Hurston Waldrep #26

Selected in the first round (No. 24 overall) of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves out of the University of Florida... received a $3 million signing bonus from the Braves... originally from Thomasville, Georgia... pitched for Southern Miss from 2021-22 before transferring to Florida, where he enjoyed an award-winning junior season in 2023 in which he was named a 2023 Second Team All-American (D1Baseball), 2023 ABCA First Team Southeast All-Region, 2023 NCAA Gainesville Regional All-Tournament Team, 2023 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll, 2023 SEC Pitcher of the Week (April 17), 2023 First Team Preseason All-American (Collegiate Baseball) and was a 2022 Third Team All-American (D1Baseball)... he holds the Florida record for strikes per nine innings at 13.81; he struck out the second-most batters (156) in a single season in Florida program history, coming just one shy of Alex Faedo’s program record set in 2017... in 2023 at Florida, he teamed up with Brandon Sproat to strike out more batters (290) than any two-pitcher duo in program history while forming the ninth 100-strikeout duo in team history... he posted a program-record 13.8 strikeouts per nine, topping John Burke’s 32-year record of 13.3 set in 1990... at Southern Miss, he had a 7-2 record with a 3.22 ERA and 156 strikeouts in 28 career appearances spanning 106 1/3 innings... pitched for Team USA... at Thomasville High School, Waldrep was a four-time letterwinner in baseball under head coach Greg Crager, was ranked the 14th-best right-handed pitcher (high school baseball) in the state of Georgia by Perfect Game in 2020 and earned Region 1-AA Pitcher of the Year honors and Region 1-AA First Team accolades... he received Class AA All-State honors by the outlet Georgia Dugout Preview Magazine and represented Team Georgia in the prestigious Junior Sunbelt Classic during the Summer of 2019... he won three Region 1-AA titles (2017, 2018, and 2019)... helped the Thomasville to a 23-9 record in 2019 and to the quarterfinal round of the 2017 and 2018 state tournament... played football for Thomasville as well, earning multiple accolades as a kicker/punter... son of Cliff and Debbie Waldrep; he has one brother, Ryan; Sisters, Morgan and Edon... majored in education sciences at the University of Florida... debuted with the Braves in 2023, seeing time at four levels of the Minors... entered 2024 ranked as the No. 90 prospect in baseball by MLB.com; MLB projected him to reach the Majors in 2023

2023

Saw action in eight games across four levels of the Braves' Minor League system, making stops at every level from Single-A Augusta to Triple-A Gwinnett... he made three starts for Rome and Mississippi... in 29 1/3 innings, he went 0-1 with a 1.53 ERA and 41 strikeouts... finished the year ranked as the Braves' No. 2 prospect