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.
Surgery for Schwellenbach
As most of the 2021 draft class received their first pro assignments (see Transaction Round-Up below), news came down earlier last week that 2nd-round pick Spencer Schwellenbach will require Tommy John surgery and will likely not make his pro debut until late 2022.
The possibility that Schwellenbach would require surgery was known by teams prior to the draft, and is the reason that he was picked up by the Braves in the 2nd round and signed to an underslot deal while he was projected by most media outlets as a first-round talent.
Since the John Hart era, Atlanta has been aggressive in acquiring players with UCL problems, picking up players for smaller acquisition costs that would be otherwise typical, and then rehabbing them. The most successful example of this was one of the first when the Braves acquired left-hander Max Fried from the San Diego Padres as part of a trade for outfielder Justin Upton. Fried was the 7th overall pick by the Padres out of high school in 2012, but had surgery in 2015. It is highly unlikely that the Padres would have considered trading Fried if not for the injury.
It is of course way too early to compare Schwellenbach with Fried, who has now gone on to front a major league pitching rotation, other than in the circumstances that they both required TJS a short time after becoming pros, but the Braves are hoping that this game plan works once again.
Weekly Round-Up
FCL BRAVES:
The Braves got three games in last week with two postponements. Most notable about this pro debuts of a number of 2021 draft picks and non-draft free agents.
On the pitching side, Dylan Spain and J.J. Niekro debuted with a scoreless relief inning apiece. Left-hander Samuel Strickland had a rougher time of it, giving up five runs on three hits (including a homer) and 2 walks without getting an out. Righty Esterlin Rodriguez, demoted this week from low-A Augusta, gave a big 4-inning relief appearance, allowing 3 hits and no runs. Former third baseman Darling Florentino enjoyed his first starting assignment with two shutout innings against the Rays.
Tyler Collins, centerfielder and 8th-rounder, enjoyed his pro debut, going 2-for-3 with a double. Catcher Adam Zebrowski also had a double in his first game. Shortstops Caleb Durbin and Anderson De Los Santos went hitless in their first games, though Durbin did walk and score a run. Among the incumbents, catcher Antonio Barranca and shortstop Francisco Floyd each hit their first professional home runs.
AUGUSTA:
For the second time this season, Augusta was swept in a six-game series by the Charleston RiverDogs, dropping their record to 34-50 overall. The GreenJackets will come home this week and try to make hay against one of the few teams in the league with a worse record, the 26-58 Kannapolis Cannonballers.
RiverDog pitching held the Jackets to a .171 batting average this week and only two home runs, one each for Landon Stephens and Willie Carter. Even third baseman Vaughn Grissom was held to a 5-for-22 week. It was a tough environment for players making their pro debuts. Shortstop Cal Conley went 2-for-11, third baseman Justyn-Henry Malloy and outfielder Christian Robinson both 1-for-8, and catcher Tyler Tolve 1-for-11, though all but Robinson knocked in a run.
Starting pitchers Tanner Gordon, Joey Estes, and Jared Johnson each game up 3 runs apiece in their starts of 6, 4.2, and 4.2 innings respectively. Right-hander Chad Bryant had his longest and most effective start of the season, going 4 innings and allowing one earned run. 11th-round pick Andrew Hoffman made his pro debut in a two-innings start, giving up 1 run on a solo homer and throwing 32 pitches. The biggest bright spot amongst pitchers was 18th-rounder Austin Smith, who made two scoreless relief appearances, striking out 3 in 2 innings without allowing a baserunner.
ROME:
Hoping to separate themselves from the Greenville Drive, the team immediately behind them in the standings, Rome instead found themselves getting lapped by them after suffering a six-game sweep. It was the first time this season Rome was swept in a series.
Offense was very hard to come by outside of contributions from outfielders Shean Michel and Michael Harris and reserve catcher Rusber Estrada, who was pressed into starting service after Logan Brown had to come out of a game on Thursday and then starting two of the next three games with Mitch Calandra starting the other game. Harris swatted the only home run of the week for rome, and he went 6-for-21 overall with 2 doubles and a walk.
