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.
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De La Cruz Wows In Fire Frogs No-Hitter
One of the bigger success stories of the young Braves minor league season as been right-hander Jasseel De La Cruz‘s performance. The 21-year-old put an exclamation point on the first third of his season by throwing a no-hitter Saturday night against the Jupiter Hammerheads.
De La Cruz only required 89 pitches to dispatch Jupiter, the advanced-A team affiliate of the Miami Marlins, making the performance not only a no-hitter, but also a “Maddux”, a complete game accomplished with less than 100 pitches. The Hammerheads only had two baserunners all night, De La Cruz walking a batter in the 2nd inning and another in the 7th. No Jupiter baserunner advanced farther than first base.
The no-hitter was the first in the two-plus year history of the Florida Fire Frogs, and the first Braves minor league no-hitter since Joey Wentz, Anthony Guardado, Odalvi Javier, and
Ryan Schlosser threw a combined no-hitter for the rookie league GCL Braves on July 16, 2016. The last complete game no-hitter by a Braves minor league was done by Aaron Northcraft for the then Braves advanced-A Lynchburg Hillcats affiliate back on June 23, 2012.
Everything was clicking for Florida Saturday night as the team also pounded out a season-high 18 hits to win by a score of 12-0. First baseman Kevin Josephina went 5-for-5 on the night, outfielder Greyson Jenista had three hits to extend a 13-game on-base streak, and left fielder Jefrey Ramos homered.
But the star of the show was De La Cruz, making just his fourth career start at the level after starting the second consecutive season a class A Rome. De La Cruz was the OFR #31 prospect this offseason after a solid but injury-marred 2018 campaign. This season De La Cruz is regularly showing a good three-pitch repertoire with improved command. It got him promoted after only four starts at Rome, and since joining the Fire Frogs he has pitched even better. But nothing he has done ever in his pro career matches what he accomplished Saturday night.
Life On the Farm
ROME:
Almost everything clicked for Rome this week as they went 6-2, losing both ends of a Monday doubleheader but otherwise outscoring their opponents for the week by a combined 53-23.
The offense was lead by outfielder Trey Harris, who has been perhaps the most consistently strong offensive performer for any Braves affiliate this year. The Powder Springs native this week hit .485/.485/.667 with a homer and three doubles. He was matched by second baseman Greg Cullen. Cullen has hit the ball well all season but had extraordinary bad luck on balls in play, but as the baseball cliche goes that always turns around. It did for Cullen this week as he started a 7 game hitting streak that saw his batting average rise from .220 on Sunday to .272 after Saturday. Cullen hit four extra base hits this week, including three triples.
First baseman Griffin Benson also came alive at the plate, going 13-for-26 with 2 doubles and 2 triples. In fact, if the triple is the most exciting play in baseball, then Rome may have been the most exciting team in the game this week, hitting 8 total. Not surprisingly, centerfielder Justin Dean was in on that triples action, smacking two along with three doubles and a homer to go .400/.472/.733 for the week and earning OFR Player of the Week honors. The team also got strong production from catchers Logan Brown and Ricardo Rodriguez. Outfielder Andrew Moritz was working on his own 5-game hitting streak when he suffered an injury this week and went on the IL.
On top of this, Rome got some of it’s best starting pitching of the season this week, lead by right-hander Jose Olague‘s 8 innings of 2-hit, shutout ball against Asheville on Wednesday. Odalvi Javier, Alan Rangel, and Gabriel Noguera each provided a Quality Start this week. Right-hander Trey Riley struggled in his only start however, giving up 5 runs in just over 5 innings, but still won the game thanks to a 10-run offensive outburst.
Right-hander Victor Vodnik made his first start of the season in the second game of the doubleheader, pitching three shutout innings. He backed that outing up with 4 shutout innings of relief on Saturday night. Newcomer Matt Hartman also stood out this week with a 3.2 scoreless relief outing of Riley on Thursday.
Rome improved their overall record to 21-21 for the regular season are now just two games out of first place behind the SAL Southern leading Charleston RiverDogs.
FLORIDA:
The Fire Frogs had to navigate a particularly soggy first half of the week as the first two games were postponed due to wet conditions, forcing back-to-back doubleheaders on Wednesday and Thursday. The Frogs were resolute however and came close to sweeping the four games, only losing the Thursday nightcap by a 1-2 score. Overall the Fire Frogs went 4-2 on the week to raise their record to 18-24, climbing past Lakeland and Tampa out of the FSL North cellar.
As discussed above the no-hitter turned in by Jasseel De La Cruz was the obvious highlight of the week, but the Frogs also got good work by left-hander Phil Pfeifer, who now has three strong starts under his belt with Florida after two years of up-and-down performances as a reliever with Mississippi and Gwinnett. Right-handers Matt Withrow and Brooks Wilson also stepped up in emergency starts this week, combining throw 7.1 innings and allowing only 1 run. Right Kurt Hoeskstra was promoted this week from Rome and got a save in his first outing. Former Georgia Bulldog Sean McLaughlin has been particularly effective lately and has notched six consecutive scoreless outings out of the ‘pen.
