2010 National League Playoffs: Atlanta Braves Young Player Review

by John Sickels on Oct 5, 2025 1:15 PM EDT

Moving forward with our look at young talent on each of the 2010 playoff teams, we shift to the National League and the Atlanta Braves. The focus here is on players who were rookies, or any player 24 years old or younger, and what I see for their future.

ATLANTA BRAVES

Brandon Beachy, RHP: Turned 24 in September, an undrafted free agent out of Indiana Wesleyan who had a remarkable season, 1.73 ERA with a 148/28 K/BB in 119 innings in Double-A and Triple-A. He lost two of three major league starts, but did post a 15/7 K/BB in 15 innings. He looks like he can be a useful fourth starter at the major league level.

Michael Dunn, LHP: 25 year old rookie, posted a 1.89 ERA with a 27/17 K/BB in 19 innings in the Braves bullpen. Needs to get the walk rate down to sustain that ERA over a full season, but his strikeout rate is excellent and he has a good chance to be a successful reliever for some time to come.

Freddie Freeman, 1B: Didn't turn 21 until mid-September, hit just .167/.167/.333 in 24 major league at-bats, but .319/.378/.521 in Triple-A. One of the best first base prospects in the game, he just needs a chance to play. Was a second round pick from a California high school in 2007.

Tommy Hanson, RHP: Didn't turn 24 until late August. Sophomore went 10-11, 3.33 with a 173/56 K/BB in 203 innings, 182 hits, firmly establishing himself as one of the best young pitchers in the game. He will be a rotation anchor for years to come barring health problems. Was drafted in the 22^nd round in 2006 from Riverside Community College.

Jason Heyward, OF: Played most of the season at age 20, hitting .277/.393/.456 with 18 homers and 91 walks. As good as he was, he's just scratching the surface of his potential, particularly in the power department. He will be a superstar, and it will be interesting to see him perform on the big post-season stage. Drafted in the first round in 2007 from high school in Georgia.

Brandon Hicks, INF: 25 year old rookie, went 0-for-5 in 16 games for Atlanta after hitting .211/.280/.333 in Triple-A. He has a chance as a bench guy if he can make sufficient contact due to speed, defense, and some sparks of power, but he has no chance as a regular. Drafted out of Texas A&M; in the third round in '07.

Craig Kimbrel, RHP: 22 year old reliever, posted a 0.44 ERA with a 40/16 K/BB in 21 major league innings, following up a 1.62 ERA with an 83/35 K/BB in 56 Triple-A innings, 23 saves. Ideally-suited for use as a middle reliever and could get a shot at closing eventually. Was a third round pick in 2008 from Wallace State Community College in Alabama.

Kris Medlen, RHP: 24 year old sophomore, had a good season as a swingman, 3.68 ERA with an 83/21 K/BB in 108 innings, 108 hits, started 14 games and relieved in 17. A 10^th round pick in 2006 from Santa Anna Community College. He's just a very solid pitcher when healthy. He is now out with Tommy John surgery, so we'll have to see how his recovery goes.

Mike Minor, LHP: 22 years old, posted a 5.98 ERA in the majors with a 43/11 K/BB in 41 innings, 53 hits, following up a 3.44 ERA with a 146/46 K/BB in 120 Double-A and Triple-A innings. Vanderbilt product drafted in the first round in 2009 got to the majors much sooner than anyone expected a year ago. He needs to make a few more adjustments, but I see him as a solid number three starter going forward.

Jair Jurrjens, RHP: Has been a full-time starter for three years but is still just 24 years old. 4.64 ERA with 86/42 K/BB in 116 innings this year, 120 hits, not at full strength due to some injury problems. I think his "true level" of performance is better than this year but not as good as 2009; look for something like his 2008 season more frequently, assuming good health. Originally signed by the Tigers from the Netherlands Antilles.

Jonny Venters, LHP: 25 year old rookie, 1.95 ERA with a 93/39 K/BB in 83 innings for the Braves, 61 hits allowed, excellent bullpen debut. Extreme ground ball pitcher with a high strikeout rate, a potent combination. Another junior college guy, drafted in the 30^th round in 2003 then signed as a draft-and-follow in '04 after pitching for Indian River CC in Florida. The Braves look at the JC ranks very intently.

