by Maxwell Roberts | Minor League Coverage Czar

When the Carp participated in their expansion draft earlier this year (along with the Winchester West-Siders and the Whiskey City Mashers), it was clear from the start that the Carp were prospect focused. Not only was this prudent given the nature of expansion drafts --mostly getting everyone else's castoffs-- but it quickly became apparent that the other two expansion teams were less so, at least at that moment. But even through that approach, of the Carp's current prospects (17), and graduated prospects (4), only 11 of them were initially drafted during expansion and subsequent free agency auction. It's clear the Carp brass never stop looking under each and every river rock to see what's lurking.

One of those undrafted pieces was Atlanta Braves' prospect, Eric Hartman --taken in the 20th round with the 611th pick. Not even a Top-30 Braves prospect last season, he was buried again here in 2026. Until he wasn't.

Hartman is now the #2 prospect in the Braves' system according to MLB Pipeline; they also have him pegged as the 73rd overall prospect. Fangraphs is even more bullish, setting Hartman all the way up at 33rd overall. This all from a publication that had him at #16 for the Braves and nowhere near even the Top 200 just prior to this season. This has been a colossal jump for the young outfielder.

Here is what Fangraphs had to say about Hartman ahead of this season:

Speed is the outlier trait here...Hartman isn't likely to grow into a ton of power, and the pull-heavy nature of his swing path looks like it might wind up producing a lot of weak grounders to the pull side...he projects as a versatile fourth outfielder.

It's possible they still think those things, but Hartman has not looked like a fourth outfielder to this point. And the Carp don't think so either. Here in 2026, from High-A to his recent promotion to Double-A, the numbers are gaudy as hell:

In 95 games, his slash line looks like this: .272/.363/.520 with an .883 OPS and a wRC+ of 131. Then come the counting stats: 101 hits, 76 runs, 24 HR, 64 RBI, and 39 SB. This all happens with a K% just under 23%, and a BB% of 11.1%. Oh and that weak grounders to the pull side concern? 34.9% -- that's 8-10% lower than the MLB average. Sweet, sweet nectar of the gods; dude has been a menace.

MLB Pipeline says "he could be a table-setting type of catalyst if everything clicks." That can mean a lot of things. Does it mean Juan Pierre? Craig Biggio? Alfonso Soriano? Pete Crow-Armstrong?

Hartman still has to prove it at the higher levels, but he has proven it so emphatically at the lower ones that he's given us reason to dream, and that's half the fun. For now, it looks like Hartman might be a candidate to hit the majors at the beginning of 2028, but maybe late 2027 if he keeps showing out. And now our watch begins.