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.
Michael Harris Called-Up
The Atlanta Braves made two big decisions with a couple of their top rookies this weekend, calling up OFR #1 prospect Michael Harris II to the major leagues and moving right-hander Spencer Strider to the rotation. Strider will start tonight’s match-up in Arizona against the Diamondbacks.
Whenever a team calls up their top prospect its a big deal, but the circumstances around Harris’s promotion were even more interesting than typical. Harris had been one of the best hitters in the young minor league season, but he had been doing his work at AA Mississippi rather than at the AAA level. While AA-to-MLB promotions aren’t unheard of they are rare. The Braves rarely engage in it; even Ronald Acuna Jr. was given a few months of seasoning at AAA before his eventual promotion to Atlanta despite likely being ready for major league pitching while at AA. Even in the most successful AA-to-MLB promotions in Atlanta’s history — Andruw Jones, Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur — the players faced painful adjustment periods after experiencing initial success.
But nearly two months into the major league season, the Braves front office faced a conundrum with their outfield situation. Veteran Eddie Rosario went out of commission early with an eye problem and will likely not be back until July. Acuna’s return from his ACL tear came earlier than expected, but nagging strains and careful handling means that he cannot be counted on to man his right-field post every day. After initial success, Travis Demeritte fell into a harsh slump that saw him go 11-for-68 in the month of May before his eventual demotion back to AAA Gwinnett. But most likely what led to the promotion specifically of Harris was the problems in center field.
Adam Duvall was pressed into center field duty late last season after Acuna’s ACL injury, the release of Ender Inciarte, and Guillermo Heredia‘s poor offensive production and he filled the role far better than most could have hoped. The front office decided to press their luck and make Duvall the starting centerfielder for 2022. While Duvall continued to play the position well, it was clear that it was taking a toll on the 33-year-old’s legs and by extension his offensive performance. Duvall was only hitting .191/.263/.274 at the time of Harris’s promotion and manager Brian Snitker was already trying to find ways of moving Duvall out of center field. The Braves needed another outfield option, and that option had to be capable of playing a quality center field.
Looking at the minor league depth chart, that left three potential options: Harris and Gwinnett’s Delino DeShields Jr. or OFR #2 prospect Drew Waters. DeShields is a major league veteran who has hit .246/.327/.342 in 7 major league seasons, a mark he pretty much matched last year with the Cincinnati Reds. That would likely be what a team could expect of him again if he were called up and that quite frankly looks a lot like what a team could expect from Guillermo Heredia if he were given everyday playing time. Waters would be a potential higher-upside play, but Waters has been battling a series of injuries this season already and can not be counted on at this point to be able to play every day.
That left Harris as not only the highest upside option, but also the top defensive option among the group. So while the call-up took almost everyone by surprise, a clear look at all the options quickly reveals that he really was the only one. -AH
Weekly Round-Up
AUGUSTA:
Augusta came home this week to take on first-place Myrtle Beach and took it on the chin for the first four games of the series before rallying to win Saturday and Sunday to keep their record above .500 at 23-22. They will try to make hay at home against the Kannapolis Cannonballers this week.
Starting pitching has become an issue with the team in the wake of the promotion of Royber Salinas and the injury to Adam Shoemaker. The Jackets only got one outing of at least 6 innings this week, Sunday’s effort by right-hander Jordano Perez who only allowed 2 hits and 1 run over 6, striking out 5 to earn the win. J.J. Niekro made his second start of the season and had another solid outing, going 5.2 innings and scattering 7 hits, but avoiding walks and extra-base hits to only allow 1 run. A.J. Smith-Shawver had his second rough start in a row, giving up 6 runs (3 earned) without getting out of the 5th.
Having to carry those innings didn’t do the bullpen much good, but the Jackets got good efforts from righty Darling Florentino (2 games, 4.1 innings, 1 earned run), Estarlin Rodriguez (2 innings, 0 runs), and Peyton Williams (1.2 innings, 1 unearned run).
Third baseman Geraldo Quintero only went 4-for-21 on the week, but was the hero in Saturday’s win, going 2-for-4 with a 2-run homer that was the difference in the game.
