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.
Also be sure to check out the OFR Farm Report Podcast where we discuss these events and give opinions and commentary.
First Look: Jared Johnson
This week I had the pleasure of attending my first games at North Augusta’s gem of a stadium, SRP Park on the north banks of the Savannah River. I was especially excited to get eyes on Atlanta’s 14th-round pick from the 2019 draft, right-hander Jared Johnson, who started on Thursday. Johnson was an overslot signing out of Smithville High School in Smithville, Mississippi, a late-bloomer who first gained national attention as a senior when he started clocking in at 97 mph on the fastball.
Johnson weighs in at 6′-2″ and 225 pounds, already an impressive build for someone who just turned 20 back in March. Johnson is well-proportioned with a starter’s body. Johnson pitches out of a modified stretch even when no one is on base and fires from a three-quarters arm slot. For a big guy, Johnson has a relatively compact delivery, but his arm sometimes drags which can cause some control issues. When he is in synch however, all of his pitches have good action, with the fastball having natural glove-side movement.
Johnson showed three pitches in his 3-inning, 61-pitch outing. The four-seam fastball hit 97 mph on the stadium gun in the second inning, but typically settled in the 93-95 mph range. It showed occasional explosiveness, but he had difficulty controlling it most of the outing, having to go to the breaking ball when the going got tough in order to get strikes. This is also the pitch where hitters did the most damage, typically when it was left in the heart of the zone and straight. There were some examples however of Johnson keeping his arm speed in synch, and the results could be impressive, as in this first example against Juan Carlos Negret in the second inning with the explosive late glove-side movement.
Johnson also flashed a 2-seam fastball that he tried to run in and down on left-handed hitters. This pitch ran 92-94 mph and Johnson often missed inside with it, but also got underneath some bats for swing-and-miss. This pitch is likely the main reason why he is allowing only a .660 OPS vs left-handers so far this season as opposed to the 1.074 OPS he’s currently giving up to right-handers.
Johnson’s breaking ball was his best-working pitch of the evening. He showed the ability to vary its movement and velocity, but sometimes it showed a stiffness that gave it more of a cutter look. He didn’t do it enough to make me think it was intentional, but it shows he has the option of separating the pitch into two different offerings. His best slider showed both good vertical and horizontal tilt and was a strong strikeout pitch. It paired up especially well with the two-seamer and he generally keeps his arm speed consistent with both pitches.
Overall Johnson flashed the potential that made him a popular breakout candidate among prospect watchers as well as the control issues that likely had him back in extended spring training to begin the season. I came away overall impressed by the raw talent on display and will be eagerly following his progress through the rest of his low-A season.
FCL BRAVES:
The short-season complex leagues got underway last Monday, and true to form for Braves affiliates playing in the state of Florida a slew of truncated games and postponements occured. The first game of the season was called a Braves win after lightning caused the game to be called in the 5th inning, and the next was suspended after four innings. After an off-day Wednesday, the Thursday game was called before first pitch. The Braves finally got full games in on Friday and Saturday.
In between the raindrops and the lightning, three of the offensive players most closely watched got off to strong starts. Outfielder Brandol Mezquita went 4-for-11 with 3 doubles, 3 walks, 4 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. Outfielder Kadon Morton nearly matched him, going 3-for-10 with a double, 3 walks, 3 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. The two switch off playing center and right field all week. Infielder Geraldo Quintero, a bright spot on last season’s DSL Braves team, went 3-for-10 as well with a double, a triple, 4 walks, and a stolen base.
Right-hander Rainiery Rodriguez got the week off to a good start with a 4 inning effort, scattering 5 hits and a run while striking out 5. Lefty Andy Samuelson was effectively wild in a 3-inning start, only allowing 2 hits but walking and striking out 3 in the scoreless outing. Perhaps not surprisingly, walks were a major theme for the staff, as collectively the team walked 30 opposing batters in 27 innings pitched, also hitting 5 batters. An interesting turn of events was 2019 Rome Braves Opening Day third baseman Darling Florentino making his 2021 season debut as a pitcher. Florentino walked four but didn’t allow a hit in his 2 innings of work.
