With the calendar turning over to September, that can only mean a few things. The leaves are starting to fall, pumpkin spice has taken over shelves, and playoff baseball is right around the corner.
The minor leagues are no different, although their calendars move a little quicker.
For the Dominican Summer League (DSL), the 2026 season officially wrapped up on August 29, with the Padres winning their second consecutive DSL championship. Atlanta, meanwhile, finished with the fourth-worst record in the league at 16-39.
Before anyone gets too hung up on that record, though, there is one thing worth reiterating when talking about the lowest levels of the minor leagues: winning is not really the point. Of course organizations would rather win than lose, but the DSL is primarily about individual player development. These are teenagers who are experiencing professional baseball for the first time.
When those players show enough development, they earn the opportunity to move up. A promotion out of the DSL is particularly notable because it usually means coming stateside for the first time. Historically, the Braves have been fairly patient with that transition, typically allowing international signees to spend at least one full season there before bringing them to the complex in Florida.
That pattern mostly held true again this season. But there were also a few players who simply performed too well to keep there. So while Atlanta’s overall DSL record was not pretty, there was plenty happening underneath worth getting excited about.
Several members of the 2026 international class immediately made strong first impressions, while a few lesser-known names put themselves firmly on the prospect radar. With that in mind, here are Braves Today’s DSL Players of the Year.
The Bats That Stood Out
Starlyn De La Cruz (2026 | IFA | DR | $1,197,500)
One of the two headliners of Atlanta's 2026 international class was 17-year-old Dominican outfielder Starlyn De La Cruz. After signing for just under $1.2 million, there were understandably some pretty high expectations surrounding his professional debut. He did not disappoint.
Despite standing just 5’9 and weighing around 170 pounds, De La Cruz put together an absurd .360/.500/.560 slash line with a 1.060 OPS and two home runs across his first 16 professional games. The production is impressive enough on its own. What interests me even more, though, is how he produced it.
De La Cruz posted a better-than-average 25.8% whiff rate and an elite 15.6% chase rate while walking exactly as many times as he struck out (14). For anyone unfamiliar with evaluating DSL hitters, one of the biggest things I look for is whether they can limit swing-and-miss out the gate. De La Cruz did just that.
That matters because the offensive production at this level can be noisy. A .360 batting average across 16 games is fun, but showing an advanced understanding of the strike zone at 17 years old tells me a lot more about what might translate as he climbs the ladder.
Unfortunately, his season ended early after suffering an injury on June 23. The small sample is worth keeping in mind, but I still think he showed enough that a trip stateside in 2027 should be firmly on the table. If Atlanta believes the underlying approach is real, there is not much reason for De La Cruz to prove it against DSL pitching for another full summer.
Sherrintley Da Costa Gomez (2026 | IFA | CUR | $250,000)
One of my favorite surprises from Atlanta's DSL team was yet another Curaçao kid in the Braves system, and one who has absolutely earned the right for us to use his full name: Sherrintley Junior Divino Robbyn Eugenio Da Costa Gomez.
After signing for just $250,000, Da Costa Gomez wasted very little time introducing himself. He hit three home runs, two doubles, and a triple across his first 13 professional games. The production cooled as the season went along, but he still finished with a respectable .248/.409/.440 slash line and an .849 OPS. His five home runs led the team, while both his OBP and SLG ranked among Atlanta's top five DSL hitters.
The formula behind that success was pretty straightforward: get the ball in the air and pull it. Da Costa Gomez posted a 36.8% ground ball rate and a 21.3% pull air rate, both impressive marks compared to his peers. At 6‘3 and 209 pounds, he already has the type of physicality you want to see from a young hitter with legitimate power potential. When he gets the baseball into the air to his pull side, that frame can do some damage.
The other side of that profile is the swing-and-miss, and there are legitimate concerns there. That will be the part of his game I watch most closely going forward.
Da Costa Gomez will still be just 18 years old throughout next season, so nobody should be expecting a finished product anytime soon. A significant stint at the complex, where Atlanta can continue refining his approach while allowing the power to develop, may be exactly what he needs. If the Braves can get the hit tool closer to the power, there is a really interesting player here.
