2023 first-round pick Hurston Waldrep promoted to Mississippi among a series of Tuesday roster moves

PEARL, MS - The Mississippi Braves have announced the following roster moves prior to today's doubleheader with the Rocket City Trash Pandas at Trustmark Park. INF Joshua Fuentes was reinstated from the Triple-A Gwinnett 7-day Injured List and transferred to Mississippi. RHP Brooks Wilson was reinstated from the Triple-A Gwinnett 60-day IL and transferred to Mississippi. C Drake Baldwin and RHP Hurston Waldrep were transferred from High-A Rome to Mississippi. C Arden Pabst was transferred to High-A Rome from Mississippi, and LHP Jake McSteen, INF Hudson Potts, and RHP Ty Tice were placed on the Mississippi Development List.

Waldrep, 21, Atlanta's first-round selection (24th overall) in the 2023 draft in July, will play at the third level in the Braves system since signing for $2.997 million on July 13. Waldrep has a 1.20 ERA (2 ER/15 IP), with 25 strikeouts to six walks in one start for Single-A Augusta and three starts for High-A Rome. In his final Rome start on Saturday, August 26, he struck out 10 and walked none over 4.2 innings, giving up two unearned runs on three hits. According to MLB Pipeline, Waldrep is ranked as the No.2 prospect for the Braves.

Waldrep made 19 starts for the University of Florida in 2023, going 10-3 with a 4.16 ERA (47 ER/101.2 IP) and 156 strikeouts, which ranked third in the NCAA. He made two starts in the College World Series, earning the win on June 18 versus Oral Roberts before a no-decision versus LSU in the championship. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound right-hander played at Southern Miss from 2021-22, making 11 relief appearances as a freshman before starting 17 games as a sophomore. He pitched to a 7-2 record and a 3.22 ERA (38 ER/106.1 IP) with the Golden Eagles. He was named to D1Baseball’s Third Team All-American squad in 2022. Waldrep also made one start against Curaçao as part of the 2022 Collegiate National Team.

A native of Thomasville, GA, Waldrep attended Thomasville High School, where he helped his team to three Region 1-AA titles from 2017-19.

Baldwin, 22, was just named South Atlantic League Player of the Week and was in the midst of a 15-game hitting streak. Baldwin is batting .393 with seven doubles, five home runs, 12 RBI, 12 walks, and a .493 on-base percentage in August. Over his last seven games, he is 14-for-27 with three doubles, four home runs, 10 RBI, and six multi-hit games. In 92 games this season for Rome, Baldwin is batting .260 with 25 doubles, 14 home runs, 54 RBI, 61 walks, and .385 OBP.

The No. 28 prospect in the Braves organization, according to MLB Pipeline, and Madison, WI native, was Atlanta's third-round selection in 2022 out of Missouri State. He split the 2022 season between Low-A Augusta and the Florida Complex League, combining to post a .258 batting average (23-for-89) with five doubles and 15 runs across 24 total games.

At Missouri State in 2022, Baldwin reached safely in 57 of 60 games during his junior season (2022). He ended his college career as the team's all-time leader in fielding percentage (.994). Also, during his junior season, he ranked highly in the conference in RBI (1st), home runs (2nd), slugging percentage (3rd), on-base percentage (3rd), and total bases

(3rd). He won the MVC's Elite 17 Award, given to the player with the highest GPA in the championship game. He played high school baseball at Madison West HS (WI).

Fuentes, 30, was batting .232 with six doubles, five home runs, and 26 RBI in 55 games for the Triple-A Stripers this season. Fuentes signed as a minor league free agent with the Braves on December 19, 2022. The Scottsdale, AZ native originally signed with the Colorado Rockies as a non-drafted free agent in 2014 and made his major league debut with the Rockies on April 6, 2019, against the Dodgers. In three seasons at the major league level with Colorado from 2019 -21, Fuentes played in 149 games, batting 19 doubles, 12 home runs, and 57 RBI. His best season with the Rockies came in 2020, batting .306 in 30 games.

Wilson, 27, is pitching for the first time since 2021 after having Tommy John surgery in 2022. In three games between High-A Rome and FCL, he has allowed one run on three hits over 3.0 innings, four strikeouts to one walk. Wilson went a combined 3-1 with a 2.34 ERA (13 ER/50.0 IP) in 39 relief appearances between Mississippi and Triple-A Gwinnett in 2021. He had a 2.45 ERA with a 3-1 record over 33 games and 44.0 innings pitched, 73 strikeouts, and 17 walks with the M-Braves. He posted a 1.11 WHIP and held opposing hitters to a .201 batting average. Wilson converted five saves in nine opportunities and did not allow a run in his first 8.1 innings of 2021 with 14 strikeouts and four walks.

The M-Braves begin a two-week homestand tonight with a doubleheader against the Rocket City Trash Pandas at Trustmark Park. The first pitch is set for 4:05 pm with the second game occurring 30 minutes after the completion of game one.