He was on the brink of being an afterthought during the 2024 Major League Baseball Draft.
Eric Hartman has made the Atlanta Braves look really good by taking a chance on him with their 20th round selection.
611th overall … when there were only 615 players who heard their names get called.
Just two years later, the St. Albert native and Dawgs Academy product has been named the Braves’ Minor League Baseball (MiLB) Player of the Year and the MILB Breakout Player of the Year.
The numbers speak for themselves: a .249 batting average with 26 home runs, 74 runs batted in and 56 stolen bases in 128 games split between High-A and Double-A.
Hartman also became the first minor leaguer since Andruw Jones in 1995 to put up a 25-homer, 50-swipe season.
“Every day I wake up and just take it a day at a time,” the high-flying prospect said during an interview on the MiLB Awards Show.
“Baseball is a great sport to play and a great opportunity all around.”
Hartman is now the Braves’ top prospect and, if he keeps going at this rate, could be on the cusp of a big-league call-up sooner rather than later.
SPEED DEMON
Coming into the 2026 season, everyone knew that Hartman’s biggest tool was his speed.
His first season of professional baseball saw him steal 48 bases in 90 games to go along with a .240 batting average, five homers and 42 RBI, mostly with the Single-A Augusta GreenJackets.
“Learning to pick your times and picking your battles is really important, but also not losing sight of being aggressive,” said Hartman, who also had to battle some injuries during the year.
“I think being aggressive on the basepaths can help a team win and I think stolen bases are starting to become underappreciated, but I love doing it.”
Determined to be more than just a “speed guy,” the 6-foot-1, 185-pound outfielder entered the offseason looking to become stronger.
POWER BOOST
Earning a promotion to the High-A Rome Emperors out of Spring Training, Hartman quickly got to work refining his swing.
“I think I’ve always been a strong guy and I love getting after it in the weight room,” he said.
Crediting Emperors hitting coach Connor Justus, the former Okotoks Dawgs outfielder started seeing his work payoff almost immediately, hitting three home runs in his first seven games.
Against the Greensboro Grasshoppers on April 21, Hartman had his first pro three-homer game on his way to finishing the month with eight roundtrippers.
He added five more in May, six in June and another five in July.
“Just cleaning up my misses most of all so that my misses can be home runs instead of ground balls,” said Hartman, who had also registered 38 stolen bases by mid-summer to have a 20-30 season with more than a month to go in the season.
MOVING ON UP
With a new crop of prospects looking to move up the Braves’ depth charts and having proven himself in High-A, Hartman earned a promotion to the Double-A Columbus Clingstones on Aug. 4.
He struggled in the early going, hitting around .200 through the first couple of weeks and not hitting his first Double-A homer until Aug. 22.
However, Hartman was still drawing walks and stealing bases, finishing his time with the Clingstones with a .182 average, two dingers, 10 RBI and 18 swipes in 34 games.
The accolades and recognitions keep piling up for the 20-year-old, who now enters the offseason knowing what to expect at the Double-A level and aspirations to keep moving up the Braves’ depth chart.
The buzz is also creating some expectations, with some analysts thinking he could become a 40/40 player in the big leagues one day.
For now, Hartman is staying where his feet are at, soaking in the moment and happy with how his 2026 season turned out.
“It’s been a grind, a lot of games, but I’m grateful,” he said in an interview with the St. Albert Gazette. “I’m grateful to be able to play all of them and have a healthy body, healthy mind.”
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