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:
The Greenjackets took four of six from the Kannapolis Cannonballers this week to improve their record to 27-24. They remain in third place in the standings, nine games back of Myrtle Beach with a road trip to Columbia next on the schedule.
Augusta’s cobbled together starting rotation was without prospect A.J. Smith-Shawver. Lefty Kris Anglin made his third and longest start of the season, going 5 one-hit, shut-out innings on Tuesday as the Jackets scored early and often for a 10-4 win. On Wednesday, Luis Vargas struck out 9 in 6 innings but allowed 4 runs, and shaky bullpen undermined a determined offensive effort for a 6-7 loss.
Augusta would then peel off three wins in a row. Landon Leach, Tyler Owens, Rolddy Munoz, and Rob Griswold would combine on a 5-hit shutout on Thursday, winning 4-0. J.J. Niekro would post his longest of three starts on the season on Friday, allowing only 2 runs in 7 innings while catcher Rusber Estrada provided enough offense by himself with 2 home runs that drove in 3 to power a 5-3 win. Saturday night was a wild game as Kannapolis got off to a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning off starter Jordano Perez, but Augusta stormed back with 4 in the 3rd inning on a Adam Zebrowski solo homer, a two-run double from Brandol Mezquita, and an RBI triple from Stephen Paolini. After Paolini scored on a wild pitch, first baseman Mahki Backstrom homered to post Augusta up 6-3. Shortstop Cal Conley would homer in the 5th to make it 7-3, but Kannapolis would peck away until righty Estarlin Rodriguez came on in the 8th to slam the door for a six-out save.
Sunday was a bullpen games as reliever James Acuna got the start, going 2.1 no-hit innings, but the pitching failed in the middle innings and Augusta’s 5-hit attack wasn’t enough to overcome, losing 3-5 to cap off the series.
Paolini had a good week overall, going 7-for-15 on the week with 2 walks and only 3 strikeouts. Augusta’s most consistent offensive producer this season has been utility infielder Caleb Durbin, and he continued that trend with a 6-f0r-13 week with 6 walks and 5 RBI.
ROME:
Rome went into this week’s home series versus division-leading Bowling Green only 1.5 games back and hoping to gain ground, but ended up dropping 4 of 6 games and dropping in third place in the division, now 3.5 games back with a 28-23 record. Rome will try to recover at home, hosting the Wilmington Blue Rocks for the first time.
The week got off on a splendid start however with righty Roddery Munoz throwing the best start of his young career, allowing only 1 bunt hit in 6 innings while striking out 7 and walking none. Cade Bunnell hit a 2-run dinger in the 5th to get Rome on the board, and the Braves would get four more runs in the 8th on RBI singles by Vaughn Grissom and Beau Philip to break the game open.
Rome would drop Wednesday’s game 4-1 despite a good start from left Dylan Dodd, who would allow 2 unearned runs thanks to a 1st inning throwing error by Vaughn. Justyn-Henry Malloy would get one run back on a solo homer in the 6th, but Bowling Green iced the game away with two more runs in the 9th. Righty Andrew Hoffmann pitched Rome to their other win of the series on Thursday, striking out 8 in 5 innings while only allowing 4 hits and 1 run. First baseman Bryson Horne had his first of two big games this series, getting an RBI single in the first to give Rome and early lead, and RBI double in the 3rd to extend it, and then a solo homer in the 8th to provide Rome with just enough margin for the 5-4 victory.
The Braves dropped game four 3-2 on Friday, despite a solid 5-inning start by Royber Salinas, with three Rome errors leading to two unearned runs in the game. Justyn-Henry Malloy homered for Rome. The presence of Marvel Comics’ Thor was not enough to power the Braves on Saturday as they dropped 10-3, Bowling Green chasing starter Luis De Avila in the 5th after he gave up 10 hits and 7 runs (5 earned). This was despite the best efforts of Horne, who had an RBI single in the 1st and a solo homer in the 4th. Rome dropped the series finale in 6-5 in 10 innings on Sunday despite getting 5 shutout innings from emergency starter Lisandros Santos. Malloy hit his third home run of the series, a solo shot in the first inning, and would later drive in a run on a sac fly. In a recurring theme for the week, Rome was let down by defensive miscues, including two Cody Milligan throwing errors and a passed ball by catcher Tyler Tolve to allow Bowling Green’s go-ahead run in the 10th.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves got an early start to their home series against the Montgomery Biscuits, beginning on Memorial Day Monday. Unfortunately, this did not benefit them on the field as they dropped five out of six games, winning only on Thursday in a 4-3 tenth-inning walk-off victory. The M-Braves now take their 24-27 record on the road for their first meeting against the Rocket City Trash Pandas since their relocation from Mobile.
