Braves Prospect April Stock Watch

Q: Which Atlanta Braves prospects have improved their stock in April 2026?

Ethan Bagwell, Logan Braunschweig, Conor Essenburg, John Gil, and Luis Guanipa have all shown improvements in their performance this April.

Q: What are Ethan Bagwell's current statistics in April 2026?

Ethan Bagwell has pitched 22 innings with a 3.27 ERA and 1.05 WHIP, significantly increasing his strikeouts from 5.4 K/9 to 8.6 K/9.

Q: Why is Luis Guanipa's performance significant for the Braves?

Luis Guanipa has started strong with a .314 batting average, four homers, and a perfect 16 stolen bases, indicating a potential resurgence after previous injury struggles.

Q: What challenges did Dalton McIntyre face before April 2026?

Dalton McIntyre struggled last year and in his first five games this year but has shown improvement in his first 10 games with Augusta in April.

TAMPA, FLORIDA - MARCH 21, 2026: Eric Hartman #64 of the Atlanta Braves hits a single during the second inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 21, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images We are closing in on the end of the first full month of the season in the minor leagues, meaning some of the Atlanta Braves prospects have seen their stock change a bit since the end of spring training. This is a good chance to take a look at who has seen a change in their stock in April. You will notice that **Didier Fuentes** is not on this list, which is because I don’t think he has done anything to change his stock significantly either way since his outstanding spring training. I did not include undrafted prep infielder **Yamvier Carrero**, due to playing just eight games so far in Augusta, but he is going to be a player to watch going into May. **Dalton McIntyre** is also a guy to note, after he struggled last year as well as in five games with Rome this year, but he has done very well in his first 10 games with Augusta and could be a guy to follow in May. **Stock Up** **Ethan Bagwell, SP** – Ethan Bagwell might be in Augusta for the third straight year, but coming into his second full professional season he had only made 11 starts there combined – 10 coming last year. Bagwell came into the year needing more innings after posting a 2.88 ERA, 0.98 WHP, and a 5.4 K/9 over exactly 50 innings here last year. So far so good, as he has already gone nearly half of last season’s innings total (22 IP) with a 3.27 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. Just as importantly he has been missing bats at a much higher rate, seeing last year’s 5.4 K/9 turn into a much nicer looking 8.6 this season – this is the second consecutive year where this has happened in Augusta, as Rayven Antonio made a similar jump last year with this coaching staff. Bagwell, who will only be age-20 all season, is looking like a more complete pitcher this year and a candidate to get bumped up to Rome at some point in the fairly near future. **Logan Braunschweig, OF** – A ninth round senior sign out of UAB last year, Braunschweig has been consistently productive for Rome to open this year. He is hitting .300/.432/.417 with a homer and four doubles in 75 plate appearances, with 14 walks to 16 strikeouts. He’s an older player (already age-23) without a lot of power, but he makes great contact and has been regularly hitting the ball hard. He will need to keep proving himself as he moves up the ladder, but he could be playing himself into being a candidate for a future fourth outfielder type of prospect. **Conor Essenburg, OF** – Although he has only played in eight games due to an injury that presently has him out, the Braves overslot fifth round pick from last year has looked great in the action he has seen. Essenburg has hit .207/.395/.414 with a double, triple, and homer in 38 plate appearances, to go with nine walks and 17 strikeouts. Beyond just the results, he had been taking good at bats and hitting the ball hard. That’s all you can ask for considering he is a kid out of high school making his professional debut, let alone that this is his first time focusing on just hitting after being a two-way star in high school. While the lack of games played will temper some of the excitement, it is still enough for a slight up arrow after the first month of play. **John Gil, SS** – Gil finished last year with Augusta and a short stint in Columbus with a bit of a power spike, but it was a small sample size. We know he looked good there again this spring, and starred in the Spring Breakout Game, but he has continued his success in