Garrett Baumann was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the fourth round of the 2023 Draft out of Hagerty High School in the Orlando, FL area – the same high school that gave us big leaguers Riley Greene and Zach Eflin.
Baumann is big and strong with a Major League-ready frame. The 6-foot-8 righty had a fastball at the time of the draft that sat around 93 mph but could reach as high as 97 mph. Three years later, his fastball sits at 97 mph regularly and can flirt with triple digits. Baumann's appeal is tied to his potential to develop into a major-league pitching contributor. For a pitcher in his developmental stage, the key questions are whether his arsenal can consistently produce swings and misses and whether his command is strong enough to support a starting role.
He averages a strikeout-to-walk ratio of around 2-to-1, but his progress will be measured not simply by strikeouts. His ability to work efficiently, maintain his stuff and attack hitters with multiple pitches will be the true test. A deeper repertoire would improve his chances of remaining a starter. He also features an upper-80s splitter and a sweeping slider, but neither pitch is consistent enough to be a reliable secondary way to miss bats. He profiles as a potential workhorse starter at the next level, but a second out pitch will be necessary if that's to be realized.
Baumann advanced through Double-A and up to Triple-A Gwinnett in 2026, but he got hit hard, especially at the higher level. He started ten games with Gwinnett and gave up 54 hits in 43 2/3 innings. Eleven of those hits were home runs. He surrendered a .292 opponents' batting average with an ERA of 7.48.
His delivery itself is deceptive: one of relative ease that doesn't look like it could produce a fastball in the upper 90s. Decent comps for his profile would be Griffin Canning or Michael Lorenzen, though I tend to steer toward the latter.
You might look at Lorenzen next to Baumann and wonder what matches up.
After all, Baumann is seven inches taller than Lorenzen. Baumann relies heavily on a fastball without an effective second pitch. Lorenzen features an effective pitch mix with a large arsenal that he uses evenly.
So, why those two? Well, both have fairly easy, no-effort deliveries, and Lorenzen more represents the kind of broad, depth role that Baumann could occupy in a rotation than an actual physical comp. If you want a physical parallel, try Vince Velasquez or Michael Kopech. At 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds, Kopech can use his high-velocity fastball up to 80 percent of the time during certain stretches.
Regardless of physical comparisons, Garrett Baumann's journey is his own, and if he wants that journey to be a long and successful one, he's going to have to refine his arsenal and improve his pitch shaping if he wants to miss more bats. Period.
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