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.
Weekly Round-Up
FCL BRAVES:
The Braves went 2-3 on a week that included a make-up game from earlier in the season but a postponement on Saturday.
Outfielder Tyler Collins, the Braves 18-year-old 8th-round pick in 2021, continues to shred FCL pitching, this week goin 7-for-12 with a double, a triple, and six stolen bases. That pushed his 12-game pro career totals to .421/.488/.579 with 9 stolen bases.
AUGUSTA:
The GreenJackets faced the juggernaut Charleston RiverDogs last week and went 2-for-6 on the week, a solid outcome all things considering. That ran Augusta’s record against Charleston for the season to 6-24. They will visit Fayetteville next week as they go into the three weeks of the season with a 42-60 record, 29 games out of first place in the division and 5 games out of third place.
Right-hander Joey Estes was once again one of the outstanding performers for the team, going 6 innings and allowing 1 run and striking out 3 in his start on Friday. He was backed up by 1-hit relief from Alec Barger and Peyton Williams to secure a 3-1 Jackets win. That same relief combo worked 2.1 scoreless innings on Tuesday to back Rainery Rodriguez’s 6.2 inning, 3 earned run effort for the other win of the week. Defensive miscues spoiled first-rounder Ryan Cusick‘s start on Wednesday has he worked through 3 innings, striking out 4 and allowing 2 unearned runs. Left-hander Gabriel Rodriguez, fresh off the developmental list, got a spot start on Sunday and allowed only 1 run over his 3 innings of work, his second strong showing since being reinstated.
Riverdogs pitching however did a number on the Jackets offence, holding Augusta to a .203 average for the series. First baseman Landon Stephens only went 4-for-19, but made the most of those 4 by swatting 2 homers and a double, and getting on base with 4 walks. Third baseman Vaughn Grissom came into the series as one of the hottest hitters in the organization, and the Riverdogs held him to .261/.346/.348, but Vaughn managed to do damage, collecting 7 RBI on the week.
ROME:
For the first time this season, Rome won a series outright against the Bowling Green Hot Rods, going on the road to take 4 out of 6 from the division leaders and pushed their overall record to 46-55. Rome returns home this week to host Winston-Salem.
This will likely be remembered as “the Luke Waddell series” as the 5′-9″ 2021 fifth-rounder out of Georgia Tech went off against Bowling Green pitching, slugging 6 home runs — his first 6 professional home runs of his career, just two off his 8 home runs he hit in his senior year for Tech in over 200 fewer plate appearances. This including a 2-run shot in the 9th inning on Sunday to give Rome the 5-3 win. First baseman Brett Langhorne had two home runs himself, and outfielder Michael Harris had a good series, going 4-for-13 with a home run, a walk, and a stolen base. Recently promoted outfielder Drew Campbell is off to a good start himself with Rome, going 5-for-17 with a home run as well. Outfielder Jesse Franklin had a relatively pedestrian week at the plate, only getting two hits, though they were a home run and a double and he also contributed with 3 walks.
On the pitching side, the biggest news was the return of right-hander William Woods, who finally made his season debut after suffering an injury in minor league spring training. He gave up two runs in 1.2 innings in a start on Thursday. The best start of the week was turned in by right-hander Darius Vines, who held the Hot Rods to 2 runs over 6 innings on Saturday to help secure a 4-3 win. Left-hander reliever Jake Higginbotham returned to action this week after being out since May 6, notching two scoreless outings.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves certainly did not have a “business as usual” kind of week. The M-Braves lost the one game they did play at home against Pensacola before having the remaining five games of the series cancelled due to COVID testing and tracing. They are due to play in Biloxi beginning on Tuesday but that remains in doubt due to COVID and Hurricane Ida hitting the Mississippi Gulf Coast on Sunday.
Right-hander Spencer Strider was dominant through 5 innings in that one game however, striking out 10 and surrendering 1 run on a solo homer. Unfortunately, Pensacola pitching made that one run hold up for a 1-0 shutout loss for Mississippi. Reliever Corbin Clouse pitched two innings of relief and retired all six batters he faced, including 5 by strikeout. Overall, Mississippi pitching struck out 18 Blue Wahoos.
The M-Braves continue to hold a six-game lead on Montgomery in the Double-A South South Division with eighteen games remaining. The division will likely be decided during the series the two teams will play against each other at Trustmark Park September 7-12.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers visited the Nashville Sounds this week and took the first three games of the series before dropping the final three during the weekend. Due to the late series swoon, they lost ground in the division race and are now 7 ½ games back of first-place Durham. The Stripers now return home to host the Memphis Redbirds this week.
