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.
Braves Farm League Leaders
With the minors at the approximate halfway point of the season, here are the players among their league leaders (as of the end of June).
International League (AAA)
Batting Average: IF Phil Gosselin .297 (7th)
On-Base Percentage: IF Kramer Robertson .393 (3rd)
ERA: LHP Kyle Muller 2.96 (2nd)
Games Started: LHP Kyle Muller 13 (t7th)
Innings Pitched: LHP Kyle Muller 76.0 (4th)
Strikeouts: LHP Kyle Muller 99 (1st); LHP Tucker Davidson 69 (6th); RHP Huascar Ynoa 67 (8th)
Southern League (AA)
Batting Average: OF Michael Harris II .305 (5th)
Slugging Percentage: OF Michael Harris II .506 (8th)
wRC+: OF Michael Harris II 130 (8th)
Singles: IF Riley Delgado 44 (6th)
Doubles: OF Michael Harris II 16 (7th)
Home Runs: 1B Drew Lugbauer 15 (t2nd); 3B CJ Alexander 14 (t4th)
Walks: 1B Drew Lugbauer 39 (t6th)
ERA: RHP Jared Shuster 3.39 (7th)
Games Started: RHP Jared Shuster, RHP Darius Vines, and RHP Freddy Tarnok 14 (t2nd)
Complete Games: RHP Jared Shuster, RHP Tanner Gordon 1 (t1st)
Shutouts: RHP Jared Shuster 1 (1st)
Saves: RHP Justin Maese 9 (1st)
Games Appeared: RHP Tyler Ferguson 29 (1st); RHP Indigo Diaz 27 (t2nd); RHP Justin Maese 27 (t2nd); LHP Jake Higginbotham 26 (t6th); RHP Odalvi Javier 26 (t6th)
Innings Pitched: RHP Jared Shuster 71.2 (1st); RHP Darius Vines 69.1 (4th)
Strikeouts: RHP Darius Vines 86 (1st); Jared Shuster 82 (3rd); RHP Alan Rangel 75 (5th)
South Atlantic League (A+)
Batting Average: 2B/OF Cody Milligan .329 (3rd); 3B Justyn-Henry Malloy .300 (8th); SS Vaughn Grissom .297 (9th)
On-Base Percentage: 2B/OF Cody Milligan .458 (1st); 3B Justyn-Henry Malloy .396 (4th)
Slugging Percentage: OF Landon Stephens .509 (5th); 3B Justyn-Henry Malloy .494 (7th)
wRC+: 2B/OF Cody Milligan 162 (2nd); 3B Justyn-Henry Malloy 140 (4th); OF Landon Stephens 137 (5th); SS Vaughn Grissom 131 (7th)
Hits: SS Vaughn Grissom 80 (1st); 3B Justyn-Henry Malloy 70 (5th); 2B/OF Cody Milligan 69 (6th)
Singles: SS Vaughn Grissom 56 (1st); OF Drew Campbell 53 (2nd); 2B/OF Cody Milligan 48 (4th)
Doubles: 2B/OF Cody Milligan 17 (t5th)
Triples: 2B/OF Cody Milligan 3 (t7th); C Tyler Tolve 3 (t7th)
Home Runs: OF Landon Stephens 16 (3rd)
Runs: 2B/OF Cody Milligan 55 (1st); SS Vaughn Grissom 50 (2nd); OF Landon Stephens 43 (10th)
RBI: OF Landon Stephens 56 (1st); SS Vaughn Grissom 48 (4th); 3B Justyn-Henry Malloy 43 (7th)
Walks: 2B/OF Cody Milligan 49 (3rd); IF Cade Bunnell 40 (7th); 3B Justyn-Henry Malloy 38 (t8th); OF Landon Stephens 38 (t8th)
ERA: RHP Andrew Hoffmann 2.55 (2nd); LHP Dylan Dodd 3.72 (6th)
Wins: RHP Andrew Hoffmann 7 (t2nd); LHP Dylan Dodd 7 (t2nd)
Games Started: RHP Andrew Hoffmann 14 (t2nd); LHP Dylan Dodd 14 (t2nd)
Complete Games: RHP Roddery Munoz 1 (t1st)
Saves: RHP Austin Smith 6 (t5th)
Games Appeared: RHP Austin Smith 26 (1st)
Innings Pitched: LHP Dylan Dodd 77.1 (1st); RHP Andrew Hoffmann 74.0 (2nd); LHP Luis De Avila 63.0 (9th)
Strikeouts: RHP Andrew Hoffmann 82 (t5th)
Carolina League (A)
