The Braves are returning to the playoffs after a four year drought and it feels so good.
One of the most common narratives that you’ll hear ad nauseum over the next month is how little playoff experience your Atlanta Braves have. Of course, recent playoff teams like the Dodgers and Cubs have rosters full of playoff veterans, but there are 15 Braves on the current active roster of 60-day DL with major league playoff experience. If you expand that to professional playoff experience, 38 current Braves have experience.
Of course, playing for the Appalachian League championship is very different from a World Series run, but the point is that these players aren’t strangers to the post-season. Following is a little bit about the last time each of the 41 active/DL Braves tasted a postseason. Sometimes it’s the majors, sometimes the minors. For one it was college, and two is was high school. Two others had their last post-season success in a winter league.
2008
Tyler Flowers: Mesa Solar Sox vs Phoenix Desert Dogs, Arizona Fall League Championship
Flowers has never been to postseason as a major leaguer either with the Chicago White Sox or the Atlanta Braves, but he experienced quite a bit of postseason play in his first several years as a professional. Flowers was on the Paul Runge-lead 2006 Danville Braves that won an Appalachian League championship over Elizabethton. On that team he caught future Braves stars Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen.
He would catch Hanson again for the 2008 Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Carolina League, the Braves high-A affiliate at the time. Also on the team was current teammate Jonny Venters. The Pelicans went 86-54 that season under manager Rocket Wheeler, but lost in the championship series 3 games to 1 against the Potomac Nationals, a team that featured future Washington stalwarts such as Jordan Zimmerman, Ross Detwiler, and Craig Stammen.
After the 2008 season, Flowers was selected by the Braves to go to the Arizona Fall League, where he dominated, hitting .387/.460/.973 with 12 home runs in 20 games played. Hanson and Medlen were on the pitching staff and also performed well, and the trio of Braves were the star players of a 26-12 team that was upset in the title game by the 18-18 Phoenix squad that featured future Brave Eric Young Jr. and a 23-year-old Max Scherzer.
2009
Lane Adams: Red Oak High School vs Roff High School, Oklahoma Class B State Championship
Adams has yet to play in a postseason game at any level as a professional player, but before he was drafted by Kansas City in the 13th round of the 2009 draft he was the star player of Red Oak High School’s third consecutive team to get to the Oklahoma state championships. Unfortunately for Adams and his teammates, this time Red Oak would fall short, losing 11-4 to Roff High School. Adams went 1-for-4 with a home run in the game.
The winning pitcher for Roff was current Houston farmhand Brendan McCurry. Adams remains the only alumni of Red Oak High School to reach the major leagues.
2010
Jesse Biddle: Germantown Friends High School vs The Shipley School, Friends Schools League Championship
Like Lane Adams, Biddle has to look back to high school for his last taste of the postseason. Unlike Adams, who toiled in the relative obscurity of eastern Oklahoma, Biddle was a highly-scouted, hard-throwing southpaw in the suburbs of Philadelphia before he was taken in the 1st round by his hometown Phillies in the 2010 draft. A month before the draft, he pitched his team to a championship. His senior year, Biddle pitched to a 1.04 ERA and struck out 140 kids in 59.1 innings. In the championship finale, Biddle threw a 6-0 shutout, striking out 19 in the 7-inning game.
2012
Dan Winkler: Asheville Tourists vs Greensboro Grasshoppers, South Atlantic League Finals
Winkler came up through the Colorado Rockies farm system and was on the roster of the 2013 Tulsa Drillers when they went to the playoffs in 2013, losing to the Arkanas Travelers in the semifinals. Winkler didn’t pitch in that series however, with Tulsa getting swept 3-0 before Winkler’s turn in the rotation.
So you have to go back a year, to Winkler’s season with Asheville of the South Atlantic League. Asheville was a powerhouse that season, going 88-52; the offense was led by future Rockies shortstop Trevor Story and the rotation was anchored by Winkler and current Rockies starter Tyler Anderson. Winkler didn’t get into the semifinals with Asheville beating Rome 2 games to 1. Winkler started Game 2 of the finals however, pitching 7 shutout innings and striking out 7. Opposing him for Greensboro was current Marlins starter and Braves public enemy #1 José Ureña, who only managed 2 innings, giving up 7 runs.
