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.
Be sure to check out the OFR Farm Report Podcast, out every Monday!
Life On the Farm
DSL BRAVES:
The Braves went 4-3 on the week to run their record to a respectable 34-32 with a week remaining in the season. The Braves are 3 games back in the standings, but have 4 teams ahead of them.
The offense was lead this week by outfielder Nelson Celesten, a first year player who is hitting .355/.394/.452 for the month of August after only hitting .147/.289/.147 in the six weeks before. 17-year-old Geraldo Quintero has been a steadier presence in the line-up and on Saturday hit his first professional home run of the season.
Starting pitching was strong this week as Kevin Solano, Osiris Sierra, Rainiery Rodriguez, Roddery Munoz, and Jorge Bautista combined to only allow 9 earned runs in 29 innings (2.79 ERA).
GCL BRAVES:
Because they play games in the state of Florida, the GCL Braves had two games postponed and one cancelled because of rain. When they were able to play ball, the won 3 games and lost only 1.
The team was carried offensively by a pair of 18-year-olds. Shortstop Vaughn Grissom has been hitting well since the start of the season, but this week went 5-for-12 with 2 walks to raise his season OBP to .374; this included a wild 9th inning on Saturday where Grissom managed to get two hits in one inning. Stephen Paolini was also strong this short week, hitting .400 with a .727 OBP on the strength of 6 walks. Paolini got off to a slow start this season, but in August he has a .278/.480/.444 slash. First baseman Mahki Backstrom was 3-for-10 this week with a double and two walks.
DANVILLE:
Despite losing Bryce Ball and Ricky DeVito to promotion, Danville played some of their best baseball this week, going 4-2.
Several D-Braves had on their hitting shoes, lead by OFR Player of the Week outfielder Willie Carter‘s .389/.450/.722 performance that included a homer, a double, and a triple, Outfielder Connor Blair had his best week as a pro, going 6-for-19 with two homers, while infielders Garrett Saunders and Beau Philip also enjoyed success at the plate. Danville enjoyed two walk-off victories to bookend a three-game sweep of Elizabethton; on Thursday, outfielder Brandon Parker smacked an RBI single in the bottom of the 9th to secure the opening game, and on Saturday first baseman Ray Hernandez‘s fielder’s choice to third allowed Carter to slide in with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.
A lot of the team’s success this week was due also to the team’s relief corps, particularly right-handers Justin Yeager, Peyton Williams, Greg Laban and left-hander Filyer Sanchez. Those three combined to allow only 1 earned run in 11 innings. Starters Mitch Stallings and Tyler Owens each delivered scoreless outings of 5 and 4 innings respectively, with Stallings getting a promotion to Rome after that start and finishing his Danville season with a 2.25 ERA in 56 innings.
ROME:
The R-Braves suffered through a 3-game losing streak in the middle of the week that they snapped on Saturday night to end up going 3-4 on the week. Unfortunately, the Braves have to play almost perfect baseball the rest of the way to get back in to the playoff race; they are 27-28 in the second half and tied for third base in the SAL Southern Division, 5 games back of the now first-place Asheville Tourists.
The team will suffer the loss of a prime offensive contributor with the promotion of shortstop Braden Shewmake to AA Mississippi, but he left on a high note, going 8-for-20 since Sunday with a home run, three doubles, and 7 RBI, with the homer an 8th-inning grand slam last Sunday to ice an 11-0 Rome win over Augusta. He leaves Rome having batted .318/.389/.473 in 51 games. Justin Dean, Greg Cullen, and Bryce Ball all had good weeks at the plate as well; Dean hit .321/.406/.357 for the week and stole 5 more bases, giving him 41 on the season, leading all class A minor leagues and running 7th in all minor league baseball in that category.
Starting pitching has been worn down by innings and promotions, but there still have been good performances. Left-hander Dilmer Mejia has been the stalwart of late, and this week he posted two starts for a combined 13 innings and allowed only 2 runs. Right-hander Alan Rangel pitched his best start of the season Saturday night against Columbia, going 6 shut-out innings. Right-handers Ryan Shetter and William Woods have been solid in the rotation after spending most of the season in the bullpen, but righty Jose Olague ended up on the IL this week after allowing 4 runs in 6 innings to Asheville. Olague has thrown a team-high 132 innings this season after a previous career high of 66.2 set last year in the DSL.
FLORIDA:
The Fire Frogs aren’t playing for anything but pride at this point, but they’ve played well enough to possibly finish out of the cellar for the first time in the team’s three-year existence. The Frogs went 4-4 since Sunday, including doubleheader sweeps to bookend the week.