AUGUSTA:
For only the second time this season, Augusta won a six game series, taking four of six at home against the Columbia Fireflies. The other team the GreenJackets were able to defeat in a series, the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, comes into town this week.
Right-hander Jake McSteen was a workhorse this week, winning his starts on Tuesday and Sunday, pitching a combined 13 innings and only allowing 2 runs. Righty Tanner Gordon had his second consecutive scoreless outing on Tuesday, this time striking out a career-high 10 batters to help Augusta eek out a 1-0 win and secure OFR Pitcher of the Week honors. On Saturday Joey Estes allowed one run on three hits in 6 innings, striking out 5.
Out of the bullpen, Esterlin Rodriguez was a star the week, throwing 3.1 hitless/scoreless innings over two appearances and notching two saves. The usual suspects, right-handers Ben Thompson and Justin Yeager, each turned in a scoreless outing of at least 2 innings. Right-hander Kenny Wells allowed an inherited runner to cross on a wild pitch but settled in to throw 2.2 hitless innings on Thursday. On the flipside, right-hander Zach Seipel continues to struggle; on Friday he allowed three home runs in 1.2 innings, including two to former Braves prospect Juan Carlos Negret. On the season Seipel now sports a 12.56 ERA, throwing only 3 scoreless outings out of 12.
The bats were paced once again by 1B/OF Landon Stephens, who hit .421/.500/.632 on the week with a double, homer, 3 walks, and 3 RBI. 1B Bryce Horne also continued his good work, getting 3 extra base hits this week including a homer and his first triple of his career. Outfielder Jose Bermudez came off the injured list and went 3-for-9 in four games and stealing 3 bases. Infielder Cade Bunnell continued his three-true-outcomes way, going .200/.385/.400 on the week with a homer on the first pitch of Thursday’s game that was the sum total of Augusta’s scoring that game. Centerfielder Stephen Paolini only went 4-for-20 this week, but hit his first pro home run of his career, a three-run shot on Friday.
ROME:
Rome finished up a very successful swing north, winning five of six games at Wilmington and going a combined 9-3 in the 12 games on their only trip to North Division clubs. Rome ran their record to 29-23 and are now 5 games back of Bowling Green, whom Rome will host yet again this week.
The Rome offense was exceptionally strong this week, once again paced by right fielder Jesse Franklin; 7 of his 8 hits this week were of the extra-base variety, including 3 home runs, good enough for him to snag this week’s OFR Position Player of the Week. Centerfielder Michael Harris wasn’t too far behind him, collecting 8 hits himself including a homer and knocking in 10 runs. Second baseman Cody Milligan had 9 hits from the top of the order, allowing him to score 8 times this week, while shortstop Beau Philip also collected 8 hits on the week, including two separate 3-hit games. Back-up catcher Rusber Estrada only played one game this week but he made the most of it, pounding 2 home runs.
Rome got two starts this week from righty Freddy Tarnok, each going 5 innings. The first was a 2-hit beauty, the second an uglier 4-run affair but he won both games. Right Alan Rangel continued his run of strong starts, going 6 innings and allowing just two hits and two unearned runs. Left-hander Jared Shuster had his longest outing of the season to date, pitching 5 innings on a season-high 66 pitches and allowing one run and no hits — the run scoring on back-to-back walks, then a fly out to move the runner to third, then a double steal. Left-hander Mitch Stallings threw his best start of the season on Saturday, 4 scoreless innings. Right-hander Darius Vines had the week’s only loss, only managing five outs and allowing 3 runs (2 earned) before leaving the game.