Rome did get two solid starts from A.J. Puckett to bookend the series; he gave up 2 runs in 5 innings in the series opener and then one run in 5.2 innings on Sunday. Right-hander Darius Vines and lefty Jared Shuster both got slightly roughed up, giving up 4 in 5.2 innings and 3 in 4 innings respectively. Righty Coleman Huntley made his second career start, giving up 5 runs in 4 innings and throwing 78 pitches. The best start of the week came from righty Jake McSteen, who held Greenville to 1 run in 6 innings while striking out 8. Unfortunately, Rome was shut out on a combined one-hitter in that game.
One 2021 draft pick, 5th-rounder Luke Waddell out of Georgia Tech, was assigned to Rome. He went 2-for-11 with a double and a walk in his first professional action.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves continued their two-week road trip against the North Division-leading Birmingham Barons, taking four out of six games and winning the last three. Unfortunately, second-place Montgomery took care of business against the Tennessee Smokies and gained ground this week, they are now just a half-game behind Mississippi in the South Division. The M-Braves now have an opportunity to pad their lead as they host last-place Biloxi.
The M-Braves pitching staff only gave up fourteen runs in six games with half of those coming in a 7-2 loss on Tuesday. Bryce Elder continued to establish himself as the staff workhorse with two winning starts (13 IP, 14 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 16 K). Freddy Tarnok had another impressive start although he had to work around some command issues, tossing six shutout innings despite giving up four walks. Spencer Strider had another dominant performance, striking out twelve and walking just one in 6.1 scoreless innings to earn OFR Pitcher of the Week honors. Victor Vodnik had a nice start with four shutout innings although he walked four and it took him 72 pitches to get to that point. Alan Rangel had his first Double-A start last week, he struggled early on but managed to eke out five innings of five-run baseball.
The Mississippi bullpen also did their part this week with several standout performances. Indigo Diaz had two more scoreless one-inning appearances, striking out the side in both. He still has not allowed a run during his time in Mississippi (9.2 IP). Brooks Wilson got some higher leverage work this week in three appearances and it paid off with a hold and two saves (3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K). Brandon White struck out four in 2.1 scoreless innings while Daysbel Hernandez gave up just a tenth-inning unearned run while striking out five in 2.1 innings. Odalvi Javier appears to be adjusting well to his new bullpen role with three shutout innings over two appearances while Hayden Deal joined him this week, Deal tossed 2.2 scoreless innings in relief of Victor Vodnik.
The Mississippi offense was hit-and-miss this week as it scored 27 runs although 24 of those runs came in just three games. Catcher Shea Langeliers hit safely in all five games he played in this week and currently rides a ten-game hitting streak. Infielder Wendell Rijo had two home runs and four RBI during a .300/.364/.600 week, shortstop Braden Shewmake had another .300 batting average week, and outfielder Trey Harris was just 4-for-22 on the week but had a home run and six RBI. Drew Lugbauer’s all-or-nothing approach went in the wrong direction this week as he went just 1-for-21 with eleven strikeouts, including three games in which he struck out at least three times. Infielder Riley Delgado had his best game as an M-Brave, going 4-for-5 with three runs scored in Friday’s 12-0 win.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers continued to roll by doing what they needed to do, taking five out of six games in a home series against last-place Charlotte, including a walk-off win on Sunday. The Stripers have now drawn to within nine games of first place and have a chance to make up some real ground this week as they host first-place Durham.
Gwinnett pitching only gave up 23 runs this week with ten of those being in one game but they didn’t get much help from the starting rotation as only Jose Rodriguez made it through five innings (5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K). Part of the reason for that was due to two Atlanta pitchers making rehab starts: Ian Anderson made his first start since his shoulder injury, giving up two runs in 2.1 innings before leaving after having thrown 47 pitches. Huascar Ynoa made his second rehab start and first at Triple-A after breaking his hand by giving up three runs (just one earned) in 3.2 innings and 68 pitches with most of the damage due to an error and then a two-run home run to Yermin Mercedes. Jasseel De La Cruz continued his struggles in two starts by giving up a total of six runs in just 7.1 innings.