Gwinnett starting pitching was tremendous this week as the Stripers staff only gave up fourteen runs over the six games with the starters compiling a 1.34 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP. Jose Rodriguez (7 IP, OFR Pitcher of the Week) and Kyle Muller (6 IP) each had scoreless starts while Ian Anderson (5 IP) and Kyle Wright (7 IP) each only allowed one run. Bryce Elder had the “worst” start this week and he gave up just three runs over 6.2 innings.
The Stripers bullpen provided several standout performers this week including Victor Arano (three scoreless innings), Tanner Roark (three scoreless innings), Dylan Lee (two scoreless innings), and Sean Newcomb (2.2 scoreless innings). Newcomb now has a 1.72 ERA and 0.77 WHIP with Gwinnett this season and has seven straight scoreless outings. Jesse Biddle (0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER) and Thomas Burrows (0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 1 K) did not fare as well.
The Gwinnett offense did not do any favors for the pitching staff this week as they only provided thirteen total runs of support. Jason Kipnis was perhaps the best performer this week in going 6-for-19 with a double, a home run, and three walks (.316/.409/.526). Outfielder Cristian Pache also performed well with a 6-for-20 week with a double and a stolen base (.300/.364/.350). Drew Waters, however, endured another tough week in going 1-for-15 with ten strikeouts although he had two walks and two stolen bases. Catcher William Contreras returned to Gwinnett after filling in for Travis d’Arnaud in Atlanta during his paternity leave, he was 3-for-13 with a double but also contributed four walks.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 8/23/2021: RHP William Woods and OF Drew Campbell assigned to A+ Rome from FCL Braves; OF Garrison Schwartz placed on developmental list for A+ Rome; LHP Jake Higginbotham assigned to A+ Rome from AA Mississippi and activated from injured list; RHP Matt Hartman and LHP Gabriel Noguera released from A+ Rome
The Rome roster saw some upheaval this week as three players making their way back from injury ended up activated on Rome’s roster — Woods, Higginbotham, and Campbell.
Unfortunately that meant making room by giving Hartman and Noguera their outright releases. Both pitchers had strong 2019 seasons in the Braves organization, but both had their difficulties in 2021. Hartman had injury issues all season and never appeared comfortable on the mound when he has been able to return. Noguera looked solid in the Rome bullpen for the first part of the season, but has faded as the season progressed.
- 8/24/2021: C Travis d’Arnaud activated from the paternity list for Atlanta; C William Contreras optioned to AAA Gwinnett
Congratulations to Travis for the birth of his son!
- 8/23/2021: C Adam Zebrowski assigned to A Augusta from FCL Braves
- 8/24/2021: C Victor De Hoyos assigned to FCL Braves from A Augusta
Rather than sit idle on the Augusta development list, the organization instead send De Hoyos down to North Port where he could get game reps as 2021 draftees Tyler Tolve and Zebrowski taking over catching duties in Augusta. He was joined by Augusta catcher Javier Valdes on rehab assignment after being on the injured list since June 12.
- 8/27/2021: OF Eddie Rosario activated from the 10-day injured list for Atlanta; OF Abraham Almonte designated for assignment
Rosario had found his power stroke over his prior 7 games with Gwinnett, hitting 4 home runs in that time. Almonte had some memorable moments in his tenure with Atlanta, but overall did not play well, and hit only .192/.300/.500 as a pinch hitter.
- 8/27/2021: RHPs Sean McLaughlin, Nolan Kingham, and Indigo Diaz, OF Jefrey Ramos placed on 7-day injured list for AA Mississippi
Nothing has been or likely will be announced, but it seems likely these are COVID-related listings.
- 8/29/2021: RHP Ian Anderson activated from the 10-day injured list for Atlanta; RHP Edgar Santana optioned to AAA Gwinnett
Anderson got good results in his final two rehab starts with Gwinnett, and looked particularly good in his final start. He carried that over into his start against the San Francisco Giants on Sunday. Santana was the bad-luck roster casualty, at least for now. He seems likely to return to the team as soon as the 10-day requirement ends in September after rosters expand. He had been with the club since May 17, pitching to a 3.62 ERA over 32.1 innings in that time, mostly in mop-up work, though his last outing against the Yankees is likely one he will want to forget.
Anderson takes the place of Touki Toussaint in the rotation, though indications were that Toussaint will likely get a start this week, perhaps on Friday at Colorado as Atlanta goes through a 10-game/3 time-zone stretch without an off day.
Your Moment of Zen
🎉 GAME-WINNER 🎉
Here is @lucas_wadd07’s two-run blast in the ninth inning that served as the difference in Rome’s 5-3 win. The @GTBaseball product hit .545/.560/1.364 this week with 6 HRs and 10 RBI, leading the R-Braves to a series win over division-leading Bowling Green! pic.twitter.com/cKl4myQBWn
— Rome Emperors (@GoEmperors) August 29, 2021
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