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.
Greenjackets Roster Review
The Greenjackets were favored with an impressive stable of young starting pitchers that will draw the eyes of most prospect watchers. The offense will likely be shy in the power department but will be quick on the basepaths.
Infielders:
Tavarez was the top Braves signing in the first international signing period emerging from sanctions, and possesses tremendous raw skills, with the emphasis on the “raw”. The 19-year-old flashes a strong glove and arm at shorstop. He’ll be flanked most nights by McCabe at third and Exposito at second. McCabe is one of the few power bats in the line-up and at age 23 one of the oldest. Off to a hot start, he may not be in Augusta for long. Exposito would typically play shortstop but moves to second to accommodate Tavarez; he’s a steady bat and a steady fielder. First base will be a time-share between 2022 12th-rounder Janas and the returning Backstrom. Janas is an on-base savant, while Backstrom hits the ball as hard as anyone in the system, just too often on the ground. Floyd is a strong reserve at every infield spot and would likely take the bulk of the time at third if McCabe moves up.
Outfielders:
The outfield so far has mostly been Celedonio in left, Collins in center, and Workinger in right. Celedonio is a 21-year-old who has finally emerged in full-season ball after three seasons (and one lost 2020 COVID year) in Atlanta’s complex leagues. He has demonstrated some power and on-base skills but is still working on making contact. Collins is already a fine defender and one of the fastest players in the minor leagues; he is looking to establish his prospect credentials after a lost season where he only had 16 plate appearances for the FCL Braves. Workinger was a non-drafted amateur free agent signee in 2020; now 21, his physical development has lead to the possibility of a steady power bat. Casanova will back up all three positions while getting spot starts; only 19 years old he has a potential all-round skillset. At age 23, Keck is the oldest member of this unit, and he also has catching experience from college, though Atlanta has to date only given him one opportunity behind the plate since being drafted in the 10th round last June.
Catchers:
Clarno has emerged as the surprise top catcher for this level. The oldest player on the team at age 25, Clarno has extensive playing experience with North Georgia College and Lenoir-Rhyne University as well as summer league experience in the Sunbelt Conference and with the Savannah Bananas. Not drafted after his senior year, Atlanta signed him late last season as a free agent. Clarno has impressed with his arm and his leadership. Dimon, the second oldest player on the squad, is a former Tampa Bay farmhand who also signed as a minor league free agent last year during the season. On an otherwise very, very young team the catching corps should be a steady influence.
Starting Pitchers:
- Jorge Bautista
- Didier Fuentes
- Seth Keller
- Owen Murphy
- J.R. Ritchie
- Spencer Schwellenbach
- Adam Shoemaker
Owen Murphy and J.R. Ritchie were Atlanta two first-round picks in last year’s draft and will command a good amount of the conversation surrounding the team. Both have had impressive starts to their professional careers and the team seems to be working at making them start two of the three weekend games each series. In the fifth round of the same draft was Seth Keller, who looks to both start and piggyback other starters on any given week. Add in 18-year-old Colombian right-hander Didier Fuentes — the youngest player in full season ball, and the youngest player in the Carolina League in six years — and Atlanta has their most impressive group of teenage pitchers at low-A since 2017 when Ian Anderson, Joey Wentz, and Bryce Wilson made up the best of the Rome rotation.
Just a little older is Adam Shoemaker, who makes his second Augusta Opening Day roster at the ripe old age of 20 years old. Shoemaker’s 2022 campaign was halted by injuries and he finished in the FCL, but the Canadian righty shows three solid pitches. The “old men” of the rotation are Spencer Schwellenback and Jorge Bautista, both 22. Schwellenbach was Atlanta’s 2nd-round pick in 2021 despite having just had UCL reconstruction. The former Nebraska standout made his pro debut on Opening Day. Bautista looks to be a classic Dominican late-bloomer who got a taste of the low-A level last season.
While Schwellenbach, Murphy, and Ritchie will see regular turns in the rotation, the others (along with Cedric De Grandpre and perhaps Jhoncarlos Lara, see below) will likely work in the rotation and piggybackers.
Relief Pitchers:
- James Acuna (injured – full season)
- Chad Bryant
- Cedric De Grandpre
- Jason Franks
- Rob Griswold
- Landon Harper
- Hayden Harris
- Jared Johnson
- Jhancarlos Lara
- Nolan Martinez
- Justin Militello (injured – full season)
- William Silva (injured – full season)
- Tyree Thompson
Weekly Round-Up
AUGUSTA:
The Greenjackets took two of five games at Myrtle Beach with one rainout that will be made up in a future series. Augusta is now 5-7 on the year, 4 games back in the division. They will return to SRP Park this week to take on the Columbia Fireflies. All but Sunday’s loss were one-run games.
Rigt-hander Cedric De Grandpre got the week off to a good start with a 4-inning, 1-hit start on Tuesday, his first start of the season, striking out 6. He was piggybacked by Didier Fuentes who went 3 innings, allowing 1 run on 2 hits. The offense was stymied however, and the Jackets dropped the game by a 1-2 score. Augusta reversed that score on Wednesday, winning 2-1 behind 3 innings each from Seth Keller (2 hits, 0 runs, 1 strikeout), Jhoncarlos Lara (1 hit, 1 run, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts), and Adam Shoemaker (0 hits, 0 runs, 1 strikeout), the latter picking up his first professional save.
