Three Prospects Changing the Braves' Outfield Conversation
One year ago, Atlanta's long-term outfield pipeline looked thin. Eric Hartman, Isaiah Drake, and Logan Braunschweig are helping change that.
Just one year ago, there were serious questions surrounding the future of the outfield in the Atlanta organization. The major-league outfield appeared to be stable, but the long-term pipeline behind it was thin.
Michael Harris II is under team control through the 2033 season, but his first-half struggles last year started to cause fans to question just how secure his spot was. Ronald Acuña Jr. is a superstar, but injuries have consistently limited his playing time, and he is only under team control through 2028. Jurickson Profar was brought in to secure left field for three years, but has been suspended in back-to-back seasons and will have appeared in fewer than a quarter of Atlanta’s games through the first two seasons of his contract.
Down on the farm, Diego Tornes was really the only outfield prospect with any sort of serious hype, signing for $2.5 million and ranked the 15th best international prospect in his class. The issue, however, is that he was still just 16/17 years old and is a long way away from Atlanta.
Fast forward to today, and the picture looks much different. Conor Essenburg was an over-slot prep selection in the 2025 MLB Draft who has serious pop. Michael Martinez has done nothing but hit after being a $155k IFA signee a few years back. Luis Guanipa, Owen Carey, and others have shown promise as well.
But three in particular have begun to carve out realistic paths to becoming future contributors in Atlanta’s outfield: Eric Hartman, Isaiah Drake, and Logan Braunschweig.
The encouraging part for Atlanta is that these prospects are not all the same type of player. Hartman offers the upside of an everyday corner outfielder with impact power and speed. Drake brings premium athleticism and center field defense. Braunschweig has quickly emerged as one of the better values from the organization’s recent draft classes.
They are at different stages of development and carry different risk profiles, but together they represent something the Braves system lacked not long ago: legitimate outfield depth with multiple paths to the major leagues.
(*all stats and rankings as of 6/15/26)
Eric Hartman
One of the hottest prospects in all of baseball is current Rome Braves outfielder Eric Hartman.
Hailing from the Canadian province of Alberta, Hartman was taken in the 20th round of the draft and signed for $340,000 over slot to forgo his college commitment to Michigan. It’s an incredibly uncommon origin story.
Transitioning from the Canadian prep scene to professional baseball gave him some lumps, as in six games at the complex last year, he recorded just two hits, walking five times and striking out seven times across 27 plate appearances. Still, he got to experience 83 games in Single-A Augusta, where Hartman began to adjust to the competition. He would bat .248 with a .718 OPS, but despite just five home runs, he showed off his 70-grade speed with 44 stolen bases.
And then 2026 began.
Still just 19 years old, Hartman opened the season in High-A Rome and has blossomed into one of the most dangerous hitters at the level.
Hartman and last year’s first-round selection, Tate Southisene, have been the top two hitters in the Braves farm system and two of the top hitters in the minor leagues for players under 21 years old. He consistently is able to produce EVs over 100 mph as the ball pops off his bat.
What makes Hartman’s breakout especially intriguing is that it is not being driven by one tool. The speed was already well known, but the quality of contact has taken a significant step forward. When a player with his athleticism begins producing consistent impact off the bat, the ceiling starts to look much different.
That combination is a big reason why evaluators have become increasingly aggressive with his ranking over the past year.
It is hard to imagine Hartman not eventually reaching Double-A this season, which is impressive for just a second-year prospect who will turn 20 years old in a few days.
After seeing the likes of John Gil and Alex Lodise getting invited to major league Spring Training last year, I would expect Hartman to get a legitimate non-roster invite to camp next year. 2027 is a tad aggressive for an actual call-up, but sometime in 2028 seems perfectly in range. Especially as both Jurickson Profar and Mike Yastrzemski may both be gone.
When asked about Hartman’s chances of making the Opening Day roster in 2027, Baseball America’s JJ Cooper stated:
“A year ago the answer would have seemed to be no. Now the question is whether Eric Hartman will be ready by then. Opening Day 2027 seems a little fast, but mid-season 2027 seems very plausible.”
