.0 IP) with 11 strikeouts over his next three starts, which came with Double-A Mississippi...Finished the season as Atlanta's No. 2 overall prospect, according to MLBPipeline.com...Also ranked No. 100 on the Top 100 Prospects List, by the same publication.