Outfield Fly Rule

Monday Braves Farm Report, 8/8/2022

August 8, 2022 Andy Harris Atlanta Braves, Minor Leagues 0

RHP Freddy Tarnok is off to a good start as a Striper. (MiLB.com)

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.

Check out the OFR Farm Report later this week for our trade deadline reactions.

Weekly Round-Up

COMPLEX LEAGUES:

The DSL Braves went 3-2 this week to run their record to 26-18, good for 12th place and 7.5 games back in the 50-team league.

As has been typical, the starting pitching was strong, especially from right-hander Jhonly Tavares, who became the first pitcher on the team this season to go 6 innings in an outing, allowing only two hits and one unearned run. Righty Anthony Garcia nearly matched him, going 5 innings and only allowing one hit and one unearned run. Catcher Alexander Martinez homered while outfielder Douglas Glod went 3-for-8 with 2 doubles.

The FCL Braves roster expanded this week to welcome a slew of new draftees and non-drafted free agents. Catcher Drake Baldwin got off to a quick start at the plate, going 3-for-8 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI in three games. Top 2021 international signee Ambioris Tavarez made his pro debut after recovering from thoracic outlet surgery on his non-throwing shoulder. He went 5-for-14 with 2 doubles. On the pitching side, 11th-rounder Ian Mejia made his pro debut with a scoreless inning.

AUGUSTA:

The Greenjackets blew into Salisbury, Maryland and blew away the Delmarva Shore Birds, sweeping the six game series with an average score of 11-3. While Augusta remains in fifth place in the standings they improved to 16-18 and 5.5 games back. They next travel to Fredericksburg, Virginia for the first time to play the Nationals for six games.

Outfielder Connor Blair, who had been a part-time player and scuffling through most of the season, had a dream performance on Wednesday as the team’s designated hitter. Blair went 4-for-6 with two home runs and a bases-clearing double in the first to set the tone of the game. Blair would hit a third homer for the week on Saturday to go along with 4 walks and 4 runs scored for a nice, tidy .429/.619/1.214 batting line for the week with 8 runs scored and 10 runs batted in, earning his first OFR Position Player of the Week. Second baseman Eliezel Stevens essentially matched Blair everywhere except the home runs, going 9-for-16 with a homer, double, and 10 RBI himself. OF Brandon Parker continued his strong second half, going 3-for-9 with a homer and 5 walks. First baseman Mahki Backstrom went 7-for-23 with 2 homers, including a Sunday grand slam.

Left-hander Samuel Strickland earns OFR Pitcher of the Week by throwing 8 two-hit, shutout innings on Saturday, smothering the Shore Birds in a 7-1 win. Strickland struck out 11 batters and only walked one. In his last four starts, Strickland has allowed only a .178/.247/.233 batting line against him. Elsewise, Augusta’s pitching was picked up by the bullpen work, with closer Rob Griswold‘s 4.2 shutout innings over 2 appearances a stand-out.

ROME:

The Braves rudely welcomed the Greenville Drive this week and swept them out of the stadium by Sunday, improving their record to 25-11 and increasing their division lead to 2.5 games over Bowling Green. They’ll take the four-hour bus ride to Asheville this week to take on the Tourists.

Outfielder Jacob Pearson had a big week at the top of the Rome order, going 10-for-23 with 5 stolen bases. Since dropping down to Rome from AA in late July, Pearson has hit .293/.384/.414. Shortstop Cal Conley continues to be an extra-base machine, collecting a double, triple, and home run on the week while infielder Cade Bunnell was productive from the bottom of the order, going 7-for-15 with a home run and 8 walks on the week. Along with a hit-by-pitch, that put Bunnell on base at a .667 clip. Catcher Javier Valdes had a home run and went 5-for-11 in part-time duty, while newly signed undrafted free agent Nick Clarno introduced himself to his new teammates with a 2-for-4 performance on Saturday.

Rome continued with converting right-hander Dylan Spain to the rotation and he responded this week with two 3 shutout inning starts to bookend the series. Like Augusta, Rome’s pitching was paced by the bullpen work, with Jose Montilla, Davis Schwab, Malcolm Van Buren, Alec Barger, Trey Riley, Isrrael De La Cruz, and newly-promoted Alex Segal all throwing multiple scoreless outings.

Veteran right-hander Darren O’Day pitched one scoreless inning of relief for Rome on Friday, striking out one in a rehab outing.