Infielder Kevin Josephina got 10 hits this week, with 5 of them coming on Saturday night. As he has most of the season, infielder Riley Unroe was strong at the plate, hitting .429/.556/.500 in four games this week and scoring six times before getting a well-deserved promotion to AA Mississippi. Outfielder Greyson Jenista also seems to be getting hot, going .304/.385/.609 on the week. On the flipside, first baseman Drew Lugbauer has gone ice cold and is only hitting .180/.196/.320 with one homer in the month of May.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves endured a rough week during a Montgomery/Birmingham road swing with a 2-5 record. The offense was the main issue this week as they only scored 18 runs over seven games and no more than four in any one game. 1B-DH Ryan Casteel was the only M-Brave to have more than six hits for the week, going 8-for-25 en route to a .320/.433/.400 week. BABIP regression set in for two of the Braves’ top prospects as outfielder Drew Waters was just 5-for-29 with one extra-base hit (.172/.250/.207) while fellow outfielder Cristian Pache also went 5-for-29 with two doubles (.172/.250/.241). Catcher Jonathan Morales, who ranked among the top ten in batting average for the Southern League just a couple of weeks ago, was 2-for-19 and is now batting just .224/.306/.276 on the season. Outfielder Connor Lien endured a horrendous week, going just 1-for-10 with eight strikeouts before going on the injured list following a collision with Pache on Friday night in which he suffered a lacerated leg. Lien’s spot in the outfield will be taken by Ray-Patrick Didder, who is moving from shortstop with the arrival of Riley Unroe from Florida. Didder’s bat continues to be unproductive with a 2-for-21 week, although he had five walks. Didder now sports a meager .131/.277/.234 line for the season.
The pitching fared somewhat better as they received five quality starts in seven games, led by Tucker Davidson’s eight shutout innings on Saturday night. Kyle Muller continued his good run with a start on Wednesday where he gave up just one run and two walks over 6.2 innings. Ian Anderson had another rough start on Tuesday where he gave up three runs and six walks in just three innings while throwing 88 pitches. Joey Wentz had a mixed bag on the week where he had a terrible start on Sunday in which he gave up six runs on three hits and three walks without retiring a batter. He rebounded on Friday in a start where he allowed just two earned runs over six innings of work. A bright spot in the bullpen was Claudio Custodio, who threw four hitless innings of relief on Tuesday and now sports a 0.00 ERA and 0.62 WHIP in 11.1 innings over five appearances.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers had a tremendous week on the field, going 6-0 while outscoring their opponents 43-15 and have now won a franchise-record eight straight games. The starting pitchers produced several fine performances on the week: Andres Santiago won his Sunday start with six shutout innings, Kyle Wright gave up just two earned runs over six innings on Tuesday, Bryse Wilson allowed just two unearned runs over 7.1 innings on Thursday and Patrick Weigel pitched four hitless innings on Saturday night in his return to Gwinnett. Jose Rafael De Paula stood out among the relievers with three saves in as many appearances and gave up just one hit in four scoreless innings. Lefthanders Grant Dayton and AJ Minter each had two scoreless appearances while newcomer Huascar Ynoa gave up two runs in two innings in his first Gwinnett appearance on Saturday.
Outfielder Adam Duvall led the Gwinnett offense after Austin Riley’s promotion to Atlanta with five home runs, although those were his only hits for the week. Duvall produced a .200/.286/.800 line for the week and struck out just three times in 28 plate appearances. Outfielder Travis Demeritte continued to impress with a .391/.391/.870 week, three home runs and four multi-hit games out of five for the week. Catcher Alex Jackson was just 4-for-22, but had two home runs, four walks and was hit by two pitches in an .182/.357/.455 week. Jackson has now struck out just three times in his last 33 plate appearances, a major improvement.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
5/12/2019: RHPs William Woods and Matt Hartman promoted to A Rome from extended spring training
5/12/2019: RHPs Kurt Hoekstra and Lukas Young promoted to A+ Florida from A Rome
5/12/2019: RHP Walter Borkovich assigned to extended spring training from A+ Florida
5/12/2019: RHP Keith Weisenberg released by A+ Florida
Rome righties Kurt Hoekstra and Lukas Young got well-deserved bumps up to advanced-A Florida, though Young was flipped back to extended spring training later in the week to bring back Borkovich after Young threw 49 pitches in an outing on Wednesday that saw him give up his first runs of the season.
Hartman will hopefully stick for awhile after pitching well for Danville in 2018 and giving the Fire Frogs a strong extended relief outing earlier this season. William Woods got off to a rough start with Rome, allowing 4 runs in an 1.1 relief innings, but his week was better than swingman Keith Weisenberg, who was released from the organization in his third year after being drafted in the 14th round out of Stanford University in 2017.