He has been vaulted into Top 100 lists across many outlets, including Baseball America (62) and Just Baseball (32). Not too shabby for the 611th overall selection in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Isaiah Drake
A teammate of Hartman’s with the Rome Emperors, Isaiah Drake seems like he has been a prospect in the Braves system forever. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2023 MLB Draft for an over-slot bonus of $750k to sign him away from his Georgia Tech commitment out of North Atlanta High School. And yes, he is the little brother of NFL running back Kenyan Drake.
At just 17 years old, Drake entered the complex directly after being drafted and recorded just 15 hits (13 singles and 2 triples) across 77 plate appearances, but struck out at a 37.7% clip. He split time between the complex and Augusta in 2024, but struggled mightily.
It was his age-19 season in 2025 that Isaiah Drake really started to put it together. He was already a plus fielder with 70-grade speed, but the bat just had not shown up. However, after batting .260 with a .704 OPS and cutting his strikeout rate to 22.5% in 84 games in Single-A, he was promoted to High-A for his final 32 appearances of the season. Drake would go on to bat over .300 during this stint and steal a combined 46 bags across the two levels.
This earned him the starting center field and leadoff job with Rome to begin the 2026 season. In 56 games during his age-20 season, Drake is batting .254 with a career-best .426 slugging percentage and .762 OPS He’s slugged 10 home runs already, notable as he entered the season with just 16 for his career.
The power increase has been key to Drake’s success. For a long time, the question surrounding Drake was whether he would hit enough to allow his athleticism to play at higher levels. Few prospects in the organization can match his speed, and his defensive ability has never been in doubt. The emergence of even average game power changes the conversation.
If Drake can continue making enough contact while maintaining that newfound pop, his profile starts to resemble something more than a speed-and-defense reserve. That is what makes this season so important for his long-term outlook.
He is still striking out a tad higher than I would like (27.0%), but seeing him grow into some power to pair with his double-plus speed is very encouraging. He’s finally lifting the ball the most in his career (43.8%), allowing him to generate real impact with the bat.
With Harris II locked into the center field position for years to come, Drake will need to continue to progress with the bat to carve out a role in Atlanta’s outfield. The defense is there, the speed is legit, the bat is improving, and the power has finally come around.
Logan Braunschweig
The final outfielder on this list is likely the least known of the trio. In college, Logan Braunschweig maintained a career .306 batting average, .834 OPS, and racked up 210 hits. Power was never the name of his game, however, slugging just 10 home runs during his time at UAB.
Still, Atlanta took notice and drafted him in the 9th round of the 2025 MLB Draft, a senior signee taking just $2,500.
He was immediately sent to High-A Rome as a senior college bat, and quickly showed that he could compete at that level. Braunschweig batted .294 in his 26 games at the professional level. This year, he spent the first 39 games of the season back in Rome and batted .277, including a .798 OPS and three home runs. He was promptly promoted to Double-A Columbus.
Through 14 games at the Double-A level, Braunschweig has been adjusting decently well. He is batting .273 with a .637 OPS, but is striking out at a 27.1% rate. He does have 10 hits, however, including two doubles.
The key when talking about Logan Braunschweig is the value. As a money-saving senior sign who received just a $2,500 bonus, most teams really do not get much value out of those profiles. Even if he just ends up as a fourth outfielder, that is insane value for that draft selection.
Braunschweig will need to continue to develop and show that he can handle Double-A pitchers before getting the chance to show himself at a higher level. If he does, however, I would expect him to get some looks during Spring Training and in Gwinnett next season.
Hartman looks like a potential everyday player. Drake has begun translating his elite athleticism into production. Braunschweig has already exceeded expectations for a low-cost senior sign.
None are guarantees, but compared to where the organization stood a year ago, Atlanta suddenly has multiple outfield prospects worth monitoring. For an organization that once appeared thin behind its major-league outfield, that’s a significant development.