MISSISSIPPI:

The M-Braves took it on the chin this week, only winning one of six from Biloxi at home. Now at 18-15 in the second half they drop to second place below Montgomery, two games back. They’ll head north to Sevierville, Tennessee to match up with the Tennessee Smokies this week.

The Braves could get much going offensively most of the week, with the top contributor being 9th-place hitter Andrew Moritz, who went 5-for-14 with a double and a triple, and 2B/OF/DH Jalen Miller‘s 5-for-15 week. Shortstop Vaughn Grissom only hit .240/.269/.360 on the week though he contributed his third AA home run on Sunday. Overall defensive play was sloppy, especially over the weekend, contributing to the team’s misfortune.

The team did get another standout pitching performance from right-hander Darius Vines, threw 7 innings on Thursday, allowing only 4 hits, 1 run, and 1 walk while striking out 9 to earn the team’s sole win of the week. Vines now owns a 1.48 ERA with 54 strikeouts against only 12 walks in his last 8 starts dating back to mid-June. Right-hander Dylan Dodd bounced back after a couple of tough outings to post a 6-inning, 2-run quality start. Right-hander Allan Winans provided a 4.2 inning start, only allowing a run in his second appearance with the club.

GWINNETT:

Going to Charlotte hasn’t been an easy trip for the Stripers this season and last week was no exception as they drop four games out of six against the Knights. Gwinnett is now 50-55 on the season, 13.5 games out of first, and heading to Nashville for a six-game set.

Shortstop Braden Shewmake went 3-for-9 this week with a home run on Saturday before having to be carted off the field after a violent collision with outfielder Travis Demerrite. Demeritte’s knee seems to collide with Shewmake’s shin. When Shewmake rose to chase after the ball, he immediately collapsed in pain when he tried to put weight on the leg, and he appeared to lose consciousness as he left the field.

International League veteran Taylor Motter joined the squad and made a good first impression, hitting three homers on the week while going 8-for-21. Two of the homers were slugged on Tuesday, including one on Motter’s first Striper plate appearance, to provide the difference in a 6-3 win. Infielder Joe Dunand had his best week as a Striper, going 5-for-12 with two doubles and his first home run since June 28. Outfielder Alex Dickerson also had a good week, going 8-for-20 with two doubles and a homer.

Right-hander Freddy Tarnok again had a good start, going five shutout innings, allowing only 4 hits. In his four starts since joining Gwinnett, Tarnok has a 2.08 ERA and a .171/.232/.329 battling line against him, though he only has thrown 21.2 innings. Left-hander Jared Shuster allowed 4 runs in six innings, with two of those runs coming on solo homers in that final inning. Lefty Kyle Muller returned to the mound this week after breaking a bone in his non-pitching hand on a comebacker on July 29. With a special device protecting the glove hand, Muller gave up 5 runs in 4.2 innings.

Right-handed reliever Kirby Yates made three more scoreless rehab appearances, including pitching on back-to-back days on Tuesday and Wednesday.

POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:

Augusta OF Connor Blair. (Mike Adams/Augusta Press)

PITCHER of the WEEK:

Augusta LHP Samuel Strickland. (via Instagram)

Transaction Round-Up

Freure was signed as a minor league free agent just before the season started and appeared in 22 games in relief for Rome. His 4.50 ERA masked a severe lack of control as he walked 20 batters in only 26 innings.

Smith had grown increasingly unreliable as the season progressed and since June 1 he had a 5.09 ERA with a .288/.384/.466 line against him. Houston will see if the former closer can regain the sharpness on his breaking ball, while Atlanta will use Odorizzi as rotation depth while Kyle Muller recovers from a broken hand in Gwinnett.

Grossman steps into the outfield gap created when Adam Duvall went out for the year with a torn tendon sheath in his left wrist. While Grossman’s overall performance has been unimpressive he continues to hit left-handed pitching well and will likely platoon with the left-handed Eddie Rosario in left field.

Anglin was a 16th-round selection in last year’s draft out of Howard College in Texas. The 20-year-old both started and relieved for Augusta earlier in the season but had been dropped down to the FCL Braves after posting an 11.17 ERA in four June starts. Anglin has a big, sweeping slider and represents an upside lottery ticket for the Tigers.

It hasn’t been often in the recent past that Atlanta has been the “getting” part of a salary dump trade, but that’s essentially what happened here. Iglesias is one of the top closers in the game, but is owed $48 million from 2023-25, funds that an Angels team looking to re-tool probably could use better elsewhere. While Iglesias will likely set up the more accomplished Kenley Jansen this season, it would not be surprising if he became the closer next season.

  • 8/2/2022: C Nick Clarno assigned to A+ Rome from FCL Braves

Clarno gets the quick jump to high-A to be the third catcher in Rome. Clarno had been playing with the Savannah Bananas of the Coastal Plain League, a collegiate wood-bat league, and at 24 years old actual fits in age-wise with the high-A level.

More new arrivals make their pro debuts. Baldwin was the top position player selected in the draft.

  • 8/2/2022: LHP Alex Segal assigned to A+ Rome from A Augusta; RHP Elison Joseph assigned to A Augusta from FCL Braves

We noted last week Segal’s strong performance for Augusta and suggested a promotion was likely. The Braves agreed and promoted him the next day.

This is Joseph’s second stint with Augusta. He was initially on the team’s Opening Day roster, but was overwhelmed in three early season appearances.

Jackson was recalled to fill the bullpen while awaiting Raisel Iglesias to report.

  • 8/4/2022: RHP Raisel Iglesias activated by Atlanta; RHP Jay Jackson optioned to AAA Gwinnett

And Iglesias reported.

  • 8/4/2022: 2B Robinson Cano outrighted to AAA Gwinnett; Cano elects free agency

The Cano experiment lasted 9 games, 26 at-bats, and 4 hits.

  • 8/4/2022: RHP Kyle Wilcox assigned to AA Mississippi from FCL Braves; LHP Hayden Deal placed on the 7-day injured list

Wilcox had been recovering from injury and had pitched in 4 games for the FCL Braves. He was signed earlier in the year on a minor league contract after he had previously spent time in the Mariners organization where he had climbed as high as the AA level.

McCabe has the most power of the draftees, and the Braves will not access if he can really play third base.

  • 8/5/2022: RHP Darren O’Day sent to rehab assignment to A+ Rome.

Assuming O’Day comes out of the rehab assignment healthy it’s unclear what his role will be in the Atlanta bullpen.

  • 8/5/2022: OF Landon Stephens assigned to AA Mississippi from A+ Rome; OF Justin Dean placed on the 7-day injured list for AA Mississippi

Mississippi had been light on outfielders after the Trey Harris trade, so when Dean went down they needed a replacement. They could do far worse than pluck Stephens from Rome, where he was second in the South Atlantic League in homers with 19 and leading the league in RBI.

  • 8/6/2022: LHP Danny Young claimed off waivers from the Seattle Mariners and assigned to AAA Gwinnett; RHP Jesus Cruz outrighted to AAA Gwinnett

Young is a 28-year-old lefty who was drafted in 2015 by the Blue Jays, then pitched in the Cleveland organization in 2021 before signing with the Seattle Mariners as a minor league free agent. His contract was purchased back in May and he he pitched two games with the big league club before being optioned back to AAA, then designated for assignment at the trade deadline.

The move adds another left-hander to the 40-man roster if necessary. Cruz had been up twice for Atlanta over the course of the season in short stints and pitched well, but has been unavailable since July 22 except for a poor outing on August 3 that saw him give up 4 runs and only retire one batter.

  • 8/6/2022: RHP Bryce Elder added as the 27th player for the doubleheader against the New York Mets
  • 8/7/2022: RHP Bryce Elder returned to AAA Gwinnett

Elder was brought up in case the Braves needed a reliever to throw some bulk innings. Unfortunately he was needed.

Rome gets more reinforcements directly from the FCL to fill gaps. They join Jose Dilone and Nick Clarno in that growing club.

Travis d’Arnaud was banged up following a collision at the plate on Saturday but is expected to play after the upcoming Boston series. Rather than putting him on the IL, the Braves for now have brought up Tromp to back up starter William Contreras. Heredia is sent down, but will still travel with the team as part of the taxi squad.

Ynoa was added to provide another bulk-inning bullpen arm if needed, with Anderson for now getting some time to work on the side until needed for the doubleheader in Miami. After that it’s likely Anderson will work in Gwinnett and the Braves will pitch newcomer Jake Odorizzi.

  • 8/7/2022: IF Hernan Perez activated from the 7-day injured list for AAA Gwinnett

Perez had been on the IL since April 28.

  • 8/7/2022: RHP Jasseel De La Cruz activated from the 7-day injured list for AAA Gwinnett. assigned to AA Mississippi from AAA Gwinnett

At least results-wise, De La Cruz’s 30-day rehab assignment with the FCL did not go particularly well, though results aren’t necessarily the most important thing. Triple-A has been brutal for De La Cruz so he will try to find himself with the M-Braves where he had good success in 2019.

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