Braves Prospect Briggs McKenzie Explains Approach After Hitless Outing

Left-handed pitcher Briggs McKenzie grew up in North Carolina rooting for the Atlanta Braves, who took him in the fourth round of the 2025 Draft and paid him close to $3 million to pass on his commitment to LSU, and the 20-year-old is now the youngest pitcher in the Arizona Fall League.

His best outing so far came on Friday, Oct. 16, when he threw four hitless innings for the Glendale Desert Dogs in a 3-1 win over the Scottsdale Scorpions.

He struck out six and gave up one run, and five of those strikeouts came on the two versions of his fastball, according to a recent look at his fall from MLB.com.

That gives him 12 strikeouts in nine innings over three fall starts, and he said the games that go wrong for him are the ones where he gives hitters too much credit and tries to paint the corners instead of going right at them.

"I just know it's really hard to hit and I've got good stuff, so I just want to throw my best stuff," McKenzie said.

He needs these extra innings, since nerve irritation in his left forearm shut down his regular season after three starts at High-A Rome and left him with just 26 innings in his first pro season.

I like hearing a young pitcher talk this way, especially one whose fastball only sits around 92 to 93 miles per hour, because he has to believe in that pitch to get outs.

He also throws a curveball that is tied for the top breaking ball in the system, and he lowered his arm slot a little after watching fellow left-handed pitcher Chris Sale, who is a Gold Glove finalist this year and a candidate for his second Cy Young Award.

His growth also comes at a good time for this club, which saw its season end on Oct. 7 with a 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the National League Division Series after losing four starting pitchers during spring training and three more in September.

McKenzie is not going to solve that in 2027, but arms like his are how a team avoids running out of pitching again.

Atlanta has found success with high school pitchers over the past decade, with right-handers AJ Smith-Shawver and JR Ritchie in that group, even though Smith-Shawver has had a hard time staying on the mound in recent years.

The front office clearly likes its young pitching, since the Boston Globe reported that Atlanta would not part with right-hander Didier Fuentes during trade talks with the Detroit Tigers at the deadline.

I would put McKenzie in that same group of arms the Braves should keep this winter, even as they look for help in the rotation, because a lefty with his curveball and attitude is hard to find.

If he stays healthy and keeps pitching the way he did against Scottsdale, I expect him to move through the system quickly next year, and I would rather see Atlanta give him that chance than send him away in a trade for a short-term fix.