#6 Julio Teheran

Atlanta Braves

DOB: 1/27/1991

Pre-2011 Rank: 13

ETA: 2011

Teheran is the kind of guy every team loves to see atop their prospect list.  Good build, athletic, aggressive, good makeup.  Teheran is all of these and more.  He features a four-pitch arsenal with his fastball, coming in anywhere from 94-97 mph, somehow not the best pitch he has.  He also features a double-plus changeup with tremendous fade and plane.

His mechanics are much cleaner now than they were at this time last year, and he should open the season in Atlanta.  He made five appearances for the big club in 2011 and was bad, but he was also 20, and the ceiling on a guy like Teheran barely exists.  The only thing holding him back right now is his breaking stuff.  His slider and curveball are both below-average offerings, and we personally think anyone with Teheran’s arm acceleration stands a better chance of learning to be aggressive out front with a slider than a curveball.  His Triple-A numbers are outstanding, posting a 2.55 ERA in 144.2 innings.  He struck out 122 and walked 48 and only allowed five Triple-A dingers all year.  He’s a stud and has really nothing left to prove on the farm.  We expect Teheran to challenge for the NL Rookie of the Year award and then for some Cy Young’s in a few years.

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#30 Arodys Vizcaino

Atlanta Braves

DOB: 11/13/1990

Previous Rank: N/R

ETA: 2012

Due to the Braves’ outstanding mismanagement of the bullpen in Atlanta, they were forced to temporarily convert Vizcaino into a reliever for the last few months of the season.  He made 17 appearances for Atlanta and walked too many guys, but was otherwise effective and posted a 4.67 ERA and struck out nearly a guy an inning.

For a 20-year-old in a playoff race, those numbers are pretty impressive.  The problem now is that the Braves will have to make a difficult decision in terms of how to use Vizcaino in 2012, and the organization has never shown a propensity for patience.  We at the Sombrero are under the impression that the Braves will force Vizcaino into a bullpen role to open 2012, offering themselves almost zero flexibility in how they use him for the season.

The righty tossed 114.1 innings in 2011 and could probably jump to around 130-150 in 2012 if used as a starter with a chance of reaching 200 innings by 2014 health permitting.  The Braves could also use him in 2012 in what will mostly be low-leverage seventh inning outings and stall his development by at least a year.

Vizcaino has a fastball that reaches the upper-90s, but sits in the 93-95 mph range.  He is a tad under-sized, so there is less plane to his stuff than we prefer.  However, he gets some ride to his fastball on the arm side, and his breaker is a true 60 pitch.  His third pitch is a changeup that currently is average, but he hasn’t used it often enough because he spent so much time in the pen.

With 15-20 starts in the high Minors, it is very possible that Vizcaino could reemerge in Atlanta with three plus or better pitches and improved command making him an immediate impact arm in the NL East.

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#33 Randall Delgado

Atlanta Braves

DOB: 2/9/1090

Previous Rank: N/R

ETA: 2012

Delgado was the Braves’ strongest pitcher down the stretch, posting a 2.83 ERA in seven starts.  His ratios in Atlanta were trash, but they were far better in Double-A and Triple-A.  His ERA across two stops was under four and he nearly struck out a guy an inning over 139 innings pitched.  He walked too many guys, but for a 21-year-old who already has seven Big League starts under his belt, who really cares?

He has three average or better pitches including a fastball that can reach 97 mph and consistently sits in the 92-94 mph range.  His curveball is an easy 60, and his changeup shows the promise of being an adequate to average third pitch.  Delgado never really has to be more than a No. 3 starter in Atlanta, but he profiles as a No. 2 or even a No. 1 contingent upon how far he is able to come in terms of command and development of his changeup.

There is really nothing left for Delgado to prove in the Minors, but given the fact that he walked 14 guys in his 35 innings for Atlanta, the Panamanian might start several games for Gwinnett to open 2012.

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Last night on The Baseball Show, Clint Evans of Diamond Hoggers, M.J. Lloyd of Off Base Percentage, and I discussed the following topics:

-Our involvement with Tomahawk Take on the FanSided Network.

-Thoughts on the Braves shortstop situation, minor league prospects, Jason Heyward, the Jair Jurrjens rumors, and the Braves rotation for next season.

-We offer our thoughts on Derek Lowe’s departure to Cleveland.

-We talk about early hot stove off-season activity: Grady Sizemore, Prince Fielder, Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, Albert Pujols and many more free agents are discussed.

-We talk about the managerial possibilities around baseball: Sandy Alomar, Terry Francona, and Ryne Sandberg.

-We debate about the importance of a manager in the game of baseball today.

-I talk about Ozzie Guillen’s departure from the White Sox, and share my thoughts on Robin Ventura.

-As always, much more is discussed.

On Monday night, Mike Stanton belted not one, but two of his most impressive bombs of the 2011 season at home against Mike Minor and the Atlanta Braves.  While he hasn’t hit the 50 home runs that I had hoped for (he will next year), Stanton’s power has been every bit as advertised; of his 34 home runs, 26 have traveled over 400 feet.

According to ESPN Home Run Tracker (formerly Hit Tracker Online), Stanton has hit five balls over 450-feet, and 15 of his gargantuan blasts have been classified as “no-doubters.”  Thanks to MLB.com and their wise decision to allow the use of their videos, here are Stanton’s tape-measure shots from Monday night at Dolphins Stadium.

Perhaps it’s the astonishing lack of attendance and background noise, but the sound of Stanton striking the ball just sounds different than everyone else.

True Distance: 408 ft.

True Distance: 461 ft.