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. This has usually been the Sunday Farm Report, but with all of the affiliates scheduled with a Monday off-day every week this season (read below!), it makes sense to put this out on Monday so that we get Sunday in as the natural break-point. Make sense?
No?
Well… it makes sense to us.
Also be sure to check out the OFR Farm Report Podcast where we discuss these events and give opinions and commentary.
Six-Game Series Give Headaches and Opportunities To Pitching Staffs
The resumption of affiliated minor league baseball has come with a multitude of changes, the biggest of course being the re-alignment of divisions, the movement of several teams between levels, and the complete erasure of the “high rookie” level of affiliates that included the Danville Braves. And then we have this scheduling curiosity: in order to limit the amount of time teams spend in close proximity on buses and planes, every league has made their schedules around six-game series, with one day off a week. That this also dramatically reduces team travel costs is, of course, simply a happy by-product.
For Braves affiliates, every team has Monday as an off-day, then they play six straight days (barring postponement). At first this comes as something of a book for a standard five-man rotation, you can have your Tuesday starter come back on regular rest on Sunday, while everyone else gets an extra day going into the next series. The problems occur when there’s a postponement, and over the course of 6 days, it turns out that the chances of having at least one rain-out are pretty high. That puts two starters on the same day, unless the team opts for a sixth starter or a bullpen day.
It’s been interesting to see how the Braves affiliates have dealt with these challenges early in the season, especially with most lower-level pitchers on strict pitch counts, typically around 75 pitches.
In Augusta, it feels like the team using the schedule as an opportunity to give nearly everyone on the pitching staff a shot at starting. While it’s likely that Alec Barger, Joey Estes, and Darius Vines will be rotation mainstays, everyone else seems like they could start or relieve on any given day. Seven pitchers have started at least one game already after 12 games.
That also seems to be the case for high-A Rome, to a slightly lesser degree. Bryce Elder, Ricky DeVito, Jared Shuster, and Tanner Gordon seem to be a solid four, with the other spots potentially rotating among several possible starters, including Alan Rangel, Tanner Lawson, AJ Puckett, and Lisandro Santos.
Mississippi would seem to have a more rigid, defined rotation, but that has caused some trouble in the early going. Hayden Deal, Nolan Kingham, Victor Vodnik, Matt Withrow, and Odalvi Javier seem locked into the rotation. Mitch Stallings got an early start, but then was shifted to the bullpen when Jake Higginbotham, the only left-hander in the bullpen, had to go on the injured list. Stallings then had to switch back to the rotation to handle a doubleheader, and the results were ugly. Also on staff are right-handers Matt Hartman and Brooks Wilson, and both or either could be pressed into starting duties. Freddy Tarnok could also come into play here or in Rome after his overcomes an undisclosed injury in extended spring training.
It’s probably not surprising that Gwinnett seems to be handling the new schedule with more agility; after all, the AAA has to be prepared for the starting pitcher to be yanked as necessary if required by the big league club. With starters already more stretched out as well, innings limits aren’t as much of a burden. Unless needed in Atlanta, the rotation seems to be settled with Bryse Wilson, Kyle Wright, Kyle Muller, and Tucker Davidson. Connor Johnstone will also likely be making a turn once a week in a swingman role, and newly signed Tanner Roark will also likely take a spot. The open question is what the plans are with right-hander Jasseel De La Cruz, who has been recalled to Atlanta (without appearing in a game) and has pitched twice in relief, but make a 3-inning start last week. In case of emergency, the Stripers could also call on veterans Jesse Chavez or Jose Rodriguez to fill in for a start or two.
AUGUSTA:
After splitting six games with Columbia at home to start the season, Augusta went on the road to Myrtle Beach and dropped 4 out of 6.
The most fun game of the week was a 10-2 victory on Friday that saw the pro debut of 2020 4th-rounder Spencer Strider on the mound. Strider threw 3 scoreless innings, striking out 7 with an exploding, rising fastball. Last Sunday also saw the stateside debut of Roddery Munoz, another righty with blistering heat. Also, his second outing on Sunday saw him give up 7 hits and 5 runs in 5 relief innings, but he’s another live Augusta arm to track. Two GreenJacket relievers also continue to pitch exceptionally well: right-handers Justin Yeager and Ben Thompson have yet to allow a run this season, both show strong repitores and could be early candidates for promotion.
Offensively, the Jackets only hit one home run on the week, a solo shot by infielder Cade Bunnell on Sunday. Vaughn Grissom missed three games this week but was back in the line-up Sunday to go 2-for-3 with a double, his first extra base hit of the year. Catcher Javier Valdes continues to swing a hot bat, going 8-for-20 on the week.
ROME:
Rome finished out their two-week road trip splitting the six-game series with Greensboro and heading to State Mutual Park for their home opener on Tuesday with a 7-5 record.
Outfielder Michael Harris exploded on Sunday for a 4-for-4 night, including his second homer of the season, to bring his two-week numbers to .333/.375/.511. First baseman Bryce Ball sports a .188 batting average on the season, but a .400 on-base percentage; it’s almost like high-A pitchers don’t really want to give him much to hit. Still, he parked his second home run of the season in the seats on Thursday. Catcher Logan Brown has been doing a nice job batting behind Ball and mostly making pitchers pay for putting Ball on base; after going hitless his last two games, Brown is hitting a respectable .268/.318/.463.
Right-hander AJ Puckett had his first start of the season and threw over 4 innings on Tuesday, allowing only 1 hit, then followed that up with 3.1 innings of hitless relief on Sunday. In addition to Puckett, Tanner Lawson, Ricky DeVito, Bryce Elder, and Tanner Gordon also all had successful, albeit short, starts this week, with most pitchers limited to ~75 pitches.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves set out on their first road trip of the season this week to Biloxi, where they matched their opening series output of two wins in six games, giving them a 4-8 record after two weeks. Offensively, the M-Braves did not do much for most of the week with fifteen runs scored in five games until a ten-run outburst in the Sunday finale, the nadir coming on Saturday night as the team was the victim of a Biloxi combined no-hitter.
There were not many standouts but several contributors to the Mississippi offense. Outfielder Justin Dean did a solid job in the leadoff spot, he only hit .238 but got on base at a .333 clip and four of his five hits were for extra bases, resulting in a .619 slugging percentage for the week. Fellow outfielder Trey Harris continued to plug away with a 5-for-17 week and a .400 OBP although he has yet to have an extra-base hit this season. Catcher Shea Langeliers was 3-for-10 this week at the plate but contributed six walks and a home run. Third baseman CJ Alexander had a rough week until a two-home run game in the series finale but still went just 3-for-19 on the week with ten strikeouts, two in every game in which he played. Shortstop Braden Shewmake missed a couple of games and continued to struggle early in the season in going 1-for-15 with nine strikeouts and two walks, although his one hit was his first Double-A home run, an impressive lefty-lefty shot.
The Mississippi starting pitchers were limited by pitch counts and bullpen games but Nolan Kingham (two earned runs over five innings with just three baserunners) and Odalvi Javier (3.1 shutout innings with seven strikeouts) were the standouts of the week. Among the relievers, Brooks Wilson (3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K), Brandon White (2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K, one save), Matt Withrow (three hitless shutout innings), Sean Mclaughlin (2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K), and Troy Bacon (3.1 perfect innings, 4 K) all were impressive.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers built upon their opening series success this week, taking four out of six from Louisville at home to run their record to 9-3 on the season.
Tucker Davidson was the standout among starting pitchers this week as he followed up his great first start of the season with an even better one on Tuesday, pitching seven shutout innings where he gave up just four hits and a walk while striking out eight. Jasseel De La Cruz finally made his first start of the season on Thursday with three shutout innings, giving up just one hit and no walks. De La Cruz also had a shutout inning of relief earlier in the week. Kyle Muller followed up his first two poor starts of the season with a more successful one on Friday, giving up just one run in four innings although he was pulled for pitch count at 83 pitches due to some wildness (three walks). Kyle Wright (5 IP, 3 ER) and Bryse Wilson (6 IP, 4 ER) also started games this week albeit with limited results.
With the state of the bullpen of the big club, it is worth keeping an eye on how the relief arms are doing in Gwinnett. Among 40-man candidates, Edgar Santana had two perfect one-inning outings, Victor Arano had three scoreless one-inning outings including a save, and Jay Flaa had two scoreless appearances, although he loaded the bases during his second outing. Among other relievers, Chasen Bradford and Trevor Kelley each had two scoreless outings and LHP Dylan Lee had a two-inning scoreless appearance where he struck out three while allowing just one baserunner.
Shortstop Orlando Arcia continued to terrorize Triple-A East pitching with a 10-for-25 week with three doubles, a home run (walking off Gwinnett on Sunday), and four RBI. In 27 plate appearances this week, Arcia had just ONE strikeout. Outfielder Travis Demeritte only started three games and had two pinch-hit opportunities but made the most of them with a 6-for-13 week with four doubles, a home run, and two RBI. Outfielder Drew Waters improved somewhat upon his subpar first week with a .250/.400/.350 line for the week with two doubles and two steals. Catcher Jonathan Morales did not contribute much at the plate (2-for 15, five strikeouts) but was behind the plate for all four Striper wins.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
5/9/2021: Signed RHP Shane Greene to a major league contract and optioned him to AAA Gwinnett
We discussed the Greene signing here.
5/10/2021: Sent IF Sean Kazmar outright to AAA Gwinnett; recalled RHP Bryse Wilson
The Braves created room on the 40-man by outrighting Kazmar, who accepted re-assignment to Gwinnett. This will likely end Kazmar’s run as an up-and-down guy.
5/11/2021: Signed RHP Tanner Roark to a minor league contract
A solid 9-year major league veteran, it’s been rough going for Roark since signing a two-year. $24 million deal with Toronto before the 2020 season. Toronto gave up, and apparently no one was willing to give him another major league chance, at least right away. Roark will likely start for Gwinnett and provides a veteran option in case a spot opens up in Atlanta. Most Braves fans will remember Roark as a member of the Nationals rotation, and he owns a 3.04 ERA in over 120 inning against Atlanta.
5/11/2021: RHP Jay Flaa claimed off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles, assigned to AAA Gwinnett
Flaa was designated for assignment by Baltimore after they selected him and he appeared in one game (a successful 1-inning relief appearance) when they needed room on the 40-man roster. Flaa is otherwise a 29-year-old career minor leaguer with mixed success at the upper levels. Flaa will join Victor Arano, Jasseel De La Cruz, and Edgar Santana as right-handers with options on the 40-man, putting some miles between Coolray Park and Truist Field.
5/11/2021: OF Jaycob Brugman placed on the 7-day injured list; RHP Trevor Kelley activated from the temporarily inactive list
Brugman is one of the eleventy or so outfielders stashed at Gwinnett.
5/11/2021: LHP Jake Higginbotham placed on 7-day injured list; RHP Will Latcham activated from developmental list
Higginbotham is one of the better left-handed relief prospects in the system.
5/11/2021: OF Gary Schwartz activated from AA Mississippi developmental list, assigned to A+ Rome
A four-year minor league veteran, Schwartz will head to Rome and will fill in at a level below his skills.
5/11/2021: RHP Brent Burgess placed on 7-day injured list; RHP Spencer Strider assigned to A Augusta from extended spring training
The 4th-round pick for Atlanta in 2020 out of Clemson, Strider was electric in his pro debut this week.
5/12/2021: RHP Bryse Wilson optioned to AAA Gwinnett; LHP Sean Newcomb recalled to Atlanta
Coming off a five-shutout inning performance with the Stripers, Wilson went to Atlanta and made a strong fill-in start against a tough Toronto line-up. He should continue to get these fill-in opportunities and has solidified himself as the “next man up” in case of injury.
Taking an opportunity to knock some rust off after spending some time off, Newcomb was dominant in 2 relief outings for Gwinnett before being recalled to reinforce the beleaguered Atlanta bullpen.
5/13/2021: RHP Jose Rodriguez assigned to AAA Gwinnett
The former Angels reliever was signed late in spring training and held back a week in extended spring training.
5/13/2021: OF Drew Campbell placed on 7-day injured list; C Victor De Hoyos activated from developmental list
It was common practice in the minors to have players on what was known as the “phantom IL” — players who would travel and work out with the team, but would technically be “injured” until they were needed to fill in. This season MLB is allowed each minor league team to have a developmental roster to place players so teams no longer have to lie about the injured list. In previous years, De Hoyos would have been “injured” until now.
5/13/2021: RHP Peyton Williams placed on 7-day injured list; RHP Carter Linton assigned to A Augusta from extended spring training
Linton was an undrafted free agent signee last year. He’s the son of former major leaguer Doug Linton.
5/14/2021: C Tyler Flowers retired
Only a week after signing back with the Braves, Flowers instead decides to retire siting degenerative discs in his back. Flowers goes down as one of the best pitch-framers in recent baseball history and his 11.9 career WAR as a Braves ties him for 7th all-time for the franchise.
5/14/2021: Signed SS Joseph Fernando to a minor league contract
Undrafted out of Bethune-Cookman University in Dayton Beach, FL, Fernando owned a .306/.344/.421 batting line in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference where he was MEAC All-Conference 1st Team and an All-Conference Academic. Fernando had originally signed with the Padres, but was cut loose by the organization during the shutdown season. He will head to extended spring training.
5/15/2021: OF Guillermo Heredia activated from 10-day injured list; IF Johan Camargo optioned to AAA Gwinnett
Camargo starts his second stint with Gwinnett this season after a brief call-up. Up-and-down guy is probably not where he or anyone thought he would be after his 18-home run 2018 for Atlanta.
Your Moment of Zen
I showed you every Michael Harris II at-bat today *except* the home run. That changes now. #Braves pic.twitter.com/mAa16DOEkb
— Josh Norris (@jnorris427) May 16, 2021
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