Jorwin Pulido (2026 | IFA | VEN | $350,000)
Another 17-year-old who forced his way onto this list is catcher Jorwin Pulido, and you can make a pretty strong argument that he was the most impressive position player in Atlanta's DSL group this season.
Pulido started about as hot as anyone could have hoped. Through his first eight games, he collected 10 hits, including four doubles, while walking three times and striking out only once. He ultimately played just 22 games in the DSL because Atlanta had seen enough.
Jorwin Pulido finished his time there with a .324/.402/.437 slash line, an .839 OPS, .411 wOBA, and 111 wRC+. He walked 10 times compared to only five strikeouts and added 13 stolen bases despite being a catcher. Atlanta promoted him to the complex at the beginning of July, and even though the Florida Complex League season left him only 24 additional plate appearances, he continued to hit. Pulido recorded seven hits, including three doubles, while drawing three walks against four strikeouts.
He posted an 87.83% zone contact rate, which ranked in the 88th percentile among DSL and complex hitters. His 57.1% hard-hit rate ranked in the 90th percentile. Not only that, but his 6.3% swinging strike rate (95th percentile), 15.2% whiff rate (96th percentile), and microscopic 5.7% strikeout rate (99th percentile) were also elite.
At 17 years old, doing that against a pool that includes older and more experienced complex league hitters is incredibly impressive. Pulido is essentially right there with Atlanta's most recent seventh-round selection, prep catcher Jack Brenner, as one of the most intriguing young catchers in the system. Both are still a long way from Atlanta, and catcher development is rarely linear, but this organization has earned some benefit of the doubt at this position.
If there is one organization I am willing to trust with an interesting teenage catcher, it’s probably the Atlanta Braves.
Jose Manon (2026 | IFA | DR | $1,497,500)
The other major prize from Atlanta’s 2026 international class was Dominican shortstop Jose Manon, who ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 15 international prospect entering the signing period.
Manon played 30 games in his professional debut and slashed .302/.400/.396 with a .796 OPS and one home run. The power did not show up quite as much as some may have hoped, especially considering his signing pedigree, but I am not particularly concerned about that yet. He added seven doubles, and at his age the physical projection matters almost as much as the current results.
He also showed a solid foundation at the plate. His 11.2% walk rate was not as gaudy as some of his teammates, but he maintained an above-average 17.6% strikeout rate and 27.1% whiff rate. At 6’2 and only 165 pounds, it does not take much imagination to see where additional power could eventually come from. He has plenty of room to add strength as his body matures without necessarily sacrificing the athleticism that made him such an intriguing international prospect in the first place.
That athleticism was already apparent on the bases. Manon led Atlanta's DSL team with 19 stolen bases, giving us an early glimpse of the power and speed combination that made him one of the top players in the international class.
The loud offensive breakout may not have happened immediately, but nothing about Manon’s first season changed my view of his upside. I would expect to see him at the complex next season.
Jose Nelo (2026 | IFA | VEN | $50,000)
The final position player on this list might have provided the biggest return relative to his signing bonus. After signing for just $50,000 out of Venezuela, Jose Nelo entered professional baseball at 17 years old and apparently decided he had no interest in being overshadowed by the more heralded names in Atlanta's international class.
Across his first 13 games, Nelo collected 15 hits, including a double and a home run, while walking eight times and striking out 11. He finished the season slashing .296/.392/.428 with an .819 OPS and three home runs. His 13.2% walk rate was solid, but the number that stood out most to me was his 19.6% strikeout rate.
Again, when evaluating teenagers in the DSL, showing any semblance of control over the strike zone is something I am going to pay attention to. There is still plenty to clean up. Nelo finished with a 74.7% zone contact rate and a 14.4% swinging strike rate, so the overall contact profile is not quite as polished as the strikeout rate might initially suggest.