Like Rome, the Fire Frogs rotation is a patchwork after promotions and this week saw Hayden Deal placed on the IL after his worst start of the season. Swingman Matt Hartman is trying to do his part however, this week delivering two complete games; on Sunday he threw 9 innings against Lakewood followed by tossing 7 shut-out innings in the back-end of a doubleheader on Saturday, gutsy performances that have earned him this week’s OFR Pitcher of the Week honors.
Shortstop Riley Delgado pounded out 11 hits on the week, all singles, while outfielder Jefrey Ramos, first baseman Andy Wilkins, and utilityman Jordan Rodgers all homered.
MISSISSIPPI:
The M-Braves went 2-4 on a tough week that saw them only score 11 runs total, wasting some strong pitching.
Righty Jasseel De La Cruz has seen his pitch count dialed back as he has blown by previous career highs, but that didn’t stop him from delivering an electrifying 5 innings against Birmingham on Tuesday, striking out 4 and only allowing one soft single while regularly sitting 97-99 on the fastball. Left-hander Phil Pfiefer struck out 10 batters in 8 innings in a dominating start against Birmingham on Thursday, allowing only one earned run, but the Barons prevailed 2-1 after scoring in the 9th off right-hander Jonathan Aro. Righty Nolan Kingham went 7 scoreless innings the following night, striking out 8 and securing the win; between those three top Mississippi starters, Birmingham was held to 2 runs in 3 games.
Veteran left-hander Tyler Matzek was added to the bullpen this week on a minor league contract, and he made his Mississippi debut with 2.1 hitless and scoreless innings on Saturday, striking out 5 of the 7 batters he faced. Right-hander Jason Hursh returned from the injured list this week and threw 2 scoreless innings.
On the offensive side, only outfielder Trey Harris has really been a stand out this week, hitting .318/.318/.591, including 2 home runs with one of those being a 2-run shot on Friday to back Kingham’s effort. On base for that shot was shortstop Braden Shewmake, who got the nearly unprecedented promotion in just his first professional season after getting drafted in June. Catcher William Contreras only had one hit this week, but it was a big one has he homered on Tuesday.
GWINNETT:
The Stripers went 4-2 this week to extend their International League-best record to 72-51 and are now 4.5 games ahead of both Charlotte and Durham in the standings.
Other than a wild 8-7 extra inning win on Saturday night against Scranton in which second baseman Andres Blanco knocked in both a tying and winning run with walk-off walks, pitching has been the key to Gwinnett’s recent success. This week the Stripers got good starts from Ian Anderson (6 IP, 1 ER), Tucker Davidson (6.2 IP, 2 ER), Touki Toussaint (5 IP, 0 ER), Kyle Wright (5 IP, 2 ER), and Huascar Ynoa (5 IP, 3 ER), with Ynoa being pressed back into the rotation after Bryce Wilson was called up to Atlanta for long-relief duty. The Stripers also go strong relief work from righties Jeremy Walker, who pitched 4 scoreless innings over two appearances, and Chad Sobotka, who struck out 4 batters in 2 innings over 2 appearances.
While the Stripers did lose outfielder Rafael Ortega to the majors, the team did pick up infielder Johan Camargo, back in Gwinnett for the first time since early 2018; Camargo went 2-for-6 with a key double and 2 RBI in his first game on Saturday night. In addition to those two key bases-loaded walks on Saturday, Blanco also hit two homers on the week, matching infielder Pedro Florimon in that department. Prospects Drew Waters (6-for-24) and Cristian Pache (2-for-21) didn’t wow at the plate, but Pache made strong defensive plays in back-to-back games Friday and Saturday night.
Folks, we're going to make this simple. Don't. Run. On. Cristian. Pache. @Braves @GoStripers
💪https://t.co/JSEbCnayc4 pic.twitter.com/nkN3zXDeWK
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) August 17, 2019
At this rate we're going to run out of room on the Cristian Pache highlight reel. @GoStripers @Braves
📹: https://t.co/nYyuyhzgcG pic.twitter.com/JTr2yPe7ki
— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) August 18, 2019
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
8/11/2019: OF Michael Harris promoted to A Rome from GCL Braves
8/11/2019: 1B Griffin Benson placed on the 7-day injured list for A Rome
In one of the bigger surprises as far as promotions go, Harris gets the double-promotion up to Rome. The current OFR #25 prospect in the system, Harris is the first high school draftee to reach Rome in his first professional season for the Braves since 2007.
He replaced Benson on the roster, who really found his power stroke in the second half of the season.
8/11/2019: LHP Gabriel Noguera activated from the 7-day injured list for A Rome
8/11/2019: RHP Trey Riley placed on the 7-day injured list for A Rome
It’s been a season of frustration for Riley, who walked four and hit a batter in his last appearance Rome. Noguera had been Rome’s best starter in the second half, and fortunately his stay on the injured list was quick.