The bullpen had another overall strong week with the trio of Indigo Diaz, Zach Daniels, and Coleman Huntley each throwing 3 scoreless innings over 2 outings apiece. Diaz now has a microscopic 0.75 ERA with 47 strikeouts in 24 innings and one wonders how much longer his Rome tenure will last before getting a promotion to AA. Newcomer Tyler Ferguson was the bullpen workhorse, filling in 4.2 innings over 2 appearances and only allowing an unearned run. Since allowing 2 runs in an inning in his pro debut on June 18, Ferguson has not allowed an earned run in his subsequent three outings and his holding opponents to a .148/.258/.296 batting line against him.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves took to the road this week to face the Montgomery Biscuits, splitting a six-game set to move their record to 32-22 for the season. They are currently one game behind Pensacola in the Double-A South South Division and now return home to face that same Pensacola squad in a six-game set at Trustmark Park this week.
The M-Braves offense picked up steam this week in averaging nearly six runs a game with several significant contributors. Catcher Shea Langeliers ramped his production back up with a 7-for-19 week with two home runs and his first stolen base of the season. He also continued to catch base-stealers at an incredible 53% rate (19-of-36). Shortstop Braden Shewmake carried over his fine June work into the new month with an 8-for-21 week with two doubles and a home run (.381/.381/.619) as well as an ongoing nine-game hitting streak. For the first time this season, Shewmake’s batting average climbed over .200 and his OPS past the .600 mark. Infielder Wendell Rijo had a second straight great week by going 7-for-18 with two stolen bases, two home runs, and five RBI (.389/.522/.722). Third baseman CJ Alexander’s struggles continued during a 3-for-20 week, lowering his season batting average to .172. Outfielder Justin Dean also struggled in going 4-for-23 with twelve strikeouts, bring his strikeout rate up over 37% for the season.
The starting pitching had its first down week in quite some time as Nolan Kingham was promoted to Gwinnett and backfilled by Bryce Elder from Rome. Elder’s first start on Monday got off to a rough start but he eventually settled down to gut out four innings before returning Sunday to give up just one run over five innings, allowing just four baserunners. Odalvi Javier had another fine start, giving up three runs in six innings although the three-run homer he gave up in the sixth inning tagged him with the loss. Hayden Deal (5.1 IP, 6 ER) and A.J. Puckett (4.1 IP, 5 ER) had rare down starts while Spencer Strider’s second Mississippi start was not nearly as successful as his first (3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K).
The M-Braves bullpen continued to do great work as Chris Nunn, Daysbel Hernandez, Troy Bacon, Kurt Hoekstra, and Brooks Wilson each contributed two scoreless outings. Wilson now has five consecutive scoreless outings and has only been scored upon in three of his fifteen appearances this season. He now has a 1.54 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP, and a 13.5 K/9 rate this season. Hoekstra now has seven straight scoreless appearances dating back to June 8th (7.2 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 7 K).
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers wrapped up their road trip this week in losing five out of six at first-place Durham to fall 13 games back of first in the Triple-A East Southeast Division with a record of 23-30. They now return home to face the second-place Nashville Sounds.
Gwinnett’s offense struggled in averaging under four runs a game as they could not put together any consistent threats, much like their counterparts on the big club. Outfielder Drew Waters was 0-for-12 in his first three games with eight strikeouts but went 6-for-12 in his final three games with just two K’s. Waters also contributed three steals, two doubles, a home run, and two outfield assists during the series. Fellow outfielder Cristian Pache continued to struggle with a 5-for-23 week with ten strikeouts, with his final four games having at least two strikeouts apiece. Johan Camargo hit safely in all six games during a .320/.346/.560 week. Orlando Arcia was just 3-for-15 before his promotion to Atlanta but also contributed two home runs and five walks. Alex Jackson’s rehab stint continued with a 4-for-18 week with a double, two home runs, and seven strikeouts.