April. To date he is slashing .291/.388/.468 with three homers and a total of eight extra base hits. Gil is doing his part to prove the power gains that we saw over a short window last year are here to stay, and combined with his speed and on base ability, he is positioning himself to move up our next list of Braves prospects. **Luis Guanipa, OF** – While Guanipa is starting out in Augusta for the third consecutive season, that’s mostly because injuries have ruined his last two years. He has been red hot to open the year, slashing .314/.351/.523 with four doubles, a triple, and four homers to go with a perfect 16 for 16 in stolen bases and five walks to 10 strikeouts in 97 plate appearances. Most importantly is the four homers in 21 games, which come after hitting just three homers in 87 combined games over the last two seasons – and matching his total in 46 games played in the DSL back in 2023. If the power spike can continue going forward, Guanipa could find himself moving significantly up the Top 30 list at midseason, as the lack of power in the last two seasons was as much of an issue with him dropping as his lack of health and production. **Eric Hartman, OF** – A 20th round pick in the 2024 MLB Draft, Hartman spent pretty much all of last year in full season ball – though did miss a little time injured, and was able to slash .248/.344/.374 with five homers and 26 extra base hits in 83 games. He got promoted to High-A to open this year, and has been on a month long tear, slashing .299/.378/.644 with eight homers and 13 extra base hits through 22 games played. Hartman not only has seen a spike in his power, but with a full year of pro coaching under his belt just looks more comfortable at the plate, and the results are showing that. Hartman, who is still just age-19 until mid-June, might end up forcing his way to Double-A before his 20th birthday if he can keep hitting like this. **Jim Jarvis, INF** – Following a strong showing in spring training, Jim Jarvis has been a machine for the Gwinnett offense, slashing .324/.444/.477 with five doubles and four homers through 29 games. Add in nearly as many walks (22) as strikeouts (24) and the fact that he’s 14 out of 16 in stolen base attempts, and he’s just been filling up boxscores. This was a guy with a .652 OPS in Double-A with the Tigers before coming over for at the deadline last year as a bit of an afterthought. Fast forward to not even a year later, and he’s now going to get a shot to earn a shot at the big leagues any time a spot opens considering his production and versatility. **David McCabe, 1B** – McCabe seemed to be on the right track after the 2023 season, before Tommy John surgery essentially robbed him of his 2024 season. That meant he needed a bit of a bounce back last year, and he got it in Columbus, slashing .286/.379/.434 with 10 homers in 105 games – though that comes with a bit of an asterisk, as the power still wasn’t what you would like for a first base/DH. Fast forward to this season, and while he is back in Columbus, the power has started to emerge. He is slashing .273/.385/.610 with eight homers through his first 20 games played. It is important to remember that since he is already 26-years-old, a promotion back to Triple-A could be in the cards fairly soon for him. If McCabe can continue to bring the power to go with his quality on base ability, he could still end up as a potential future Braves roster option. **Nick Montgomery, C** – An overslot fifth round pick out of high school in 2024, Montgomery was an exciting power hitting catcher that many had high hopes for last year. Unfortunately last year was abysmal, as he spent the entire year in Augusta and slashed .170/.272/.252 with five homers and 42 walks to 119 strikeouts in 356 plate appearances. He has rebounded in a big way so far, slashing .268/.415/.537 with three homers and 11 walks to 13 strikeouts in his first 53 plate appearances. With how poorly last year went, it would have been easy for Montgomery to lose all of his confidence – but he put in the work and seems to be turning things around. He dropped out of the Preseason Top 30 Braves prospects, but if he keeps this up he will comfortably find his name on the midseason list. **Rolddy Munoz, RP** – While it might feel like Munoz or his brother Roddery have been in the Braves system forever, he is still just 26-years-old and in the midst of a breakout in Gwinnett. Rolddy has appeared in nine games, going 11.1 innings, and pitching to a 0.00 ERA, 0.71 WHIP, and 10.3 K/9. His dominance has also helped to limit base