Asheville would go on to win the series 3 games to 1 to take the SAL crown.
Luke Jackson: Myrtle Beach Pelicans vs Winston-Salem Dash, Carolina League Semifinals
In his first full season of professional ball in 2012, Jackson split his season between A-ball Hickory of the SAL and advanced-A Myrtle Beach of the Carolina League. Myrtle Beach ended up in the playoffs as the 4th seed, going against the 87-51 Winston-Salem Dash.
Jackson started Game 1 of the series, going up against then-White Sox prospect Erik Johnson. Jackson won the match-up and the game, going 5 innings of 3-hit ball, only allowing 1 run and striking out 8. This would be the Pelicans only win of the series however, and Winston-Salem would advance to the finals where they were upset by the Andrelton Simmons-led Lynchburg Hillcats of the Braves organization.
Adam Duvall: San Jose Giants vs Modesto Nuts, California League Quarterfinals
The high-A level California League is infamous for having inflated offense, and Duvall took full advantage as a 23 year old in his third professional season, hitting 30 home runs and helping the Giants to the best record in the league. That team also featured future Giant stalwarts Joe Panik and Jarrett Parker.
Unfortunately for them, they were upset in the quarterfinals by the Corey Dickerson-lead Modesto Nuts, who finished two games behind San Jose in the standings.
Kurt Suzuki: 2012 Washington Nationals vs St. Louis Cardinals, NLDS
This was of course the same Cardinals team that beat the Braves in the infamous outfield fly rule wildcard game. And of course they would beat the Nationals as well, since everyone is aware that the Nationals have never won a playoff series.
Suzuki was acquired in midseason by Washington for former Braves catcher David Freitas, who at the time was considered a good prospect. The Nationals catching situation at the time was a mess after injuries derailed Wilson Ramos’s season, forcing the team to rely on the dubious efforts of Jesus Flores and Sandy Leon. Suzuki had been having a down year with Oakland prior to the trade, but being in a pennant race seemed to enliven the then-28 year old. He ended up hitting .267/.321/.404 the rest of the season. He caught all five games of the NLDS, going 4-for-17 with 2 walks.
2013
Ender Inciarte: Mobile BayBears vs Birmingham Barons, Southern League Finals
The first of two Braves that found their way to the playoffs while in the Diamondback system, Inciarte was part of the 79-60 Mobile BayBears that won both halves of the 2013 regular season. In addition to Inciarte, the team featured two former Braves farmhands that were working their way through the Diamondback system after being part of the Justin Upton trade, infielder Nick Ahmed and right-hander Zeke Spruill. The team was managed by current San Diego Padres skipper Andy Green and they dispatched Mississippi in the semi-finals, but lost 3 games to 2 to the underdog Birmingham Barons to come up just shy of the ring.
Inciarte also experienced the postseason in 2009 as an 18-year-old member of the rookie league Missoula Osprey of the Pioneer League. Missoula, which featured future Arizona star Paul Goldschmdit, would get bounced out of the playoffs in the semi-finals. Inciarte hit .325/.364/.405 for the club.
Mike Foltynewicz: Corpus Christi Hooks vs San Antonio Missions, Texas League Semifinals
Like Inciarte, Foltynewicz’s last postseason was at the AA level in 2013, and like Inciarte it ended in disappointment. Foltynewicz was a 21-year-old in the Astros system when he took the mound for Game 1 of the semifinals, matching up against San Antonio’s Matt Wisler. Both starters pitched well; Foltynewicz went 7 innings, allowing 1 run on 5 hits, 2 walks, and striking out 6. Wisler nearly matched him, going 6.1 innings and giving up 1 run on 2
hits and 3 walks, striking out 4. Neither pitcher would factor into the decision as Corpus Christi won the game 2-1 in the 11th inning when Matt Duffy hit a sacrifice fly to score Domingo Santana. Despite the Game 1 win, Corpus Christi would lose the series 3 games to 2, and San Antonio would go on to defeat Arkansas to win the Texas League championship.
