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.
As a companion to the Farm Report, check out our podcast, the OFR Farm Report, co-hosted by Andy Harris and Matt Chrietzberg, and out every Monday on Android, iTunes, TuneIn, and Stitcher.
Dominican Summer League Begins
The DSL Braves started their regular season on Saturday with a 2-1 win against the Dodgers. The Braves got 8 hits in the game, beating the 2018 team’s average hits per game by over 2.
As the Braves are now roughly 3/5th through the grueling sanctions imposed on their international signings, fans should once again expect a tough season for the DSL Braves. But then again, perhaps not. Even though the Braves have been restricted to signing bonuses of no more than $300,000 for any individual amateur international free agent since July 2, 2017 (and those sanctions tighten to not more than $10,000 for the next July 2 period) the team has still been able to find some diamonds in the rough. Two of the top performers of last year’s DSL team are already in Rome, in shortstop Carlos Paraguate and right-handed starter Jose Olague. Even though the win-loss record of last year’s team was poor there were some superlative pitching performances, and many of those players — Eudi Asencio, Estarlin Rodriguez, Javier Ciriaco — are now in stateside extended spring training pending assignment to a rookie league team. Promising infield prospect Eliezel Stevens is also in the United States and should debut in the GCL.
In their place is in the DSL is a class of 17-18 year olds that aren’t going to get a lot of recognition given their low bonus demands, but the Braves still added 17 players to the roster. Here are some DSL Braves to keep an eye on.
Deivi Estrada, OF: Estrada returns to the Braves after playing in 45 games in 2018 as a 17-year old. While only hitting .191/.311/.261, Estrada demonstrated solid all-round tools, and he looks to get the bulk of work in center field.
Jeremy Celedonio, OF: Celedonio was a late signing this last period, not putting pen to paper until January, but he’s impressed enough in camp to make the Opening Day line-up, where he lead the team with two hits out of the clean-up spot. Listed at 6′ and 183 pounds, Celedonio looks to have some body projection.
Francisco Floyd, SS: The Braves top bonus this past signing period went to Floyd, whom Ben Badler of Baseball America describes as “an athletic, quick-twitch shortstop who sticks out for his defensive ability”. Given the overall death of middle infield prospects in the Braves, a solid campaign with the DSL Braves could have Floyd on the rapid progress trail recently blazed by Paraguate.
Cesari Morena, RHP: Morena is a big kid — 6’4″, 205 lbs — who at 17 has showcased a mid-90s fastball and the makings of solid curveball and change-up offerings.
Frankelvin Vidal, RHP: Vidal just turned 17 last month but shows good command of a low-90s fastball and a very projectable body.
Life On the Farm
ROME:
Rome won on Friday to snap a 4-game losing streak, but dropped another game Saturday to go 1-5 on the week and dropping them into a tie for third place in their division, 3 games behind the frontrunning Charleston RiverDogs. Four of the five losses were by one run, the other by two runs.
The typically reliable Rome bullpen had a tough week, failing to secure leads or ties in four of the six games. The Braves defense threw away Thursday’s game against Hagerstown as well, with three errors in the bottom of the 1st inning accounting for 3 unearned runs that would be enough for the Suns to secure the win and wasting a solid start by Gabriel Noguera (5 IP, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO). The Braves one win this week came in large part to a Quality Start by Jose Olague, who have up one earned in a 6.1 inning effort. Right-hander Trey Riley returned after being skipped for a turn in the rotation for innings-management purposes with two strong outings, going 4 innings on Sunday and allowing only one solo homer and topping that with a 5 inning, 2 run start Saturday night.
Right-hander Victor Vodnik threw three scoreless in one appearance this week, throwing 51 pitches and staying stretched for a spot in the rotation after the mid-season break.
The offense has been missing centerfielder and table-setting Justin Dean, who missed the week with an injury to his hand, though he is expected to return soon. The Braves still got strong performances from (who else?) outfielder Trey Harris and catcher/first baseman Hagen Owenby, who re-joined the team after starting the season in extended spring training and spending the previous week with the Fire Frogs. Otherwise it was a lackluster offensive week for the team, who did not tally a home run and only 4 extra base hits total. One of those hits was a double by first baseman Griffin Benson, which unfortunately was his only hit for the week. Though he’s shown flashes of power and plays a strong defensive first base, Benson is only hitting .210/.294/.398 on the season, his fourth in the organization.