hits, as he has allowed only four all season. Munoz did pitch two innings in a game for the Braves this year as well, though those results were a bit more mixed. Munoz might be establishing himself as one of the first options should the Braves need to add a reliever. **JR Ritchie, SP** – The now 22-year-old has finally been promoted to the big leagues and held his own in a pair of starts there. He was dominant in five starts with Gwinnett, posting a 0.99 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, and 9.2 K/9 with just a 4.9 H/9 across 27.1 innings there. In his starts against the Nats and Tigers he has pitched to a 2.92 ERA and 1.30 WHIP with 10 hits, six walks, and 11 strikeouts over 12.1 innings of work. Though he has been a bit prone to the home run, allowing two in his big league debut, and one more in his next outing, Ritchie is already proving himself as a competent big league pitcher as a rookie. The only real question for him is how he will be able to handle left handed hitters, who are slashing .294/.385/.588 with all three homers, while he has held righties to a slash of .000/.083/.000 – though only had 12 plate appearances against them. **Tate Southisene, INF** – Last year’s first rounder has been excellent to open his first full professional season. He is presently hitting .271/.442/.494 with three doubles, two triples, four homers, 19 steals, and 20 walks to 27 strikeouts in 113 plate appearances. Southisene is doing everything, and has made great strides from the .219/.242/.297 slash line he put up in 15 games here last year. He is performing like a guy who could earn his way up to Rome at some point this year. **Dixon Williams, OF/INF** – When I made this list initially, I wasn’t going to include Williams – just due to the fact that injury has limited him to only nine games so far. However with three hits, including a homer, in the final two days of the month, plus a recent game in center field, Williams earned a spot. He’s slashing .250/.368/.531 with three homers, and with the power and versatility on display, he is making himself someone to watch in this Braves system. **Stock Down:** **Nacho Alvarez, INF** – Coming into the year Alvarez had a pretty consistent track record. He may have struggled to hit in the big leagues, but he had hit at every stop in his minor league career – until this past month. To date he is hitting just .224/.299/.294, and his only extra base hits are six doubles. This is a guy who has never had an OBP lower than .381 at any stop in his minor league career, who is almost 100 full points below the lowest mark of his career to go with the fact he hasn’t been hitting for power. It might be reaching the point where if the Braves needed to bring someone up, Jim Jarvis may get the call over Nacho. **Landon Beidelschies, SP** – The Braves sixth round pick out of Arkansas last year, Beidelschies has had a tougher year adjusting to Low-A competition than you’d expect out of a guy coming from the SEC. He has pitched to a 10.22 ERA, 2.43 WHIP, and 12.4 K/9 in 12.1 innings of work. Add to that the fact his stuff hasn’t been looking like what the Braves were hoping for when they invested in him during last year’s draft, and there is definitely cause for concern. There is still time, considering he is still just 22 and in his first year of professional baseball, but it’s a stock down for the first month. **Lucas Braun, SP** – Lucas Braun has made a total of five starts, with four coming in Gwinnett and one with Columbus, totaling 24.2 innings. His 4.38 ERA and 1.42 WHIP are a bit inflated by one tough start with Columbus, but they aren’t awful numbers either way. The reason he is finding himself here is the fact he simply isn’t missing enough bats this season, particularly against Triple-A hitters. His K/9 is 6.2, but drops to just 5.9 in his four Gwinnett starts. Although this is a small sample size, it is in line with the 5.2 rate he posted in 19 innings across three starts for the Stripers last year, giving him a combined 5.5 K/9 in 39 Triple-A innings. For a pitcher who is going to need to survive on his pitchability more than his raw stuff, his strikeouts were never going to be huge at the big league level – but that is still a massive drop off from his Double-A 9.4 rate. **Hayden Harris, RP** – Last year was a great year for Harris, who posted a 0.52 ERA and 0.75 WHIP with 13.7 K/9 between Double-A and Triple-A. That was enough to get him to the big leagues to make his debut late last season, though it was a short run in Atlanta. He followed that up with five