Atlanta Braves lose top pitching prospect to injury

The Atlanta Braves pitching staff is deep and getting deeper. AJ Minter is back from injury. Ian Anderson is making his rehab debut and AJ Smith-Shawver is also close to returning.

However, the Braves are losing another top prospect to an elbow injury for next year. According to a source, Cade Kuehler is headed to Florida and will undergo Tommy John surgery on his right elbow before the end of the month. He will spend the next year and a half with the FCL Braves rehabbing his throwing arm.

Kuehler is ranked as the eighth-best prospect in the Atlanta Braves’ farm system by MLB.com. He was selected in the second round of last year’s draft out of Campbell University in Blues Creek, North Carolina.

He had pitched well that season at Augusta. Kuehler was 3-5 for the GreenJackets. And while his record wasn’t impressive, his 2.52 ERA was. He showed good control with 44 strikeouts against just 30 walks with a 1.22 WHIP.

Kuehler turned 22 in May and had a stellar career at Campbell before being selected by the Braves in 2023.

Excerpt from his biography of Kuehler Campbell:

2023: Named First Team All-Big South… NCBWA Second Team All-America… Made 13 starts on the mound with a team-best 2.71 ERA… Owned an 8-1 record while striking out a team-high 91 in 73.0 innings… Surpassed the 200-strikeout mark in his career and moved into fourth place in program history with 243… Held opponents to just .199 batting against him… Posted a 5-0 record with a 1.96 ERA in conference play… Posted a perfect 7-0 record during the regular season… Recorded eight “quality starts” on the year… Earned a win in five straight starts from March 3-March 31… Struck out 10 in 6.0 innings in the win at Louisiana on March 3… Pitched six scoreless innings with just two hits at Radford on March 24…Struck out a season-high 13 in 6.0 shutout innings with just one hit at PC on 4/6…Named Big South Starting Pitcher of the Week back-to-back times on 4/10 and 4/17