Gwinnett’s starting rotation took on a different look this week with the promotion of Nolan Kingham from Mississippi and the return of Kyle Wright from Atlanta. Even though the Gwinnett rotation was filled up this week and avoided having to use an opener, they encountered mostly poor results with Bryse Wilson’s brilliant seven-inning shutout start (3 H, 1 BB, 7 K) being the sole exception. Kyle Wright was the only other starter that topped four innings (6 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 6 BB, 5 K) although there was not much to brag about. Kingham did not fare well in his first Triple-A start in giving up six runs in just 3.1 innings. Touki Toussaint’s second Gwinnett rehab start showed that he is not any closer to returning to Atlanta in allowing six runs on five hits and five walks in just 2.2 innings. Jasseel De La Cruz had another poor start on Sunday as he did not even get out of the first inning in giving up four runs and walking four while just retiring two hitters. His ERA now sits at 7.18 for the season.
The Gwinnett bullpen did not fare particularly well this week as Victor Arano and Thomas Burrows were the only relievers to record multiple scoreless outings this week. Burrows now has five scoreless outings in a row with 12 strikeouts over seven innings with just one walk. Jesse Biddle had a scoreless outing and fanned all four batters he faced while Dylan Lee gave up just one run in three innings of work. Lee now has a 1.96 ERA for the season and has issued just one walk in 23 innings.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
6/21/2021: LHP Max Fried activated from the 10-day injured list for Atlanta; LHP Sean Newcomb optioned to AAA Gwinnett
There obviously still time to turn things around, but so far this is the second disappointing season for Newcomb, the former first-round pick and the star piece of the Andrelton Simmons trade. While a lot of Newcomb’s underlying metrics remain good, his lack of control make him an unappealing choice out of the major league bullpen.
6/28/2021: IF Vaughn Grissom placed on 7-day injured list for A Augusta
The top position player prospect at Augusta will likely not be gone long.
6/28/2021: RHP Malcolm Van Buren placed on 7-day injured list for A Augusta
6/29/2021: RHP Chad Bryant activated from 7-day injured list
Van Buren had a poor first outing for Augusta. Bryant took his spot in the Augusta rotation and fared no better.
6/29/2021: RHP Nolan Kingham assigned to AAA Gwinnett from AA Mississippi; RHP Bryce Elder assigned to AA Mississippi from A+ Rome
With Gwinnett in desperate need to fill innings, the organization promoted the best inning-filler on the Mississippi roster. Kingman had been riding a 27-inning consecutive scoreless streak before the promotion. Elder hasn’t been as flashy as fellow 2020 draftee Spencer Strider but has been equally as effective in the bottom line; for Rome prior to promotion he had allowed only 3 earned runs in the month of June and held opponents to a .194/.266/.278 batting line.
6/29/2021: RHP Sean McLaughlin activated from the AA Mississippi developmental list
McLaughlin has had two scoreless appearances since being activated, so whatever was causing him problems earlier in the month is hopefully remedied.
6/30/2021: RHP Trevor Kelley placed on the 7-day injured list for AAA Gwinnett
Kelley has been quietly effective in his 13 appearances for Gwinnett this season, so hopefully the injury isn’t serious.
7/3/2021: RHP Josh Graham transferred from the 7-day to the 60-day injured list for AA Mississippi
This is a tough blow for the six-year organizational veteran, who was off to his best career season before going on the 7-day injured list last week. This move indicates that the undisclosed injury is serious in nature the year before Graham reaches minor league free agency.
7/4/2021: SS Orlando Arcia recalled to Atlanta from AAA Gwinnett; LHP Kyle Muller optioned to AAA Gwinnett
After Arcia played three games in left field for Gwinnett this week, speculation was rampant that he may be finally called up to Atlanta to add his bat to the Abraham Almonte/Ender Inciarte mix. Speculation became reality on Independence Day as Arcia was recalled and went 2-for-4 with a walk.
With the fifth starter not needed until after the All-Star break, Muller was temporarily returned to Gwinnett. Muller had another good start against the Marlins and looks to have the fifth spot locked up for the time being.
Your Moment of Zen
Late game heroics! 🦸♂️
Willie Carter's game winning RBI double in the 8th earns our #WOWPlayoftheGame tonight! pic.twitter.com/yV3Yc4AYrc
— Augusta GreenJackets (@GreenJackets) July 3, 2021
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