Still, there is a lot here to build on, especially from a player who entered the organization without much fanfare. Nelo split most of his defensive time between catcher and first base, adding yet another intriguing young catching option to an organization that has quietly accumulated some depth at the position.
The question now is whether Atlanta wants him to spend another season in the DSL or believes he showed enough to earn a trip to the complex. For a $50,000 signing, simply making that a legitimate conversation after one season feels like a win.
The Arms That Caught My Attention
Martires Polanco (2025 | IFA | DR | N/A)
Evaluating pitching in the DSL is always tricky. There is so much development still ahead of these guys that just about everything has to be taken with some context. Still, what Martires Polanco did this season is pretty difficult to ignore.
Yes, at 19 years old he was slightly older than much of the league, but the context behind that matters. Polanco was a late addition to Atlanta's 2025 international class, signing for a small undisclosed amount, and did not make his professional debut until this season. Once he finally got on the mound, he flourished.
Polanco made 10 starts, earned a spot on the DSL All-Star team, and finished with a 2.89 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, a .138 batting average against, and a massive 35.8% strikeout rate that ranked in the 95th percentile. Walks are an issue for the overwhelming majority of pitchers at this level, and Polanco was not completely immune. What separated him was his ability to overwhelm hitters enough to offset them.
His 18.5% strikeout-to-walk rate ranked in the 86th percentile. He also produced a 73.94% zone contact rate (77th percentile), a 16.95% swinging strike rate (86th percentile), and a ridiculous 43.4% whiff rate (96th percentile).
Those are not just good DSL numbers. Those are the types of underlying numbers that make me want to know a lot more about the pitcher producing them. Fortunately, we already know the arsenal has some legitimate teeth.
Polanco's fastball sits in the mid-90s and can reach 99 mph. According to Baseball America, his slider generated a whiff rate near 72%, giving him a potential wipeout offering to pair with legitimate velocity. That combination immediately makes Polanco one of the arms from this group I am most interested in following next season.
If the command continues developing alongside a high-velocity fastball and wipeout slider combination, I would expect him to not only make the jump stateside in 2027 but earn a nod at Single-A Augusta as well.
Cesar Navarro (2026 | IFA | VEN | $80,000)
After Polanco, most Braves fans probably will not recognize many of the names on this pitching list. Just give it a year or two. The first name worth remembering is Cesar Navarro, whom Atlanta signed out of Venezuela for $80,000 during the most recent international period.
The 17-year-old right-hander made 10 starts and quietly put together an impressive professional debut, finishing with a 2.47 ERA and 1.20 WHIP.
Navarro is a very different pitcher from Polanco right now. He does not have a similar swing-and-miss profile. Instead, his early success has largely been built around throwing strikes and controlling at-bats. His 52.3% zone rate ranked in the 89th percentile, while his 10.1% walk rate landed in the 78th percentile. He also threw Atlanta's only complete game of the DSL season, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out five and keeping the opposition off the scoreboard.
That is the encouraging side of the profile. The question is how well it translates as hitters improve.
Navarro's 21.9% whiff rate and 86.28% zone contact rate both ranked near the bottom among DSL and complex pitchers. Right now, hitters are making plenty of contact against him. As he moves through the system, better hitters may be able to punish that contact more consistently.
For now, though, he is 17 years old and already demonstrating an ability to throw strikes, which is hardly a bad starting point. He will still be just 18 next season. Whether Atlanta keeps him in the DSL or brings him stateside, the next step is figuring out whether the Braves can develop more bat-missing ability around a command profile that already looks advanced for his age.
Given Atlanta’s recent track record developing pitching, I am willing to see where that takes him.
Jesus Cova (2025 | IFA | VEN | N/A)
Another recent Venezuelan signing who caught my attention is right-hander Jesus Cova. After signing for an undisclosed amount in 2025, Cova made his professional debut this season at 18 years old. Like Navarro, he is much more of a contact-oriented pitcher at this point than someone trying to overpower hitters.
