When the Braves brought in Daniel Brooks as an undrafted free agent in July 2025, he barely registered outside the organization. A year later, the 6-foot-7 right-hander is forcing his way into the conversation.
Brooks, a Mount Pleasant, South Carolina native and Bishop England High School graduate who pitched at the College of Charleston, turned in one of the more compelling seasons in Atlanta’s minor league system in 2026. The shape of his year matters here, because it tells the whole story: rough early, then steadily better, then downright nasty by the end.
His first pro stop came with the Florida Complex League Braves, where the results were shaky. He went 6.17 ERA in nine appearances, giving up eight earned runs over 11 2/3 innings.
That kind of line doesn’t usually hint at a fast-rising arm. But Atlanta stuck with him, and the payoff came once he started moving between the FCL and Low-A Augusta.
That’s where Brooks really began to take off with the GreenJackets. In 13 appearances there, he posted a 0.65 ERA and punched out 46 batters in 27 2/3 innings.
The Braves then sent him to High-A Rome in August, and he kept rolling. In three appearances with the Emperors, Brooks allowed just three hits, struck out 16 and logged 10 1/3 innings.
By the time his first professional season was done, the numbers were eye-catching: a 1.81 ERA, 73 strikeouts and a 0.87 WHIP in 49 2/3 innings.
The most dominant stretch may have come in August, when Baseball America reported that Brooks made three starts and threw 20 2/3 scoreless innings. During that run, he gave up six hits and one walk while striking out 32. That worked out to a 47.1% strikeout rate against the hitters he faced.
For a pitcher who began the year in the complex league and signed without being drafted, that kind of finish is hard to wave away.
The appeal goes beyond the stat line, too. Brooks brings a 6-foot-7, 250-pound frame and a high release point that can make life difficult for hitters.
His fastball sits in the 92-94 mph range, and his mid-80s slider has emerged as his main pitch. Baseball America noted that both offerings have shown strong bat-missing ability, and that Brooks’ velocity and effectiveness improved as the season went on.
The slider looks like the pitch that could carry him if he keeps climbing.
Even so, there’s no pretending this is a finished product. Brooks still has only 49 2/3 professional innings under his belt, and that’s a thin runway. His early struggles in the Florida Complex League are a reminder that he still has work to do, and Atlanta also began stretching him out as a starter late in the season, so he has yet to show he can handle a full workload over time.
That becomes a major question heading into 2027.
What makes Brooks more intriguing is that he didn’t seem rattled when the Braves shifted him from relief work into the rotation. His August starts were among his best outings of the year, which hints at upside the organization may not have expected when the season began. He also picked up Carolina League postseason All-Star honors, another sign that people around the league noticed what he was doing.
The Braves have poured plenty into young pitching, but Brooks is the kind of arm teams love to uncover after the draft is over. He may need a full season in High-A or Double-A before anyone starts talking seriously about a big league role, and a 2027 arrival could be too soon.
Still, Atlanta has a 24-year-old pitcher with a sturdy frame, a fastball-slider combination that works, and a track record of missing bats. For an undrafted signing, that’s a pretty loud entrance.
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