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Read More: Jair Jurrjens (P - ATL), Brandon Hicks (3B - ATL), Jason Heyward (RF - ATL), Kris Medlen (P - ATL), Michael Dunn (P - FLA), Freddie Freeman (1B - ATL), Tommy Hanson (P - ATL), Jonny Venters (P - ATL), Craig Kimbrel (P - ATL), Mike Minor (P - ATL), Brandon Beachy (P - ATL), Atlanta Braves

Comments

Medlen

…has been out for a few months, now, following TJ surgery. Still going to be valuable, going forward, though.

by vandystu on Oct 5, 2025 1:18 PM EDT reply actions

medlen

OOps, I forgot about medlen getting hurt. I will fix that.

by John Sickels on Oct 5, 2025 1:23 PM EDT reply actions

Jason Heyward

I know hes been talked about to death, but at the time of the draft I wasn’t following minors/drafts all that much. What was the consensus on him at the time of the draft? Were there people who thought he should go a lot higher?

by Humbled Fan on Oct 5, 2025 1:33 PM EDT reply actions

He held all the chips

and rumor had it, he was going to the Braves or collage.

"The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three run homers."

by fourfingerwoo on Oct 5, 2025 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions

I never once heard that rumor

There were no indications that he’d be an especially tough sign and few even thought he’d last to the Braves pick. The truth of the matter was that only 2 or 3 teams ahead of the Braves were even interested. The closest Heyward came to what you say is choosing not to give the Marlins (who picked 2 spots in front of the Braves) a private workout because he preferred the possibility of dropping to the Braves.

by nixa37 on Oct 5, 2025 2:12 PM EDT up reply actions

I heard from multiple places that there were rumors Heyward was floating very high dollar amounts, then a few weeks later rumors were he only wanted to sign with the Braves.

by jfish26101 on Oct 5, 2025 6:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Scouts just whiffed on him, though there were some extenuating circumstances

He played out of the East Cobb program in Atlanta that discourages players from going on the showcase circuit and that’s where cheaper teams do a lot of their HS scouting. He got pitched around a ton in HS and refused to swing at questionable pitches, so scouts might go to a weekend series and only see him swing the bat a handful of times in 3 games. He also rarely ever took BP on the field, choosing to work in the cage instead. That kept scouts from being wowed by BP power. For the most part, scouts just weren’t able to form a strong enough opinion on him where they’d go out of their way to sell him to the FO.

Supposedly the Braves also did a good job running counter-intelligence. They wouldn’t openly scout his games (supposedly they had a guy who would watch from the woods in CF), which may have given teams the idea they weren’t interested. If the Braves aren’t interested in a GA boy teams begin to question what the Braves know that nobody else does.

by nixa37 on Oct 5, 2025 2:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Hmm... interesting. Thanks for the background info!

by Humbled Fan on Oct 5, 2025 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions

That's a great summary, nixa

I’ve always enjoyed those Heyward anecdotes. I believe in the typical telling the braves scout is “hiding behind a bush”, but it’s far more likely he was watching from the woods per your rendition.

by blackoutyears on Oct 5, 2025 3:28 PM EDT up reply actions

this seems silly to me

I remember people talking up Heyward on here before his senior season even started, so I find it hard to believe that scouts couldn’t figure out that he was pretty good. Plus, there’s the matter of him being an utterly massive and yet tremendously athletic 6’4" or so . . .and almost every top prep prospect gets pitched around, that’s not unique to Heyward. The scout in CF stuff is just crazy, who would send a scout to watch a kid that you’re going to have to spend millions on . . .and tell him to stay out in the woods?

I don’t know, this stuff makes for great stories to share over beers, but I’m skeptical as to how much of it is really true. My personal guess is that the scouts didn’t really whiff on Heyward, they just thought he was a very good prospect as opposed to a supremely good prospect, and hey, that happens.

by mrkupe on Oct 5, 2025 9:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Scouts saw him as a linebacker playing baseball, HS pitchers wouldn’t throw good pitches to him and he walked constantly. Scouts just didn’t have much of an idea about his contact ability.