Foltynewicz was teammates with outfielder Preston Tucker, but this was not Tucker’s most recent brush with postseason play.
Freddie Freeman and Julio Teheran: Atlanta Braves vs Los Angeles Dodgers, NLDS
The last time Freeman and Teheran went to the postseason was the last time Atlanta went to the postseason. The Braves dropped 3 games to 1, with Craig Kimbrel famously waiting in the bullpen in the 8th inning of a 1-0 Braves lead when David Carpenter gave up the winning 2-run homer to Juan Uribe.
And in the immortal words of Forrest Gump, “and that’s all I have to say about that”.
2014
Shane Carle: Bradenton Marauders vs Fort Myers Miracle, Florida State League Semifinals
Carle was making his way up the Pirates A-ball ladder in 2014, getting promoted from West Virginia of the SAL to Bradenton of the Florida State League in midseason. Bradenton would end up sneaking into the postseason, and Carle started Game 2 of the three game semifinal series against Fort Myers.
Bradenton had already lost Game 1 and was in a do-or-die situation. Unfortunately Carle didn’t have his best stuff that night, and was tagged with 5 runs in only 2.1 innings. In the offseason, the Pirates would trade Carle to the Rockies for major league reliever Rob Scahill.
Sam Freeman: St. Louis Cardinals vs Los Angeles Dodgers, NLDS
Everyday Sam had been a regular on the MLB-AAA shuttle for the Cardinals in 2012 and 2013, but in 2014 he was promoted back to St. Louis in May and stayed up the whole season. He pitched well for what would turn out to be the NL Central champions, pitching to a 3.08 ERA in 38 innings over 44 appearances while being used as a LOOGY.
In the NLDS, the Cardinals were matched up against the Dodgers, but in Game 1 the Dodgers jumped on starter Adam Wainwright to the tune of 6 earned runs in 4.1 innings. In the 5th, Wainwright gave up a home run to Dodgers catcher AJ Ellis and was pulled. Freeman was summoned from the bullpen to try to get Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw and left-handed hitter Dee Gordon. It didn’t really work out though, as Freeman was wild, walking both Kershaw and Gordon, then getting replaced by right-hander Seth Maness who got Yasiel Puig and Adrian Gonzalez to end the threat.
The Cardinals would come back against Kershaw to win the game 10-9 and the series 3 games to 1. Freeman however would be a spectator the rest of the way, not getting into another game, and then getting booted from the NLCS roster in favor of catcher and future Brave A.J. Pierzynski. The Cardinals would end up losing the NLCS 4 games to 1 to eventual the world champion San Francisco Giants.
Anibal Sanchez: Detroit Tigers vs Baltimore Orioles, ALDS
Sanchez was a key member of the Tigers rotation in the final three of four consecutive AL Central division titles. In 2012 he pitched in Game 3 of the World Series, giving up 2 runs in 7 innings but getting the loss in a 2-0 Giants win.
Sanchez had a solid season in 2014, but found himself out of the postseason rotation, understandable given that Detroit could run out Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and David Price in Games 1-3. Despite this rotation, Baltimore swept Detroit 3 games to 0 and advance to the ALCS (see below). Sanchez pitched 2 perfect innings of relief in Game 2. Pitching in relief for Baltimore that same game were Kevin Gausman and Brad Brach; Brach would pick up the win.
Nick Markakis, Ryan Flaherty, and Kevin Gausman: Baltimore Orioles vs Kansas City Royals, ALCS
Markakis’s final season with the Orioles was also their sole postseason appearance during his 9 seasons with the club. The Orioles had finished first in the AL East with a 94-68 record, with Markakis hitting .276/.342/.386 in 155 games despite playing with a tear in a small muscle in his neck that had been causing spasms since early 2013.
