Braves: No signs of slowing down for Tate Southisene following promotion

Eric Hartman has been the Braves’ most impressive prospect through the first few months of the season, but he’s been closely followed since Opening Day by 2025 first-round selection Tate Southisene.

Southisene recently earned a promotion to High-A Rome — high marks for a 19-year-old with fewer than 70 games of professional baseball under his belt — after hitting .297 with eight home runs and 36 stolen bases in 51 games for the Augusta Green Jackets. If the jump in competition was supposed to slow him down, there are no signs of it yet.

In his first two plate appearances yesterday, Southisene reached base both times — recording a hit and drawing a walk. Through nine plate appearances with his new club, he’s reached base five times and is sporting an OPS over 1.000.

There is so much to appreciate about his game at such a young age. Hitting eight home runs in 50 games at any level as a 19-year-old is enormously encouraging. That raw strength is only going to become more apparent as he physically matures, and he pairs it with elite speed — evidenced by 37 stolen bases in just 53 total games this season.

What’s even more eye-catching, though, is his natural feel for the strike zone. He drew three walks in his first two games in Rome and had 37 walks for Augusta, contributing to a .429 on-base percentage.

There are plenty more hurdles for Tate Southisene to clear before anyone crowns him the shortstop of the future — most importantly, proving he can handle the position defensively, which remains the single most critical aspect of a shortstop’s development. But this is one of the most promising young prospects to come through the organization in a long time, and watching him develop over the next few years is going to be a lot of fun.

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(Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire)