TAMPA, FLORIDA – MARCH 21, 2026: Tate Southisene #19 of the Atlanta Braves warms up during the third inning of a Spring Breakout game against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 21, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
With multiple days off, as well as staggering pitching options, we made the decision to capture the full events of the week rather than write a 20 word daily update last week. That said, lets take a look at how Braves prospects faired this past week.
Tate Southisene5-for-14, 5 R, 3B, 4 BB, 2 K
The ascension of Tate Southisene continued as the now 20 year old got on base nine times last week. His ability to limit his chases, and recognize spin puts him on an island for Braves positional prospects and he showed off last week. Because he got started late he does not quality for leader boards but his .949 OPS would put him 18th overall in the AFL. I’ve run out of adjectives to properly describe how impressed I’ve been with Tate this overall season. Had he not gotten injured, who knows where his stock would be, outside of clear top 100 prospect in all of baseball.
Owen Carey3-for-8, 2 R, 2 3B, 3 RBI, 2 BB
Solid week for Owen Carey who appeared in just two games for the Desert Dogs including a game where he collected a pair of triples. Owen has had a bit of an up-and-down AFL. He has shown the best bat speed amongst the trio, but has struggled to make contact with the lowest contact rate between the three, but also has the highest ISO between them as well. Like Tate, Owen just turned 20 three months ago and remains one of the youngest in the league so there is quite a bit to get excited about as we head into 2027.
Isaiah Drake0-for-2, BB
Isaiah appeared in just one game for the Desert Dogs this last week and picked up a walk. Isaiah, also returning from injury, continues to show excellent zone discipline as he limits his chases, but has been hyper aggressive in this league, swinging often at balls inside the zone resulting in some weak contact at times. The 21 year old has improved every year and has a strong profile at the plate where he is very disciplined – not chasing outside of the zone. Going into 2027 the next step for Isaiah will be to make better swing decisions inside the zone so that he makes a higher quality of contact. Plenty to be really encouraged about for the 2023 5th round pick.
Briggs McKenzie5IP 2H 0R 2BB 4K
Back-to-back fantastic starts for Briggs who has pitched 9 innings over his last two starts – especially significant if you keep in mind he threw 26 total innings in 2026. It was the newly installed slider that stole the show, averaging 2800 RPM – that he threw to both lefties and righties. He leveraged his four-seam the second most, and was erratic with it, landing it too far arm side for balls but still picked up a 40% whiff rate on it when it was in the zone. 2027 will be a huge year for Briggs as he must stay healthy and build up his arm strength. As stated before, he had just 26 innings in 2026, and 0 in 2025 so staying on the mound is paramount. If he comes out the gate with higher average velocity (as expected), and can hold that velocity, it will be a big year for Briggs because all indications show he has a special arm.
Tyler LaPorte1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB K
The LaPorte show continued as the RHP registered more zeroes, still having yet to give up a single run in the AFL. Last week he got it done with his sinker, curveball, and changeup. His curveball and changeup flashed plus, but surprisingly did not register a single whiff. So while Tyler may have gotten slightly luck this past week, he’s done a sensational job on the mound and has given the Braves a unique arm to take a look at in 2027.
Owen Hackman1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB
Owen needed just 14 pitches to get through 1.1 innings of work because he pounded the zone (71.4% strike%) with three of his four pitches. He’s found his arm after struggling early in the AFL and has put up strong numbers since thanks to showing what appears to be a plus changeup to go with his sweeper and slider. Looks like Owen’s shift to the bullpen could really help him take off.
Logan Samuels1.2IP 1H 0R 1BB 3K, HBP
Solid near two innings of work for Logan who was effectively chaotic – looking significantly better against LHB than he did versus RHB. That said, still almost two innings of 0 run baseball while showing his sinker, slider, and changeup that all were average to slightly above average.
Tanner Bauman1.1IP 0H 0R 1BB 3K
Chaotically good is how I would categorize the Tanner Bauman outing as he had somewhat poor command, 48% strike rate, but did a really good job of being able to clip the zone enough to induce a ton of swings and a strong whiff rate of 63.6%. He utilized the full arsenal with his curveball, four-seam, slider, changeup, and sinker – all roughly average to below.