Benedictine alum Carter Holton, the left-handed pitcher taken by the Braves in the second round of the 2024 MLB Draft, was traded by Atlanta to the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.
Holton, who had been pitching for the Atlanta's Class A affiliate ― the Augusta GreenJackets ― was part of a deal that sent him and minor-league right hander Lucas Braun to the Royals for outfielder Lane Thomas of the Royals and Bailey Falter, a left-handed pitcher.
Holton starred at Benedictine in a record-breaking four-year career with the Cadets and went on to a standout college career at Vanderbilt, where he posted a career record of 18-10 with 251 strikeouts in 200 innings pitched, while posting a 4.09 ERA. His best season was as a freshman, when he went 8-4
with a 3.14 ERA while striking out 97 batters in 80 1/3 innings.
Holton was a three-time All-Greater Savannah Baseball Player of the Year during his career at Benedictine. The only season he missed was his junior campaign when COVID-19 cut the season short and the award wasn't given. He helped lead BC to the GHSA Class 2A state championship as a freshman and the Class 4A state finals as a senior.
He went 31-4 at BC and posted a state career-record ERA of 0.59. He was set to break the state record for strikeouts if his junior season wasn't cut short. He fanned 463 high school batters in 213 2/3 career innings.
The Milwaukee Brewers took him in the 19th round of the 2021 MLB Draft, but Holton opted to play college ball at Vanderbilt.
The Braves took Holton with the 62nd pick of the 2024 MLB Draft.
The Guyton native pitched just two innings at the end of the 2024 season before undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the 2025 season. He came back to pitch this year, starting at the Rookie League and moving up to Class A Augusta. He has thrown 43 2/3 innings this season, starting eight games, with 43 strikeouts and 20 walks, while posting an ERA of 4.75.
Holton was ranked as the No. 30 prospect in the Braves minor-league system by Baseball America.
Thomas will join the Braves immediately and provide depth and some power in the outfield. He is hitting .232 with 10 homers and 37 RBIs with an OPS of .719 this season. His best year came in 2023 when he had 28 homers with 86 RBIs while hitting .268 with an OPS of .783 with the Washington Nationals.
Dennis Knight covers sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at Dknight@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @DennisKnightSMN
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Benedictine alum Carter Holton traded from Braves to Kansas City Royals
