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
AUGUSTA:
Augusta’s first visit to Charleston this season unfortunately turned out a lot like the visits from last season, with the Greenjackets dropping five of the six games, needing a Sunday win to avoid the sweep. Augusta comes home this week to try to make up ground on first place Myrtle Beach.
Augusta’s best starting effort this week was turned out on Sunday’s win with JJ Niekro getting his first starting assignment and allowing only 1 run in 4.2 innings, striking out 6. Tyler Owens, Isrrael De La Cruz, and Rob Griswold backed him up with 4.1 scoreless innings, allowing 3 unearned runs and getting a 5-4 win to avoid the sweep.
Third baseman Geraldo Quintero went 6-for-18 on the week with two doubles to lead the offense, though he also committed two more errors at third to give him 10 on the season. Outfielder Brandol Mezquita went 8-for-25 with a triple and a stolen base and is now hitting .331/.403/.451 on the season; Mezquita has only failed to get on base at least once one time this year, back on April 12 and is riding a six-game hitting streak.
ROME:
The Braves got the first leg of their northern swing off to good start, winning the series against the Aberdeen IronBirds four games to two. They next head north to beautiful Hudson Valley, New York for six against the Renegades.
Righty Royber Salinas started out the week striking out 7 IronBirds but also allowing 4 earned runs as Aberdeen took game one by a 4-2 score. Rome came back the next night to win a 2-1 nail-biter that saw lefty Luis De Avila fire off 5 shutout innings backed by R.J. Freure, Davis Schwab, and Benjamin Dum out of the bullpen who only allowed one run on two hits collectively.
Aberdeen took game 3 by a 5-1 score, holding Rome to only 4 hits and tagging reliever Lisandro Santos for four runs. Rome then ran the weekend as the offense finally woke up. Lefty Dylan Dodd won OFR Pitcher of the Week honors with his 6-inning start on Friday, allowing no runs on only 3 hits to lead a 6-0 shutout with Justyn-Henry Malloy, Bryce Horne, and Javier Valdes all went deep. On Saturday right-hander Andrew Hoffmann scattered 8 hits and allowed 3 runs as the offense scored early and often to glide to a 8-3 win with Javier Valdes again homering. The Braves won Sunday afternoon despite Salinas giving up 4 runs in 2.2 innings in his bookend start. This could go down in Rome lore as The Vaughn Grissom Game as the shortstop went 3-for-4 with a double, homer, and a straight steal of home. Malloy also homered and the bullpen of Jake McSteen, Freure, Schwab, Dum, Dylan Spain, and Austin Smith patched together 6.1 shutout innings.
Cody Milligan continued to be an on-base machine, hitting .348/.444/.435 and scoring 6 times on the week. Before going off on Sunday, Vaughn had been mired in an 0-for-20 slump.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves had a home series against the Biloxi Shuckers this week and took four out of six to improve their record to 18-21 on the season. The M-Braves now head to Pensacola to take on the Blue Wahoos, who had most of their series this past week in Montgomery wiped out due to COVID.
Mississippi’s starting pitching started poorly this week as Jared Shuster was knocked out of his Tuesday start after retiring just two hitters, walking three, giving up two hits, allowing three runs and being removed after just 34 pitches. He rebounded nicely on Sunday during a win in which he gave up only one run over six innings and lowering his ERA to 2.14 for the season. Freddy Tarnok’s start went well for four innings before he gave up two solo home runs in the fifth inning and a two-run shot in the sixth in a no-decision. Tanner Gordon had a solid start where he gave up three runs over five innings while striking out seven. Darius Vines had another good outing where he allowed just a solo home run over six innings while striking out seven. Vines now has a K/9 of 10.9 for the season.
In the bullpen, Indigo Diaz had two scoreless appearances but gave up two walks in each of his one-inning outings. Justin Maese, Jake Higginbotham, and Tyler Ferguson all had three scoreless outings while Odalvi Javier had two of his own.
Outfielder Michael Harris rebounded from a subpar week in going 9-for-22 (.409/.480/.773) with 5 doubles in his first five games of the week to earn Position Player of the Week honors. In the fifth game, he also had a home run, a walk, and an outfield assist. Riley Delgado hit safely in all six games this week as he went 11-for-21 (.524/.583/.571) and scored five runs. Infielder Yariel Gonzalez was 8-for-21 with a double and two home runs while outfielder Jacob Pearson returned from Rome to go 5-for-15 with three doubles, improving his season OPS by 150 points over the course of the week.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers returned home this week to face the Memphis Redbirds. The Stripers bookended the beginning and end of the series with losses but won four straight in between to take the series and even their season record at 21-21. Now Gwinnett takes to the road to face the Norfolk Tides.
