ATLANTA -- Less than two years ago, Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman were dominating high school opponents. In less than a month, these two top prospects will find themselves rubbing elbows with Chipper Jones and experiencing their first big league camp.

Heyward, Freeman and Tommy Hanson headline the list of non-roster invitees that the Braves released on Thursday afternoon.

With Jordan Schafer and Kris Medlen also being part of this group, the Braves will be bringing five of their top 10 prospects -- as deemed by Baseball America -- to Spring Training as non-roster players.

Schafer, who will compete to serve as Atlanta's starting center fielder, is the only member of this group with previous experience in Major League camp. The 22-year-old outfielder hit .316 in 38 Grapefruit League at-bats last year.

At this time last year, Schafer was widely considered the organization's top prospect. But that honor now arguably belongs to either Hanson, a 22-year-old right-handed pitcher, or Heyward.

While Hanson and Schafer have outside shots of winning spots on the Major League roster, Heyward and Freeman are a pair of power-hitting 19-year-old prospects who will come to camp to simply get a better understanding of the big league life that likely awaits them.

Heyward, who is regarded as the third-best prospect in the game by MILB.com, hit .323 with 11 homers and an .871 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) with Class A Rome in 2008.

An imposing 6-foot-4, 230-pound specimen, Heyward is projected to begin this season with Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach.

While Heyward's numbers at Rome were impressive, they were bettered by Freeman, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound first baseman who hit .316 with 18 homers and an .899 OPS. He is also projected to begin this season with Myrtle Beach.

Hanson's rise to prominence occurred over the course of the past year as he became more of a pitcher than a thrower, a transformation that was aided by the late Bruce Dal Canton, who significantly affected the development of many of the Braves' top pitching prospects over the past three decades.

With Hanson, the Braves arguably have their best pitching prospect since a young John Smoltz was fast-tracking his way through their farm system. The 22-year-old right-hander uses a 12-to-6 curveball and effective slider to complement a fastball that rests in the low-to-mid 90s.

After seven dominant starts with Myrtle Beach in 2008, Hanson made a successful jump to Double-A Mississippi, where in 18 starts, he went 8-4 with a 3.03 ERA and 114 strikeouts and 41 walks. The .175 opponents batting average that he surrendered over the course of the entire season led the Minors and his 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings ranked second.

On the way to being named the Arizona Fall League's player of the year, Hanson went 5-0 with a 0.63 ERA, 49 strikeouts and seven walks. In the 28 2/3 innings that were completed during his seven starts for the Mesa Solar Sox, he limited opponents to a .105 batting average.

While Hanson's star soared in 2008, Schafer's dimmed with the 50-game suspension that he was given in April because of accusations of the use of HGH (human growth hormone). The athletic outfielder struggled when he returned and ended up hitting .269 with 10 homers and a .471 slugging percentage for Mississippi.

Schafer will compete with Josh Anderson and Gregor Blanco for Atlanta's starting job in center field. But to make up for some of the time he missed last year, he'll likely begin this season with Triple-A Gwinnett.

Medlen struggled as a reliever during the early portion of this past season with Mississippi. But after moving into the rotation, he made 17 starts and went 6-5 with a 3.11 ERA. The 23-year-old right-hander will likely begin this season with Gwinnett.

The Braves will actually be bringing three 19-year-old prospects to camp, with the third being Matt Kennelly, a catcher who was placed on Australia's provisional roster for the upcoming World Baseball Classic. He hit .246 with four homers in 44 games with Rookie Level Danville last year.

This year's other non-roster invitees include catchers J.C. Boscan, Phillip Britton and Alvin Colina; right-handed pitchers Rafael Cruz and Emiliano Fruto; left-handed pitchers Francisley Bueno, Mariano Gomez and Juan Perez; and infielders Brooks Conrad and Brandon Hicks.