5/13/2019: RHPs Patrick Weigel and Huascar Ynoa promoted to AAA Gwinnett from AA Mississippi
5/13/2019: RHPs Andres Santiago and Elian Leyva assigned to AA Mississippi from AAA Gwinnett
For Weigel this is a triumphant return to the AAA level after suffering a UCL tear in a Gwinnett start back in June of 2017. For Ynoa, it’s his first trip to AAA. For both it represents a strong likelihood of making major league debut as both are throwing well and are already on the 40-man roster.
The Santiago demotion is likely only temporary as he had been pitching well for Gwinnett and will likely return as soon as they need another emergency starter; given the propensity of the Braves to shuttle Gwinnett starters to Atlanta for long relief duties, that won’t be long.
5/13/2019: RHP Kyle Wright optioned to AAA Gwinnett from MLB Atlanta
5/14/2019: RHP Wes Parsons promoted to MLB Atlanta from AAA Gwinnett
Atlanta was off on Monday, so the off-setting move for Wright wasn’t announced until the next day. Wright didn’t make an appearance in this third brief tour of duty with Atlanta while Parsons used 4 scoreless outings covering 7 innings to catapult him back up to Atlanta.
5/14/2019: LHP Jesse Biddle activated from the 10-day injured list for MLB Atlanta
5/14/2019: LHP Jerry Blevins is designated for assignment
5/15/2019: RHP Touki Toussaint is promoted to MLB Atlanta from AAA Gwinnett
5/15/2019: LHP Jesse Biddle is designated for assignment
5/17/2019: LHP Jerry Blevins is outrighted to AAA Gwinnett
5/18/2019: LHP Jerry Blevins elects free agency
5/18/2019: LHP Jonny Venters released by MLB Atlanta
5/18/2019: LHP Jerry Blevins signs a major league contract with MLB Atlanta
The Braves bid lefty Jerry Blevins both goodbye and hello this week, losing him to free agency for less than 24 hours in favor of giving Jesse Biddle one more major league shot to see if he had righted himself after two shellshocked weeks in the Atlanta bullpen. After giving up three runs and only recording one out against St. Louis, the Braves changed their minds and ended up designating Biddle in favor of prospect Touki Toussaint. Blevins then found himself back on the Braves after the team decided to release fan-favorite lefty Jonny Venters.
5/15/2019: 3B Austin Riley is selected by MLB Atlanta and promoted from AAA Gwinnett
5/15/2019: C Zach Soria is activated from the 7-day injured list for AAA Gwinnett
Riley has collected more hits in his first four games with Atlanta than any player in Atlanta Braves history.
5/15/2019: RHP Elian Leyva loaned to AAA Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League
5/15/2019: LHP Justin Kelly promoted to AA Mississippi from extended spring training
I guess this is one way to clear up a pitching logjam. Leyva looked strong early for Gwinnett, but has struggled over his last four outings and had not made an appearance since May 8. It looks like he may have been working on moving, as he was officially loaned to the AAA Monterrey of the Mexican League.
5/16/2019: IF Braulio Vasquez placed on 7-day injured list for A Rome
5/16/2019: IF Derian Cruz promoted to A Rome from extended spring training
Vasquez had been getting expanded playing time at third base for Rome after an injury to Darling Florentino, but after hitting only .190/.227/.286 in May he finds himself on the injured list in favor of Cruz, a big-bonus infield signing from 2015 who to date has not found himself either in the field or at the plate. According to Talking Chop’s Eric Cole, who had the opportunity to speak with Cruz, he has given up switch-hitting and is only working from his stronger right side and will be playing third base and perhaps centerfield. It’s been so-far-so-good in the three games he’s been back with 4 hits in the three games and errorless defense at third.
5/16/2019: OF Andrew Moritz placed on 7-day injured list for A Rome
5/16/2019: OF Henry Quintero promoted to A Rome from extended spring training
The injury comes at a bad time for Moritz, who was hitting .368/.364/.474 over his last six games. At age 24, Quintero is an older prospect due to his defection from his native Cuba, and he hit .262/.282/.363 in part-time action with Danville last season but has potential plus power.
5/18/2019: SS Juan Morales promoted to A+ Florida from extended spring training
5/18/2019: IF Riley Unroe promoted to AA Mississippi from A+ Florida
5/18/2019: OF Shean Michel promoted to AA Mississippi from extended spring training
5/18/2019: OFs Tyler Neslony and Connor Lien placed on the 7-day injured list for AA Mississippi
Unroe is a minor league Rule 5 draftee who hit .304/.401/.449 for Florida while getting more than expected playing time a shortstop in place of the injured A.J. Graffanino. Unroe used the opportunity to return to the AA level; he had previously gotten to AA with the Rays and Angels organizations the previous two years. Even though Unroe was drafted in the 2nd round back in 2013 he is still only 23 years old and is off to his best offensive season of his pro career.
Morales is a defense-first shortstop signed to a $600,000 bonus in 2015, the same international class that gave the Braves Derian Cruz and Cristan Pache. The move is quite a jump for Morales, who has not played above the Gulf Coast League level. This move reflects the relative thinness of the Braves at middle infielder in the lower levels in the wake of the sanctions against the Braves following the Coppollella scandal.
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