The starting pitching was generally good between the bullpen games that started and ended the week. Bryce Elder was quite impressive during his start as he struck out eleven and walked just one over seven innings. He did allow three runs, all on a sixth-inning homer, but came back out for the seventh and finished the start out in fine fashion. Huascar Ynoa’s start was significantly improved from recent efforts as he gave up three runs over 5.2 innings (all courtesy of two home runs in the sixth to finish off his start) while striking out nine. Kyle Muller gave up just two runs over five innings in his start although he gave up six hits and three walks while throwing 96 pitches. Touki Toussaint racked up a quality start with three runs given up over 6.1 innings, walking only two.
Among the relievers, Dylan Lee took over as Gwinnett closer this week and earned two saves while Brad Brach and Michael Tonkin each got one. R.J. Alaniz and Brandon Brennan each had two scoreless outings while Thomas Burrows gave up a run over 3.1 innings. Victor Vodnik struggled a bit with command but did not give up any hits or runs in two outings. Vodnik now has nine consecutive scoreless appearances over two levels to start out the 2022 season.
Outfielder Drew Waters hit safely in all four games he played in this week before leaving Saturday’s game after being hit in the elbow by a pitch. He sat out on Sunday and it is unknown when he will return. Shortstop Braden Shewmake was 5-for-18 on the week (four came in Saturday’s game) with a double, triple, and walks in four out of five games. Alex Dickerson has been getting some playing time in left field as of late and went 5-for-18 with two home runs and five RBI this week. Catcher Chadwick Tromp’s bat leveled out this week as he went just 2-for-16.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 5/15/2022: C Cesar Rodriguez assigned to A Augusta from extended spring training
Rodriguez spent time with Augusta in 2021 so presumably already knows where the Wendy’s and the Chipotle are.
- 5/17/2022: C Antonio Barranca activated from the 7-day injured list
Barranca brings to four the number of catchers currently rostered by Augusta.
- 5/17/2022: OF Justin Dean placed on the 7-day injured list (backdated to 5/16); OF Jacob Pearson assigned to AA Mississippi from A+ Rome; UT Cade Bunnell assigned to A+ Rome from AA Mississippi
Pearson was dropped down to Rome at the beginning of the month after struggling in April. Pearson only hit .231/.286/.308 for the R-Braves in 7 games. Bunnell played in 2 games for Mississippi, going 3-for-8 in two starts, but for now it appears the organization needs him in Rome.
- 5/17/2022: RHP William Woods placed on the 7-day injured list for AAA Gwinnett; RHP Victor Vodnik assigned to AAA Gwinnett from AA Mississippi; RHP Justin Yeager assigned to AA Mississippi from A+ Rome
With Woods out for some period of time with what is reported to be an ankle injury, the Braves moved up who had not been scored up in 7 innings out of the Mississippi bullpen, striking out 14. Yeager had been nearly as good with Rome, only allowing 1 run in 12 innings, striking out an impressive 27.
The Atlanta bullpen is showing signs of fraying after a slew of injuries stretching back to spring training, and it should not come as a shock if Vodnik is called up at some point this season.
- 5/17/2022: LHP Tucker Davidson recalled to Atlanta from AAA Gwinnett; LHP Tyler Matzek placed on the 15-day injured list (shoulder inflammation)
Matzek has been “off” pretty much all season, and it seems that the heavy post-season workload combined with the abbreviated ramp-up time this spring caught up with him. The loss of Matzek is a heavy blow to a bullpen that has yet to really reckon with the loss of Luke Jackson for the season.
Davidson’s first major league start of the season went very well as he delivered 5 shut-out innings. Davidson is the next in line to try to hold down the 5th-start spot after Huascar Ynoa, Bryce Elder, and Kyle Muller all fell short in their try-outs.
Your Moment of Zen
Don’t blink or you’ll miss it. @GrissomVaughn just STOLE HOME pic.twitter.com/LbdSOcnS0B
— Rome Braves (@TheRomeBraves) May 22, 2022
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