Welcome to the Braves Farm Report! Every Monday we take a look back at the previous week in the Braves minor league system, recapping the week’s action, spotlighting top performers, analyzing rosters and transactions, and sometimes answering questions or doing deep dives into Braves prospects.
Weekly Round-Up
AUGUSTA:
Augusta went on the road to face division-leading Columbia this week and managed to split the series, which dropped the Fireflies a half-game out of first. The Greenjackets are 10-11 on the season and next will come back home to take on the Charleston RiverDogs, winner of the last two Carolina League championships but off to an uncharacteristically slow start to the season.
After a somewhat anemic start to the season, the Greenjacket offense came alive this week after being shut out in Tuesday’s series opener. They were lead by first baseman Drew Compton, who after starting the season 0-for-12 now has a 14-game hitting streak. Against Columbia Compton went 11-for-19 with 2 doubles and his first homer of the season, knocking in 7 runs and only striking out once. Outfielders Jace Grady and Pier-Olivier Boucher were also productive this week, with Boucher going 7-for-18 with 3 doubles in expanded playing time after Isaiah Drake was placed on the injured list before the series began with a hamstring issue.
Friday starter Garrett Baumann was strong once again, only allowing 1 run on 2 hits and striking out 5 in a winning effort. For the season, the 19-year-old has only allowed 3 earned runs in 21.2 innings over 4 starts. Eighteen-year-old Didier Fuentes said “hold my soda pop, old man” to Baumann as he spun 5 innings of 1-run, 1-hit ball in his start on Thursday, picking up a win and striking out 5. Augusta’s third win of the week was picked up by left-hander Riley Frey, who went for Augusta on Sunday and allowed 3 runs (2 earned) in 5.1 innings while striking out 9 Fireflies.
The long-ball hurt right-hander Cade Kuehler in his first rough start of the season on Tuesday, giving up 2 homers and 4 runs overall in his 6 innings. Righty Adam Maier, after two strong starts to begin the season, has become more hittable over his next two and he gave up 5 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks in 4 innings on Saturday.
ROME:
Rome wrapped up their two-week North Carolina tour dropping four of six games at Winston-Salem this week. The come home this week to face the Hickory Crawdads for the second time this year after they swept them in a three-game series to open the season. The own a 10-9 record and are a game behind the Bowling Green Hot Rods in the South Atlantic League South division.
The highlight of the week was again right-hander Owen Murphy, who on Thursday took a perfect game to the 7th inning before allowing a lead-off triple. Murphy would strand that runner there and end the game with 7 innings, 1 hit allowed, no walks, and 10 strikeouts. The rest of the rotation had mixed results. Righty Spencer Schwellenbach allowed 10 hits in his 5.2 innings but largely pitched through the traffic thanks to not issuing any walks, at one point getting help from right fielder Stephen Paolini throwing out a baserunner at the plate. But that many balls in play puts pressure on defenses and errors by third baseman Nick Ward and catcher Nick Clarno would prove costly, so of Schwellenbach’s 4 runs allowed, 2 were unearned in a 5-3 loss.
Rome got some back news this week with an injury to starter Daniel Martinez, who was placed on the 60-day IL. This upset the rotation plans and reliever Corey Wall was asked to make an emergency start on Saturday, just two days after making a scoreless relief appearance. He allowed 6 runs (3 earned) in 2.1 innings, but the Rome offense banged out 8 runs on 10 hits, with catcher Adam Zebrowski knocking in outfielder Kevin Kilpatrick in the 12th inning to steal an 8-7 victory. Relievers Elison Joseph, Landon Harper, Samuel Strickland, Jared Johnson, and Shay Schanaman pitched 9.2 combined innings to back Wall and only allowed 1 unearned run the rest of the way, striking out 9 and only allowing 2 walks and 2 hits.
Rome had a balanced offensive attack this week, scoring 32 runs in the 6 games. Outfielder Bryson Worrell has hit well since his return from a short stint with the Gwinnett Stripers, and he swatted his first homer of the season on Sunday. Infielder E.J. Exposito only got 3 hits on the week, but 2 were home runs, including a solo shot in Saturday’s win.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves continued their two-week Alabama road swing this week with a series against the Montgomery Biscuits. The M-Braves bats finally showed some life this week as they scored 25 runs over the first three games of the series en route to a series split. Mississippi now brings their 7-14 record home to face the Pensacola Blue Wahoos this week.
The starting pitching results were mixed this week as Ian Mejia started in two of the three M-Brave wins while giving up three runs over 9.1 innings, striking out thirteen and walking six. Drew Parrish tossed a quality start on Thursday, giving up just two runs over six innings on their way to a 13-3 win. Hurston Waldrep’s results were solid in Friday’s 3-2 loss but he was more lucky than good in giving up just one run in six innings while giving up three hits and four walks while throwing just 45 of his 88 pitches for strikes.