ROME:
Rome concluded their northern swing of their schedule by splitting their 6-game series at Hudson Valley. Rome will return home this week to face division rival Bowling Green only 1.5 games back in the division with a 26-19 record.
The story of this series was the outpouring of offense from outfielder Landon Stephens, who rocked Hudson Valley with a 10-hit attack that included 2 doubles and 4 home runs, good for a .455/.539/1.091 batting line on the week. Stephens carried an otherwise pedestrian offensive effort this week. though infielder Beau Philip hit two critical home runs out of the four hits he collected this week. Second baseman/outfielder Cody Milligan only went 4-for-19 but still managed to get on base at a .423 clip thanks to drawing 7 walks. Through 39 games this season, Milligan has a league-leading .457 OBP and has drawn 36 walks against 33 strikeouts while his 35 runs scored paces the team.
Right-hander Royber Salinas was back to doing Salinas things, striking out 13 of the 20 batters he faced over 6 innings and only allowing 1 run on a solo homer on Saturday. Rome also got two quality starts from lefty Luis De Avila, going 6 innings apiece in the bookend starts, allowing only 1 run on 1 hit on Tuesday and 2 runs on 5 hits on Sunday. Righty Andrew Hoffmann won his start with a 6-inning effort, scattering 5 hits and only allowing only one run. Righty Jake McSteen picked up a win in relief with a 3 shutout-inning effort that extended into extra innings on Saturday.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves invaded Pensacola this week and, as they frequently do, had a big offensive series as they took five out six against the Blue Wahoos as they got above .500 for the first time this season and took over a share of first place in the Southern League South Division. Now the M-Braves return home to start a series on Memorial Day against the Montgomery Biscuits.
Alan Rangel was the bookend starter this week and had two terrific starts as he gave up just one run over five innings on Tuesday and two runs in six innings on Sunday to earn a win. Rangel struck out eleven and walked just two in his eleven innings of work. Jared Shuster had another excellent start as he gave up just a solo home run over six innings on Saturday to earn a win while he struck out eight and walked just one. Shuster lowered his season ERA to 2.06 with a 0.88 WHIP in nine starts. Darius Vines had another fine start as he gave up two runs over five innings while striking out eight and walking one. Vines finished May with a 3.49 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 28.1 innings. Tanner Gordon continued to get acclimated to AA hitting as he gave up just one run in six innings to earn a win. Freddy Tarnok had the roughest start of the week as he gave up five runs in just four innings in the M-Braves’ only loss of the series.
Justin Yeager led the way for the bullpen arms this week as he had three scoreless appearances covering 2.2 innings with a win while Justin Maese had two more scoreless outings and a save. Tyler Ferguson came into Thursday’s game in the ninth inning to close out a 13-2 lead…seven runs and only one out later, he gave way to Justin Yeager to finish out a 13-9 win. Indigo Diaz continued his up-and-down ways in giving up three hits and two runs (one earned) during his first outing but went three up, three down in his second one.
The M-Braves scored 55 runs over their six games with several significant contributors: Outfielder Michael Harris was 5-for-17 over four games (.294/.429/.353) before being called up to the big club, third baseman C.J. Alexander was 8-for-24 with three home runs, eight RBI, and two stolen bases, outfielder Andrew Moritz has a current nine-game hitting streak and was 8-for-22 with four doubles and eight RBI (.364/.462/.545), and outfielder Trey Harris was 7-for-14 with two doubles, two stolen bases, five runs scored, and, strangely enough, was hit by pitches in all four games in which he played. Drew Lugbauer was only 5-for-25 but had a double, two home runs, five walks, and nine strikeouts (.200/.333/.480). The star of the week, however, was catcher Hendrik Clementina, who was 12-for-16 (.688/.737/1.125) with a double, two home runs, five RBI, and seven runs scored and has now reached base in eleven straight plate appearances. On the other end of the performance spectrum, however, shortstop Luke Waddell was just 3-for-26 with five walks but only two strikeouts.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers hit the road this week to face the Norfolk Tides and, even though they only scored more than four runs once in the series, managed a split of the six-game set and kept their season record at .500 (24-24). The Stripers now head home to begin a series on Memorial Day against the Louisville Bats.
