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
COMPLEX LEAGUES:
The DSL Braves are off to a hot start for the season, and are now 7-3. This week that got breakout performances from 3B Luis Sanchez (6-for-15, HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB, SB) and CF Roberto Gonzalez (9-for-24, 6 R, 2 3B, 5 RBI, 3 BB, SB). Top prospect Diego Benitez only had three hits on the week, but two of them were home runs and 6 walks gave him the fun .188/.435/.563 batting line. Left-hander Rolando Guitierrez pitched 3.2 innings in his start this week, striking out 6 of the 11 batters he faced.
The 4-6 FCL Braves got another strong start from right-hander Rainiery Rodriguez, who threw 5 shutout innings, allowing only 1 hit and striking out 5. Righty Jorge Bautista also had scoreless start, throwing 5 hitless innings. He followed that up with a scoreless relief outing on Saturday. Outfielders Ethan Workinger and Jair Casanova continued their hot starts to the season, with Workinger hitting safely in 9 of the 10 games he’s appareared and Casanova now hitting .345/.500/.414 on the young season.
AUGUSTA:
Augusta welcomed division-leading Charleston this week and managed a split after winning the first three games of the series and dropping the final three. They now head to Fayetteville with a 34-29 record, 10 games back of the now-first place Myrtle Beach Pelicans.
Right-hander JJ Niekro again had the best start of the week, throwing 5 shutout innings on Wednesday to get the ball rolling on a 4-0 Augusta shutout. Righty Tyler Owens closed out that game with 3 innings of 1-hit ball to earn a save the hard way. Righty Jordano Perez had his second scoreless start in a row on Thursday, throwing 5 innings and striking out 4.
The Greenjackets got some offense from some different names this week, with the standout being outfielder Brandon Parker, who went 6-for-16 with 2 homers. Adam Zebrowski was 4-for-13 with a double, triple, and homer. Caleb Durbin had an uncharacteristic week, only getting 2 hits, but both hits were home runs.
Augusta had to play most of the week without first baseman Mahki Backstrom and relievers Darling Florentino and Miguel Pena as they were suspended following a benches-clearing incident at Columbia the previous Saturday.
ROME:
If you like to see offense in baseball, Asheville, NC was the place to be this week. Rome took care of business, winning the series 4 games to 2 with the offense continuing to roll, outscoring the Tourists by a combined score of 75-50. The 35-28 Braves come home to face the team a game ahead of them in the standings, the Hickory Crawdads. They remain 3.5 games back of first-place Bowling Green.
The top of the Rome line-up has been good to great all season, but outdid themselves this week. Lead-off hitter Cody Milligan had 11 hits and 9 walks to post a .588 OBP, leading to an astounding 15 runs scored, and he even contributed his first home run of the season on Thursday. OFR Position Player of the Week Vaughn Grissom snapped out of a recent offensive lull with a vengeance, hitting .516/.559/.871 on the week which included two grand slams on Thursday. For good measure he also stole 3 bases and hit 5 doubles on the week. Third baseman Justyn-Henry Malloy hit 2 home runs of his own in that same game, which Rome won by a 22-1 score, on his way to a .429/.556/.762 week. First baseman Bryson Horne and outfielder Landon Stephens each also slugged two homers this week, with Stephens adding 10 RBI to take the South Atlantic League lead in that category.
Righty Andrew Hoffmann was the beneficiary of all that run support on Thursday but he didn’t actually need most of it as he threw 7 innings and allowed only 2 hits and 1 run off a solo home run. Righty Royber Salinas had a short outing on Friday, only getting 5 batters out before leaving after a key Beau Philip error and his own command issues did him in. Salinas still leads minor league ball with 102 strikeouts. Austin Smith and Jake McSteen continued their recent good work out of the bullpen with 2 scoreless outing apiece.
MISSISSIPPI:
The post-Michael Harris iteration of the Mississippi Braves continued to struggle as they dropped five out of six games at home to the Birmingham Barons. The M-Braves are now 4-14 over their last three series and are 6-14 since the promotion of Michael Harris to Atlanta. Their record is now 27-36 and are now in last place in the Southern League South Division with the worst run differential in the league at minus-36. The M-Braves now travel to Alabama to face the team just ahead of them in the standings, the Montgomery Biscuits.
Darius Vines was the Mississippi starter to get two outings this week and the results could not be more different. During his first start on Tuesday, Vines was hit hard early and often, giving up eleven hits, two home runs, and seven runs in just four innings. On Sunday, however, Vines commanded the zone very well as he tossed seven shutout innings in just 79 pitches, giving up just three hits while adding nine strikeouts to extend his Southern League-leading total to 89. Freddy Tarnok had his best start in some time as he gave up just one run over five innings while striking out eight and allowing just four baserunners. Jared Shuster (5.1 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 2 HR) and Alan Rangel (4.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) had rough starts but nothing compared to that of Tanner Gordon, who gave up nine runs while retiring just four batters.
