Welcome to our post-regular season Braves Farm Report!
Also be sure to check out the OFR Farm Report Podcast this week for our Mississippi championship series review and our Rome season wrap-up!
Mississippi Braves Win League Championship
The Mississippi Braves finished their season this week with a best-of-five Double-A South Championship Series against the Montgomery Biscuits. The teams split the first two games in Montgomery, as two certain writers/podcasters stated would be a key to the series. The Braves had to wait until the very last day of the regular season to determine who their opponent would be; since they ended the season in Chattanooga, they went directly to Montgomery to begin the series.
In game one, Jared Shuster pitched well through five innings before allowing two baserunners to lead off the sixth before giving way to Odalvi Javier. Javier then allowed three of the next four hitters to get on base, leading to the Biscuits scoring five in the inning and paving the way for a 7-1 Montgomery victory. Trey Harris drove in the only run for the M-Braves on the evening.
In game two, the M-Braves struck early, taking a 6-0 lead into the middle innings courtesy of Wendell Rijo and Greyson Jenista home runs before Montgomery scored five times over the fourth and fifth innings. Trey Harris then drove in two with a single in the eighth inning to solidify an 8-5 win. Freddy Tarnok pitched well through the first four innings before giving way to Troy Bacon in the fifth inning. The usually reliable Bacon gave up a walk, double, and home run to consecutive hitters to let the Biscuits back into the game. However, Brandon White, Corbin Clouse, and Nolan Kingham shut down Montgomery the rest of the way with 4.1 innings of scoreless relief with six strikeouts.
After an off day on Thursday, the series resumed at Trustmark Park on Friday night. Mississippi took an early 3-0 lead after four innings on RBI hits from CJ Alexander, Jacob Pearson, and OFR Position Player of the Week Justin Dean. Montgomery struck back and took a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning on a Niko Hulsizer home run and several fielding miscues. Drew Lugbauer then tied the game on a sixth-inning home run before the floodgates opened during the seventh and eighth innings to allow the M-Braves to take an 11-4 lead. However, the game wasn’t over yet as Indigo Diaz’s late-season swoon continued by giving up a ninth-inning grand slam to Rays top prospect Xavier Edwards followed by Hayden Deal giving up a solo shot to let the Biscuits draw within two at 11-9 before Nolan Kingham shut the door as he caught Michael Smith looking on a strikeout to close out his second save of the series.
In Saturday’s game four, William Woods pitched shutout ball through the first three innings of his Mississippi debut until he allowed four straight batters to reach base to open the fourth before giving way to Troy Bacon. Bacon pitched much better in striking out three straight hitters to finish off the fourth but Montgomery began pouring it on with eight runs over the fifth and sixth innings and the rout was on. The Biscuits finished off game four with a 14-2 win, giving them serious momentum heading into Sunday’s deciding game five. Garbage-time pinch-hit RBIs from Luke Waddell and Jefrey Ramos accounted for the only Mississippi offense on the night.
In game five, the two teams traded runs in the second inning with CJ Alexander doubling home Shea Langeliers for the Mississippi score. In the fifth inning, Greyson Jenista hit a solo shot, his third home run of the series, to give the M-Braves the lead. From there, the pitching did the rest. OFR Pitcher of the Week Alan Rangel gave up just one unearned run over the first six innings before Brandon White and Jake Higginbotham bridged the gap to the ninth with each pitching a perfect inning with two strikeouts. Nolan Kingham took over in the ninth to close it out, giving up just a bloop single before getting Cal Stevenson to pop out to CJ Alexander in foul territory to close it out for his third save of the series to clinch the Double-A South Championship!
Weekly Round-Up
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers began the ten-game Triple-A East Final Stretch this week, where a winner will be determined based on the best winning percentage over these last ten games. Unfortunately, the Stripers drew the Durham Bulls during the first week, the team with the best record in the Triple-A East. The results reflected this as the Bulls swept the five-game set, outscoring Gwinnett 18-6. The Stripers now return home to wrap up their season with a series against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
Gwinnett starting pitching did have two solid performances this week: Kyle Wright tossed six shutout innings during his start, lowering his ERA for the season down to 3.18 while Bryce Elder gave up just one run over five innings, lowering his ERA to 2.20 in six Triple-A starts. On the other hand, Kyle Muller had a second consecutive poor start as he gave up four earned runs in just four innings along with two home runs. Muller has now pitched 113.1 innings between AAA/MLB this season, slightly more than the 111.2 innings he pitched in 2019 so fatigue could be a factor.
In the bullpen, Brooks Wilson had a solid second week at Triple-A as he tossed two scoreless and hitless innings over two outings while striking out four. Daysbel Hernandez had one scoreless outing and another where he gave up a run without benefit of a hit as he walked two and threw two wild pitches in only one inning. Chasen Bradford had a solid appearance, tossing two scoreless innings but Jasseel De La Cruz continued to struggle as he lasted for just two outs during his lone appearance, giving up three runs courtesy of a hit, three walks, and a wild pitch.
The Gwinnett offense was nearly nonexistent this week as they generated just six runs in five games. Drew Waters led the way in going 6-for-19 with two home runs and three RBI but Cristian Pache had a terrible week as he was 0-for-10 with eight strikeouts and a walk. Newly arrived catcher Chadwick Tromp was 1-for-10 with three strikeouts and an error.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 9/21/2021: C Chadwick Tromp claimed off waivers from the San Francisco Giants, optioned to AAA Gwinnett; C Carlos Martinez assigned to AA Mississippi from AAA Gwinnett; C Hendrik Clementina placed on the temporary inactive list
Hendrik Clementina had been a great free agent pick-up, and had worked as the back-up to Shea Langeliers and as a designated hitter most of the season for Mississippi. Sadly, he had to return to his native Curaçao just as the playoff series began due to the death of his mother. Our sympathies go out to Clementina and his family.
Tromp is a good defensive catcher with some power, essentially replacing Alex Jackson in the up-and-down catcher role.
- 9/22/2021: RHP Touki Toussaint placed on bereavement list; RHP Edgar Santana placed on paternity list; SS Orlando Arcia recalled from AAA Gwinnett; LHP Dylan Lee selected from AAA Gwinnett
Dylan Lee has had a fantastic season with Gwinnett and was rewarded with a contract selection and a brief stay with the big league club. This also puts him on the 40-man roster for 2022 if the Braves elect to tender him a contract.
- 9/23/2021: C Ricardo Rodriguez activated from the developmental list for A Augusta; RHPs Alger Hodgson, Joey Estes, Brent Burgess, Austin Smith, Carter Linton, Tyler Owens, Chad Bryant, and Roddery Munoz, LHP Alex Segal, and OF Brandon Parker activated from IL for A Augusta
- 9/23/2021: RHPs Jose Montilla and Luis Mora, LHP Tanner Lawson, C Logan Brown, and IF Brett Langhorne activated from the IL for A+ Rome.
Procedural moves.
- 9/25/2021: RHP Edgar Santana activated from paternity list; LHP Dylan Lee optioned to AAA Gwinnett
Mazel tov to the Santana family!
- 9/25/2021: RHP Touki Toussaint activated from bereavement list, optioned to AAA Gwinnett; RHP Victor Arano placed on 7-day IL for AAA Gwinnett
Toussaint seems likely to come back to Atlanta before the end of the season. Arano’s IL stint was retroactive to September 24, so hopefully he’ll be able to pitch in one of Gwinnett’s final games.
Your Moment of Zen
Hey @Big_Popaa ! Describe this 2021 club? pic.twitter.com/OzLnS1YwWJ
— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) September 26, 2021
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