Been a baseball fan and player my whole life, played dynasty for 10 years. Co-host on the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast since mid-season 2023 and joined Prospects Live at the start of 2024.
The NL East is a division of extremely high highs and equally low lows. There are teams that could compete for the best record in all of baseball, and at least one team that could compete for the worst. No matter which team in the division we’re talking about, there is still reason for optimism, from a fantasy sense, with at least some of their players. We’re here to tell you which players those could be, and give you our thoughts on the division in general.
*These notes are current up to the recording date of the podcast episode (February 1/25)
Atlanta Braves
Lineup (per Roster Resource)
C - Sean Murphy
1B - Matt Olson
2B - Ozzie Albies
3B - Austin Riley
SS - Orlando Arcia
LF - Jurickson Profar
CF - Michael Harris II
RF - Jarred Kelenic / Bryan De La Cruz
DH - Marcell Ozuna
Rotation (per Roster Resource)
SP1 - Chris Sale
SP2 - Reynaldo Lopez
SP3 - Spencer Schwellenbach
SP4 - Grant Holmes
SP5 - Ian Anderson
Bullpen (per Roster Resource)
CL - Raisel Iglesias
SU - Pierce Johnson
SU - Aaron Bummer
Projected IL (per Roster Resource)
Ronald Acuna Jr
Spencer Strider
Joe Jimenez
Top 5 prospects (per Prospects Live top 500)
1. AJ Smith-Shawver
2. Drake Baldwin
3. Hurston Waldrep
4. Cam Caminiti
5. Nacho Alvarez Jr
Off-season additions/subtractions
Subtractions
Max Fried
Travis d’Arnaud
Charlie Morton
AJ Minter
Additions
Jurickson Profar
Bryan De La Cruz
Quick thoughts
Taylor:
May be missing some key contributors early on in Acuna and Strider but they are still a very good team and just need to stay healthy.
Kyle:
Lost more than they’ve gained this off-season but return of Acuna and Strider will more than make up for it
Bounce back from players who had a down 2024 will help too (Riley, Murphy, etc.)
Still won 89 games in a “down” year, should easily return to 90+ wins
MLB dynasty buy
Taylor: Grant Holmes
He performed very well last year (3.56 ERA, 1.19 WHIP) for the Braves in a swing role and has a clear path to a starting role but seems like there is very little excitement for him and I don’t know why
Was able to get him in Highlander pretty late in the poaching process so decided to do a deep dive then
And came away even more excited about him after learning his history
He was the 22nd overall pick in the 2014 draft to the Dodgers
At the time he was given a 70 grade fastball, 65 Curve, 50 Changeup, and 55 Control by MLB Pipeline
They had him ranked 4th on a stacked Dodgers list, sandwiched between Joc Pederson and Alex Verdugo
Had a great debut with the Dodgers and earned an All-star selection after his first full season in 2015 and made it to High A at age 20.
Then in 2016 he gets traded to Oakland in a trade which saw Josh Reddick/Rich Hill go to the Dodgers and Holmes, Frankie Montas, and Jharel Cotton go to the A’s.
Goes from a very good dev org to a bad one.
Struggles initially with the A’s in 2016/2017 and then hurts his shoulder in 2018
Comes back looking good and healthy in 2019 and reaches AAA and then COVID hits
Losses a full season
When he starts playing again in 2021 his control is completely gone and his Walk rate skyrockets
Then he gets released by Oakland in 2022
2 weeks after getting released the Braves pick him up. They said him down to the lower levels of the minors to figure things out.
Then convert him into a RP full time in 2023
His K rate ticks back up and he looks a lot better
Then in 2024 they start to stretch him out in May after a dominant start to the season at AAA
He makes 3 starts and then gets called up to the majors in June
Starts out in a multi-inning reliver role but eventually makes his first big league start in July and then 3 starts in August and 3 in September with RP appearances in between
Looks very good
Shows good control and K ability
97th percentile chase rate, 82nd percentile whiff rate, 90th percentile walk rate in the MLB
Looking at his AAA Statcast and its even better. He was the best pitcher in AAA at getting hitters to chase and had a 99th percentile K-BB rate
He has two above average breaking balls in his curve and Slider and his fastball is pretty good too averaging 94.6 mph.
Kyle: Sean Murphy
Weird to think of a 30 year old catcher as a dynasty buy but Murphy is a great buy low candidate because stock has been pushed way too far down after injury plagued 2024
Drafted as catcher 12 in the Prospects Live dynasty league startup (no prospects were available at this point in the draft) and catcher 19 in another startup I took part in (catcher 15 if you remove the prospects who went ahead of him)
Needs to stay healthy in 2025 but he will split time with the likes of Chadwick Tromp and Drake Baldwin
Marcell Ozuna’s contract ends after 2025 season so more DH opportunities will be available in 2026 and beyond
When healthy, Murphy has been one of the most productive offensive catchers in the league
MiLB dynasty buy
Taylor: JR Ritchie
35th overall pick in 2022 draft
Pitched well in 2022 pro debut (1.88 ERA)
And looked dominant in 2023 before he got hurt and had to have TJ
Returned in June and performed well across 3 levels finishing in A+
Was able to throw 5+ innings in his last 5 starts
Velo was down (went from sitting 93-94 to 92) but command improved as the season went so the hope is that with a full offseason the velo will return.
Has a great breaking ball and the changeup is developing nicely
Had a good strikeout rate as well at 27.3%
Even if velo doesn’t come back could be a decent back end starter and if it does there is a lot of upside here.
Pretty cheap right now and could skyrocket if healthy and looking good next season
Kyle: Drue Hackenberg
More under the radar than other arms in the system
Deep arsenal: 4-seam and 2-seam that sit low 90s and top out at 96, above average curveball, cutter and change that are a tick behind but he uses them effectively
Mixes pitches well, limits hard contact, gets lots of ground balls
Still a work in progress but made big strides in 2024 as he made his way up to AAA
There are question marks surrounding a number of arms in ATL’s rotation so it might not be long before Hackenberg is needed in the Bigs
Hinges on the command but this could be the last opportunity to get him at a really good price
Been a baseball fan and player my whole life, played dynasty for 10 years. Co-host on the Dynasty Baseball Pickups podcast since mid-season 2023 and joined Prospects Live at the start of 2024.
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
Watch Path to the Show on Bally Sports Live & Stadium! | Check out the On Deck Podcast! | Dynasty Team Writer/Podcaster | I love the Tennessee Volunteers, milk, pitchers, catchers, & you <3 P4:13
As Director of Pro Scouting, I lead a talented group of evaluators as we break down future stars. You can find me at random California League games throughout the season!
