How fast will he rise?
The Braves love tools players, and they love players from the Deep South, Georgia especially. They scored on all counts with Francouer, drafting him in the first round this year out of high school in Lilburn, Georgia. He’s a terrific athlete. They had to buy him away from a Clemson scholarship, but they managed to do so, and his initial performance in the Appy League was very good, as you point out. Francouer was alleged to be somewhat raw by many experts, but he adjusted to pro ball very quickly, and the Braves think he’ll move up fast. They compare him to a young Dale Murphy, due to his power/speed combination. The biggest hole in Francouer’s stat line at Danville were his walk and strikeout rates. He drew 15 free passes in 162 plate appearances, while fanning 34 times. Those are not awful numbers by any means, but they aren’t great, either, and a sign that he may need some adjustment time at higher levels. Normally I wouldn’t worry about it too much, but Atlanta does not have a good