The Orioles swept the AL Central-winning Detroit Tigers in the ALDS, but in turn got swept by the Royals who would make the first of two consecutive World Series appearances. Markakis would hit .258/.281/.387 against Detroit, including a two-run homer off Detroit’s Justin Verlander in Baltimore’s 7-6 win in Game 3 of the ALDS.
Ryan Flaherty was as light-hitting then as he is now, but still managed to accumulate 312 plate appearances while covering all positions on the diamond except pitcher, catcher, and centerfield. Flaherty was the starting third baseman for the Orioles in the postseason, filling in for the injured Manny Machado. He did his best Machado impersonation at the plate, going 6-for-21 and hitting a home run off Jason Vargas in the 2-1 Baltimore loss in Game 4 of the ALDS.
Despite starting 20 games as a rookie in 2014, Gausman was left out of the postseason rotation in favor of veterans Wei-Yin Chen, Chris Tillman, and Bud Norris. Gausman appeared in three games and throw 8 innings as a reliever in the postseason, giving up 1 run while striking out 7.
Also with the Orioles were current Braves Brad Brach and Darren O’Day, but they would have more recent playoff experience with the Birds.
2015
Dansby Swanson: Hillsboro Hops vs. Tri-City Dust Devils, Northwest League Finals
2015 was a busy year for Dansby Swanson. As a junior at Vanderbilt, Swanson helped the Commodores get to their second College World Series Finals in two years. Unlike 2014 however, Vanderbilt fell to Virginia 2 games to 1. He would end up being the first overall draft pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks, who sent him to extended spring training to get ready for his first professional season. In a practice game, Swanson was struck in the face by a pitch from fellow Diamondback prospect Yoan Lopez, an injury that kept him out of action until mid-August.
When was finally deemed healthy, Swanson was assigned to Hillsboro of short-season A-ball Northwest League. Swanson hit .289/.394/.482 down the stretch for Hillsboro, sparking the team to a late-season resurgence that took them through the playoffs and upsetting the Dust Devils of the Padres system, a team that featured another of the game’s top young shortstops, Luis Urias. Before the end of 2015 Swanson would be traded to the Braves.
Preston Tucker: Houston Astros vs Kansas City Royals, ALDS
On their way to a World Series championship, the 2015 Royals had to defeat a young Houston team that had just emerged from their own rebuild. Tucker was part of a rotation of left fielders that season along with Colby Rasmus, Jake Marisnick, Marwin González, and Evan Gattis, but for the ALDS manager AJ Hinch settled on Rasmus as the starter. Tucker got 3 plate appearances as a pinch hitter, going 0-for-2 with a walk.
Lucas Duda: New York Mets vs Kansas City Royals, World Series
The Royals also bounced out the other main Braves left-handed pinch hitter. Duda was the primary first baseman for the Mets in 2015, who made an improbable run to the World Series. Duda started all five games of the Series, going 5-for-19 with 2 runs and 2 RBIs.
2016
Bryse Wilson: GCL Braves vs GCL Phillies, Gulf Coast League Semifinals
In Wilson’s first pro season, the GCL Braves were one of four Braves minor league affiliates to reach the postseason. They faced off against the Phillies in a 1 game playoff, but fell 3-4.
The Braves went with their two biggest pitching prospects in the game, with left-hander Kyle Muller starting the game and Wilson finishing up with the final 4 innings. Each pitcher allowed 2 runs, with Wilson striking out 4. Just to illustrate how quickly Wilson has advanced since then, six of Wilson’s teammates that appeared in that game still are playing in the rookie leagues.
This game was only a few months removed from Wilson’s final game as a high school pitcher, which was pretty good. He pitched a perfect game for Orange High School in Hillsborough, NC in the state AAA playoffs. It was his third no-hitter for Orange during his senior season.
Luiz Gohara: Clinton LumberKings vs Great Lakes Loons, Midwest League Finals
Gohara had been toiling in the lower levels of the Mariners farm system for 3 years and was even left behind in extended spring training for the first half of the 2016 season. However when he final got to class-A Clinton of the Midwest League in July, he proved to a key member for the team’s stretch drive to the playoffs, pitching to a 1.82 ERA and striking out 60 batters in 54.1 innings. Clinton ended the season with the league’s best record at 86-54.
