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:
A rainout and the schedule kept the DSL Braves to only 3 games last week and they went 2-1 to run their season record to 13-11.
Lead-off hitter Robert Gonzalez went 4-for-10 with 2 walks and a home run to pace the offense. He his hitting .299/.374/.471 with 3 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers, and 3 stolen bases on the season while playing errorless center field. Outfielder Douglas Glod, the number two prospect in the Braves 2022 signing class, made his pro debut this week, appearing in all three games and getting a hit in his first pro at-bat.
Starter Didier Fuentes pitched 4 shut-out innings and has a 1.45 ERA in his five starts on the season. Rained out of his start, Rolando Gutierrez followed Fuentes with 4 shut-out relief innings, showing no hangover after allowing his first earned run of the season the prior week.
The FCL Braves had a fun 11-10 win over the Pirates on Thursday but were then shut out in back-to-back games by the Rays. Right-hander Jorge Bautista threw five solid innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits. Lefty Kris Anglin allowed a run on five hits in his first start since dropping down from Augusta. Right-hander Jasseel De La Cruz made an appearance on rehab assignment, his first game action since May 13. He faced four batters, walking two and striking out two.
Infielder Luis Moreno in his first pro season is starting to find his way at the plate, going 6-for-19 with a triple after going 1-for-33 to start the season.
AUGUSTA:
Augusta dropped four of five in rainy Charleston this week, with Sunday’s series finale rained out after they were able to finish Saturday’s suspended game up earlier in the day. The Greenjackets have dropped to last place in the division with a meager 3-11 second half record, already 7.5 games back.
It looked like the Jackets would ruin Charleston’s 4th of July fireworks on Monday after they scored early and often to go up 7-0 by the middle of the 4th. A bullpen implosion by right-handers Rolddy Munoz and Miguel Pena however allowed in 10 runs in the 7th and a 9th-inning rally came up just short with the the RiverDogs winning 11-10 and putting a pall over the rest of the series for Augusta.
Augusta’s best starting pitching performance came in the team’s one win on Friday, with righty Luis Vargas striking out 10 and allowing only 1 run on 3 hits to lead the team to a 6-2 victory. Righty J.J. Niekro bounced back from his first poor start last season the prior week to scatter 7 hits over 5 innings in that Independence Day effort, only allowing 1 run and leaving with a 7-1 lead. Righty Jordano Perez struggled in his start this week, allowing 3 runs and only getting four outs before Rainiery Rodriguez relieved him and allowed only an unearned run in his 4.2 inning piggyback outing.
Outside of that blow-up inning on Monday, the bullpen was actually fairly solid. Ronaldo Alesandro, Tyler Owens, Peyton Williams (including a bullpen-game start on Sunday), and Alex Segal all went unscored upon this week.
Outfielder Brandon Parker has been on a hot streak the last couple weeks, and this time he earns OFR Position Player of the Week for going 6-for-13 with 4 walks, a double, 2 homers, and 7 RBI. The part-time outfielder has hit .321/.446/.528 since mid-June and would seem to be in line for more playing time. Outfielder Brandol Mezquita was on base 12 times last week for a .522 OBP and stole 3 bases.
ROME:
Rome starting pitching was dominant last week at home versus the Asheville and the Braves swept the Tourists in the 6-game set, pushing the team to first place in the division standings. Rome will host arch-rivals Bowling Green this week, the team closest on their heals, starting the series 1.5 ahead of the Hot Rods.
Starting pitchers only gave up 4 runs all week, and two of them were given up by OFR Pitcher of the Week Dylan Dodd, one each in his bookend starts. On Independence Day he threw 5 no-hit innings, the one run coming in on a walk, a stolen base, and a throwing error by third baseman Justyn-Henry Malloy. Dodd would win both of his starts with scores of 2-1 and 3-2, giving up only 2 hits, 3 walks, and striking out 18. Right-handers Andrew Hoffmann, Roddery Munoz, and Royber Salinas would also make hay against Asheville, each of them tossing nearly carbon-copy starts of 6 innings and no runs allowed. Munoz and Salinas each struck out 9 batters, and Hoffmann struck out 8 before finding out he was being promoted the AA Mississippi.
Relievers Austin Smith (3 appearances, 3.1 innings, 0 runs), Alec Barger (2 appearances, 2.1 innings, 0 runs), Benjamin Dum, and Trey Riley (2 scoreless innings apiece) were particularly stingy this week.
A team can’t win games without scoring runs however, and Rome scored 39 this week. The usual suspects lead the way with shortstop Vaughn Grissom hitting .350/.519/.450 and scoring 7 times while Justyn-Henry Malloy also scored 7 runs while starting the last three games of the series in left field. Given his defensive difficulties at third and the relatively fewer outfield options in the system, there would be a path forward for Malloy if he can take to the position. Catcher Tyler Tolve only got two hits on the week but he made them count, getting one of the two runs on the 4th of July with a solo shot, and scoring the second run of an 11-0 blow-out on Saturday with another. First baseman Bryson Horne continued his recent good work at the plate, going 7-for-20, while outfielder Drew Campbell has been on a upswing of his own, this week going 9-for-25. Overall he is hitting .316/.374/.421 since the middle of June while playing a solid center field.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves continued their recent hot streak by taking four out of six at home against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, bringing their second-half record up to 8-4 for a share of first place in the Southern League South Division. The M-Braves now continue their homestand against the Rocket City Trash Pandas, who are making their first trip to Trustmark Park in their current incarnation.
The M-Braves pitching staff did a tremendous job this week, giving up just nineteen runs over six games with Jared Shuster (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) and Freddy Tarnok (6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K) leading the way among the starters. Darius Vines pitched spectacularly for the first five innings of his start before fading late again but still left with good overall numbers (5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 10 K). Vines leads the Southern League in strikeouts (99) and innings pitched (82.0). Tanner Gordon (4 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) and Alan Rangel (3.1 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K) did not fare as well during their starts.
