MLB.com looks at the hottest prospect from the 2022 class for each team

Not much attention has gone to the prospects from the 2022 MLB Draft class for the Atlanta Braves because so many of the pitching prospects taken on day one are unavailable - excluding top pick, Owen Murphy (Single-A Augusta), the next three of JR Ritchie (out for Tommy John surgery), Cole Phillips (rehabbing from Tommy John surgery in April 2022), and Blake Burkhalter (out for Tommy John surgery) are in various states of rehab from elbow injuries. 

There's one player, though, that's been excelling, and MLB.com wants to talk about him:

It's RHP Cedric De Grandpre. 

MLB Pipeline recently did a write-up for all 30 teams on each team's 2022 pick that has had the hottest start to the 2023 season, and De Grandpre is on there for how quickly he's excelled (and been promoted) so far this season. 

Here's what they said about De Grandpre: 

The Quebec native threw well for Chipola Junior College before putting up good numbers (and data) in the Draft League. That helped him catch the eye of the Braves, who took him in Round 13 and went over slot to sign him for $237,500. Thought to have more of a reliever profile, De Grandpre has actually excelled as a starter in the early going, earning a promotion from Single-A to High-A and compiling a combined 1.88 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 5.44 K/BB ratio and .208 BAA.

Atlanta's been known to announce pitchers as starters even if they've never been a starter before - that's what they did with Burkhalter - but it seems to suit De Grandpre pretty well. 

On the season, divided between Single-A Rome and High-A Augusta, he's 2-2 with a 1.88 ERA in forty-three innings pitched, with forty-nine strikeouts (10.3 per nine innings) to only nine walks (1.9 per nine innings). He's given up exactly one home run. 

He was committed to pitch at Arizona State after his time at Chipola Junior College, and as the MLB.com writeup mentioned, the Braves went over slot to sign him. 

He's a sinker/slider righty that sits in the low to mid 90s that excels at changing speeds and eye levels to get outs - he's still missing that swing-and-miss pitch, but we've seen Atlanta give their prospects different breaking pitches to help miss bats at the next level, and I'd expect to see him whip out a filthy vertically breaking curveball or a nasty change soon.