Welcome to the Braves Farm Report, where we will take a look at the Braves farm system and look at trends and players that seem interesting, and give first hand accounts of what we’re seeing down on the farm. This week is a little content-light as we recover from the MLB draft this week (OFR coverage starts here), but we have minor league All-Star news plus the usual affiliate review, including the opening of the Dominican Summer League season. Then we take a look at a busy transaction week and answer the mailbag!
(OFR writer Matt Chrietzberg also contributed to this article)
Congratulations to the Braves Minor League All-Stars
SOUTH ATLANTIC LEAGUE (Class A):
RHP Walter Borkovich
LHP Kelvin Rodriguez
RHP Freddy Tarnok
LHP Bruce Zimmermann
SS Riley Delgado
CF Drew Waters
FLORIDA STATE LEAGUE (Class A+):
C Brett Cumberland
CF Cristian Pache
RHP Chad Sobotka (promoted, will not attend)
SOUTHERN LEAGUE (Class AA)
RHP Touki Toussaint
1B/C Tyler Marlette
IF Luis Valenzuela
OF Michael Reed (promoted, will not attend)
RHP Jacob Webb (promoted, will not attend)
The International League All-Star roster will be announced later this month.
Life on the Farm
DSL: The Dominican Summer League cranked up and the Boys of the (Way Down) South started out strong, going 4-3 on the week. Third-year DSL veteran Lisandro Santos was the pitching star this week, getting into two games in relief and pitching 7.1 innings of 1-run ball, striking out 10.
On the offensive side, 17-year-old second baseman Eliezel Stevens had a strong first week of professional ball, hitting .304/.429/.565 on the week with a homer and two stolen bases.
ROME: Rome went 4-2 on the week, but just as importantly the Augusta Greenjackets finally showed some weekness, going on a 5-game losing streak that has allowed Rome to take the lead in the SAL South Division by a game and a half. The Braves kept up their June offensive onslaught, and six line-up regulars had on OPS over .800, with resurgent second baseman Derian Cruz (.381/.409/.714, 2 home runs) and outfielder Drew Waters (.421/.500/.579) leading the way. Another in the .800 OPS club is first baseman Austin Bush, who hit a walk-off RBI single to win the game for Rome last night.
Right-hander Huascar Ynoa has had an up-and-down season, mostly due to poor control, but he seems to have turned a corner in his last two starts, both against Asheville. This week Ynoa delivered his best start of the season, shutting out the Tourists in six innings while striking out 11. On the flipside, the usually reliable Bruce Zimmermann had a nightmare start, gutting out 7 innings, but allowing 7 runs and 10 hits.
FLORIDA: The Fire Frogs went 3-5 on a week that saw them play two doubleheaders and snap a five game losing streak that started last Saturday. The Fire Frogs got solid starting pitching all week, and relievers Troy Bacon, Thomas Burrows, and Justin Kelly continue to pitch well, this week collectively pitching 7.1 innings without allowing a run and striking out 10. Unfortunately, last week’s demotion from Mississippi hasn’t help turn Josh Graham‘s season turn around yet, and he allowed 6 runs in 2.1 innings over two appearances.
On offense, the week was dominated by the surprise resurgence of first baseman Braxton Davidson, who hit .333/.379/.741 with 3 home runs and two doubles. Two other scuffling players showed signs of life as well, with outfielder Jared James launching two home runs and infielder Jordan Rogers hitting .308/.400/.462. Cristian Pache’s bat went missing this week however, though 2 of his 4 hits did go for extra bases.
MISSISSIPPI: The M-Braves, although they played at home all week against Montgomery and Pensacola, showed poorly in the win-loss column, enduring a six-game losing streak before finishing out the week Saturday with a win. Before scoring twelve runs in Saturday’s victory, they had scored a total of nine runs total in the six previous games. Because of this, hitting stars were few and far between. 1B Tyler Marlette led the way, going 8-23 to produce a .348/.483/.391 line. LF Travis Demeritte (.053/.182/.211) was mired in a deep slump this week, going just 1-for-19 with a home run. C Alex Jackson was even worse, putting up a .053/.143/.053 line for the week., bringing his season line down to .169/.254/.279.
The pitchers didn’t fare much better, although Touki Toussaint put up two fine starts for the week. In a 3-0 loss to Montgomery on Monday, he pitched six innings, allowing just one unearned run on four hits while striking out four. On Saturday, he went 5.2 innings, allowing just one earned run on four hits while striking out six. The difference this time was that Touki generated his own offense, going 2-3 with a double and driving in three in earning the win.
