The Rule 5 Draft saw no big league selections made by the Atlanta Braves, although they did select Tyler Thomas in the minor league round.
The Chicago Cubs selected left-handed pitcher Thomas out of Fresno State University in the seventh round of the 2017 MLB Draft. It’s interesting to note that the Cubs transferred Thomas to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Jesse Chavez. He was released by the Rangers after playing with them for five seasons.
He pitched in the Atlantic League in 2023, recording 20 innings pitched with a 0.90 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP.
This past June, the New York Mets decided to give him a try by signing him to a minor league contract.
After struggling in 12 innings at Triple-A with a 6.75 ERA and 2.17 WHIP, Thomas finished his Double-A career with a 0.79 ERA and 0.76 WHIP. After that, the Mets sent him to the Arizona Fall League, where in 9.2 innings pitched with 13 strikeouts, he recorded a 3.72 ERA and 1.35 WHIP.
He primarily uses the sinker and slider, but in his season-ending Triple-A outing, he gave up four hits on five swings against his change-up.
He has a K/9 of 10.1 across six minor league seasons, demonstrating his ability to get strikeouts even when he doesn’t draw many swings and misses.
Though it gives the 27-year-old left-handed depth in the system, there doesn’t seem to be much upside here.
No One Was Lost by the Braves in Rule 5
On Wednesday, the MLB and minor league rounds of the Rule 5 Draft did not include any selections of players from the Atlanta Braves.
For the time being, Luis de Avila, Jesse Franklin, and other individuals will be included in the system.