"This core has been so good for years, as you can see by the organization's past ranks, that the Braves' poor 2025 season still can't knock them out of the top five. [Hurston] Waldrep, [Didier] Fuentes, and [J.R.] Ritchie could all be answers to starting pitching needs in 2026, while [AJ] Smith-Shawver, [Owen] Murphy, and Cam Caminiti could be answers in 2027."
"For this exercise, Ronald Acuña Jr. was considered as Atlanta's lone "Elite" talent with players like Drake Baldwin, Sean Murphy, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider being the "Plus" talent surrounding him. While this has been a poor season in all regards, it's certainly hard to dispute the fact that when these players are performing as expected, this is still a formidable team to deal with."
"ESPN's Kiley McDaniel has released his annual ranking of each Major League Baseball team's core talent pool. McDaniel started doing this back in 2022 and in each season ever since then, the Atlanta Braves have been ranked very highly in each of those rankings. The good news is that even though this has been a disastrous season for Atlanta, McDaniel's outlook on their core hasn't changed too much."
Despite a disastrous 2025 season, the Braves' talent base remains among MLB's top five. Ronald Acuña Jr. is the lone Elite, supported by plus-level players such as Drake Baldwin, Sean Murphy, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, Spencer Schwellenbach and Spencer Strider. Several young arms — Hurston Waldrep, Didier Fuentes, J.R. Ritchie, AJ Smith-Shawver, Owen Murphy and Cam Caminiti — present potential starting answers in 2026–2027. The team suffered an unusually high number of one-run losses, suggesting narrow margins impacted outcomes. The current core still offers a viable path back to contention if players return to expected performance.
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