8/12/2019: 1B Bryce Ball promoted to A Rome from Rk Danville
8/12/2019: 1B Mason Berne promoted to Rk Danville from GCL Braves
8/12/2019: OF Drew Campbell placed on the 7-day injured list for A Rome
Campbell was injured in the same game as Griffin, and a short bench forced infielder Braulio Vazquez to left field for a couple games. Michael Harris’s promotion helped that situation, but the Braves decided it was finally time to promote Ball, who was leading the Appalachian League in home runs, slugging, and runs scored, second in RBI, OPS, and wRC+, and third in batting average at the time of his promotion.
Berne was a 33rd-round pick out of UNC-Wilmington in 2018 and had been hitting .382/.432/.559 with 2 home runs in his final 12 games with the GCL Braves.
8/13/2019: OF Lane Adams activated for AA Mississippi
8/13/2019: OF Connor Lien placed on the 7-day injured list for AA Mississippi
Adams signed with the Braves two weeks ago but had been on the temporarily inactive list. Adams is a long-shot candidate for an Atlanta post-season roster spot as a pinch runner and defensive replacement, similar to how he was utilized last season.
8/13/2019: OF Rafael Ortega was selected by the Atlanta Braves and recalled from AAA Gwinnett
8/13/2019: RHP Patrick Weigel was optioned to AAA Gwinnett from MLB Atlanta
Ortega was needed to fill out the bench in the wake of Austin Riley‘s injury. He may end up getting more playing time than anticipated in the wake of Ender Inciarte‘s hamstring injury Friday night.
8/15/2019: RHP Mitch Stallings promoted to A Rome from Rk Danville
8/15/2019: RHP Jose Olague placed on the 7-day injured list for A Rome
Stallings had pitched to a 2.25 ERA in 11 starts for Danville and was a 30th-round pick out of Duke in the 2018 draft. Olague was Rome’s best starting pitcher in the first half of the season but has been more inconsistent in the second half; Olague has more than doubled his previous high in innings pitched after been promoted from the DSL Braves to Rome to start this season.
8/16/2019: RHP Alex Camacho promoted to A+ Florida from Rk Danville
8/16/2019: C Rusber Estrada actiavted from the 7-day injured list for A+ Florida
8/16/2019: LHP Hayden Deal and OF Andrew Moritz placed on the 7-day injured list for A+ Florida
Deal was forced out of his start against Bradenton after 2.2 innings, and his 5 earned runs allowed was a season high. In his first pro season as a starting pitcher from the beginning of the season, he has eclipsed his previous high innings pitched by almost 40.
8/16/2019: SS Braden Shewmake promoted to AA Mississippi from A Rome
8/16/2019: LHP Tyler Matzek signed to a minor league contract; assigned to AA Mississippi
8/16/2019: RHP Jonathan Aro and LHP Jordan Harrison placed on the 7-day injured list for AA Mississippi
This is an astoundingly quick move up the ladder for Shewmake; I’ve been trying to find the last Braves minor leaguer to get to AA in their first professional season, and I have not found one yet. Shewmake pounded the South Atlantic League to the tune of a .318/.389/.473 line in 51 games after being drafted with the 21st overall selection in 2019. As improbable as it seems, with Shewmake now at AA, he has to be considered as a potential promotion candidate to Atlanta if the foot injury to Dansby Swanson continues to be a problem.
Matzek is a former 1st-round pick by the Colorado Rockies and made it to the majors for them in 2014-15, pitching to a respectable 4.06 ERA in 26 games (25 starts). In fact, his major league debut was a start against Atlanta where he threw 7 innings of 2-run ball to secure a win for his team. However Matzek was afflicted by crippling anxiety issues that eventually effected his control and his mechanics. Matzek ended up back in high-A ball before the Rockies eventually cut him loose. Matzek got spring training invitations the last three years with the White Sox, Mariners, and Diamondbacks respectively, but he was eventually released each year. The Braves picked him up from the Texas AirHogs of the independent American Association, where he had pitched to a 2.64 ERA in 22 games as a reliever. Still only 28 years old, the Braves will essentially take a free look at a pitcher who was once considered a top-50 prospect in baseball.
8/16/2019: SS Adeiny Hechavarria signed by MLB Atlanta to a major league contract
8/16/2019: RHP Bryse Wilson recalled by MLB Atlanta from AAA Gwinnett
8/16/2019: OF Adam Duvall and IF Johan Camargo optioned to AAA Gwinnett from MLB Atlanta
8/16/2019: RHP Wes Parsons designated for assignment
8/17/2019: OF Ender Inciarte placed on 10-day IL for MLB Atlanta
8/17/2019: OF Adam Duvall recalled by MLB Atlanta from AAA Gwinnett
I wrote about the big parts of these transactions in a piece that went up on Friday Duvall didn’t even get into a game for Gwinnett before being recalled to back-fill for Inciarte, who suffered a grade-2 hamstring strain on Friday night.
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