The Midwest League has a three-tiered playoff bracket; 8 of the 16 teams make the best-of-3 quarterfinals, then a best-of-3 semifinals, and then a best-of-5 finals. Clinton navigated all of this get to the finals to face the underdog Great Lakes Loons. Gohara had pitched 6 solid innings in the decisive Game 2 win to help Clinton advance to the quarterfinals, which the LumberKings won 2 games to 1. That put Gohara in line to start Game 1 of the finals.
Gohara wasn’t at his best, only getting through 3.2 innings and allowing 5 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks while striking out 5. Fortunately for him, his teammates (including future Braves farmhand Alex Jackson) brought the… lumber… and Clinton ended up bailing Gohara out and winning a 16-6 laugher. However that would be the only win of the series for Clinton as Great Lakes would shut out Clinton the next two games and win a 9-8 slugfest in Game 4 to take the series and the trophy.
Kolby Allard, Max Fried, Mike Soroka, and Touki Toussaint: Rome Braves vs Lakewood Blue Claws, South Atlantic League Finals
There is a possibility that the 2016 Rome Braves will go down as the finest Braves farm team of all time. The roster reads like a who’s who of key young Braves and upper-echelon prospects. In addition to the players listed above, the team that won the South Atlantic League included outfielder Ronald Acuña, third baseman Austin Riley, lefty reliever Corbin Clouse, right-hander Patrick Weigel, and utilityman Ray-Patrick Didder, all of whom have either made or could make their major league debuts within the next 12 months.
It’s easy to forget that the first half of that season was a disaster. Acuña suffered a hand injury that sidelined him for over three months. Toussaint had severe control issues early on, while Fried had to knock off the rust of almost two full missed seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery. Allard didn’t join the team until June thanks to recovering from surgery to repair a stress fracture in his back. When the first half came to a close, the team was a disappointing 27-42.
For the second half of the season, the team took off. Mike Soroka was strong all season, but found another gear down the stretch. He joined with Allard, Weigel, Fried, and Toussaint to form a much improved rotation. Riley started making adjustments at the plate that would eventually carry him through to being one of the top third base prospects in baseball. But nothing was more helpful than the return of Acuña, who hit .342/.381/.553 upon his return while solidifying the outfield defense. Rome beat the heavily favored Charleston RiverDogs in the first round, then the Lakewood Blue Claws in the finals with the starting pitching foursome of Soroka, Allard, Fried, and Toussaint only allowing 4 earned runs over the entire 7 postseason games.
Ozzie Albies, Sean Newcomb, AJ Minter, and Chad Sobotka: Mississippi Braves vs Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Southern League Finals
The last postseason that Albies experienced was a painful one. Albies had won the Southern League batting title and was just named the Braves Minor League Player of the Year, and was batting .333/.380/.622 over the final two weeks of the season, giving everyone who cared to watch the feeling that there was a better than average chance he could follow his buddy Dansby Swanson straight to Atlanta, perhaps as soon as Opening Day 2017. In the first game of the Southern League playoffs against Pensacola however, Albies suffered a bizarre injury, fracturing the olecranon bone in his elbow when swinging the bat. Uncertainty about how quickly Albies would be able to recover prompted the Braves to acquire veteran second baseman Brandon Phillips from the Cincinnati Reds and delayed Albies arrival to the majors by at least four months.
Albies was also a member of the Randy Ingle-lead 2014 Danville Braves who went to the Appalachian League finals but were upset by the Johnson City Cardinals.
In addition to being the staff ace of the 2016 Mississippi Braves, Newcomb helped pitch the 2014 University of Harford Hawks to their first post-season appearance in 17 seasons when they made it to the semi-finals of the America East Tournament the season before he was drafted in the first round by the Los Angeles Angels.
AJ Minter helped the Texas A&M Aggies get to the NCAA Regionals in 2013 and 2014 before a UCL tear wiped out his 2015 season.
