Carter

Stewart

The Japanese league is getting off to a late start due to COVID-19 -- the season won’t start until April 10 at the earliest after originally being scheduled to commence on March 20 -- but Stewart will get his first chance to pitch in a Hawks uniform after signing with the team in 2019. Stewart was considered one of the top pitching prospects in the 2018 MLB Draft and got selected eighth overall by the Braves, but after failing to sign he enrolled at a junior college and then shocked the baseball industry by agreeing to a deal with SoftBank just a few weeks before the 2019 MLB Draft. If he pitches well in Japan, the 20-year-old is sure to be a hot commodity among MLB clubs in the near future.

Stewart was the eighth overall pick of the 2018 MLB Draft, but he did not sign with the Braves after concerns arose over his asymptomatic wrist issue. He filed a grievance to become a free agent, but the Braves won and Stewart elected to attend Eastern Florida State College, a two-year school that made him draftable again this June. The stuff hasn’t been as good this spring as it was last year -- Stewart was widely considered the top prep pitcher in the 2018 class -- but he still had some first-round talk. He’ll instead begin his professional baseball career overseas.

This means that the Braves will keep the No. 9 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, and that Stewart will not be allowed to become a free agent. The 19-year-old right-hander, who rejected a below-slot offer from Atlanta after being selected eighth overall last June, has enrolled in a Florida junior college and will play baseball there this spring. He is eligible for the 2019 MLB Draft.

Stewart was drafted eighth overall by the Braves this past June, but the two sides failed to come to terms on a contract before the July 6 signing deadline. Atlanta reportedly offered the 18-year-old right-hander around 40 percent of his assigned slot value of $4,980,700 -- so just around $1.9 million. Rosenthal writes that “some involved with the case view [Carter] as a long shot to prevail in the dispute,” despite the low-ball sum. But it sounds like the Braves’ compensation pick for not signing Carter -- the ninth overall selection in 2019 -- could potentially be in jeopardy. There should be more on this in the coming weeks.

The Braves had until July 6 to sign the eighth-overall pick, but they were unable to come to terms. Reports indicate that Stewart (6'6/200) has a wrist issue, and the Braves were offering the right-hander closer to the 40 percent slot-allocation that was required than anything substantial. Stewart was committed to Mississippi State, and he could end up playing there; or he could go the JUCO route to make him eligible for the 2019 version. As compensation, Atlanta will get the ninth pick in next year’s draft.

Stewart is famous for his curveball; a pitch that has loads of spin and can make hitters from both sides of the plate swing and miss. He also has a fastball that touches 98 mph, and he’s working on a change that should be a fine third pitch. The command comes and goes, but that’s true for a lot of 6-foot-6, 200 pound teenagers. The upside here competes with any pitcher in the draft.