FLORIDA:
The Fire Frogs had a three-game losing streak bracketed by wins on Sunday and Friday before sodden field conditions at Osceola County Stadium forced a suspended game on Saturday.
Infielder Kevin Josephina seems to have picked up the mantle of “scrappy guy who puts the ball in play” from the since-promoted Riley Unroe, this week going 9-for-19. The team collectively ended their power outage this week as well, with back-to-back homers by William Contreras and Greyson Jenista on Tuesday ending a stretch of 367 team plate appearances without a Fire Frogs homer. Contreras added another homer on Friday night, but only had 3 hits total on the week. Outfielder Jefrey Ramos also homered this week, a solo shot on Wednesday that accounted for all of the Fire Frogs offense.
The big news of the week was right-hander Nolan Kingham‘s second complete-game shutout on Friday night. Kingham dominated all game, only allowing 2 hits and 1 walk and only facing two over the minimium thanks to getting 14 groundball outs and throwing 104 pitches. Left-hander Hayden Deal delivered yet another Quality Start, allowing 2 runs on 5 hits in a 6 inning outing. On the flipside, 20-year-old righty Freddy Tarnok had a difficult start, allowing 5 earned runs in 6.1 innings. For the month of May, Tarnok had a 5.65 ERA and only four of his 10 starts this season have a Game Score over 50.
Fresh off an 18-month stay on the injured list, right-handed reliever Bradley Roney had two outings this week, tallying 3.2 IP and 4 strikeouts, and he hasn’t allowed an earned run to date.
MISSISSIPPI:
The M-Braves come off a solid 4-2 week that was again dominated by the starting pitching, which only gave up eleven runs over 39 innings on the week (2.54 ERA). The worst start of the week went to Joey Wentz, who gave up five runs over six innings courtesy of three home runs on Tuesday. Ian Anderson had another solid start on Friday in allowing just two runs on four hits in seven innings while striking out nine. Jasseel De La Cruz’s second AA start on Thursday went nearly as well as Anderson’s in that he gave up just two solo home runs over six innings of work while striking out eight. Tucker Davidson had another great start on Wednesday with six shutout innings while striking out eight and finishing May with a 1.78 ERA in six starts. The best starter of the week, and the OFR Pitcher of the Week, goes to left-hander Kyle Muller. The “Mulldozer” gave up just two runs over fourteen innings this week while striking out 19 and walking just five. Muller finished May with a 3-0 record, a 0.81 ERA, a 0.960 WHIP and is now continuing that great work into June.
For the relievers, Josh Graham continues to be vexed in his quest to master Double-A with two outings where he gave up three solo home runs over just 2.1 innings. Thomas Burrows got off to a rough start after being moved down from Gwinnett by giving up a solo homer in an inning of work on Tuesday but rebounded with 1.1 innings of scoreless ball and a save on Saturday night. The biggest revelation of the week, however, was in the person of Jeremy Walker, who had three scoreless outings including back-to-back saves on Wednesday and Thursday, the first two saves of his career and the first time he had ever pitched in back-to-back games in pro ball. Walker pitched three perfect innings on the week with three strikeouts and could possibly be on the move up the ladder as a late-innings bullpen option in the very near future.