The starting pitching was a mixed bag during the week as Kyle Muller (5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K) and Huascar Ynoa (5 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 1 HR) had decent outings while Bryce Elder (4 IP, 3 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 1 HR) and Touki Toussaint (1.1 IP, 2 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, WP, E, HBP) were roughed up pretty badly. In Elder’s start, he left with the bases loaded and Brad Brach let in those three runs plus four more of his own in Tuesday’s loss.
The bullpen had several solid contributors, including Jesús Cruz, who struck out the side to earn a save in his only outing of the week before being called up to Atlanta. R.J. Alaniz gave up a solo home run but that was the only blemish in a week where he struck out ten and issued no walks over 4.2 innings. Seth Elledge continued to provide good work with two more scoreless outings and a save while Nick Vincent tossed three scoreless innings. Victor Vodnik’s scoreless appearances streak to start the season ended at ten as he gave up a run on Saturday but he still struck out five batters over 2.1 innings during the week.
Outfielder Drew Waters hit safely in four of the five games he played in during the week with four doubles (.278/.278/.500) but struck out eight times and did not draw a walk. Phil Gosselin continues to keep himself in the mix for a possible callup at some point as he went 7-for-17 with three doubles and a home run (.412/.444/.765) and is now batting .306 with an .871 OPS. Shortstop Braden Shewmake was just 1-for-19 with seven strikeouts and a walk. Outfielder Greyson Jenista had two home runs during the week but those were his only hits during a 2-for-15 series with nine strikeouts. Outfielder Delino Deshields Jr. was just 1-for-11 during the series but drew six walks and stole two bases.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 5/23/2022: LHP Dylan Lee recalled from AAA Gwinnett to Atlanta; RHP Tyler Thornburg designated for assignment
- 5/29/2022: RHP Tyler Thornburg released
Thornburg only threw 9.1 innings for Atlanta despite making the Opening Day roster. Even though Thornburg pitched reasonably well in the few opportunities he had, it was the clear the Braves had next to zero faith in his abilities. Rather than carry a pitcher they did not have faith in, they called up World Series veteran Dylan Lee, who had been pitching well with AAA Gwinnett.
- 5/24/2022: RHP Jorge Bautista assigned to extended spring training from A Augusta
Bautista’s first taste of full-season ball didn’t go quite the way he wanted as he allowed 9 earned runs in two outings totaling two innings, including a start. He heads back to Florida to work on things.
- 5/25/2022: Signed free agent RHP Kyle Wilcox to a minor league contract, assigned to extended spring training
Wilcox was originally drafted by Seattle in 2015 and made it as far as AA ball in 2019. Wilcox was injured and missed all of the 2021 season before becoming a free agent. Expect Wilcox to be assigned to A+ Rome or AA Mississippi after he gets up to speed in extended spring training.
- 5/28/2022: Atlanta selects the contract of OF Michael Harris II from AA Mississippi; options OF Travis Demeritte to AAA Gwinnett; OF Jefrey Ramos activated from the 7-day injured list for AA Mississippi
Ramos had been on the IL since May 11 but comes back to fill the space left by Harris’s move to the majors. While the space may be filled, there is no real replacing the impact Harris had in the M-Braves line-up.
- 5/29/2022: Atlanta selects the contract of RHP Jesús Cruz from AAA Gwinnett; options LHP Tucker Davidson to AAA Gwinnett
The story here is that the Braves seem prepared to put Spencer Strider in the starting rotation. Davidson’s last start was a solid 5 innings, 1 run outing against the Marlins, but after walking 13 batters in 15.1 innings and his next start scheduled to be in Colorado, the Braves decided to make a move.
Cruz is a former Cardinals farmhand who has a career 3.83 ERA in 213.2 minor league innings. He signed with Atlanta as a free agent shortly after the season started after being cut loose by St. Louis at the end of spring training. He had appeared in 11 games for the Stripers, striking out 20 in 12.2 innings with a 2.84 ERA.
Your Moment of Zen
This is how tonight’s Hudson Valley Renegades game ended in the tenth inning.
Yankees 2018 first round pick Anthony Seigler the batter. pic.twitter.com/idHxlrsolz
— Eli Fishman (@elijfishman) May 29, 2022
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