In the bullpen, Odalvi Javier had three more scoreless appearances and now has not given up an earned run in his last fourteen outings dating back to May 30th. Tyler Ferguson, Jake Higginbotham, Justin Yeager, and Indigo Diaz each had two scoreless appearances during the week.
Third baseman C.J. Alexander had four multi-hit games during a .391/.417/.609 week with two doubles, a home run, and four RBI. Infielder Cade Bunnell continued to impress during his short stint at Mississippi by going 5-for-14 with four walks and a home run, albeit with seven strikeouts. First baseman Drew Lugabuer was 4-for-19 but had a double, two home runs, four walks, and an HBP to go along with twelve strikeouts (.211/.348/.579). Outfielders Cody Milligan (4-for-22) and Justin Dean (2-for-17, HR, 10 K, 3 BB) had rough weeks as the top two hitters in the batting order.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers started a two-week homestand this week against the Charlotte Knights. Behind a pitching staff that allowed just thirteen runs in six games, the Stripers took four out of six games to raise their record for the season to 41-43. Gwinnett’s record dropped to 37-41, good for sixth place in the ten-team International League West Division, twelve games out of first place. Gwinnett continues their homestand this week against the Durham Bulls.
None of the Gwinnett starting pitchers allowed more than three runs during their outings this week, led by Bryce Elder’s eight-inning effort on Saturday (8 IP, 6 H. 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K). Kyle Muller had one bad inning during his start but recovered to go seven innings while allowing just two runs on six hits while striking out eight and walking no one. Tucker Davidson produced a solid five-inning effort where he gave up just one run, but Huascar Ynoa was not so fortunate as he gave up two runs in 4.1 innings and 86 pitches.
Gwinnett’s bullpen had a tremendous week, giving up just two runs in 20 2/3 innings, both coming on a home run given up by Seth Elledge on Wednesday. Jacob Webb had three perfect one-inning outings including a save. Jay Jackson, Jesus Cruz, Victor Vodnik, and Michael Tonkin all registered multiple scoreless appearances.
The Gwinnett did just enough this week to take advantage of the tremendous effort of the pitching staff although they scored just nineteen runs over the six games. Outfielder Drew Waters was just 3-for-19 on the week with a double with seven strikeouts, three walks, and two stolen bases. Outfielder Preston Tucker was 4-for-10 with a double, home run, and three RBI while Delino Deshields, Jr. was 3-for-10 with five walks and two stolen bases.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 7/4/2022: OF Eddie Rosario activated from the 60-day injured list by Atlanta; 1B Mike Ford optioned to AAA Gwinnett
- 7/4/2022: LHP Tyler Matzek activated from the 15-day injured list by Atlanta; RHP Silvino Bracho designated for assignment
Two playoff heroes return to the team.
- 7/4/2022: OF Jefrey Ramos placed on the 7-day injured list for AA Mississippi
This is the second IL stint this season for the 23-year-old slugger.
- 7/4/2022: C Dawson Dimon assigned to AAA Gwinnett from FCL Braves
Your weekly Dawson Dimon transaction sees him head back to CoolRay Park. He has appeared on the Braves transaction page more times (5) that he has played in games in the organization (4).
- 7/5/2022: IF Leonel Callez traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the Atlanta Braves and assigned to the FCL Braves
No word on what what sent to Toronto, I assume cash.
- 7/5/2022: RHP Chad Bryant assigned to the FCL Braves from A Augusta
Bryant had been on a rehab assignment with the FCL Braves, and he stays there for now.
- 7/6/2022: RHP Silvino Bracho outrighted to AAA Gwinnett
Bracho remains in the Braves system so he can unpack his bags for a little while after jumping four organizations in the last nine months.
- 7/6/2022: RHP Roel Ramirez assigned to AAA Gwinnett
Ramirez was signed as a free agent out of the Mexican League in late June. Ramirez was an 8th-rounder in 2013 by Tampa Bay. He went to the Cardinals as part of the Tommy Pham 2018 deadline deal and got short cups of coffee in 2020 and 2021 before being designated for assignment. He finished the season in the Mets organization, and has been pitching in Mexico until June.
- 7/6/2022: 1B Makhi Backstrom placed on the 7-day injured list by A Augusta
Backstrom was hit by a pitch on July 3. He initially stayed in the game and even had another plate appearance, but was replaced later in the game.
- 7/7/2022: RHP Brandon Brennan released by AAA Gwinnett
Signed as a minor league free agent with major league experience, Brennan was a disappointment with Gwinnett, pitching to a 6.91 ERA in 24 appearances.
- 7/8/2022: OF Adam Duvall placed on the paternity list; 1B MIke Ford recalled from AAA Gwinnett
Nine months after winning a world championship, Duvall and his wife will welcome home their second child.
- 7/8/2022: RHP Freddy Tarnok assigned to AAA Gwinnett from AA Mississippi; RHP Andrew Hoffmann assigned to AA Mississippi from A+ Rome
After a tough start to the season Tarnok has been very good over his last 6 starts, pitching to a 1.90 ERA and allowing a .195/.278/.287 batting line against him. Hoffmann hasn’t allowed more than 3 earned runs in a start all season and has also been particularly stingy in his last 6 starts, pitching to a 1.59 ERA with a .193/.242/.294 batting line against him.
Your Moment of Zen
DREW CAMPBELL GOES FULL EXTENDO TO TAKE AWAY A HIT!
Get this man on @SportsCenter @DrewCampbell_1 | #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/XB3NF73fAt
— Rome Emperors (@GoEmperors) July 6, 2022
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