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 tomorrow for more observations and insights.
Weekly Round-Up
COMPLEX LEAGUES:
The DSL and FCL completed the last full week of play last week.
As they have all season, the DSL Braves got quality pitching, lead this time by right-hander Davis Polo, who did not allow a baserunner in his 4-inning start on Wednesday, striking out 6. Polo was making his second start of the season after six relief appearances. Righty Anthony Garcia made his second consecutive start without allowing an earned run, going 4.1 innings and striking out 4.
In the FCL, infielder Eliezel Stevens didn’t allow a demotion from Augusta stop his run of good offensive performance has he went 4-for-11 in 4 games, knocking in 3 and stealing 2 bases. Outfielder Jair Casanova went 6-for-14.
Top draft picks Owen Murphy and JR Ritchie continued to impress in their early appearances. Murphy only needed 16 pitches to get through three innings, striking out 3 and allowing 1 hit. Ritchie pitched 2.1 scoreless, also striking out 3. Fifth-rounder Seth Keller made his first pro start, pitching 2 scoreless innings.
AUGUSTA:
Augusta hosted first-place Charleston for 7 games this week with a chance to make up ground in the division race but fell far short, dropping 5 of 7. Augusta is now 7.5 games back in the division with 18 games remaining.
Augusta was held to only 3 runs in the first two games of the series, both loses, then lost outfielder Brandol Mezquita on Wednesday to promotion. Fortunately, they picked up 2022 17th-rounder Kevin Kilpatrick from the FCL Braves and he went 5-for-14 on the week for the Greenjackets. Outfielder Kadon Morton homered twice this week, giving him 9 now on the season. First baseman Justin Janas and David McCabe continued their good work at the plate since arriving last week from the FCL, going 7-for-21 and 8-for-26 respectively.
The Augusta rotation is in a bit of a shambles at the moment following both AJ Smith-Shawver and Jordano Perez going on the injured list this week. Right-hander Luis Vargas, who has been Augusta’s most consistent starter this season, had a fairly typical Luis Vargas start, going 5.2 innings and giving up 2 runs in Augusta’s 4-2 win on Friday. Samuel Strickland put up a 5 innings start, giving up only an unearned run, but Charleston came back against newly-minted closer Tyler Owens for a come-from-behind win.
Hard-throwing righty Elison Joseph had two scoreless outings in relief spanning 3.1 innings. Since re-joining the Greenjackets on August 3, Joseph has made 6 appearances and allowed 1 run in 10.1 innings, striking out 9.
ROME:
Rome battled Greensboro and the elements this week, and the clear winner was the weather. The two teams split the four games they were able to get in. Fortunately for Rome, second place Bowling Green had a tough series and dropped another game and a half behind. Rome now is 31-15 with a 4.5 game lead with 18 games remaining in the season, which includes a pivotal six game series on the road to Bowling Green starting on Tuesday.
Rome took game 1 of the series after getting help from a rehabbing Mike Soroka, who in his first contested action since rupturing his Achilles tendon in August 2020 made the Grasshoppers look… well, like A-ball hitters. For the first three innings they swung over top of Soroka’s turbo sinker and curveball, with Soroka getting 8 strikeouts in 4 innings. Greensboro rallied against lefty Jake McSteen however and had a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the 9th, but Rome tied it to force extra innings, and finally came out ahead on a walk-off bases-loaded single by Caleb Durbin.
The next night Rome repeated the trick, getting a walk-off bases-loaded single in the bottom of the 9th from second baseman Geraldo Quintero. The biggest offensive contributor of the week however was infielder Beau Philip who went 5-for-13 over the four games played with a double, a pivotal home run on Wednesday, 3 RBI, 4 walks, and a stolen base.
On the pitching side, Rome got a quality start from J.J. Niekro, who tossed 6 innings, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks. Righty Royber Salinas was dominant in a 5-inning start on Thursday, holding Greensboro to 2 hits in five innings while striking out 5 and giving him 156 strikeouts on the season, now comfortably in second place among all pitchers in the affiliated minor leagues.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves returned to Trustmark Park this week to take on the Pensacola Blue Wahoos but had to deal with another nemesis: rain. The M-Braves had games rained out on three different nights but still managed to squeeze in five of the six scheduled games. In a mostly low-scoring series, the M-Braves eked out a 3-2 series win to stay in second place in the Southern League South Division, 5 ½ games back of first-place Montgomery.
