Team Review 2018: Rome Braves

*The Rome Braves line-up before Game 2 of the SAL semi-finals, September 7, 2018. (Andy Harris/OFR)*

Rome once again stood out as an important incubator of young talent. What was unusual about this season however is the amount of mid-season turnover the club experienced as the team was even more aggressive this season with promotions than in prior ones. That created an unusual situation where the team that took the field in the SAL South Division playoffs was largely different than the star-studded roster that won the first-half division title and clinched a postseason berth. This was the line-up on June 14, the day the team clinched.

Drew Waters, CF: promoted to +A Florida August 1
Riley Delgado, SS: promoted to +A Florida July 10
Jean Carlos Encarnacion, 3B: traded to Baltimore July 31
William Contreras, DH: promoted to +A Florida August 1
Drew Lugbauer, C
Derian Cruz, 2B
Jefrey Ramos, LF
Austin Bush, 1B: released July 6
Izzy Wilson, OF: promoted to +A Florida July 2

SP: Bruce Zimmermann, RHP: promoted to AA Mississippi June 28, then traded to Baltimore July 31

To keep from essentially reviewing two teams, this review will primarily concentrate on the team that ended the season.

Infield

First base from Rome has been a revolving door for several years now, and this season was no exception. Early in the season, Griffin Benson failed to hold on to the first opportunity at the position and 2017 hold-over Kurt Hoekstra ended up getting the bulk of the playing time. When Florida needed the services of a utilityman in May, Hoekstra was promoted and 2017 25th-rounder Austin Bush was called up from extended spring training. While Bush showed power, he couldn’t bring it into games enough and by July the Braves pulled the plug. Rome next turned to former Auburn star Brendan Venter, but after three weeks he ended up crossing the diamond and playing third base to fill in for the traded Encarniacion. Back-up catcher Hagen Owenby ended up with the spot down the stretch and hit .278/.314/.335, solid numbers for a back-up catcher but much less than what you’d want from first base.

Derian Cruz was the primary second baseman, and at the plate he had another disappointing season, hitting only .222/.254/.308. The batting line however obstructed some progress for the 19-year-old however. Cruz hit the ball more sharply and more often, even parking 4 balls over the fence. His play in the field was much improved over 2017 as well, playing a passable second base after being a disaster at shortstop in early 2017. Cruz did his best hitting down the stretch, going .343/.395/.400 since mid-August before an unfortunate injury on the last day of regular season play knocked him out of playoff action.

Rome got excellent play from the shortstop position and the #2 spot in the line-up from Riley Delgado and AJ Graffanino. The two are similar players, providing quality defense and an all-fields hitting approach that capitalized on run producing opportunities. Graffanino in particular demonstrated strong instincts and physical defensive tools.

Third base for most of the season was manned by Jean Carlos Encarnacion, who demonstrated potential power and athletic ability, enough that he was the high-upside part of the Kevin Gausman trade with Baltimore. After the trade the position was manned by Brendan Venter and Marcos Almonte. Almonte was a mid-season minor league free agent signee out of the Astros system, while Venter was a 2018 draft pick. Neither hit particularly well, though Venter showed some power and good hands and reactions at third.

Outfield

Centerfielder Drew Waters was an SAL All-Star in his age 19 season and one of the best all-round players in the league prior to his promotion. He was replaced by 2018 17th-rounder Justin Dean out of Lenoir-Rhyne College. Dean is a good all-round talent and provided above average defense and baserunning. Dean is a strong hitter with good bat speed, but seemed to fade down the stretch of his first pro season.

Left field belonged all season to 19-year-old Jefrey Ramos. Ramos showed good bat-to-ball skills and power and solid defense with a good outfield arm. The next step for Ramos would be to put himself in better hitting counts more often, but it was a solid first full-season.

Izzy Wilson was the primary right fielder for the first half of the season. Wilson started very cold at the plate but warmed up with the weather, enough that the Braves felt like they could push him up to Florida (or shove him out of the way, depending on your persepective) to make room for 2018 2nd-rounder Greyson Jenista. Jenista himself only spent a little over a month in Rome before getting his own push up the ladder after hitting .333/.377/.453 with the team. Replacing Jenista for the stretch run was 2018 32nd-rounder Trey Harris out of Missouri. A high-motor player with solid all-round skills, Harris hit a respectable .286/.351/.393 after coming up from the GCL in mid-August.

Catcher

If you had asked most prospect observers which of the Rome catchers was likely to make a big move during the season, the answer probably would have been Drew Lugbauer, the 2017 11th-round pick out of Michigan who hit 13 home runs while playing multiple positions with Danville and Rome last season. Instead it was 20-year-old William Contreras who move up in August, leaving Lugbauer to handle most of the catching chores down the stretch.

For Lugbauer, this was a season to concentrate on his defense behind the plate as the Braves committed to making him a full-time catcher. While he did hit 12 homers, the .232/.317/.374 batting line was a little disappointing but understandable given the wear-and-tear of the position. The good news is that Lugbauer has improved demonstratively as a catcher, showing a good arm, solid framing, and good game calling. Blocking and mobility remain areas of improvement.

Alan Crowley filled in as back-up catcher after Contreras’s promotion and did not distinguish himself at the plate or behind it.

*RHP Freddy Tarnok comes to the plate for Rome, May 29, 2018. (Andy Harris/OFR)*

Starting Pitching

Rome was blessed with remarkably stable starting pitching the last two seasons, based around highly talented teenagers that the club wanted to remain in Rome for full seasons.

This year, the Braves had a sightly older staff, lead in the first half by college draftee Bruce Zimmermann. Kyle Muller and Huascar Ynoa are 20-year-old prospects that got moved up to Florida as soon as they had a run of successful outings.

That left Alan Rangel, Odalvi Javier, and Jasseel De La Cruz has the steady mid-rotation guys. De La Cruz has the best stuff of this trio, but suffered from two long DL stints. Rangal was Rome’s best starter down the stretch but was inconsistent earlier in the year as he bounced from the bullpen to the rotation and back again. Javier won’t appear on many prospect lists, but is a bulldog that will be competitive and eat innings.

The top pitching prospect on the team was 2017 3rd-rounder Freddy Tarnok, who pitched out of the bullpen the entire first half of the season to get him acclimated to full-season ball without overtaxing him. When he was added to the rotation, Tarnok had mostly poor results as he had to re-adjust his stuff to go longer in games.

Late in the season, Rome again turned to some college draftees to fill out innings. Keith Weisenberg threw 9 late-season starts, while former top reliever Walter Borkovich returned from Florida after being stretched out to start to pitch 3 starts in August and the post-season.

Relief Pitching

The Rome bullpen was very good for most of the season, lead early on by Borkovich, Tarnok, and Brandon White from the right side and Hayden Deal and Kelvin Rodriguez from the left. As Borkovich and Tarnok change roles and White got promoted to Florida, they were replaced by Troy Bacon and 2018 college arms Brooks Wilson and Zach Daniels without missing a beat.

TOP 10 2018 ROME BRAVES PROSPECTS: