Happy Labor Day, and 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 had a tough week with both the opposition and the weather this week, only going 1-5 with two doubleheaders and the /second half of another doubleheader cancelled outright due to weather. The team is now 22-25 on the season.
The big news of the week was the debut of 11th-round 2021 draft pick Adam Shoemaker. He started on Saturday and threw one inning, allowing 2 runs, 1 earned, on one hit, one walk, two wild pitches, and a strikeout. Right-hander Reibyn Corona had the best start of the week, going 3 scoreless innings on Thursday, while 2021 7th-rounder AJ Smith-Shawver made his second career start, striking out 5 and allowing 2 runs in 2 innings.
Once again the Braves offense was lead by outfielders Tyler Collins and Brandol Mezquita. Collins went 6-for-16 on the week with 2 walks and 2 HBPs, getting one base at a .500 clip. Mezquita went 7-for-18 with a home run, 7 RBI, and 2 stolen bases and is now hitting .317/.417/.431. First baseman Mahki Backstrom and shortstop Francisco Floyd also contributed home runs.
AUGUSTA:
Augusta went on the road to play Fayetteville for the first time and ended up splitting the 6-game series. Augusta is now 45-63 on the season with 12 games remaining, 32 games behind the juggernaut Charleston RiverDogs, owners of the minor leagues’ best record at 77-31.
The big news was the promotion of infielder Vaughn Grissom, the team’s top position player prospect, to Rome. Grissom went 3-for-9 in two games before the promotion. The team rallied however, lead by 2021 draft pick Justyn-Henry Malloy, who went 8-for-19 with 2 homers on the week, including a go-ahead grand slam in Sunday’s win. Grissom’s promotion settles a log-jam at the infield positions with Malloy, shortstop Cal Conley, and season-long producer Cade Bunnell. First baseman Bryson Horner went 9-for-23 on the week with a home run; since July 21, the Columbus State product has hit .303/.370/.428 with 9 doubles and 3 home runs. Braulio Vazquez, known more for his speed, launched 2 home runs on the week to go with 3 stolen bases. First baseman Landon Stephens and Bunnell also contributed home runs this week.
Augusta needed the bats to be hot because the starting pitching on the week was lackluster. Righty Rainery Rodriguez got hit around on Tuesday, allowing 6 runs on 7 hits in 4.2 innings. He was followed by Ryan Cusick‘s shortest start of his young career, only getting two outs and allowing 3 runs on four hits. in 28 pitches thrown. Fellow 2021 draftee Andrew Hoffmann followed with 4.2 innings and 3 runs (2 earned). Esterlin Rodriguez, recently called back up from the FCL Braves, started a bullpen game, giving up 3 of Fayetteville’s 7 runs on Friday. The Jackets won lefty Dylan Dodd‘s best start so far in his three-start career, allowing only 1 run in 4.1 innings, striking out 6. Staff ace Joey Estes started Sunday’s game but left after allowing 2 runs in 1 inning. This seems likely to have been planned break for Estes, who is fourth in all low-A in innings pitched at 19 years old.
That left a lot of innings to be picked up by the bullpen, who mostly handled it well. Right-hander Kenny Wells covered four innings on Wednesday, allowing only 1 baserunner on a HBP. Righties Dylan Spain and Peyton Williams each pitched two scoreless outings of 2 innings apiece while James Acuna covered 2.1 innings on Friday without allowing anyone to cross.
ROME:
Rome hosted Winston-Salem this week and won 5 out of 6 games, improving their record to 51-56 and moving up to 4th place in the division, though still 23.5 games behind division-leading Bowling Green.
Rome got a charge from Vaughn Grissom, who stayed hot from Augusta, going 4-for-9 in his 3 games with a home run, 3 RBI, 3 walks, and a stolen base. After missing the first two games of the series, outfielder Jesse Franklin hit well in the final four games, going 4-for-10 with a home run. Rome also got production from the back half of the line-up, with infielder Riley Delgado, shortstop Beau Philip, and catcher/first baseman Carlos Martinez all getting on base at a .400+ clip. Outfielder Michael Harris only had 3 hits on the week, but walked 4 times to give him a .421 OBP.