The M-Braves received tremendous starting pitching this week as all five starters allowed just one earned run during their outings. Tanner Gordon allowed just three baserunners over five innings on Wednesday, Allan Winans threw a seven-inning complete game in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader while Alan Rangel tossed six innings in the second game, Roddery Munoz was much improved in his second Double-A start with 5.2 innings in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, including taking a no-hitter into the 4th inning, while Nolan Kingham wrapped up the week on Sunday with six innings of efficient baseball in the second game. In fact, the starting rotation did such a good job, the bullpen only had to cover 8.1 innings total for the five games played this week.
2B/OF Cody Milligan was 7-for-19 with a walk from the leadoff spot this week, outfielder Justin Dean was 3-for-12 with a double, four walks, and four runs scored, and Jalen Miller was just 1-for-6 over three games but had four walks and scored three runs. Cade Bunnell was 6-for-15 with two walks, two doubles and a home run while Drew Lugbauer was 4-for-16 with eight strikeouts but also three walks, two doubles, a home run, and four RBI.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers kicked off a series at home this week against the Nashville Sounds. Behind a solid pitching effort, the Stripers took five out of six from Nashville, improving their record to 58-59 on the season, sixth in the International League West Division, 13 games out of first place. The Stripers now head north to start a series against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs.
Gwinnett’s rotation was littered with familiar faces this week as the recently optioned Ian Anderson and rehabbing Mike Soroka made appearances for the Stripers. Anderson pitched well on Friday but encountered the same problems that plagued him in Atlanta, namely command (101 pitches in 5.1 innings, four walks) and trouble the third time through the order. Anderson did not allow any runs and got an assist from Thomas Burrows, who relieved him with runners on first and third with one out and put out the fire without any runs coming across. Soroka took to the hill on Sunday and did ok, tossing 3.1 innings, giving up six hits and two runs with no strikeouts and a walk. Soroka’s damage primarily came in the fourth inning when he was approaching his pitch limit of 60 (he left with 58). Kyle Muller’s first start since being returned from Atlanta went well as he gave up just one run over six innings, he allowed seven baserunners but had two double plays and a pickoff to help him get out of trouble. Huascar Ynoa’s start on Tuesday was brief as he lasted just three innings, he gave up just one run but was fortunate as he allowed four hits and three walks, leaving after 71 pitches. Bryce Elder’s first Gwinnett start after being optioned from Atlanta was below par as he gave up four runs over five innings with two home runs accounting for most of the damage. Jared Shuster had a solid start as he gave up two runs over six innings with only six baserunners. With an overcrowded rotation this week, Freddy Tarnok and Darius Vines were relegated to bullpen duty: Vines tossed three scoreless innings on Saturday while Tarnok gave up just one run in 3.2 innings on Sunday.
Roel Ramirez, Jay Jackson, Jesus Cruz, Silvino Bracho, and Jacob Webb each had two scoreless appearances during the week. The rehabbing Darren O’Day gave up only a home run to Juan Yepez in three one-inning outings this week.
Hernan Perez had quite a week to lead the Gwinnett offense, he was 11-for-22 with four multi-hit games, three doubles, a home run, three steals, eight RBI, and even an outfield assist (.500/.542/.773), more than enough to earn this week’s OFR Position Player of the Week honors. Catcher Hendrik Clementina’s second week at Triple-A went much better than his first as he was 3-for-9 with three walks, a home run, and six RBI including a grand slam on Sunday. First baseman Tyler White, who was acquired from Milwaukee earlier in the week, was just 1-for-10 but the one hit was a home run to go along with four walks and four RBI. Rehabbing infielder Ehire Adrianza appeared in two games, going 2-for-7 with a walk. Infielder Rylan Bannon, picked up off waivers from the Dodgers last week, was 3-for-10 with a double, five walks, and an HBP.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 8/15/2022: LHP Danny Young recalled from AAA Gwinnett; RHP Bryce Elder optioned to AAA Gwinnett
Young ended up getting the final eight outs of Monday’s 13-1 blowout win against the New York Mets, saving the bullpen for higher leverage work later in the series.
- 8/15/2022: RHP Bernie Orozco signed to a minor league contract
Orozco was an 18-year-old amateur signing. He made his pro debut on Thursday, facing four batters and giving up a hit, a walk, an HBP, and striking out another. Will from such seeds come greatness?