Offensively, the M-Braves were led by the usual suspects, outfielders Cristian Pache and Drew Waters. Pache, who now has an eight-game hitting streak, was 7-for-25 for the week for a .280/.333/.400 line while Waters, who now sports a nine-game hitting streak, was 10-for-24 on the week with a four-hit, three-extra base hit game on Saturday night. Waters’ .417/.462/.667 line was aided greatly by a .769 BABIP for the week and he once again flashed warning signs with eleven strikeouts in 26 plate appearances. Shortstop Riley Unroe (.391/.417/.478) and 1B-DH Ryan Casteel (.375/.423/.500) also had very good weeks while outfielder Tyler Neslony came of the injured list and was 6-for-17 on his way to a .353/.389/.882 line on the week, including homering in back-to-back games Wednesday and Thursday. Meanwhile, catcher Jonathan Morales (1-for-13, .195 average on the season) and SS-OF Ray-Patrick Didder continued to struggle. Didder was 0-for-10 with nine strikeouts and is now batting .131/.278/.246 on the season with a horrendous 39% strikeout rate. Also, after going 27-for-32 in stolen bases over two levels in 2018, Didder is just 3-of-9 in the stolen base department for Mississippi this season.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers come off a 4-3 week where they saw a large number of runs on both sides of the scoreboard, scoring 43 runs while allowing their opponents to cross the plate 34 times. The pitching staff only managed one quality start this week in the form of Bryse Wilson’s six-inning stint on Friday where he gave up no earned (although four unearned) runs on five hits and just one walk (intentional). Kolby Allard had two starts on the week but was roughed up in giving up eight runs over 10.2 innings on thirteen hits and seven walks and still appears to be having trouble adjusting to the new baseball. Kyle Wright had a good, although abbreviated, start on Thursday with 2.2 shutout innings before exiting due to a rain delay. Huascar Ynoa’s second AAA start on Wednesday was a tough one as he gave up four runs over 3.1 innings on six hits and four walks. The roughest start of the week, however, belonged to Patrick Weigel, who lasted just 2.2 innings on Tuesday and just could never find the strike zone. Weigel gave up three hits, four walks and two hit batsmen, leading to two runs given up before exiting due to reaching his pitch limit.
The relievers fared somewhat better, led by left-hander AJ Minter, who had two more scoreless outings and now has a total of six covering 8.1 innings since being optioned to Gwinnett. Shane Carle also had two scoreless appearances and now sports a 1.96 ERA over ten outings at Gwinnett. Wes Parsons gave up just one unearned run over two appearances covering 3.2 innings and has not given up an earned run in 15.2 AAA innings. Grant Dayton, however, had a down week in giving up two runs on four hits over 3.1 innings with two home runs allowed.
As stated above, the offense really took hold this week even with outfielder Adam Duvall missing seven games with a back injury until his return on Saturday. Infielder Sean Kazmar led the way in driving in 11 of the 43 runs for the week and sporting a .364/.385/.818 line to earn OFR Position Player of the Week honors. Outfielder Travis Demeritte continued his impressive season with two more home runs and a .280/.419/.600 line, striking out just four times in 31 plate appearances and still maintains a K-rate below 25% for the season. Fellow outfielder Ryan Lamarre picked up some of the missing Duvall slack in going 12-for-28 with four extra-base hits (.429/.484/.679). Catcher Alex Jackson encountered a rough week in going just 3-for-22 with eleven strikeouts.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
5/26/2019: C Ricardo Rodriguez placed on 7-day IL with A Rome
5/26/2019: C/1B Hagen Owenby assigned to A Rome from A+ Florida
5/26/2019: OF Jeremy Fernandez promoted to A+ Florida from extended spring training
After knocking six hits in four games with the Fire Frogs filling in for the injured Jordan Rodgers the previous week, Owenby dropped down to fill in for Rodriguez. Owenby is an advanced hitter for the SAL.
Fernandez was the top offensive performer for the GCL Braves last season but this assignment is likely a stretch for him and he’s probably only filling the spot of now. Fernandez got one start for Florida this week, going 0-for-4.
5/27/2019: RHP Kyle Wright optioned to AAA Gwinnett from MLB Atlanta
5/26/2019: RHP Andres Santiago assigned to AA Mississippi from AAA Gwinnett
Wright did not appear in a game with Atlanta during a three-game stint with the big league club, and unfortunately his first start back with the club was curtailed due to a sudden storm in Toledo, though his fastball looked particularly sharp.
5/29/2019: OF Tyler Neslony activated from 7-day IL for AA Mississippi
5/29/2019: OF Shean Michel assigned to A+ Florida from Mississippi Braves
5/31/2019: OF Gary Schwartz placed on 7-day IL for A+ Florida
Neslony was on a hot streak before going down with an injury, but he only had the minimum stay and returned to the line-up still hot. Michel has also been hot, and he batted .357/.471/.643 between stints at Mississippi and Florida.
5/30/2019: RHP Jose Rafael De Paula assigned to extended spring training from AAA Gwinnett
5/30/2019: RHP Jonathan Aro promoted to AAA Gwinnett from extended spring training
This move gives De Paula a respite after appearing in a team-high 18 games this season. He has pitched to a 2.66 ERA in 23.2 innings with 5 saves.
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