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. It’s been awhile — 614 days to be exact — since the last time we did one of these, so for those just discovering us, we do these weekly wrap-ups to help put into context the ebbs and flows of the Braves system.
Also be sure to check out the OFR Farm Report Podcast where we discuss these events and give opinions and commentary.
Prospect Spotlight: Vaughn Grissom
Thanks to the 2020 minor league shutdown, many prospect watchers haven’t been able to see high-profile players from the 2019 draft until this week. One such player is Vaughn Grissom, Atlanta’s 11th-round pick out of Hagerty High School in Oviedo, Florida. OFR currently has Grissom as the #17 prospect based on pre-draft video footage, GCL performance, his inclusion at the 2020 Alternate Training Site, his youth, and and word-of-mouth. Grissom turned 20 years old in January.
Drafted as a shortstop, it was presumed by many that Grissom would eventually move to third base in the future. This week the future became now as he manned third on Opening Day for low-A Augusta and for his first three games. However, he did play shortstop on Saturday, indicating that the move to third isn’t quite 100% set in stone.
At third base he shows athleticism and good instincts, and he made the defensive play of the season (so far) for the team on Thursday night when he pounced on a chopper down the line, then made a quick transfer and a perfect throw home to force out the runner from third in a bases-loaded situation. That said, he also shows some understandable unfamiliarity with the position, taking some awkward angles to ground balls. This should improve with game repetition.
Here is a look at his second plate appearance from Wednesday, May 5. The first swing is slowed to half speed on the side view.
I asked The Platinum Sombrero Podcast‘s Dylan Short to take a look at Grissom’s swing and give his thoughts:
First thing I notice is that he does a good job keeping his upper body in line. Small leg kick used to center his body and make for a quick weight transfer. Does a good job keeping his head on the center line, which is a plus.
At least in these clips, looks like his front side opens before he brings the hands through, that will be something to watch. Bat speed looks OK, not great in those clips.
I agree that the bat speed is just “OK” right now, but I overall like his set-up and balance transfer. There’s not a lot of noise with his hands, and he does a nice job fighting off the inside fastball in the second swing. It will be fun checking in periodically throughout the season to watch his progress.
The Braves Plant Flowers for June
The Atlanta Braves catching situation took a turn for the chaotic this week as the team lost starting catcher Travis d’Arnaud for an indeterminate amount of time after suffering a thumb injury on a play at the plate on May 2. The injury required surgery, and while there is no definitive word on when he will return, it seems likely to be very late in the season — if at all. To compound the depth issues, Alex Jackson sustained a hamstring strain while running the bases in the same game which required his placement on the injured list.
William Contreras, the OFR #4 prospect, was recalled and immediately installed as the primary catcher in Atlanta. The organization had wanted Contreras to get more time in the minor leagues working on some of the finer points of defense this season, and signed longtime major league veteran Jeff Mathis, widely regarded as one of the top defensive catchers in the game, to pair with him. Instead, for now the two will be paired at the major league level.
To replace the veteran depth lost with d’Arnaud, the team turned to an old friend, Tyler Flowers. After not receiving an offer to his liking this offseason, Flowers had been working in the Braves front office as a liaison between the analytics department and the clubhouse while staying in playing shape in case an opportunity presented itself. Flowers was signed to a minor league contract that will pay him a pro-rated $1.5 million if and when he is activated. The team has indicated that he will join the “taxi squad” for now.
The prevailing wisdom is that Flowers should be ready to be activated by June, at which time Mathis would presumably designated for assignment. Look for Flowers to catch at least a few games for Gwinnett this month, but its fortunate the team was able to acquire a veteran catcher at this point in the season that already is extremely familiar with the pitching staff.
AUGUSTA:
The first week for Augusta was one to remember, especially Saturday night as the Greenjackets scored 7 runs in the first inning before recording their first out, highlighted by a Willie Carter 3-run home run and a Cody Birdsong steal of home. The eventual 13-2 win capped off a 3-2 week.
Carter did not start a game until the second part of a Thursday doubleheader to make up for an Opening Day rainout, but he’s hitting like he doesn’t want to go back to the bench, going 6-for-11 with three doubles and four walks to go with the homer. The Jackets also got good production from the catcher spot as Ricardo Rodriguez and Javier Valdes combined to go 8-for-17 with 5 doubles and a Rodriguez homer.
Augusta got solid starting outings from Alec Barger (4 IP, 1 ER), Tyler Owens (also 4 IP, 1 ER), and Darius Vines (4 IP, 0 ER), while Ben Thompson was particularly strong in relief (2 appearances, 4 IP, 0 ER, 6 strikeouts).
ROME:
Rome had a strong first week as a high-A affiliate, going 4-1 against Winston-Salem. As a team, Rome batted a healthy .261/.347/.358, lead by second baseman and nine-hole hitter Cody Milligan‘s .438/.500/.438 batting line. The offense also got contributions from Braves org veteran Shean Michel (.400/.538/.700) and catcher Logan Brown, who’s grand slam on Wednesday night was the difference-maker in an 8-7 win.
Braves 2020 draft picks Jared Shuster, Bryce Elder, and Jesse Franklin all made their pro debuts this week for the squad. Shuster allowed two runs in 3.1 innings while striking out four; Elder pitched the opener and allowed 5 runs in 4.2 innings, while outfielder Franklin scuffled to a 4-for-17 week with 2 doubles.
Right-hander Ricky DeVito had the best pitching outing of the week, going through five innings and allowing just one run while striking out 6; overall he seems to have used the shutdown season to refine his change-up and get more movement on his fastball. The relief corps was strong, covering 29 innings and only allowing 8 earned runs.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves started their season at home against Pensacola in rough fashion with a rainout on opening night, followed by four losses to start the season, scoring only a total of five runs, before getting a notch in the win column on Saturday.
There were two starting pitching efforts of note this week: Hayden Deal threw five innings of one-run baseball on opening night and Victor Vodnik, in his first Double-A start after skipping High-A, tossed four shutout innings, giving up three hits and three walks while striking out five. Among the relievers, Troy Bacon had three scoreless innings over two outings, Matt Withrow pitched two scoreless innings on opening night, striking out five, and Jake Higginbotham pitched two perfect innings in his lone outing of the week.
Obviously, there were not many offensive stalwarts on the week, but catcher Shea Langeliers had his Double-A coming out party on Saturday night with two home runs and four RBI to lead the M-Braves to a 5-2 victory and their first win of the season. Shortstop Braden Shewmake was 2-for-13 with a stolen base and outfielder Trey Harris was 5-for-15 with an RBI.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers shot out of the gate this week with a 4-1 record on the road against Charlotte, racking up 46 runs in five games led by a 19-1 victory on Friday.
The starting pitching started roughly in the first two games with Kyle Muller giving up six earned runs in three innings during the season opener and Kyle Wright allowing three earned runs over five innings the following night. However, things picked up for the rest of the week with Bryse Wilson tossing five shutout innings on Thursday, Tucker Davidson giving up just one run and three hits over seven innings on Friday, and Connor Johnstone tossing five shutout innings of one-hit baseball during an emergency start on Saturday when Jasseel De La Cruz was called up to Atlanta. In relief, rehabbing Chris Martin had two rough outings (1.2 IP, 3 ER) but, more importantly, came out healthy. Sean Newcomb had two solid outings once he was optioned from the big club (two perfect innings, five strikeouts). Connor Johnstone also had a three scoreless inning relief outing on opening night, giving him eight shutout innings for the week.
As one might expect from an offense that averaged over nine runs a game, the Stripers offense had a lot of contributors during the week. Outfielder Abraham Almonte led the way with nine RBI on a 5-for-15 week with six walks, a double, one home run, and two stolen bases. Infielder Johan Camargo also had a solid week after being optioned from Atlanta, going 7-for-19 with seven walks, three home runs, and six RBI. OF Travis Demeritte was 5-for-17 with two home runs and six RBI, SS Orlando Arcia was 7-for-23 with two home runs and four RBI, and rehabbing Ender Inciarte was 3-for-10 with two doubles and an RBI. Arcia, Camargo, and Demeritte on Saturday also became the first Gwinnett trio to ever hit back-to-back-to-back home runs. Also of note, outfielder Drew Waters, who was 3-for-16 with six strikeouts for the week, made a diving catch to end Gwinnett’s 4-0 victory on Thursday night, then missed the following two games. Presumably, there is some sort of injury that we’ll keep an eye on and update as we receive new information.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
5/2/2021: Placed C Travis d’Arnaud on the 60-day injured list; placed C Alex Jackson on the 10-day injured list.
5/2/2021: Recalled C William Contreras from the Alternate Training Site; selected the contract of C Jeff Mathis
It took an awful injury to incumbent catcher Travis d’Arnaud to do it, but the William Contreras era has apparently arrived in Atlanta. Unless he suffers his own injury or goes on a terrible slide, I would expect Contreras to take over starting catching duties until if and when d’Arnaud returns toward the end of the year. In any case, Contreras now sets himself up to being in Atlanta for awhile.