Several Mississippi relievers had big weeks: Domingo Gonzalez had three one-inning hitless and scoreless appearances with a save while Parker Dunshee and Juan Then each had two scoreless outings. Patrick Halligan racked up seven strikeouts in 3.2 scoreless innings over two appearances while Hayden Harris struck out five while allowing just one hit over three innings in two outings.
The Mississippi offense had its best showing of the year thus far with eight runs on Tuesday and thirteen on Thursday although they tallied just eleven runs over the other four games. Catcher Tyler Tolve busted out this week as he went 6-for-22 with three doubles, two home runs, five runs scored, and seven RBI (.273/.333/.682). Outfielder Cody Milligan had three multi-hit games including a four-hit game on Saturday (.360/.385/.520) with two doubles, a triple, and two stolen bases. Justin Dean hit safely in all five of his games as he went 5-for-19 with a double, home run, and four RBI (.263/.364/.474). 1B-DH Javier Valdes was 0-for-7 with a walk and two HBP and is now 0-for-19 for the season although he has struck out just once.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers took to the road this week for a series against the Norfolk Tides. After taking the first three games of the series, the Stripers dropped the final three to settle for a series split. Gwinnett returns home this week with a 12-14 record to take on the Durham Bulls.
Gwinnett’s starting pitchers pitched respectably this week, putting up a 3.89 ERA with all six starters going at least five innings in each outing. Allan Winans got the bookend starts, giving up three runs in 5.1 innings on Tuesday while being a hard-luck loser on Sunday as he gave up just two runs over seven innings. AJ Smith-Shawver gave up three runs in five innings on Wednesday, striking out seven but walking three and giving up two home runs. Dylan Dodd was impressive on Thursday as he allowed just one run over seven innings while striking out seven and allowing just four baserunners. Zach Logue had a quality start on Friday with three runs allowed over six innings while Darius Vines gave up four runs in 6.2 innings on Saturday in his first start after being optioned from Atlanta.
Due to the good work from the starters, the Gwinnett bullpen didn’t get a lot of work this week. Daysbel Hernandez had two scoreless outings covering three innings. Jackson Stephens had a two-inning scoreless outing on Wednesday while tallying a win, Ray Kerr put up two scoreless innings in the same game while racking up a save. Ken Giles got the win in extra innings on Thursday while striking out four in two perfect innings of work.
Gwinnett’s offense was once again lacking as, although they scored nine runs in Tuesday’s opener, they put across just eleven runs in the remaining five games of the week including no home runs for the week. Outfielder Forrest Wall went 5-for-18 with a double, five walks, and an HBP (.278/.458/.333) although he was caught stealing twice. Outfielder Luis Liberato hit safely in five of six games and was 7-for-21 with two doubles and a stolen base (.333/.417/.429). First baseman Yuri Gurriel got into his first games for Gwinnett this week and was 0-for-12 with four strikeouts and four walks.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 4/22/2024: RHP Bryce Elder recalled to MLB Atlanta from AAA Gwinnett; RHP Darius Vines optioned to AAA Gwinnett
The Braves gave the rest of the rotation two extra days between starts by going Vines-Elder early last week. The results — a 1.53 starter’s ERA in that time — show it may have been a good move.
- 4/23/2024: 1B Yuli Gurriel activated by AAA Gwinnett
- 4/23/2024: OF Bryson Worrell assigned to A+ Rome from AAA Gwinnett
Worrell was keeping the seat warm for Gurriel who spent around 7 days in extended spring training.
- 4/23/2024: RHP Huascar Ynoa placed on the 7-day injured list for AAA Gwinnett
- 4/25/2024: LHP Ben Bowden activated from the development list for AAA Gwinnett
No word on the injury for Ynoa, who has looked better than his results in the box score as he comes back from his 2022 UCL tear.
- 4/23/2024: OF Isaiah Drake and IF Leiker Figueroa placed on 7-day injured list
Drake exited a game on April 18 against Carolina after hitting a stand-up triple. Drake appeared to pull a hamstring rounding second base and was replaced immediately.
No word on what is ailing Figueroa.
- 4/25/2024: IF David Fletcher outrighted to AAA Gwinnett
- 4/26/2024: 2B Ozzie Albies activated from the 10-day injured list for MLB Atlanta
Albies only required the minimum 10 days to recover from a broken toe which is… remarkable.
Fletcher apparently has a clause in the contract the Braves inherited from the Angels that if he refuses a minor league assignment he forfeits the rest of his guarantee. This essentially means Fletcher can be moved up and down as necessary without worry that he would refuse assignment and accept free agency.
- 4/27/2024: RHP Daniel Martinez placed on the 60-day injured list for A+ Rome
This is a blow for the organization as Martinez has been a good innings-eater at several levels since joining the Braves before last season. This does create an opening in the Rome rotation, with several candidates in Augusta to fill it.
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