In the bullpen, Odalvi Javier had two more scoreless appearances, extending his streak to seven. Meanwhile, Justin Maese had two scoreless outings and has given up just one earned run in seventeen appearances dating back to April 30th. Indigo Diaz was scored upon in two of his three appearances, including an extra-inning loss on Saturday in which he gave up two hits and threw two wild pitches in his only inning of work.
Outfielder Justin Dean had a big series with three multi-hit games during a .391/.517/.523 where he scored six of the M-Braves’ twenty runs for the week along with three stolen bases. First baseman Drew Lugbauer was just 3-for-19 with ten strikeouts and four walks. Jalen Miller hit safely in five out of six games during a .292/.385/.348 week.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers hosted the Indianapolis Indians this week and had a successful week, taking four out of the six games in the series and evening their season record at 33-33, tied for sixth place in the International League West Division, 6 ½ games back of first place. The Stripers now hit the road to Tennessee to take on the first-place Nashville Sounds.
OFR Pitcher of the Week Kyle Muller got the bookend starts for the rotation this week and he performed fabulously. In his first start, he gave up just one earned run in seven innings, allowing just four hits and no walks while striking out eleven. In the second, Muller gave up a three-run home run in the first inning but settled down after that, retiring nineteen in a row before leaving with two outs in the seventh inning (6.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 8 K). That’s not a misprint, Muller did not walk a hitter in 13.2 innings this week. Huascar Ynoa had a quality start, giving up three runs over six innings while striking out seven. Tucker Davidson battled command issues during his start (6.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, 56 of 100 pitches for strikes) while Bryce Elder was simply knocked around during his outing (5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K).
Gwinnett’s bullpen was highlighted by the debut of Touki Toussaint in a relief role after missing a couple of weeks. Toussaint tossed a perfect inning with a strikeout on just seven pitches. Michael Tonkin had three scoreless one-inning outings and a save while Seth Elledge struck out five over two perfect innings. Victor Vodnik only pitched once but had a scoreless inning while Jacob Webb did the same in his Gwinnett debut this season. Brandyn Sittinger, R.J. Alaniz and Thomas Burrows all contributed multiple scoreless appearances.
Infielder Kramer Robertson had a huge week for Gwinnett in the leadoff spot, batting .333/.500/.556 with five walks, an HBP, four stolen bases, a double, and a home run, while striking out just once in 24 plate appearances. Outfielder Drew Waters did not provide much offense until Sunday’s three-hit game but struck out just three times in 23 plate appearances. First baseman Mike Ford, recently claimed from the Mariners, made his Gwinnett debut this week and went 0-for-11 but had six walks. Infielder Ryan Goins, who has had a rough season offensively, was 7-for-11 this week with four RBI while OF Delino Deshields, Jr. was 6-for-11 with seven runs scored in just four games.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 6/14/2022: Placed 2B Ozzie Albies on the 60-day injured list (fractured foot). Purchased the contract of IF Phil Gosselin.
Albies broke his foot pivoting on an awkward swing. Oddly it’s the second time Albies had broken a bone swinging a bat after cracking the olecranon in right elbow while with the Mississippi Braves in 2016. For Gosselin, it’s a return to the club where he got his first major league action back in 2013, He had been Gwinnett’s most consistent hitter, batting .297/.358/.473 with 5 homers and 4 stolen bases.
- 6/14/2022: RHP Jose Montilla sent on rehab assignment to A Augusta
Augusta will need the reinforcement after two pitchers were suspended. It seems likely Montilla will rejoin Rome before long.
- 6/14/2022: RHP Samuel Strickland activated by A Augusta
Strickland had been on the injured list since May 6 and had been rehabbing in the FCL.
- 6/14/2022: 1B Mahki Backstrom suspended for 5 games
- 6/15/2022: RHPs Darling Florentino and Miguel Pena suspended
Backstrom was suspended for fighting in a benches-clearing incident in Columbia on June 11. Florentino and Pena were likely suspended for leaving the bullpen.
- 6/16/2022: Reinstated RHP Collin McHugh from the injured list; designated RHP Jacob Webb for assignment
- 6/18/2022: RHP Jacob Webb outrighted to AAA Gwinnett
McHugh had tested positive for COVID, but because he was vaccinated and boosted he only had to wait long enough to get two negative tests rather than wait the full 10 days. Webb returns back to Gwinnett after being traded and then waived by Arizona.
- 6/16/2022: C Rusber Estrada released; C Victor De Hoyos assigned to A Augusta from AAA Gwinnett
- 6/17/2022: C Dawson Dimon assigned to AAA Gwinnett from A+ Rome
Catcher shuffle. Estrada was a 24th round pick in 2018. The Powder Springs resident showed decent pop when given the opportunity but has only hit .196/.315/.321 in the minors in 550 plate appearances. Organizational catcher De Hoyos had been with the Stripers since May 10 but had not had an appearance. Dimon had appeared in one game for Rome, getting a hit in his only plate appearance, since joining the team on June 6.
- 6/19/2022: 1B Mahki Backstrom activated
Backstrom’s suspension was five days.
Your Moment of Zen
It's probably not a good idea to run on Hendrik Clementina tonight. 🚫 pic.twitter.com/xhHe6MZeVU
— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) June 19, 2022
Leave a Reply