Batting Average: OF Brandol Mezquita .298 (8th)
Hits: IF Geraldo Quintero 71 (t4th); OF Brandol Mezquita 70 (6th); SS Cal Conley 68 (8th)
Singles: OF Brandol Mezquita 52 (4th)
Doubles: IF Geraldo Quintero 17 (t5th)
Triples: IF Geraldo Quintero 7 (t4th); SS Cal Conley 5 (t6th)
Home Runs: SS Cal Conley 10 (t5th)
Runs: SS Cal Conley 58 (2nd); IF Geraldo Quintero 50 (5th); IF Caleb Durbin 45 (t10th)
RBI: IF Caleb Durbin 42 (t8th)
ERA: RHP J.J. Niekro 2.11 (3rd)
Wins: RHPJ.J. Niekro 7 (3rd)
Saves: RHP Rob Griswold 5 (t3rd)
Games Appeared: RHP Rob Griswold 21 (t4th)
Innings Pitched: RHP J.J. Niekro 68.1 (1st)
Strikeouts: RHP A.J. Smith-Shawver 75 (t7th)
Weekly Round-Up
COMPLEX LEAGUES:
Shortstop Diego Benitez had a good week for the DSL Braves, hitting .286/.375/.357, scoring two runs and knocking in another four. Right-hander Jhancarlos Lara had his best start of the season to date, giving up 1 unearned run in 3 innings against the Marlins.
Down in North Port, left-hander Adam Shoemaker continues to press his case for a move back up to Augusta, allowing 1 run on 4 hits while only needing 28 pitches to get through five innings against the Orioles. Righty Andres Sanchez, recently called up from the DSL, impressed with a scoreless 3-inning relief outing.
The FCL Braves struggled to score runs, only crossing the plate as a team 9 times as a team. Shortstop Francisco Floyd went 5-for-17, and outfielder Ethan Workinger has a 4-game hitting streak.
AUGUSTA:
Augusta was swept at home by their top rivals the Columbia Fireflies to drop their second-half record to 2-7, putting themselves in a deep hole for a playoff berth. The Jackets will travel to Charleston this week.
Infielders Geraldo Quintero and Cal Conley each homered twice this week, but overall the offense was stymied by Columbia pitching who struck out an average of over 8 Greenjackets per game.
Augusta starters generally had short outings this week. Staff ace J.J. Niekro had his worse start since joining the rotation in late May, allowing 4 runs in 5.2 innings. Nineteen-year-old AJ Smith-Shawver allowed 1 run in 4.1 innings, striking out 6. Righty Tyler Owens had two scoreless relief outings.
ROME:
Rome went on the road to Greenville and took 4 of 6 against the Drive to bring their second half record to 5-4. Rome outscored the Drive 37 to 16 for the series. They come home and start a six game series with Asheville today with a rare Monday game in order to celebrate Independence Day with a fireworks show.
Shortstop Vaughn Grissom stayed hot, going 10-for-22 on the week with two home runs to again earn OFR Position Player of the Week honors. He and outfielders Willie Carter and Landon Stephens all homered in the second inning of Rome’s 14-1 rout on Sunday. First baseman Bryson Horne went 10-for-22 himself, homering in Rome’s 2-1 win on Tuesday. After struggling the first two months of the season, Horne has now hit .340/.374/.596 in 23 games since the start of June. Infielder Beau Philip has struggled at the plate but this week went 7-for-22 with a homer.
