Ronit Shah has already helped reshape the Braves’ draft pipeline since taking over the scouting department in 2023, and the 2025 class may end up being the loudest proof yet. The headliners from that group are already drawing top-40 buzz across the sport. But the name worth circling here is a little further down the board: fifth-round pick Conor Essenburg.
Essenburg entered pro ball with a real fork in the road. He had to decide whether to keep swinging or climb on the mound and pitch.
So far, Atlanta’s bet on his bat looks like the right one. He’s stayed in the outfield, and the power has started to show up in a big way.
His first stretch in Augusta was rough. He hit .207 with 17 strikeouts in only eight games before an injury knocked him out for a month.
At that point, the hit-tool questions that followed him into the draft looked very real. But once he got back, the tide turned fast.
He played five games in the FCL, returned to Augusta, and then caught fire. He got a hit in seven of his next nine games, including a two-homer game on May 31.
From there, the exit velocities started jumping routinely over 100 mph.
What really stood out, though, was how he controlled the strike zone. Essenburg worked counts, drew walks, and leaned on elite plate discipline, even if it sometimes veered a little too passive. From June 10-12, he walked multiple times in all three games, and on June 12 he paired three walks with two home runs in the same game.
Then came another surge in late July. From July 23-31, he posted six multi-hit games in eight contests.
On July 28, he went nuclear with three home runs and two walks. That run earned him a promotion to Rome on August 4, and he kept moving forward.
The power didn’t show up quite as often after the jump, but the overall offensive profile sharpened. His strikeout rate dropped from 31.5% in Augusta to 23.5% the rest of the way in Rome. At the same time, his walk rate actually ticked up from 19.7% to 20.6%, and his contact rate improved from 69.2% to 70.3%.
That’s a strong season for any prospect. For a player who just turned 20 in September and is only now getting to focus entirely on hitting for the first time in his life, it looks even better. On the year, Essenburg finished with 17 home runs, 11 stolen bases, a 19.8 BB%, a .265 batting average, a .416 on-base percentage, and a .493 slugging percentage.
The tools have also gotten him noticed in other ways. Baseball America named Essenburg the best power hitter in the Braves system and also the best outfield arm.
He has a cannon in his left shoulder and used it plenty, finishing with five outfield assists. He spent a lot of time in center field in Augusta, but he looks more like a corner outfielder long term, and the Braves seemed to agree by using him in right field after the promotion to Rome.
If the development keeps trending this way, Essenburg has the kind of breakout profile that could put him on Top-100 lists soon. His in-season growth in 2026 only pushed the ceiling higher, and a full offseason devoted to hitting and refining the bat-to-ball skills could matter a lot when 2027 arrives.
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What makes the discussion a little more uncomfortable is the gap between spending and production. Atlanta added $77 million in payroll, but the roster math has not neatly matched the financial outlay, and the teams better season performance does not appear to have been driven directly by higher player salaries. For a club that has built its identity around sustained contention, the question now is whether the extra investment is buying the kind of impact that matters most when the standings tighten. [Read more 🡒]
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For the Braves, the appeal is obvious enough. Imanaga has been productive and consistent, but the concern is just as clear: his fly-ball profile can make him a tricky fit for clubs that do not want to live with extra damage on mistakes. Teams with more forgiving ballparks may be more willing to look past that, which is why Atlanta would have to decide whether the upside is worth accepting a real risk that has followed him throughout his time in the majors. [Read more 🡒]
Chris Sale Is Giving The Braves Historic Greatness And One Huge Worry
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The concern, of course, is the same one that has followed Sale for much of his career. Even with the historic run he has put together in Atlanta, his injury history remains part of the conversation every time he takes the mound, and that reality hangs over a Braves rotation that has learned how much it can change when he is healthy. For now, the payoff has been obvious, but the long view still comes with one unavoidable question. [Read more 🡒]