That is not necessarily a bad thing when you can control the type of contact hitters are making. Among the nine Atlanta DSL pitchers who threw at least 20 innings, Cova led the group with a 54.4% ground ball rate, which ranked in the 86th percentile, and allowed a team-low 10 earned runs. Cova was also one of only four Braves pitchers with at least 20 innings who did not surrender a home run, joining Polanco, Navarro, and the next pitcher on this list.
But the number that really catches my attention is the walk rate. Cova walked only 6.7% of the hitters he faced. That led the team by a wide margin and ranked in the 92nd percentile among DSL and complex pitchers. For a young pitcher operating at a level where command can be all over the place, that is a pretty meaningful skill.
He did not miss many bats. Cova finished in just the 17th percentile in whiff rate and the 34th percentile in swinging strike rate. However, hitters chased his pitches outside the zone at a 30% rate, which ranked in the 71st percentile.
Put all of that together and you start to see the outline of what Cova did well. He threw strikes, expanded the zone when ahead, and generated weak contact on the ground rather than relying on strikeouts. His 4.20 FIP ranked in the 87th percentile, while his .243 wOBA against landed in the 94th percentile.
I don’t know yet whether that profile has enough stuff behind it to work against more advanced hitters, and that is the big question going forward. Once we get better information on his arsenal stateside, we should have a much clearer idea of the ceiling. For now, the command and ground ball production give me enough reason to keep watching.
Geowin Gomez (2026 | IFA | COL | $50,500)
The pitcher I alluded to above is Colombian native Geowin Gomez, whom Atlanta signed for just over $50,000 during the 2026 international period. He also happens to be one of the youngest pitchers in this group. Gomez will not turn 18 until the day after Christmas.
He appeared in 11 games this season, making two starts and recording one save. Gomez finished with a 3.09 ERA and 1.31 WHIP, although four of his 11 earned runs came in a single start.
I am not as familiar with Gomez's arsenal yet, but statistically his profile sits in an interesting middle ground between Polanco and the more contact-oriented group of Navarro and Cova. Gomez struck out 20.4% of opposing hitters, essentially an average rate, while his 10.2% walk rate ranked in the 77th percentile. His 27.8% whiff rate was also around average, but his 34.41% chase rate landed in the 83rd percentile.
That last number is what interests me most. Even without a dominant strikeout rate, Gomez was consistently convincing hitters to expand the zone. For someone who will spend all of next season at 18 years old, that gives Atlanta something interesting to work with.
There are still areas I want to see improve. Gomez did not allow a home run all season, but his 37.7% ground ball rate is a little concerning. If he is not going to miss bats at an above-average rate, I would like to see him generate more contact on the ground to compensate. Still, we are talking about an extremely young pitcher who already showed an ability to throw strikes and generate chase. At this level, that is more than enough to get my attention.
Charlis Medina (2026 | IFA | DR | N/A)
The final pitcher on the list is following a slightly different developmental path than the rest. Charlis Medina is already 21 years old, which immediately makes him an outlier in a league dominated by teenagers. Normally that would be a significant concern for me, but there is some important context here.
This was Medina's first professional season after signing later than most international prospects. Because of that, I am willing to give him some room to show what he can become before writing off the production simply because of his age. That is especially true with pitchers, where developmental timelines can be much less predictable than they are for position players.
Medina appeared in 13 games and made three starts, finishing with a 3.76 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and .177 batting average against. The underlying numbers were encouraging as well. He posted a 77.53% zone contact rate (61st percentile), a 29.14% chase rate (67th percentile), a 28.4% strikeout rate (81st percentile), and a 4.17 FIP (87th percentile). He struck out 48 hitters while walking 24, showing that he can already navigate a lineup and miss a respectable number of bats.
The age question is not going away, though. At 21, dominating DSL hitters does not carry the same weight as doing it at 17 or 18. Because of that, I think Atlanta needs to challenge him fairly quickly to figure out exactly what it has.
I would expect Medina to come stateside next season and pitch at the complex, where the Braves can get a much better dataset against more advanced competition. If the stuff continues to play there, then we can start having a much more interesting conversation.