Welcome to the Atlanta Braves Farm Report, Andy Harris is taking a well-deserved vacation this week so I’ll be your guide on a whirlwind tour through the Atlanta Braves farm system.
Kyle Wright Takes Flight
Mississippi Braves right-handed starter Kyle Wright is the Atlanta Braves #2 prospect and the #25 prospect in all of baseball. I attendedhis start against Mobile on Wednesday night and he definitely left a favorable impression as he went eight innings, giving up just one run on four hits while striking out four and allowing just two walks on 93 pitches. Wright’s fastball was working around 93-94 mph on the evening, his slider in the 89-90 range and his curve sitting between 80-82. He was working very quickly and, although he did not have his best stuff, going into deep counts on some hitters and giving up line-drive base hits, pitched to contact and generated ten ground ball outs while managing to keep baserunners from stringing together. His only mistake on the evening was getting the first pitch of the fifth inning ambushed by Mobile rightfielder Brendon Sanger for a home run that just cleared the right-centerfield wall.
Here is an example of how his fastball was working that evening.
Kyle Wright 92 mph swinging strikeout. pic.twitter.com/jVoynSmHGf
— Matt Chrietzberg (@BravesMattC) July 26, 2018
Unfortunately for Wright, opposing Mobile pitcher Jeremy Beasley was even more dominant, allowing just one infield hit to Ray-Patrick Didder and one walk in seven innings of work to win the 1-0 pitchers duel. Both pitchers were working so quickly that it ended up being the shortest game in Mississippi Braves history at an hour and fifty-four minutes.
Life on the Farm
DSL: The DSL Braves were winless this week, going 0-5 and being outscored 35-12. For the season, 2B Carlos Paraguate leads the squad in batting average (.268), hits (38), RBI (18) and stolen bases (14) while Eudi Ascencio (3.30 ERA, 1.08 WHIP in ten starts) and Jose Olague (2.89 ERA in ten starts) lead the pitching.
GCL: The GCL Braves went undefeated in five games this week with two great pitching performances from Miguel Jerez, who threw twelve innings over two starts, giving up just one earned run on ten hits while striking out 14 and walking one. Hitting stars included catcher Victor De Hoyos (6-for-16, 2 HR, 7 RBI), OF Trey Harris (9-for-22, 6 RBI), C-DH Logan Brown (10-for-21, HR, 7 RBI) and 2B Michael Mateja (7-for-14, 2 2B, HR, 6 RBI).
DANVILLE: The Danville Braves were 5-2 this week, scoring 34 runs over their last four games. The season leaders in hitting are 3B CJ Alexander (.379, .984 OPS) and 3B Brett Langhorne (.298, team-leading 17 RBI, six stolen bases). The pitching leaders are a trio of starters: Dilmer Mejia (2.42 ERA, 1.16 WHIP in eight starts), Jose Montilla (2.45 ERA and 1.19 WHIP in seven starts) and Matt Rowland (2.28 ERA and 1.23 WHIP in seven starts).
ROME: The Rome squad went 5-2 last week, outscoring their opponents by an impressive 44-19 margin. Hitting stars were everywhere with SS AJ Graffanino going 7-for-15, OF Greyson Jenista was 11-for-24 with two doubles and five RBI, C William Contreras was 10-for-24 with six doubles, a triple, a home run and nine RBI and 3B Juan Carlos Encarnacion was 13-for-27 with two doubles, a triple, a home run and five RBI.
Huascar Ynoa had the dominating starting pitching performance for the Rome Braves this week, going seven innings while giving up only one run on six hits while striking out six in his final start before being promoted to Florida. Odalvi Javier also had a fine start as he only gave up one run over six innings in a win.
FLORIDA: The Fire Frogs had a tough time even playing games this week with only two being official games (0-2). The Fire Frogs had seven games postponed, one other suspended, and even the two completed games were rain-shortened. Ian Anderson had a good start as he went five innings, giving up only one run on three hits while striking out six and walking none. Brett Cumberland went 2-for-3 in his lone appearance before being promoted to Mississippi, while Cristian Pache was 3-for-7 with two doubles over his two games. Braxton Davidson had a two-run homer this week as well. In an interesting twist, the opposing starting pitcher in their 7/24 game vs Charlotte was…Jonny Venters, who pitched a shutout inning on a rehab assignment.
MISSISSIPPI: The M-Braves had another 3-4 week where runs were tough to come by due to an anemic offense. The offense scored 26 runs for the week, but 18 of those were over a two-game stretch on Monday and Tuesday against Mobile. 1B Tyler Marlette was only 3-for-23 for the week, but drove in seven of the 26 runs.
For the pitchers, Bruce Zimmermann had an up-and-down week. On Sunday, he had a horrific start where he had a 0.1 IP, 2 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 0 K line in his second straight poor outing. On Friday, however, he rebounded with a fine effort, going 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Max Fried dominated in his rehab start, where he pitched 6.2 shutout innings, giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out ten. The Atlanta Braves promoted Fried to the big league club after the game. Kyle Wright also dominated in a losing effort, giving up just one run on four hits and two walks in eight innings of work. Bryse Wilson finished out a dominant July by giving up just one run in five innings while striking out eight. Thomas Burrows, recently called up from Florida, had three scoreless outings in three innings of work while striking out six.
GWINNETT: The Stripers had a down week, going 2-4, but had some very good pitching performances. The best start by far this week was Touki Toussaint‘s dominating eight-inning shutout performance where he only gave up two hits and four walks while striking out eight. Kolby Allard (5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K), Luiz Gohara (6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K), and Wes Parsons (6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) also pitched in with good starts this week.
Shortstop Luis Marte led the hitting, going 9-for-27 with two doubles, two home runs and four RBI. 3B Austin Riley continues to try to work his way back after an extended stay on the disabled list with a 5-for-22 week (double, two RBI). Riley hasn’t had a AAA home run in his last twenty games, but has cut way back on his strikeouts with only four in his last seven games (29 PA). He could be working on something in his swing to get him ready for MLB. C Alex Jackson still hasn’t hit much since his promotion to Gwinnett, going 6-for-28 (.214), but all six of his hits are for extra bases (four doubles, one triple, one home run). That makes his post-promotion line .214/.353/.536. Outfielder Lane Adams returned to Gwinnett this week but went just 2-for-21 with six strikeouts.
OFR Hitter of the Week
OFR Pitcher of the Week
Transaction Round-Up
7/22/2018: OF Danny Santana outrighted to the minors; assigned to Gwinnett
It’s ok Braves fans! The organization didn’t lose the services of the versatile Danny Santana, who accepted an outright assignment instead of declaring free agency after Michael Reed replaced him on the Braves bench. Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief.
7/24/2018: RHP Huascar Ynoa promoted to Florida from Rome
7/24/2018: RHP Troy Bacon transferred to Rome from Florida
Ynoa had steadily become Rome’s best starting pitcher since the promotion of Bruce Zimmermann, and was rewarded with a bump up to Florida. To make room Troy Bacon was sent to Rome, despite his pitching effectively for the Fire Frogs. There has been speculation that he may get stretched out as a starter.
7/25/2018: C Brett Cumberland promoted to Mississippi from Florida
Perhaps the driving impetus for last week’s promotion of Alex Jackson to Gwinnett, Cumberland had hit .277/.427/.492 with 3 home runs in the month of July. With reports of improved defense behind the dish, Cumberland should now be considered the top Braves catching prospect in the high minors.
Leave a Reply