GWINNETT: Gwinnett had a rough week, winning only one of six games and that one win was a five-inning, rain-shortened affair. The offense ran into problems this week, which wasn’t helped by 3B Austin Riley‘s visit to the disabled list. The Stripers only scored ten runs over six games with the hitting led by Rio Ruiz and Dustin Peterson, who each went 6-20 with a home run and two RBI. OF Michael Reed continued his fine work, putting up a .467/.500/.533 line for the week.
Although the offense didn’t fare well, the pitching went much better. Matt Wisler got the win in the rain-shortened game, allowing only one hit and no runs. Kolby Allard lost his only start for the week, but still put up a quality start in allowing three runs over six innings of work. Mike Soroka did well on a pitch count in his rehab start, allowing only three hits and one run in 4.1 innings while striking out seven. Since that start, he has been announced as Atlanta’s starting pitcher versus the Mets on June 14th.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
6/3/2019: RHP Daysbel Hernandez assigned to Florida
Hernandez is a 21-year-old Cuban defector who signed with the Braves in September. This was his first affiliate assignment. He would end up the week in Rome.
6/4/2019: LHP Dan Lietz transferred to Florida from Mississippi
Lietz didn’t allow a run in his three innings pitched with Mississippi, but sometimes a player has to go where they have a role to fill.
6/5/2019: RHP Devan Watts released from Florida
A disappointing end to the Braves career of a pitcher who was ranked highly in the OFR prospects lists. Our man in Mississippi, Matt Chrietzberg, reported a marked decrease in velocity with the M-Braves, and as noted in prior Farm Reports, his customary plus command was no longer in evidence. It sounds like an injury or severe mechanical issues or both.
6/5/2019: LHP Chase Johnson-Mullins activated from the 7-day DL (Mississippi) and transferred to Florida from Mississippi
6/9/2019: LHP Chase Johnson-Mullins placed on the 7-day disabled list (Florida)
The huge lefty has been on the disabled list since the beginning of the season. He pitched one game on Tuesday, giving up a run on 2 hits and 2 walks in 1.2 innings. Looks like he wasn’t quite ready after all, because he went back on the DL on Saturday.
6/5/2019: 2B Phil Gosselin activated from the 7-day DL (Gwinnett)
Gosselin may have missed an opportunity to be recalled to Atlanta instead of outfielder Peter Bourjos.
6/5/2019: C Yuta Okazaki assigned to Gwinnett
6/7/2019: C Yuta Okazaki placed on the 7-day DL (Gwinnett)
The 26 year old Okazaki was signed out of the independent Pecos League back in May. Okazaki had been playing in the Pecos since 2015 and owns a .297/.421/.324 slash line in 426 plate appearances. Okazaki got two plate appearances for the Stripers before going on the shelf.
6/6/2019: 3B Austin Riley placed on the 7-day DL (Gwinnett)
Stripers manager Damon Berryhill described Riley’s injury as a knee issue, and that he may be on the DL “for a little bit”. More information came out yesterday that he sprained his posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while making a diving play in the field. The typical time frame for return from this injury is three weeks.
6/7/2019: Signed draft picks OFs Greyson Jenista (2nd round) and Trey Harris (32nd round)
6/8/2018: Signed draft pick OF Andrew Moritz (6th round)
6/9/2018: Signed draft pick 3B Ray Hernandez (29th round)
6/9/2018: LHP Drew Harrington released from Rome
The 2016 3rd-rounder from Louisville officially becomes this biggest draft miss of the rebuild era. Harrington was given an overslot bonus, but a low 90’s fastball without movement, command issues, and lack of development of his secondary pitches have led him out of the organization.
6/9/2018: RHP Jacob Webb promoted to Gwinnett from Mississippi
6/9/2018: LHP Philip Pfeifer transferred to Mississippi from Gwinnett
Webb had turned into Mississippi’s most dependable reliever, and back in the 5/20 Farm Report, Matt and I named him as a possibility to make it to Atlanta at some point this season. He takes a step closer to that goal by making his way to AAA for the first time.
Unfortunately, that means a step back for lefty Pfeifer, who has a had a nightmare season after seeming to be close to the cusp of the majors. Pfeifer went into spring with a big league invite, and when camp broke I would have put the odds at about even as to which of the two Striper lefties, Pfeifer or Jesse Biddle, would get the call first. Since then Pfeifer has pitched to a 8.10 ERA, only pitching five scoreless outings out of his 18 appearances. He’d gotten more hittable over the last month as well, culminating a 4-hit, 4-run inning on Wednesday.
Mailbag Q&A
Thanks to members of the Outfield Fly Rule Facebook group and fans on the Twitters for questions!
Q: Allard’s timeline? Wright’s command? Did we win the Ynoa trade? Status of Wentz? Who do we expect to see in short season ball? Where do the new draftees slot in, etc? – G. Carroll
- Allard is ready and could be up anytime depending on the needs of the big league club.
- Wright’s command comes and goes, sometimes inning-to-inning; it reminds me of Sean Newcomb when he was in AA, but Wright has also been more hittable, especially at home.
- With all respect to Jaime Garcia, we won the Ynoa trade when we opened up a rotation spot to evaluate Lucas Sims, Max Fried, and Luis Gohara in August and September last season. Anything Ynoa gives us is gravy.
- I haven’t heard anything new on Wentz beyond what I wrote in last week’s Prospect Review.
- All of the latest draft picks will go to short season teams, plus interesting prospects like Braulio Vasquez, Yoeli Lopez, Matt Rowland, and Miguel Jerez.
- I’ll have a mid-season list update around mid-July, after I see some of them with Danville. But Carter Stewart will be high up there, and Greyson Jenista should be in the teens.
Q: Why haven’t they given up on Braxton Davidson? – P. Fisk
A: They haven’t needed the roster spot yet. Also, he’s been hitting .314/.385/.657 over the last nine days, which may be a dead-cat bounce, but it seems harsh to release him when he’s been on his best offensive streak in years.
Q: What’s wrong with Alex Jackson? – D. Meadows
A: Other than swinging at everything, not seeing the ball well, moving his head too much, and not being able to catch up with high heat? Nothing, why do you ask?
Q: Elian Leyva: one bad outing in 2018. Would love to see him get a shot. See him getting a promote to MLB? Chad Sobotka: seems to be overlooked in 2018. Progression is massive. AAA soon? – D. Keetz via the Twitters
A: I haven’t seen much of Leyva, but the Braves are using him like an Andres Santiago-style gunslinger… he rides in to town, mows down some varmints, and rides off. An important role in the minors, but that’s not generally how a team treats a prospect. Sobotka has been amazing so far this season, finally putting on the field the upside that the Braves saw when they drafted him in the 4th round of the 2014 draft. He was promoted to AAA last week. We’ve seen flashes of that in the past, but injuries and control problems have consistently held him back. The control issues haven’t really gone away, but it’s gotten better and he’s been stingy with hits and striking out batters at a high rate this season, so they haven’t been too much of a problem so far. That said, I don’t think he can be a real major league option until he can show he can keep his walk rate down.
Q: How fast can William Contreras and Drew Waters move through the system? Could they both start next season in Double A? When do you see the Braves giving full time starting opportunities to Fried and Allard? Does Weigel have a chance to make a late season impact? Also what is Rio Ruiz’s future in the organization? I know he’s struggled some this year, but he seems like a forgotten player. – M. Farr
- The Braves have slowed some of the breakneck advancement of prospects, and I believe Alex Anthopoulos has a philosophy of prospects mastering a level before moving up. I also don’t believe they will stray from the philosophy of teenagers spending a full season in Rome, so I think Waters will spend all 2018 in Rome and start 2019 in Florida. After that, it’s up to him. Contreras may not share that same timeline. He’s a little bit older, and while I’m not 100% sure, I think he may be eligible for the Rule V draft next season. While it’s unlikely a team will tie up a major league roster spot with a catcher who’s not ready for the majors, many of these same teams may regret not taking Contreras’s brother, Cubs catcher Willson Contreras when he was eligible to be drafted. If Contreras continues to hit well, I could see a catcher shift, with Contreras moving up to Florida and Cumberland up to Mississippi sometime mid-season.
- Allard and/or Fried will get opportunities depending on team need. With Soroka returning Wednesday and Teheran presumably having a short stint on the disabled list, the team will already have a decision to make regarding the rotation. That all said, it feels like the team is looking for an opportunity with Allard.
- Anything is possible, but I would expect the club to be cautious with Weigel. It was only 12 months ago that he had his TJS, I wouldn’t expect rehab outings until August.
- Since the beginning of spring training, the Braves have played Johan Camargo, Ryan Schimpf, Ryan Flaherty, Charlie Culberson, and Jose Bautista ahead of Rio Ruiz. I think that says all there needs to be said about Ruiz’s future in the organization. Ruiz is still only 24 years old, but the best thing that could happen to him is probably a trade, or an outright release to allow him to get a fresh start somewhere. Ruiz’s best shot with Atlanta would now seem to be a collapse or injury from Preston Tucker, where Ruiz could step in as a left-handed bench bat.
Q: The chances of the Braves signing Machado or Harper? – N. Bryant
A: Very small. Like… 5%? These guys will likely command the richest per year deals in major league history, and as friend of the blog Josh Brown puts it, the Atlanta Braves are not going to give the biggest deals in major league history to anybody.
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