The Braves took Mason Guerra in the 14th round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of Oregon State. He had previously been in the mix for a possible first-round pick as a middle infielder in his high school days, but he ended up in the pros as a first baseman whose bat hadn’t developed as much as some had initially hoped.
What were the expectations?
Expectations were fairly low for Guerra, based on his high strikeout numbers in college, and a sample size of 24 games at Augusta after signing, where he posted a .426 OPS. He was seen as a guy who needed a lot of work with his hitting tool to get out of the low minors.
Results 2025
Guerra was impressed because he was arguably one of the best hitters, if not the best, before earning a promotion by hitting .240/.389/.473 with five doubles, a triple and nine home runs with 33 walks and 49 strikeouts in 185 at-bats. He spent the remainder of his season in Rome, where he hit .182/.262/.255 with five doubles, three home runs and 20 walks to 51 strikeouts in 214 at-bats.
He combined to slash .207/.321/.349 with 10 doubles, a triple, 12 home runs, 53 walks and 100 strikeouts over his 399 plate appearances between the two levels.
Guerra started the year slowly, posting a .620 OPS for Augusta in the month of April. However, the work he did with the coaching staff started to translate into production in May, when he posted an OPS of 1.047 for the month and an OPS of .770 in June. He also saw his strikeout rate drop slightly to 26.1% from 27.8% in April.
After his promotion, he really struggled to gain a foothold in High-A. He was never able to hit consistently there, or hit with any kind of power. Also at both levels, the strikeout rate was simply too high, especially for someone who isn’t hitting at high power.
Outlook for 2026
Guerra will likely open the 2026 season in Rome as a 23-year-old who won’t turn 24 until August. He will need to show improvement the way he did last year before earning a promotion to Double-A, but he has some background and has shown some ability to make adjustments to what the coaching staff wants.
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