Rio Ruiz: Gwinnett Braves vs Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, International League Finals
The Braves had four affiliates qualify for the postseason, with only Rome going all the way. Gwinnett was perhaps the most unlikely of them all, with a roster of mostly cast-offs and ex-major leaguers, but they won a flurry of games down the stretch to edge Charlotte and Durham for the South Division title.
Ruiz was probably the top prospect on the team with Aaron Blair just accruing enough to lose rookie eligibility, and he found his power stroke late in the season, hitting 4 home runs in August. Gwinnett would defeat Columbus in the semi-finals, but drop to Scranton in the finals 3 games to 1.
Brad Brach and Darren O’Day: Baltimore Orioles vs Toronto Blue Jays, Wild Card Play-In Game
Both Ryan Flaherty and Kevin Gausman were on the Orioles roster for this game, but did not play. Brach and O’Day were part of a string of 6 O’s relievers used by manager Buck Showalter in a tense 2-2 tie game that went into the 11th inning. O’Day would get five outs without allowing a baserunner, while Brach danced around the fire, allowing two hits and a walk but getting 4 outs without allowing a run.
The game ended after Showalter decided to turn to Ubaldo Jimenez in the 11th inning rather than his closer Zach Britton in an elimination game. Jimenez owned a 5.44 regular season ERA and probably had no business being on the postseason roster. Britton of course was the best reliever in baseball in 2016.
Rene Rivera: New York Mets vs San Francisco Giants, NL Wild Card Play-In Game
Rivera was the primary back-up catcher for the Mets in 2016 and was pressed into starting duty due to an injury to Travis d’Arnaud. Rivera went 1-for-3 in the game, one of only 4 hits allowed by Giants starter Madison Bumgarner, who threw a complete game shut-out. The Mets Noah Syndergaard matched him pitch-for-pitch through 7 innings, but San Francisco scored three runs in the top of the 9th against closer Jeurys Familia to advance to the NLDS, where they would fall to the eventual World Series champion Chicago Cubs.
Kyle Wright: Vanderbilt Commodores vs. Oregon State Beavers, NCAA Super Regional
Wright had a great career in his three years with SEC powerhouse Vanderbilt, but his final game may be one he’d like to forget. Wright allowed 7 runs in 6.2 innings to Oregon State in the Super Regional finals, the big blow a 3-run homer on the 3rd by KJ Harrison, who is now a prospect in the Brewers system. Wright stayed in the game into the 7th, but left with the bases loaded and two out. Three of the four baserunners ended up scoring shouting down the hopes of Vandy fans after that team came back with two runs the prior inning.
Oregon State would go on to reach the College World Series semi-finals, finally falling to LSU.
Jonny Venters: Durham Bulls vs Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, International League Finals
Venters pitched twice in the postseason for Atlanta, most recently the 2012 NL wild-card play-in game against the Cardinals. But his last postseason appearance was with Tampa Bay’s AAA affiliate, the Durham Bulls in last year’s International League playoffs.
Venters made his way up four levels in 2017 trying to recover from an unprecedented four medical procedures on his elbow. He ended the year with a powerhouse Durham team filled to the brim with prospects like Willy Adames, Christian Arroyo, Jake Bauers, and Brent Honeywell. Venters appeared in the postseason twice as a left-handed specialist, once against Indianpolis in the semi-finals, and once in the finals. The former was a one-out scoreless outing, but the second time out didn’t go quite as well. Venters got two outs but left the bottom of the 7th of Game 4 with runners on the corners. A wild pitch, a hit-by-pitch, and a walk later, and the runner on 3rd scored (minor league baseball, folks!). The Bulls held on to win the game anyway, and a game later they won the International League title.
2017
Charlie Culberson and Brandon McCarthy: 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers vs Houston Astros, World Series
The Dodgers had back-to-back postseason appearances with Culberson on the roster in 2016 and 2017. Despite being a seldom-used reserve during most of the season both years, Culberson found himself in the starting line-up in the 2017 NLDS, filling in for the injured Corey Seager at shortstop. Culberson made the most of the opportunity, going 5-for-11 in the series with three extra base hits. Seager returned for the World Series match-up against Houston, but Culberson’s hit a pinch hit home run in the 11th inning of a memorable Game 2.