- 8/15/2022: RHP Troy Bacon released from AA Mississippi; RHP A.J. Puckett transferred to the Developmental List
Bacon was the 4th-round pick by Atlanta in the 2016 draft. He has a career 3.32 minor league ERA and 219 strikeouts in 203.1 innings. That said, he has allowed more baserunners since arriving to Mississippi in 2021 and this season saw a marked increase in giving up home runs as well. His release and Puckett’s transfer to the Developmental List will pave the way for Coleman Huntley and Nolan Kingham to be added to the roster.
- 8/16/2022: Atlanta trades cash considerations to the Milwaukee Brewers for 1B Tyler White and assigns him to AAA Gwinnett
Players that have not been on a 40-man roster can still be traded after the deadline, and White falls into that category. The 31-year-old has 859 big league plate appearances with Houston and the Dodgers, his last one in 2019. He spent 2021 with AAA Buffalo of the Blue Jays system, then signed as a minor league free agent with the Brewers in 2022, hitting .231/.357/.431 for AAA Nashville. White essentially takes the Gwinnett spot of recently released Mike Ford.
- 8/16/2022: Atlanta claims IF Rylan Bannon off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers and assigned to AAA Gwinnett
Bannon is 26 years old and a former 8th-round pick out of Xavier in 2017by the Dodgers. He was part of the package the Orioles received in 2018 for trading Manny Machado to LA. He made his major league debut on May 12 and got into four games with the Orioles before being optioned back to AAA. He has hit .217/.326/.409 in 763 AAA plate appearances. He is on the 40-man roster and would be used in case of yet another injury to a middle infielder.
- 8/16/2022: Atlanta recalls RHP Freddy Tarnok and selects the contract of 2B Ryan Goins; designates LHP Danny Young and OF Travis Demeritte for assignment; places C Chadwick Tromp on the 10-day injured list.
The Braves had been playing without a reserve infielder since Ehire Adrianza was put on the IL. Austin Riley, Vaughn Grissom, and Dansby Swanson all sustained minor injuries in Monday’s game but were able to remain in the game, but it was enough of a scare for Atlanta to finally pluck Goins from Gwinnett.
- 8/16/2022: OF Justin Dean activated from 7-day injured list for AA Mississippi; RHP Nolan Kingham assigned to AA Mississippi from AAA Gwinnett; RHP Coleman Huntley activated from the Developmental List; C Arden Pabst assigned to AA Mississippi from FCL Braves; C Zade Richardson placed on the 7-day injured list
Dean and Kingham provide some needed reinforcement for the M-Braves while Huntley’s stay on the Developmental List proved to be short.
- 8/16/2022: RHP Landon Harper assigned to A Augusta from FCL Braves; RHPs AJ Smith-Shawver and Jordano Perez placed on the 7-day injured list
No word on the injuries to Smith-Shawver or Perez, but it leaves Augusta’s rotation very short-handed. After working in relief for 31 games for Southern Mississippi earlier this year, Harper was pressed into starting duty in his first appearance with Augusta, though that appearance only was for 1 inning.
- 8/17/2022: OF Ethan Workinger and C Antonio Barranca assigned to A Augusta from FCL Braves; C Andrew Keck transferred to the Developmental List
Keck was expected to be the third catcher and part-time outfielder for Augusta, but obviously something caused the organization to change plans. For Barranca, this is his second stint with Augusta after initially making the Opening Day roster.
- 8/18/2022: LHP Max Fried activated from the 7-day injured list; options RHP Freddy Tarnok to AAA Gwinnett
Tarnok made his major league debut on Wednesday against the Mets, coming into the game with a runner on second. He allowed the inherited runner to score, but retired Jeff McNeil on a groundout and struck out Tyler Naquin. The #4 OFR prospect showed a good fastball and curveball.
- 8/18/2022: LHP Danny Young outrighted to AAA Gwinnett
- 8/19/2022: OF Travis Demeritte outrighted to AAA Gwinnett
Both Young and Demeritte cleared waivers and remain in the system for now.
- 8/18/2022: OF Brandol Mezquita assigned to A+ Rome from A Augusta; OF Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. assigned to A Augusta from FCL Braves
Kilpatrick is the first of three young outfielders taken late in the 2022 draft to move up and out of the complex. The Braves seem to believe that Kilpatrick is the more defensively capable of the three as well, working him nearly exclusively in centerfield. For the 21-year-old Mezquita, the late-season promotion comes after hitting .281/.371/.375 with 3 homers and 14 stolen bases for Augusta in 87 games.
Your Moment of Zen
How does it feel to be skipped @mbraves? pic.twitter.com/XtWyrp8U81
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) August 21, 2022
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