In the lead-up to the 2020 season that we are crossing our fingers and toes will actually happen, we are previewing the prospects and lesser known names in the Braves’ player pool. We had already covered the big name guys in our roster previews months ago, so don’t expect to see write-ups on Albies or Soroka in this space. This series is more about getting to know the prospects and other names that could see time in the big leagues as members of the player pool, but aren’t locks for it.
When the Braves selected Braden Shewmake and signed him at slot value when there were a lot of talented prep and college players still on the board, it was certainly a surprise for us. The lanky 6’4 standout infielder for Texas A&M certainly put up good numbers in college, but there were plenty of folks who questioned whether he would be able to put on some muscle as a pro as well as whether he would ever make the swing changes that seemed necessary to tap into his power. However, the Braves saw his above average hit tool and ability to play multiple positions in the infield and saw a guy that they could coach and improve into a contributor in the major leagues.
The early returns on this decision have been quite good.
Across two levels of the minors which saw him get promoted all the way to Double-A, Shewmake posted a .300/.371/.425 line including a 151 wRC+ during his debut at Rome. We didn’t see the changes to his swing we would have liked, but this performance was right after he was drafted and we do expect to see some changes in the future. He does make hard contact and while his open stance does look a little funky, he is consistently on time on pitches and he knows and understands how pitchers are going after him.
In the field, whether or not he will stick as an everyday shortstop depends on who you talk to. There were some high profile voices that saw his defense as better than expected and thought he could stick there, but we also heard from others that he is more of a utility and/or second baseman long term and we definitely saw some throws short-armed or at least that were less than accurate out of him. In today’s game, getting labeled as a utility guy is hardly a knock on him at all and with his hit tool and potential power, there is absolutely a place on a major league roster for a guy like Braden.
As for the 2020 season, don’t expect to see Shewmake unless there are some pretty dire circumstances that come up...although that is a possibility given the state of the world. Shewmake isn’t on the 40 man roster and the Braves do have guys like Hechavarria, Culberson, Kozma, and Solarte to potentially use in an emergency. Ideally, Shewmake uses this opportunity in getting added to the pool to improve and develop and, depending on what happens with the roster going into 2021, he could be ready next year. However, we are filling in strange times and there is a non-zero chance that multiple members of the Braves infield could test positive for COVID-19. If that happens, we could see Shewmake a lot sooner than that.
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