The Pelicans got to Spencer Schwellenbach early in Thursday’s match-up, picking up 3 runs in the bottom of the 2nd, in part thanks to some shaky fielding. Friday night is Owen Murphy night, and he impressed again with 3.1 innings of 2-hit ball, striking out 5. After a Saturday rainout, J.R. Ritchie was pushed to Sunday and he got tagged hard for the first time in his very brief pro career, allowing 6 runs (5 earned) in his 3.1 innings. Jorge Bautista, originally to be Sunday’s starter, piggybacked and allowed 2 runs in 3 innings.
The offense was largely absent this week, with the exception of third baseman David McCabe (5-for-18, double, homer, three walks), catcher Dawson Dimon (2-for-8, double), and outfielder Ethan Workinger (3-for-13, double, 3 walks). Lead-off man Tyler Collins only got three hits on the week, though 2 were doubles. Likewise shortstop Ambioris Tavarez was 3-for-21 and the 19-year-old struck out 10 times.
ROME:
Rome was a cordial host to the Hudson Valley Renegades as they kindly allowed the visitors to win five out of the six games they played. Rome is now 5-9 on the season and 4.5 games back in their division.
Catcher Adam Zebrowski exploded this week at the plate, going 7-for-18 with 2 doubles, a homer, and knocking in 7 while making hard contact with nearly everything. Outfielders Brandon Parker and Stephen Paolini did good work as well (3-for-11 and 4-for-12 respectively), but the line-up was quiet otherwise. /
Right-hander Collin McHugh, on rehab assignment from the big league club, started the only win for the team as he navigated 4.2 scoreless innings on Friday throwing 60 pitches. The best start of the week however was A.J. Smith-Shawver’s 4.1 2-hit, shutout innings on Saturday, striking out 9 Renegades and earning OFR Pitcher of the Week honors.
Right-hander Rolddy Munoz was strong in relief, allowing only two hits in two scoreless appearances, striking out 5.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves returned home this week to face the Montgomery Biscuits, but home cooking didn’t seem to help early on as they lost their first four games of the week to stretch their losing streak to eight games before taking the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader behind Jacob Pearson’s walk-off grand slam. The M-Braves also took Sunday’s game to start a winning streak of their own. Mississippi now hits the road for a short trip south to take on the Biloxi Shuckers.
The M-Braves had several short starts this week but only Domingo Robles gave up more than one earned run, during his Tuesday start. He improved upon that on Sunday by giving up just one run over five innings. Alan Rangel gave up just one run (on a solo home run) over five innings on Wednesday while Tanner Gordon was impressive in giving up just one earned run over six innings on Thursday.
In the bullpen, Alec Barger had two more two-inning scoreless appearances with five strikeouts and now has nine scoreless innings over five appearances to start the season. Coleman Huntley had two scoreless outings including a save while Victor Vodnik had mixed results: in his first appearance, he gave up four runs while recording just two outs, but in the second, Vodnik tossed 1.2 scoreless frames while striking out two and walking one.
Cody Milligan was 5-for-18 during the week with a double, two stolen bases and three walks. Outfielder Andrew Moritz played sparingly during the week but was 6-for-12 with a triple. Fellow outfielder Jacob Pearson was just 2-for-10 with seven strikeouts but had a walk-off grand slam on Saturday and a triple on Sunday. Drew Lugbauer was just 1-for-16 on the week with a double and eleven strikeouts. Shortstop Cal Conley hit safely in all five games he played in (.278/.316/.278) with two stolen bases.
GWINNETT:
After breaking swept in their previous series against Memphis, the Stripers rebounded in a big way on the road in a cold-weather series against Omaha (the temperature rarely topped 50 degrees) by taking the first four games of the trip before dropping the final two games of the week. The 7-13 Stripers now return home to face the Buffalo Bisons.
Gwinnett’s starting pitching was terrific this week as five of the six starters allowed two or fewer earned runs. Michael Soroka led off the week with six shutout innings on 91 pitches. Soroka gave up just four hits and walked two with the walks both coming in the first inning. Beau Burrows followed that up on Wednesday in his first Gwinnett start with five innings of two-run baseball with both runs coming off solo home runs. Jared Shuster did not pitch well on Thursday in uncharacteristically walking five over three innings but limited the damage to just one unearned run before leaving after 79 pitches. Allan Winans was once again impressive on Friday with six innings of one-run baseball with that run being on a solo shot. Dylan Dodd pitched well on Saturday, scattering eight baserunners over six innings, and allowing just two runs.
In the bullpen, Yacksel Rios continued to impress with three scoreless outings with two saves. Rios has not been scored upon in eight outings this season covering 9.2 innings, giving up just three hits and three walks with fifteen strikeouts. Grant Holmes has been almost as impressive with two scoreless outings this week covering 3.1 innings with five strikeouts. Holmes has an ERA of 2.00 this season with sixteen strikeouts in nine innings. Roddery Munoz gave up one run over four innings this week with just one strikeout and four walks. Kyle Wilcox made two appearances after his promotion from Mississippi and had two scoreless one-inning outings although he walked two in his second game of the week.
