Getty Hurston Waldrep in his college days at Florida
Less than a year after the Atlanta Braves took him No. 24 overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, starting pitcher Hurston Waldrep will make his Major League debut for his hometown team.
The Braves will call up the Thomasville, Georgia native on Sunday, June 8 to make a spot start in Washington against the Nationals.
“It was obviously a big surprise,” Waldrep told Mark Bowman of MLB.com. “It’s pretty cool to just be here, take all of this in, enjoy all of the firsts and just play some baseball.”
With barely 11 months of professional experience, Waldrep has made only 2 starts in AAA — one last year and one this year. In 9 starts at AA Mississippi, Waldrep has a 3.28 ERA and a 1.399 WHIP.
Waldrep will give Max Fried an extra day of rest by pushing his start to Tuesday, according to Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors. The Braves will have to make a corresponding move to get Waldrep on the 40-man roster, but Polishuk points out that Ronald Acuna Jr. or Spencer Strider could easily slide over to the 60-day injured list to make that happen.
At just 22 and with so little pro experience, there’s not much pressure on Waldrep, but if he pitches well, he could stick in the Major Leagues. The Braves have been aggressive in calling up their prospects, promoting Spencer Schwellenbach, their No. 3 prospect, last week after he started only two games above High-A.
“I set really high goals, and I’m a really high achiever,” Waldrep told Bowman. “Everything I do on a daily basis, I put forth to achieve those goals. I can’t say I had [getting to the Majors this soon] in mind, but I also can’t say it was out of the picture.”
The Hurston Waldrep Scouting Report
Waldrep throws a fastball, slider, curveball, and splitter, which is his specialty pitch. It “completely falls off the table,” according to his Baseball America scouting report. He complements that with a mid-90s fastball that can touch 99.
“I’ve always been a guy who throws the ball as hard as I can,” Waldrep said. “Throw hard and leave everything on the field. That’s always been my motto. So when I came up with the splitter, I was like, ‘Throw it hard and see what happens.’ And then so, here we are.”
In AA this season, 45.5% of his batted balls have been on the ground, according to FanGraphs, and he gave up only 2 home runs in 49.1 innings. His 7.9% walk rate is also a significant improvement over his numbers last year, when he walked 15.6% of AA batters.
“He’s a big, physical, strong kid with a really good arm and good stuff,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “His stuff plays up here.”
The Braves’ Rotation Plan
The top four in the Braves’ rotation have been solid, with Fried, Chris Sale, Reynaldo Lopez, and Charlie Morton all making at least 11 starts with sub-3.90 ERAs. The problem comes in the fifth spot without Strider, who will miss the remainder of the season. Waldrep will be the seventh pitcher to take his spot.
The Braves need to keep in mind that neither Sale nor Lopez has pitched a complete season since 2019, so going to a six-man rotation or simply skipping their turn every once in a while might be the way to keep them fresh for the stretch run.
Waldrep threw 101.2 innings for Florida in his final collegiate season and is at 55.1 now, so workload shouldn’t be a major issue for him if Atlanta wants to keep him in the majors. He projects as an above average starter, but could also make an elite closer if the Braves see him better suited for the bullpen anyway.