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4 prospects Braves must protect in the Rule 5 Draft

Every December, teams like the Atlanta Braves start to panic because once a year, MLB holds a Rule 5 Draft, here are 4 prospects they must protect at all costs.

By Bryce Naughton

World Baseball Classic Pool C: United States v Colombia
World Baseball Classic Pool C: United States v Colombia / Christian Petersen/GettyImages
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No. 3 prospect Braves must protect in the Rule 5 Draft, Grant Holmes

Grant Holmes is a 27-year-old reliever who was formerly a top prospect with the Los Angeles Dodgers and got drafted in the first round of the 2014 MLB Draft. Holmes struggled as a starter but showed potential. Recently, he has been transformed into a long reliever or a possible closer. He has pitched in 49 games in 2023 with the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers. In those 49 games, he finished 31 of them, closing out and recording 13 saves in 60.2 innings.

In those 60.2 innings, he had 73 strikeouts and 25 walks, while showing some good control. He also only gave up 51 hits with a 3.26 ERA. Recently in MLB, closers have been receiving high value in trades and on the field.

The most recent example of the value around closers was Aroldis Chapman, traded from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for 18-year-old prospect Roni Cabrera and Cole Ragans, who was set to become a top pitcher for the Rangers before they recently started to buy players like Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom.

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