Fortunately, the Striper bullpen picked up the slack from the rotation as eleven relievers did not allow any runs this week. Of note are Jacob Webb, who had three perfect one-inning outings and racked up a win and a save while AJ Minter added two perfect outings with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Nolan Kingham made his first appearance out of the bullpen piggybacking Ian Anderson’s rehab start and it did not go well as he gave up seven runs over three innings and now sports a 9.99 ERA in Triple-A.
Offensive production was spread out this week as catcher William Contreras hit safely in five out of six games with two doubles (.381/.435/.476), the rehabbing Travis d’Arnaud was 4-for-14 with a walk-off base hit on Sunday, shortstop Orlando Arcia was 8-for-24 (.333/.333/.500), outfielder Cristian Pache was 6-for-18 with two doubles and a home run (.333/.400/.611) and also only three strikeouts in twenty plate appearances, which was good enough to pick up OFR Position Player of the Week honors. Fellow outfielder Drew Waters was just 3-for-13 with eight strikeouts but also contributed five walks and scored a run in each of the four games he played in this week.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 8/3/2021: RHP Alan Rangel assigned to AA Mississippi from A+ Rome; RHP Emmanuel Ramirez assigned to A+ Rome from AA Mississippi
After four seasons pitching for Rome, Rangel gets a much-deserved bump to AA. Unfortunately, he will have to step down from his city council seat (joking).
Rangel had a 3.57 ERA for Rome before the promotion, but had been exceptional in his last 8 starts, allowing only a .170/.243/.302 batting line against him.
- 8/3/2021: OF Brandon Parker placed on the 7-day IL for A Augusta; LHP Gabriel Rodriguez and C Victor De Hoyos placed on developmental list; 3B Cody Birdsong and OF Jose Bermudez released; RHP Estarlin Rodriguez assigned to FCL Braves from A Augusta
There was a lot of movement surrounding Augusta and the FCL Braves early in the week as the bulk of the 2021 draftees got assigned. The above transactions deal with players moved out of Augusta.
Birdsong was a 32nd-round pick in 2019, and had hit .225/.284/.309 between Danville and Augusta. Bermudez had been in the organization since 2016, hitting .238/.310/.297 with 40 stolen bases, and was mostly known for his strong defense. Estarlin Rodriguez has good stuff but has little feel right now, and has a 7.64 ERA for Augusta.
The same could be said for Gabriel Rodriguez, who is also coming back from missing the 2019 season due to TJS.
- 8/3/2021: C Tyler Tolve, RHP Andrew Hoffman, RHP Austin Smith, SS Cal Conley, 3B Justyn-Henry Malloy, and OF Christian Robinson assigned to A Augusta
Tolve will step into the catcher rotation with Ricardo Rodriguez, replacing De Hoyos. Conley will likely play every day at shortstop. Malloy seems likely to play regularly at multiple positions, and Robinson will fill in at every outfield spot. Hoffman and Smith join a somewhat beleaguered Augusta bullpen.
- 8/3/2021: SS Carlos Paraguate and OF Charles Reyes released from FCL Braves
Paraguate was the low-A Rome Opening Day shortstop in 2019, but hadn’t shown significant development at the plate; he was only hitting .191/.296/.234 in the FCL this season. Reyes had been off to a good start this season, but as a strictly corner outfielder who had not demonstrated the ability get power in game the path forward for him was getting extremely narrow.
- 8/3/2021: OF Tyler Collins, SS Anderson De Los Santos, C Adam Zembrowski, SS Caleb Durbin, RHP J.J. Niekro, and RHP Dylan Spain assigned to FCL Braves
De Los Santos and Niekro were non-drafted free agent signees while the others were 2021 draft picks.
- 8/4/2021: SS Luke Waddell assigned to A+ Rome
The former Georgia Tech senior gets an aggressive assignment. It likely moves incumbent shortstop Beau Philip to third base.
- 8/6/2021: LHP Samuel Strickland assigned to FCL Braves
The 19th-round pick in the 2021 draft.
Your Moment of Zen
DREW WATERS GAME SAVING PLAY 😱😱😱
Waters showing why he's the @Braves #2 prospect!!! pic.twitter.com/TqFBYXrsL6
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) August 7, 2021
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