Alex Jackson injured his hamstring running the bases and managed to stay in the game to finish it out, showing a lot of heart. Jackson has struggled at the plate in his limited looks in 2021, and when he returns he will likely go to Gwinnett to see if he can recover his batting stroke.
5/3/2021: RHP Nate Jones options to the Alternate Training Site; IF Sean Kazmar recalled from the Alternate Training Site
Nate Jones was a long-shot bid at a bullpen spot in spring training, but expected right-handers Victor Arano and Carl Edwards Jr. didn’t seize the spots and Touki Toussaint got hurt. Jones did well in spring and won the job, but a month it was clear he wasn’t fooling batters. The biggest surprise was finding out he still had an option, so fans will likely see Jones back in Atlanta at some point.
Sean Kazmar Jr.‘s call-up in April was perhaps the biggest feel-good story in baseball this year.
5/3/2021: RHP Jose Rodriguez assigned to GCL Braves
The Braves signed the former Angels pitcher Rodriguez on April 21 and he had been at the Alternate Training Site, but apparently needs more ramp-up time. He goes to extended spring training.
5/4/2021: OF Jair Casanova assigned to GCL Braves
This Venezuelan 17-year old was signed on March 1, and it looks like he will start his pro career stateside.
5/4/2021: C Tyler Flowers signed to a minor league free agent contract.
5/5/2021: LHP Max Fried activated from the 10-day IL; LHP Sean Newcomb optioned to AAA Gwinnett.
Newcomb was one of the better relievers early on, but after missing 13 days for personal reasons, his two appearances showed some rust. Expect Newcomb back in Atlanta before too long.
5/7/2021: RHP Edgar Santana optioned to AAA Gwinnett; RHP Nate Jones designated for assignment; selected the contract of RHP Carl Edwards Jr. from AAA Gwinnett
The usual shuffling of middle relievers that teams do constantly.
5/8/2021: IF Sean Kazmar Jr. optioned to AAA Gwinnett; RHP Carl Edwards Jr. designated for assignment; RHPs Jasseel De La Cruz and Victor Arano recalled from AAA Gwinnett
See what I mean?
Mailbag Q&A
Q: What’s your report on Drew Waters? Seems like a solid player, but he swings and misses a lot. – D. McHan
A: I’ve been mostly focused on Rome and Augusta this week, so I haven’t seen much of Waters who is essentially the only position player prospect at Gwinnett. He’s the #3 prospect on the OFR list for a reason, he’s a true five-tool player and he’s only 22 years old. Is he flawless? Absolutely not, and his top flaw remains the amount of chasing he does outside the zone. Sometimes though fans and even prospect evaluators lose sight of what a player does well to focus on one or two flaws. In Waters’ case, when he makes contact he hits the ball extremely hard. He’s a fast, aggressive baserunner. He has a top-notch outfield arm. He probably needs another year of development, but he’s going to be a major league starting outfielder. -AH
Q: For awhile, it seemed [the Braves] focused their best coaches for development in double-A and sort of left high-A Florida as a far lower priority. Do they seem to have a particularly high development focus at any of the teams based on their historic experience and success?
Also, who is your favorite low-rated/drafted prospect that you think could really come out of nowhere to become an asset in the majors or via trade?
I think historically you are correct, and that that Braves often put their top development personnel at low-A Rome and AA Mississippi and high-A became a bit of a developmental desert. This seems to be changing though under new AGM Ben Sestanovich, who over the last two seasons has brought a lot of fresh faces to the organization focused on development. The high-A Rome staff this season doesn’t seem to be any weaker than Mississippi or Augusta as far as player development.
As for under-the-radar types to keep your eye on, look at the starting rotations for Rome and Augusta, many featuring names and arms that haven’t gotten a lot of attention. Chad Bryant, Darius Vines, Tanner Gordon, Alec Barger — not a lot of name recognition but guys with a lot of arm, they are the type of players that can suddenly become relief pitcher prospects or fill in gaps of trade proposals. Think of the Kevin Gausman trade — Evan Phillips and Bruce Zimmerman were two guys who didn’t have a lot of name recognition outside of Braves prospect watchers but who ended up being key parts of a deadline deal. You asked for a favorite though, so I’ll say Barger. -AH
Your Moment of Zen
Make it ✌️ HR's for @Langeliers23!
His 3-run blast makes it 5-2 M-Braves heading to the 9th! pic.twitter.com/tzZUFOkYOp
— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) May 9, 2021
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