Unfortunately, the losing pitcher of that Game 2 was Brandon McCarthy, who in his only major league postseason outing surrendered what turned out to be the winning runs on a 2-run George Springer home run in the top of the 11th inning. Culberson’s homer in the bottom of the 11th bought Los Angeles to within a run, but the rally came up short.
Peter Moylan: 2017 Melbourne Aces vs. Brisbane Bandits, Australian Baseball League Finals
Moylan went back in 2016 and 2017 to his homeland of Australia to work with the Melbourne Aces as a player/coach. In the 2017 season, the Aces went to the playoffs, in large part due to then-Braves prospect Ronald Acuna Jr., who hit .375/.446/.556 with the club in 20 games and earned the nickname “The Answer to Everything”. Acuna left the team the team in mid-December to prepare for spring training, but he helped Melbourne build up enough of a lead that they were able to coast into the playoffs.
By late December, the Aces were having bullpen problem so Coach Moylan, to paraphrase Roger Dorn from Major League II, “activated himself”. Moylan threw 9 scoreless appearances down the stretch. This helped Melboune keep the top record in the league and secure a first round bye.
The finals were a best-of-3 series, with the Brisbane Bandits emerging from the semifinal series. Brisbane won the first game 6-2. In the second game of the series, Moylan pitched the final 3 scoreless innings of the game for Melbourne and only needing 26 pitched to do it, but the Bandits had scored all the runs they needed off Braves farmhand Jon Kennedy in the 6th and won the game 3-1 to take the championship.
Ronald Acuña Jr.: 2017 Peoria Javelinas vs Mesa Solar Sox, Arizona Fall League Championship
One year after winning a championship with Rome followed by helping the Melbourne Aces get to the playoffs of the Australian Baseball League, Acuna found himself playing for another championship, this time of the Arizona Fall League. The Braves contingent to the Peoria Javelinas was star-studded: Max Fried, Touki Toussaint, Austin Riley, and Alex Jackson all played critical roles during the season. In the final game however, only Acuna represented the Braves.
Batting 5th, Acuna went 2-for-4 and knocked in 4 of Peoria’s 8 runs on the night as the team took the game 8-4. Acuna would win AFL MVP honors and it tied a neat bow one what is one of the most remarkable individual minor league seasons of all time.
2018
Johan Camargo: 2018 Águilas Cibaeñas vs Tigres del Licey, Dominican Winter League Finals
Camargo was a member of the 2016 Mississippi Braves squad that went to the playoffs, but he’s experienced the post-season more recently than his M-Brave teammates. Camargo was a key player on last winter’s Dominican Winter League champion, hitting .324/.425/.500 during the regular season, the highest OPS on the team among qualified batters and honing a much improved hitting approach that he would take with him into the Braves season.
Unfortunately for Águilas Cibaeñas, Camargo had to return to the United States to begin training camp prior to the start of the Caribbean Series, so he did not participate with the club as they represented the Dominican Republic in the tournament. They would end up falling to the Puerto Rican team, with Braves farmhand Jonathan Morales clubbing a decisive home run in the final game.
Arodys Vizcaino and Jose Ramirez: 2018 Rome Braves vs Lexington Legends, South Atlantic League Semifinals
While on rehab assignments, Vizcaino and Ramirez pitched in both games of the recent South Atlantic League playoffs as members of the Rome Braves. In Game 1, both pitched scoreless frames, but Ramierz was tagged for 4 runs in Game 2, which Rome lost 6-0.
Interestingly, Ramirez and Vizcaino have a connection with the previous minor league postseason they were in as well, way back in 2009. Both Vizcaino and Ramirez were prospects on the short-season A-ball Staten Island Yankees, which made the playoffs for the New York-Penn League. Vizcaino was shut down for the playoffs, but Ramirez started a game for Staten Island. He left after 3 innings, but Staten Island managed to win that game and the championship.
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