Rome got some strong starting pitching performances this week, most notably from right-hander Jake McSteen on Saturday, going 7 scoreless to earn OFR Pitcher of the Week honors. Righty Darius Vines went 5 innings, allowing 3 runs (1 earned) while striking out 8. Right-hander William Woods went 2 scoreless innings in his second start after joining the club last week while lefties Mitch Stallings and A.J. Puckett made the most out of being re-inserted in the rotation. Stallings had his best start of the season, allowing 1 run in 5 innings and striking out 5. Puckett threw 4 scoreless innings on Thursday.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves crept closer this week to clinching a playoff spot as well as the regular season best record for the Double-A South. After having the first two games of their series in Biloxi called due to COVID and Hurricane Ida, the M-Braves took three of the remaining four games to extend their lead for both the best record and playoff spot to eight games with just twelve games remaining. Mississippi returns home this week to face the team with the second-best record, Montgomery, with a chance to clinch a playoff spot during the series.
Mississippi starting pitching didn’t have much to offer this week as Alan Rangel (3 IP, 4 ER), Freddy Tarnok (4 IP, 2 ER) and Jared Shuster (4 IP, 8 ER) could not provide much length but Spencer Strider closed out the week in style with five shutout innings on Sunday with eight strikeouts. In his last five starts, Strider has a 2.67 ERA in 27 innings with 40 strikeouts against just six walks and a WHIP of 0.89.
Several Mississippi bullpen arms had really good weeks: recent addition Tyler Ferguson did not give up any earned runs in 3.2 innings and racked up two wins while Hayden Deal, Troy Bacon and Will Latcham each provided multiple scoreless outings.
The Mississippi offense knocked in 31 runs over their four games with 16 of them coming in their first game after the long layoff. Greyson Jenista made the most of his limited at-bats in going 5-for-10 with four home runs and seven RBI including a three-home run game on Thursday. Leadoff hitter Justin Dean was 6-for-12 with two home runs, two walks, two steals, six runs scored, and no strikeouts. Drew Lugabauer hit safely in all four games during a 4-for-13 week with a double, two home runs, and six RBI. Trey Harris was 5-for-18 with a double, home run, and five RBI while Hendrik Clementina was 4-for-10 with two doubles and four RBI. Catcher Shea Langeliers was one of the few Mississippi hitters to have a rough week in going 2-for-16 with seven strikeouts. Newcomer Luke Waddell hit safely in his first two Double-A games and went 2-for-8 for the week.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers returned home this week to face the Memphis Redbirds and split the six-game series with mostly low-scoring games. That now leaves the Stripers eight games back of first place in the Southeast Division with just twelve games remaining in the regular season, virtually eliminating Gwinnett from the regular season championship as there are now four teams ahead of them in the race for best record. Gwinnett now pays a visit to the Columbus Clippers in their penultimate series of the regular season.
Gwinnett starting pitching had a couple of highlights despite two of the five starts being bullpen games. Kyle Muller had a third straight solid start since being optioned from Atlanta in allowing just two runs over six innings and giving up just one walk. He now has a 1.00 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP in three starts covering eighteen innings in his current run at Gwinnett. Bryce Elder gave up two runs in four innings while striking out seven before having his start cut short due to stadium electrical issues. Jose Rodriguez continued to shoulder his share of the load with another start where he did not give up any earned runs over five innings. In his last five starts, he has gone at least five innings in all of them and not allowed any earned runs in four of them (1.26 ERA and 0.80 WHIP).
The Stripers bullpen was not as effective as in past weeks but Dylan Lee was a standout, he tossed three perfect innings in his only appearance and has not given up an earned run in his last fourteen appearances (17.2 IP). Jesse Biddle recorded a win and a save while Yoan Lopez had two perfect one-inning outings. Trevor Kelley and Tanner Roark each had a two-inning scoreless outing, though David O’Brien of The Athletic is reporting that Roark has exercised his contractual right for his release and free agency after he was not added to the Atlanta roster when rosters expanded.
The Gwinnett offense was middling this week as they only averaged four runs a game. Johan Camargo continued to pace the Stripers offense with a 5-for-19 week with four walks, two home runs, and seven RBI (.263/.391/.579). Cristian Pache recorded hits in five of the six games in which he played this week (.353/.421/.421) but Drew Waters had another tough week (3-for-17, three walks, two stolen bases). Catcher William Contreras also had a subpar week in going just 1-for-14 with six strikeouts.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
[videopress XvuCBLTx w=”678″ permalink=”false” hd=”true”]Rome RHP Jake McSteen. (MiLB.TV)
Transaction Round-Up
- 8/31/2021: RHP Josh Tomlin placed on the 10-day injured list (neck strain); RHP Edgar Santana recalled from AAA Gwinnett
Tomlin had not seen game action since surrendering 5 runs in 0.2 innings in Miami on August 18. It’s unclear how long his neck had been bothering him, or if his 12.51 ERA and .420/.414/.725 battling line against him since July 1 had anything to do with his symptoms.