The Gwinnett offense showed signs of life this week in averaging nearly six runs per game, led by shortstop Braden Shewmake, who had four multi-hit games in a week in which he batted .385/.429/.731 with three doubles, two home runs, five stolen bases, eight runs scored, with three RBI. Forrest Wall continued to perform well in the leadoff spot, hitting safely in all five games he played in with two doubles, a triple, a home run, two stolen bases, and five runs scored (.286/.348/.619). Outfielder Nick Solak joined the Stripers this week after being claimed off waivers from the Chicago White Sox and hit two home runs with three multi-hit games during a .292/.292/.542 week.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 4/17/2023: Activated LHP Max Fried from the 15-day injured list (hamstring); placed LHP Lucas Luetge on the 15-day injured list (bicep inflammation)
Atlanta got its ace back from an Opening Day hamstring strain. Luetge had reportedly been dealing with inflammation for some time but rest had not calmed it down.
- 4/17/2023: RHP Connor Johnstone released by AAA Gwinnett
Johnstone had been in the Braves organization since 2017 after being selected in the 21st round out of Wake Forest. In 2018 and 2019 no Braves player in the minors likely burned more tire tread than Johnstone, who was sent all over the organization whenever there was a hole in a roster due to promotion or injury, and he managed an impressive 3.30 ERA in 30 appearances (and 20 transactions) in 2018 for high-A Florida, AA Mississippi, and AAA Gwinnett.
Johnstone settled in Gwinnett after the pandemic and the league adopted roster changes like developmental lists to keep from having to yo-yo players like Johnstone endured. Johnstone was a spring training non-roster invite in 2020 and 2021, but never got the call.
- 4/18/2023: Claimed OF/2B Nick Solak off waivers from the Chicago White Sox and optioned him to AAA Gwinnett
Solak is a 28-year-old career .293/.382/.467 AAA hitter. He’s played in parts of the last four seasons with the Texas Rangers, including a full-time stint in 2021.
Solak was traded by the Rangers to the Reds for cash in November. The Reds tried to sneak him through waivers at the end of spring training but he was claimed by the Mariners.
Eleven days later the Mariners tried the same thing, but he was claimed by the White Sox. Now he’s a Brave.
- 4/18/2023: RHP Kyle Wilcox assigned to AAA Gwinnett from AA Mississippi; RHP Joe Harvey assigned to AAA Gwinnett from A+ Rome; RHP Austin Smith assigned to AA Mississippi from A+ Rome; RHP Scott Blewett assigned to AA Mississippi from extended spring training; RHP Daniel Martinez assigned to A+ Rome from AA Mississippi; RHP Patrick Halligan assigned to A+ Rome from extended spring training
Lots of pitcher movement this week, with two late spring minor league veteran free agent signings — Blewett and Halligan — coming out of extended spring training and taking spots in Mississippi and Rome respectively. Blewett was immediately slotted into the rotation.
Kyle Wilcox has pitched very well since joining the organization mid-season last year and gets a well-deserved first promotion to the AAA level. Joe Harvey, a major league veteran, joins him after throwing in Rome for the first few weeks. Daniel Martinez, who was essentially just filling Blewett’s spot, drops down to a more suitable level for him at the moment. Austin Smith is the prospect of this list, and jumped to Mississippi after spending the first few weeks on the Rome injured list, but he would end up going back on the IL after only one appearance.
- 4/18/2023: SS E.J. Exposito activated from the temporary inactive list for A Augusta; SS Luis Moreno assigned to FCL Braves from A Augusta
Exposito was away from the team for 10 days.
- 4/19/2023: OF Jacob Pearson assigned to AA Mississippi from AAA Gwinnett
The 2021 Rule 5 draftee is making an early tour of the affiliates after starting the season with Rome
- 4/20/2023: RHP Austin Smith placed on the 7-day injured list for AA Mississippi
As mentioned above.
- 4/20/2023: C Wiston Cerrato assigned to A+ Rome from AA Mississippi
Rome adds a third catcher, likely so that the team’s two slugging incumbent catchers, Drake Baldwin and Adam Zebrowski, can be used in the line-up together more often.
- 4/23/2023: LHP Nick Margevicius assigned to AAA Gwinnett from extended spring training; RHP Jon Olczak placed on the Developmental List; RHP Ian Anderson placed on the injured-full season list
The Braves picked up Margevicius after he was released by Seattle this spring. He will likely act as a swingman for Gwinnett, and is first appearance was as a starter on Saturday. Margevicius has had major league stops with the Padres and Mariners.
- 4/23/2023: RHP Tyree Thompson activated from the Developmental List for A Augusta; RHP Chad Bryant placed on the Development List
Shuffle.
Your Moment of Zen
We think. We can't read lips well.
— Gwinnett Stripers (@GoStripers) April 22, 2023
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