solid outings in spring training this year, though was sent down surprisingly early before the cut down to the Opening Day roster. Things haven’t gone as well for him so far this year, as he is pitching to a 6.75 ERA, 2.08 WHIP, and 13.5 K/9 through his first 12 innings. Relievers are notoriously inconsistent from year to year, but for a guy who is already age-27, Harris needs to get the ship righted quickly considering he is on the 40-man roster. **Cade Kuehler, SP** – A second round pick in 2023, Kuehler is coming off of missing last year injured. The results have not been pretty, as he has a 7.45 ERA, 2.02 WHIP, and 7.0 K/9 in 19.1 innings – and that’s after five and a third scoreless innings on the final day of the month. Making things even tougher for him is the fact that his stuff hasn’t been the same stuff we saw out of him in 2024 with Augusta – and that stuff was already below the stuff he had shown in college. It’s too soon to write off a guy in his first year back from surgery, but Kuehler is now firmly outside of the Braves Top 30 prospects based on the results and stuff. **Jhancarlos Lara, RP** – This spring had to be disappointing for Lara, who many were projecting to help the Braves at some point this year. That would be because after spending the last few months in Gwinnett last season, he was sent back to Double-A to open his season. The disappointment has continued there, as he is currently pitching to a 13.50 ERA, 3.00 WHIP, and 13.5 K/9 through 6.2 innings. Command really hasn’t been his friend this year, as he has already walked 16 hitters in those 6.2 innings. Lara’s stuff is still elite, but he isn’t presently looking like a guy who could help the Braves this season. **Alex Lodise, INF** – The overall results haven’t been ugly for the Braves second round pick from last year, but it’s more about what I’m seeing out of him than his stat line. He’s slashing an acceptable .260/.336/.410 with three home runs, even if it’s only in Augusta – despite 25 games with Rome after signing last year. However the cause for concern is with the swing and miss and the way he will chase pitches out of the zone, leading to 31 strikeouts in 113 plate appearances. If Lodise is chasing and racking up a 27.4% strikeout rate in Low-A, it’s hard to see how he will be able to hit enough against better, and more advanced pitchers as he moves up the ladder. Luckily for hm the Augusta staff is excellent at working with hitters with this issue, so all hope isn’t lost – it’s just that he is presently seeming less likely to reach his ceiling than he was before. **Cody Miller, INF** – An underslot third round pick by the Braves last year, Miller posted a .905 OPS in 10 games with Augusta and .779 OPS in 16 games with Rome after signing last year. He was headed back to Rome to open this year, and with his proven hit tool he was seen as a guy who could potentially move quickly. That has not happened, as he is currently slashing just .169/.253/.289 with two homers and four doubles. Miller is striking out a lot (32 in 118 PA) while only walking a limited amount (8), and he isn’t having great results when he puts the ball in play either. There is plenty of speed and there is some pop in the bat, but he is going to need more work with his hit tool than initially anticipated. **Owen Murphy, SP** – Expectations were high for Murphy coming into the year, considering it was his second year back from Tommy John surgery. Getting his first taste of the upper minors in Double-A, he has pitched to a 6.10 ERA and 1.79 WHIP, though has 11.8 K/9 in 20.2 innings. His stat line however isn’t the only reason he’s here, as his stuff just hasn’t taken the step forward that many were hoping for this year. Murphy is still going to be 22-years-old all season, but it is concerning to see his stuff play this way at the Double-A level. **Jose Perdomo, SS** – Perdomo isn’t on this list because of what he has done on the field, rather for the fact that this is the third straight year where injuries have ruined his season. He was limited to just eight games in the DSL back in 2024, got 54 injury effected games in the FCL last year, with a .544 OPS, and has just two games played for Augusta this year – and isn’t expected to return soon. It’s a disappointing blow for the former high profile international free agent who came into spring training in the best shape of his life. I guess if you are looking for a positive, it would be that he will spend all of next season at just age-20 – but it’s hard to bank on him being healthy with his track record.