Hartman was selected with Atlanta’s 20th round pick in the 2024 draft, using the 611th overall selection on the outfielder from Holy Trinity Academy out of Alberta, Canada. He was given a signing bonus $337,500, which was understandably significantly higher than his slot value.
What were the expectations in 2025?
When it was announced the Braves had actually signed all 20 selections in their 2024 class — including Hartman — it came as a bit of a surprise. Simply put, the odds of signing a young, talented position player in the final round of a draft are incredibly slim as most opt to go the collegiate route and improve their draft stock.
However, through some crafty financial maneuvering, the Braves were able to lure Hartman away from future commitment to the University of Michigan and bring him into the organization.
We didn’t get our first look at Hartman until this season, so the expectations were fairly low. With that being said, there was plenty of intrigue as to what exactly the Braves’ brass saw in the now 19-year-old to take him with their final selection and give him a massive bonus on top of that.
He may not have been the most-heralded prospect in the 2024 draft, but Hartman has come out of the gate swinging so far in his professional career, and he’s begun to turn some heads because of his play.
Sent to the FCL Braves to begin his career, Hartman struggled to a .396 OPS, albeit in only six games, while battling a minor injury which limited his playing time by a few weeks. He then got the bump up to low-A Augusta where he turned things around in a huge way.
As a guy who was, on average, a year-and-a-half younger than the competition, Hartman more than held his own. In 83 games with the GreenJackets, Hartman posted a .718 OPS to go along with five home runs and 41 RBI in the process while also putting together a wRC+ of 109.
Hartman has also shown solid plate discipline for the most part, as he has struck out in 23.2% of his plate appearances, while walking in 10.6% of them.
Less than 100 games into his career, Hartman has shown an incredible approach at the plate, and while he can get overmatched sometimes with breaking stuff out of the zone, the early returns are excellent considering where he was selected in his respective draft class.
Hartman was very, very solid during his tenure with Augusta last season and were it not for an injury that bugged him for a few weeks of the season, the Braves might have felt comfortable enough to promote he and fellow teenage outfielder Owen Carey to Rome.
It’s likely both Hartman and Carey get sent back to Augusta for at least a month or so at the start of the season in order to ramp up and get on a good tear before getting the bump up to high-A.
Hartman has already exceeded expectations as a 20th round pick. Anything he does beyond this season is a win for the Atlanta scouting staff — and there figures to be plenty in store for Hartman’s future.
