Eric Hartman has done something no Minor Leaguer had pulled off since Andruw Jones did it in 1995, and he did it in a way that fit the season he’s put together: with speed, power and a late-game burst.
On Saturday night, the Braves’ top prospect reached 25 home runs and 50 stolen bases for the year, putting his name next to the Hall of Famer in a record book that doesn’t get touched often. The milestone came in the ninth inning of Double-A Columbus’s 7-3 win over Chattanooga at Erlanger Park.
Hartman already had the 25 homers banked, but he entered the game with 49 steals. After a single got him to first base, the Alberta native took off for second, then added his 51st stolen base before scoring on an Alex Lodise (ATL No. 5) base hit.
Hartman, ranked as MLB’s No. 42 prospect, has surged from a 20th-round pick in the 2024 Draft into one of the more striking prospect stories around. His first pro season was slowed by time on the injured list, and when he did play, the numbers were modest: five home runs in 83 games at Single-A with a .248 average.
This year has looked nothing like that. Hartman opened 2026 at High-A Rome and wasted no time turning heads.
On July 1, he became the first player to reach the 20-HR/30-SB mark at any level in the Minors or Majors. Since moving up to Double-A, the power output has cooled some, but the steals have kept coming, including 13 this month.
Jones’s path to that same rare club had its own striking similarities. He was born in Curaçao, which at the time had produced only one big leaguer, Hensley Meulens.
Signed by the Braves at 16, Jones debuted professionally in 1994 with little noise. Then came his second season, when he exploded for 25 home runs, 56 stolen bases and 100 RBIs for Class A Macon.
A year later, he reached the majors, and the rest is quite literally history.
In Other News...
Braves Prospects Are Starting To Force A Bigger Conversation
The Braves farm system has spent the week giving the organization plenty to think about, with Rome right-hander Daniel Brooks turning in another dominant outing and outfield speedster Eric Hartman pushing past the 50-steal mark. Those are the kinds of developments that matter in a system built on finding the next wave of impact talent, especially when there are also steady contributions coming from names like Brett Wisely and Luis Vargas across several different games.
Brooks work on the mound and Hartmans running game are two very different ways of standing out, but both have helped put a brighter spotlight on a minor league pipeline that has been more than just background noise lately. Add in the broader wave of offensive and pitching contributions across the affiliates, and the Braves are left with a familiar but welcome problem: too many prospects are making it harder to ignore what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Rotation Just Got A Much Darker Spencer Schwellenbach Question
Spencer Schwellenbachs season-long elbow saga has taken another turn, and this one points toward a more serious reset than the Braves had wanted. After dealing with a fracture in June 2025, he is now expected to undergo surgery on his right elbow, with the operation set to insert a screw to help stabilize the joint.
For Atlanta, the bigger concern is not just the procedure itself but what comes after it. The club had hoped to avoid this step, and neither the surgery date nor a recovery timetable has been announced, leaving his long-term outlook murky. There is now real uncertainty about whether Schwellenbach will be able to get back on the mound in 2027. [Read more 🡒]
Braves Prospect Is Forcing His Way Into The Center Field Picture
Patrick Clohisy has spent the past two seasons making himself harder to ignore. The 24-year-old climbed the Braves minor league ladder by pairing a real uptick at the plate with the kind of speed that changes games, first leading the system in stolen bases and doubles before earning a July promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett. Once he got there, he kept producing, hitting for a high average while continuing to show the elite sprint speed that made him stand out in the lower levels.
For Atlanta, the interesting part is where that profile fits. Clohisys range has helped him cover ground in the outfield, and he is projected to spend most of his time in center field, a spot where speed and instincts can matter as much as raw power. He is not just a burner anymore, either, which is why his case keeps getting stronger as he moves closer to the majors and forces the organization to think more seriously about the center field picture. [Read more 🡒]