With the Friday game postponed for rain, the teams doubled up on Saturday with a pair of 7-inning games. Left-hander Luis De Avila confounded the Drive in game one, throwing a 7-inning complete game no-hitter, striking out 9 and walking 3 with Grissom’s and catcher Javier Valdes‘s homers providing more than enough offense to win 5-0. De Avila’s no-no was the best of a good week all-round for Rome starters. Lefty Dylan Dodd allowed only 1 earned run in 6.2 innings, righty Andrew Hoffmann 2 earned in 5 inninngs, and Roddery Munoz allowed only 1 unearned run in 5 innings. Righty Royber Salinas struck out 7 while allowing 1 run in 5 innings, but that wasn’t enough to keep his minor league strikeout lead, dropping to 4th at the time of this writing.
Righty Isrrael De La Cruz had a strong week out of the ‘pen, striking out 4 in 3.1 scoreless innings over 2 appearances.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves had their best week since the promotion of Michael Harris by taking four out of six games in Biloxi to open the second half of their season atop the Southern League South Division. The M-Braves now return home to start a series on Independence Day against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.
Alan Rangel was the M-Braves’ starter to get two opportunities this week, mainly because he was knocked in the first inning on Wednesday (0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 HR, 35 pitches) and moved up to get more work in on Sunday, where he performed much better (5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K). Jared Shuster pitched well once again in his start on Tuesday, giving up just one run in 5.1 innings with eight strikeouts. Darius Vines had another tremendous start, tossing seven shutout innings on Friday night and allowing just five baserunners. Freddy Tarnok had his third good start in a row, giving up just two runs over five innings while striking out twelve, including the final seven batters that he faced. Tanner Gordon had a much-needed decent start (5.2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, 2 HR) on Saturday along with plenty of run support in an 18-4 victory.
In the bullpen, Tyler Ferguson had two perfect one-inning outings with four strikeouts and a save while Justin Yeager had three scoreless one-inning outings with seven strikeouts. Yeager has six scoreless appearances in a row with twelve strikeouts in those six innings. Odalvi Javier had two more scoreless appearances and now has not given up an earned run in his last eleven outings dating back to May 30th. Indigo Diaz had another hit-and-miss week with giving up a three-run home run in his first outing on Thursday but tossing a scoreless inning later in the week.
The M-Braves’ offense showed some life this week by scoring at least six runs in four of their six games including eighteen on Saturday. 2B-CF Cody Milligan contined to get on base at a nice clip (.417 OBP this week) since being promoted from Rome. 1B Drew Lugbauer had a huge game on Saturday with a double, home run, two walks, and seven RBI on his way to a .333/.478/.611 week. Catcher Hendrik Clementina had a .964 OPS with a double and two home runs this week while OF Andrew Moritz had three multi-hit games during a .389/.500/.389 week. Outfielder Justin Dean scored five runs in the 18-4 Saturday win and scored nine runs overall during his .320/.393/.360 week with four stolen bases. 3B C.J. Alexander halted his recent skid with two home runs and five RBI during a .292/.320/.542 week while infielder Riley Delgado had three multi-hit games during his .409/.409/.636 week. Cade Bunnell, who was called up mid-week to cover the sudden retirement of Tyler Krieger, went 6-for-16 with two doubles, a triple, a home run, and seven walks in just five games during a .375/.565/.813 week. Bunnell, who had a 39% strikeout rate at Rome this season, struck out just once in 23 plate appearances this week.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers finished off their two-week road trip in Norfolk this week by dropping four out of six games to the Tides. Gwinnett’s record dropped to 37-41, good for eighth place in the ten-team International League West Division, 10 ½ games out of first place. Gwinnett now returns home to start a series on the Fourth of July against the Charlotte Knights.
