Atlanta Braves 2023 Minor League Player Review: Cody Milligan.

Milligan received a major league Spring Training invitation to kick off 2023, then headed back to Double-A, where he was Mississippi’s primary leadoff hitter. Through 13 games he posted a .988 OPS and was hitting the ball harder than in previous seasons, until an injury on April 22nd sidelined him until early July. Milligan finally got back into Mississippi’s lineup on July 14th and had a decent finish to the season.

It was a cold, rainy day in the south, and unfortunately that means the two most talent-laden teams were not in action as postponements ended their weeks. Gwinnett and Mississippi were both in action however, and one of those games went quite well thanks to Cody Milligan and Tanner Gordon. The other one? Well, in solidarity with Rome and Augusta, Gwinnett decided to take this game off in spirit.

Milligan was a one-hit wonder in 2021, going unranked in my summer Top 30 but cracking the mid-season list due to the hot July mentioned above. His second-half decline will almost assuredly push him off the next set of rankings, though he’ll continue to remain as a relevant prospect given how thin the Braves system is when it comes to middle-infielders (especially true second baseman).

What’s really hurting Milligan right now is that come the end of December he’ll be a 23-year-old with not even 100 games of full-season ball under his belt, of which aren’t very inspiring to begin with. I don’t necessarily believe he’ll go down a step, but there’s no question that Milligan should probably spend at least another half-season in Rome, or at least a period of time long enough to show he can consistently hit lower-minors pitching.