Mississippi did not get any standout starts from the rotation this week but did get several solid efforts: Tanner Gordon tossed five shutout innings before leaving after 86 pitches, Alan Rangel gave up just one run over four innings and struck out nine before leaving after 85 pitches, while Darius Vines gave up three runs over five innings while striking out seven. Curiously, Vines did not walk anyone but threw three wild pitches and hit a batter. Freddy Tarnok had another rough start, breezing through three innings before leaving after five singles and a walk during the fourth inning, leading to six runs. Jared Shuster had his second bad start of the season, allowing six runs in 2.2 innings, walking three and throwing two wild pitches.
The bullpen had a tough week but there were several standouts: Odalvi Javier had three scoreless outings covering 3.2 innings, Troy Bacon allowed just one run in four innings of work and earned the only win on the week, Coleman Huntley tossed 4.2 scoreless innings while striking out nine, and Indigo Diaz had a very good week with three one-inning scoreless outings, striking out the side on two of those occasions.
The M-Braves started their first full week of the post-Michael Harris era by only scoring 22 runs in their six games. 1B Drew Lugbauer did his part, going 8-for-24 with a double, two home runs, and four RBI (.333/.385/.625). 3B C.J. Alexander went just 6-for-22 but had two doubles and three solo home runs (.273/.360/.773) while Jalen Miller was 5-for-20 with four walks and an HBP (.250/.400/.400). Defending OFR Position Player of the Week Hendrik Clementina could not replicate his previous week’s magic, going just 4-for-21 with ten strikeouts.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers returned home to start a series with a rare Monday tilt on Memorial Day against the Louisville Bats. The Stripers took the first three games of the series but dropped the final three, scoring just five runs, to keep their overall record at .500 for the season (27-27). Gwinnett now heads to Florida for a series against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.
Bryce Elder got the bookend starts for the rotation this week, pitching eight brilliant shutout innings on Monday in a win and continuing with six great innings on Sunday before giving up four runs during the seventh inning in a loss (14.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 11 K). Kyle Muller had a terrific start on Wednesday, giving up just one run over seven innings while allowing just five baserunners while striking out eight. He was also quite efficient, throwing 72% of his 93 pitches for strikes. Tucker Davidson performed almost as well, giving up just two runs over seven innings and walking no one while striking out eight. Huascar Ynoa was not as efficient in throwing 97 pitches in five innings but gave up just one run on two hits and striking out four.
The bullpen had a rough week with Michael Tonkin being the sole reliever to have multiple outings with no earned runs. Victor Vodnik’s overall line wasn’t good over two games (2.2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K) but in his second appearance, his first inning went three up, three down, but in his second inning of work, he gave up two doubles and a walk during the five hitters he faced.
The Gwinnett offense went cold this week as they scored just twenty runs in six games with eight of those coming on Wednesday. Phil Gosselin was the only Striper to record more than five hits during the week (7-for-19, .368/.429/.421). Outfielder Drew Waters continued to struggle in going 2-for-19 although he struck out just four times. Waters is now batting .253 with a .681 OPS for the season. Shortstop Braden Shewmake was just 4-for-21 with no extra-base hits or walks. OF-DH Alex Dickerson was 5-for-18 with two doubles and a home run while OF Travis Demeritte appeared in one game after being optioned from Atlanta, going 1-for-4 with two runs scored. Infielder Joe Dunand, who was claimed on waivers from Miami earlier in the week, appeared in two games, going 1-for-7 with an RBI.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 6/1/2022: Atlanta claims SS Joe Dunand off waivers from the Miami Marlins, assigns him to AAA Gwinnett; C Manny Piña transferred from the 10-day to 60-day injured list
Dunand was a 2nd-round pick by Miami in 2017. He has hit .236/.308/.366 in five minor league seasons, and got called up to the big leagues after a rash of injuries hit the Miami infield. He was DFA’d to make room on the 40-man roster on May 29. The 26-year-old Dunand is the nephew of former Ranger great Alex Rodriguez.
- 6/1/2022: Atlanta signs LHP Rolando Gutierrez, C Alexander Martinez, and SS Leiker Figueroa to minor league contracts; assigns to DSL Braves
These three amateur free agents were reported as having come to terms with the team back in January, so it can probably be assumed that they formalized their signing as they reported to the team’s complex in Santo Domingo.
- 6/4/2022: OF Justin Dean activated from 7-day injured list for AA Mississippi
Mississippi could use the outfield reinforcement after the Michael Harris promotion.
- 6/5/2022: Atlanta claims 2B Kramer Robertson off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals, assigns him to AAA Gwinnett; OF Eddie Rosario transferred from the 10-day to 60-day injured list
The Braves are going Pokémon on middle infielders, trying to catch them all. Robertson was 4th-rounder by the Cards in 2017 out of LSU. Gwinnett now has six middle infielders at the time of this writing — Robertson, Dunand, Ryan Goins, Phil Gosselin, Hernán Pérez, and prospect Braden Shewmake.
Your Moment of Zen
DREW LUGBAUER!! A WALK-OFF WINNER FOR MISSISSIPPI IN THE 10TH!! @DrewLugs pic.twitter.com/GzdBsxGGaL
— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) June 4, 2022
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