- 8/31/2021: RHP Raulin Celedonio released from FCL Braves
The 21-year-old Celedonio has been in the Braves organization since 2018, playing in the DSL in ’18 and ’19. He made his one appearance this season on August 27, allowing an unearned run in one inning while striking out the side.
- 9/1/2021: RHP Jacob Webb and IF Orlando Arcia recalled from AAA Gwinnett.
September call-ups are now limited to only 2 additional players. Webb was likely always going to be a choice given his success both in Gwinnett and Atlanta since the late-may Kevin Pillar incident. Arcia’s inclusion may had been due to uncertainty around the knee injury to Ozzie Albies suffered on August 31.
- 9/1/2021: LHP Jared Shuster and RHP Tyler Ferguson assigned to AA Mississippi from A+ Rome
Mississippi gets reinforced after losing three pitchers to the IL the previous week. Of course the big news is 2020 first-rounder Shuster getting his first exposure to AA ball, and now all three 2020 drafted pitchers have made it to AA in their first season of pro ball.
Ferguson is a 27-year-old minor league free agent signed in mid-June after being released by the Dodgers organization. Ferguson had a 2.36 ERA in 18 appearances with Rome.
- 9/2/2021: RHP Chris Martin placed on the 10-day injured list (right elbow inflammation); LHP Sean Newcomb recalled from AAA Gwinnett
Since MLB’s foreign substance crackdown on June 21, the typically reliable Martin has allowed a .321/.351/.491 batting line against him.
- 9/2/2021: IF Vaughn Grissom assigned to A+ Rome from A Augusta; OF Garrison Schwartz activated from developmental list for A+ Rome; OF Connor Blair activated from developmental list for A Augusta
Grissom had been one of the hottest hitters in A-ball since coming off the injured list on July 14, hitting .350/.438/.521 for Augusta while playing short, third, and second. Grissom’s development over the course the season has been impressive as he’s shown true 5-tool talent as well has good strike zone control.
- 9/2/2021: RHP Estarlin Rodriguez assigned to A Augusta from FCL Braves; RHP Luis Vargas assigned to FCL Braves from DSL Braves
This is Rodriguez’s second stint with Augusta this season. He was dropped to the FCL on August 3 after pitching to a 6.88 ERA in 18 appearances. To his credit, Rodriguez didn’t allow a run in 5 appearances in the FCL.
Even though the Braves are not participating in the DSL season this summer due to lack of players, there are still a number of players working out there. Vargas was one such player, and he joins the FCL Braves for the final two weeks. His stateside debut was a good one, throwing 1 scoreless inning and striking out 2 on Thursday.
- 9/3/2021: OF Abraham Almonte elected free agency
Almonte was designated for assignment last week when Eddie Rosario was activated.
- 9/3/2021: IF Luke Waddell assigned to AA Mississippi from A+ Rome
The 23-year old 2021 5th-rounder becomes the first member of his class to get to AA after being the first member of his class to get to A+. In his last 8 games with Rome, Waddell only hit .481/.516/1.148 with 6 home runs.
- 9/4/2021: LHP Adam Shoemaker assigned to FCL Braves
Other than RHP Spencer Schwellenbach, who will miss the 2021 season recovering from TJS, Shoemaker was the last member of the 2021 draft class to make his professional debut. The freshly minted 19-year-old (as of August 24) was an overslot prep selection out of Cambridge, Ontario.
Your Moment of Zen
Call the cops because we got a robbery! @MoneyyyMikeee
We head to the bottom of the 11th looking for a walkoff
🔼 1️⃣1️⃣ Rome 2 | Winston-Salem 2 pic.twitter.com/n5MwTWpv3S
— Rome Emperors (@GoEmperors) September 5, 2021
Your Bonus Moment of Zen
.@SpencerSTRIDer is making hitters lose their bats as we head to the 6th leading 6-0 😅😅🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/vxnSzSb9YQ
— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) September 5, 2021
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