Tucker Davidson was the Gwinnett starter to get two outings this week and neither went well as he took the losses in both starts: in the first start, he gave up five runs in just 2.2 innings and 70 pitches. Davidson’s second start was marginally better as he gave up four runs in five innings, he struck out nine but also gave up two home runs. Huascar Ynoa’s overall numbers in his Thursday start weren’t great (6.2 IP, 2 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K) but he pitched spectacularly for the first six innings before giving up a run on a hit and three walks in the seventh before giving way to Brandyn Sittinger, Sittinger immediately gave up a grand slam to add three more runs to Ynoa’s total. Kyle Muller had his roughest star in a month (5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 2 HBP, WP) but muddled through with the help of a double play and even a triple play. Bryce Elder has a solid start in giving up just one solo home run in 5.2 innings in Saturday’s win.
In the bullpen, Tyler Matzek made two rehab appearances this week and was spectacular in both, pitching two perfect one-inning appearances with five strikeouts. Jay Jackson tossed a scoreless inning before being activated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Gwinnett. Touki Toussaint threw a perfect one-inning outing before being designated for assignment and traded to the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. Seth Elledge had two more scoreless outings this week and now sports a 1.80 ERA and 0.76 WHIP in 22 games this season. Michael Tonkin also had two scoreless appearances and has a 2.19 ERA and 1.05 WHIP in 24 games.
Outfielder Drew Waters was 5-for-21 on the week with a home run but also had seven strikeouts. Outfielder Eddie Rosario continued his rehab assignment by going 6-for-23 with seven strikeouts, four walks, and a double. Shortstop Braden Shewmake was 5-for-20 with a home run and a stolen base while OF-DH Alex Dickerson had three multi-hit games during a 7-for-17 week (.412/.474/.706).
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 6/27/2022: RHP Brad Brach placed on the suspended list for AAA Gwinnett
No word on what the infraction was.
- 6/27/2022: LHP Kris Anglin assigned to FCL Braves from A Augusta
The left swingman had been hit hard his last several outings.
- 6/27/2022: 2B Tyler Krieger placed on the voluntary retired list for AA Mississippi
The infielder had just come back from a two-month IL stint including a rehab assignment.
- 6/27/2022: IF Kramer Robertson claimed off waivers by the New York Mets
Atlanta tried to sneak Robertson through waivers, but it didn’t work. Robertson had been Gwinnett’s best offensive player the prior two weeks.
- 6/28/2022: IF Cade Bunnell assigned to AA Mississippi from A+ Rome; 2B Brian Klein assigned to A+ Rome from A Augusta; 2B Eliezel Stevens assigned to A Augusta from FCL Braves
Krieger’s retirement created a conga-line of reserve infielders.
- 6/28/2022: RHP Kenley Jansen placed on 15-day injured list (irregular heartbeat); RHP Jesus Cruz recalled from AAA Gwinnett
Jansen has suffered from the condition before and come back without issue, but it’s still a scary diagnosis.
- 6/28/2022: LHP Alex Segal activated from the 60-day injured list by A Augusta
Atlanta’s 22nd-round pick from the 2019 draft comes all the way back after suffering an injury that cost him the entire 2021 season.
- 7/1/2022: Atlanta trades for RHP Silvino Bracho from the Boston Red Sox for cash considerations; options RHP Jesus Cruz to AAA Gwinnett
Bracho had pitched in parts of five seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks before spending the last two seasons in AAA for first the Giants then the Red Sox.
- 7/2/2022: Atlanta designates RHP Touki Toussaint for assignement; activates RHP Jay Jackson from the 60-day injured list and options him to AAA Gwinnett
This was a tough way the end the Braves career of the popular Toussaint, but the righty was apparently judged by the Braves as not as likely to help the team in the short term as Jackson or other relievers on the 40-man roster.
- 7/4/2022: Atlanta trades RHP Touki Toussaint to the Los Angeles Angels for cash considerations
Former Braves assistant GM Perry Minasian, now the GM of the Angels, picks up Toussaint, a player he his very familiar with. Hopefully a change of scenary will help Touki, who at only 26 years old still is briming with potential.
Your Moment of Zen
WHAT A CATCH!!@JustCallMe_Duce in foul territory with the sliding grab!! #SCTop10 @ESPNAssignDesk pic.twitter.com/3rD7BOQoqS
— Mississippi Braves (@mbraves) July 4, 2022
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