"Check out this bitchin' homemade tesla coil!"

by bwellnjonesco on Oct 6, 2025 9:00 AM EDT up reply actions

Think about what goes on when teams are deciding who to draft

You’ve got all your scouts trying to sell the prospects they believe in the most. You’ve got a ton of different opinions and everyone is trying to make their case. How many scouts are going to stick their neck out there for a kid they only saw swing the bat a couple of times? Sure, other kids get pitched around, but they generally take BP on the field. Scouts just didn’t have nearly as much confidence in a kid they saw so little of. I’m not saying that they didn’t think he was pretty good (they wouldn’t have been teams considering him that high if he wasn’t), but no one pulled the trigger because they didn’t have a great deal of confidence in how good he actually was.

I don’t know why the scout in CF story seems so crazy. Its not a bad angle to do your scouting from as long as you’ve got binoculars. Plus the Braves already had a great idea of how good Heyward was. Apparently they’d been aware of him since he was 11 years old, they scout the East Cobb program harder than any team in baseball, and he put on an absolute show for the Braves decision makers in a private workout there with a wood bat. The Braves knew exactly what they were getting and they wanted to do everything possible so that other teams would let him fall.

Acting likes scouts didn’t completely whiff on Heyward in the draft is a joke, and I say that with all due respect. He was already ranked the #28 prospect in all of baseball (#2 among HSers from his draft) after playing just 12 professional games. After his first full season he was in the top 5. Scouts knew immediately after seeing Heyward in the professional ranks that he was going to be a star. He’s not some kid who improved tremendously and unexpectedly after being drafted. Scouts just whiffed on him. Badly.

by nixa37 on Oct 6, 2025 10:00 AM EDT up reply actions

Link to the story

Here is the story of Al Goetz the man who scouted Heyward for the Braves, take whatever you want from it.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-heyward032810

by NYBravesFan on Oct 6, 2025 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions

The scout in CF stuff is just crazy, who would send a scout to watch a kid that you’re going to have to spend millions on . . .and tell him to stay out in the woods?

The story is often told, and is reiterated in the Yahoo piece. I guess we all have the free will to decide what we want to believe.

by blackoutyears on Oct 7, 2025 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Sickels was completely, totally right

It’s worth pointing out that John completely nailed it on Heyward.

“He’s definitely a top ten prospect, but here’s the thing about Heyward that really intrigues me. When I look over his scouting reports, and watch the video, and talk with people, I like him better all the time. In fact, I like him better than I like Vitters or Moustakas at this point. I think he’s the best high school position player in the draft.”

https://www.minorleagueball.com/2007/6/2/151350/2254

sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew

by alexwithclass on Oct 5, 2025 11:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Kimbrel

Middle-reliever? I was surprised by that John, do you think he can go more than one inning? He looks like a guy that’s got closer written all-over him, as soon as next year.

by BryceHarper on Oct 5, 2025 2:19 PM EDT reply actions

I agree with this.

The walks are troubling, but 40 K’s in 21 innings? That’s insane

by eaheckman10 on Oct 5, 2025 4:17 PM EDT up reply actions

fair enough

Fair enough. I really do like him. That was sloppy writing more than a diss on Kimbrel

by John Sickels on Oct 5, 2025 6:55 PM EDT up reply actions

Heyward

yes, i also heard that he was pitched around so much in highschool that it was tough for scouts to get a good idea on how good of a hitter he was.

by THESWAMI6 on Oct 5, 2025 2:43 PM EDT reply actions

Kimbrel a middle reliever??

You’ve GOT to be kidding me. He’s got the highest K/9 ratio in MLB. Yes its in a relatively small sample, but not such a small sample that its not meaningful. I heard one scout say he thinks Kimbrel will be one of the top 5 closers in baseball in 2 years, if not as early as next year. Think of the potential back end of this pen in a year or two—

[Vet-Soriano? - sign with $ from losing Wags/Saito], Kimbrel, Venters (8th setup), Dunn (7th setup), with Moylan, Marek, etc. as support guys.

Sick.

by phoenixscienter on Oct 5, 2025 5:35 PM EDT reply actions