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
FCL BRAVES:
The defense of the Braves’ Florida Complex League championship got off to a rocky start as the team is winless through through the first full week of the season, going 0-6 while only scoring 14 runs in those 6 games.
The standouts so far in the young season have been two starting pitchers. Opening Day starter Jeremy Reyes, an 18-year-old Venezuelan right-hander up from the DSL, had two solid outings. In his first start, Reyes went 5 innings and gave up only 3 hits and 1 run; in his second start on Saturday, he again only allowed 3 hits but no runs in 4.1 innings. The other strong start came from righty Kadon Morton, who is attempting a conversion to the mound after five years in the organization as an outfielder. Morton allowed only 2 hits and 1 run in 4 innings in his pro pitching debut, striking out 5.
AUGUSTA:
The Greenjackets travelled to Myrtle Beach and split the series with the Pelicans to run their record to 15-17. They remain in 4th place in the Carolina League South division, but only 2.5 games back of frontrunning Fayetteville. They will come home for a two-week homestand on Tuesday, starting with six games against the Salem Red Sox.
The game of the week for Augusta was Thursday’s 2-0, 12-inning shutout. Left-hander Mitch Farris, inserted into the starting rotation in place of the struggling Davis Polo this week, went 5 innings and allowed only 2 hits while striking out 6. In the 6th inning he gave way to Polo who put 6 innings of zeros on the board in an unbelievable relief outing, giving up 3 hits and 2 walks but navigating around them thanks to six strikeouts. The score remained a 0-0 tie going into the top of the 12th when the Jackets finally broke through with a 2-out, 2-RBI single by outfielder Pier-Olivier Boucher that scored extra-innings runner Kade Kern and first baseman Will Verdung, who had walked and stolen second base. Right-hander L.J. McDonough came on the the bottom of the 12th with a clean inning to nail down the save.
The best starting pitching performance of the week though was left-hander Riley Frey‘s 7-inning outing on Tuesday as he went 7 innings, only allowing 2 hit and a walk while striking out 7, good enough to earn the OFR Pitcher of the Week honors. Right-handers Garrett Baumann and Adam Maier each had strong starts as well, Baumann allowing 1 run in 6.2 innings to pick up his 3rd win on the season and Maier throwing six innings on Saturday, allowing 6 hits and 3 runs but only being backed by 3 hits on the offensive side in a 1-3 loss.
In addition to his game-winning hit on Thursday, Boucher went 4-for-11 in his three appearances this week with 2 doubles, 4 walks, and 2 stolen bases. Shortstop Diego Benitez, the top prospect in the Augusta line-up, has yet to see sustained success at the plate this year and is hitting only .136/.233/.194 on the season, but is showing signs he may be coming out of the funk, this week drawing 6 walks. Infielder Luis Sanchez got at least one hit in every game this series and after a slow start in April has hit .342/.449/.390 since the calendar flipped.
ROME:
The Emperors hosted the Brooklyn Cyclones and split with the Mets’ high-A affiliate, holding on to their first place standing in the South Atlantic League South division by a game over Bowling Green. Rome will visit Asheville for the second and final time this season for a 7-game series that includes a scheduled Thursday doubleheader to make up for a rainout.
Infielder E.J. Exposito continues to be one of the hottest hitters in the SAL this week, going 7-for-19 with 2 doubles, 2 homers, 3 walks, and 2 stolen bases. After only hitting .156/.255/.422 in April, Exposito has exploded for a .462/.511/.949 batting line in 10 games in May with 5 homers. One of those homers got the scoring started in the 2nd inning of Rome’s 8-2 win on Sunday to back right-hander Lucas Braun who went 5.2 innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and no walks while striking out 8. Outfielder Stephen Paolini also had a big day, going 2-for-4 with a bases-loaded double in the 3rd inning to knock in three runs.
Braun’s first start of the week on Tuesday however didn’t go nearly as well. Poor defense behind him helped run up his pitch count and in the fifth inning he came out of the game with three runs in for Brooklyn and the bases loaded. Reliever Cody Wall gave up a bases-clearing double to bring in all of Braun’s baserunners and the Cyclones would go on to win the series opener 6-2. Rome would get their revenge the following night, scoring 5 runs in the bottom of the 8th to sneak off with an 8-7 win, the big hit a bases-loaded single off the bat of infielder Nick Ward. Righty Owen Murphy started the game and threw a solid 5 innings, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits, striking out 8.
The Emperors would get their second win of the week on Thursday thanks to a 2-hit combined shutout by starter Spencer Schwellenbach (4.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 SO), righty Tyree Thompson (2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 SO), and righty Elison Joseph (2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 SO). That pitching made a 1-run, 4-hit offensive day stand up, with an RBI double by Paolini accounting for the only run of the game. Right-hander Drue Hackenberg was solid in a Friday start (5.1 IP, 4 H 2 R, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO), but sloppy defense sabotaged the Birds as 4 of the Cylcones’ 6 runs in the game were unearned, the winning margin in a 6-3 Brooklyn win. Righty Jhancarlos Lara started on Saturday, going 3.2 innings as he builds back up his innings after a late start to the season due to injury. Lara gave up 1 run but was battling the entire outing with control, walking 4 but getting 4 strikeouts to mostly contain the damage. Rome had a hard time getting the timely hit however and Brooklyn would win 2-1.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves played their third series in the last four weeks in the state of Alabama as they faced off with the Rocket City Trash Pandas. In an evenly matched series, the two teams alternated wins throughout the week and each team scored 22 runs as well. The M-Braves bring home a 12-21 record to take on the Biloxi Shuckers this week.
The starting pitching put together another solid week with a 3.34 ERA in 32.1 innings. Drew Parrish had the bookend starts with mixed results: on Tuesday, he gave up four runs over six innings with two home runs but tossed five scoreless innings in Sunday’s win. Hurston Waldrep had a solid start on Wednesday with 5.1 innings with two runs allowed (one earned). Waldrep did have to work around six hits and three walks. J.J. Niekro had the one quality start for the week with two runs allowed in six innings on Thursday. Ian Mejia continued his dominant season on Friday with 5.2 scoreless innings and nine strikeouts. Luis De Avila had the roughest start of the week in giving up five runs in 4.1 innings with four walks.
In the bullpen, Parker Dunshee gave up a run in 3.2 innings over two outings but the number that stood out was NINE strikeouts over that timeframe. LH Hayden Harris continued his great season with two more scoreless appearances and now has a 0.71 ERA this season in ten appearances. Rolddy Munoz made two appearances this week, the first did not go well as he gave up two runs in 1.2 innings but went three up-three in his second outing, striking out the side on just thirteen pitches. Trey Riley, Jake McSteen, and Anthony Vizcaya each provided two scoreless outings as well.
Outfielder Cody Milligan had a nice rebound this week in going 6-for-21 with a home run, two stolen bases, and six runs scored. Shortstop Nacho Alvarez was 6-for-23 with two doubles and four RBI (.261/.320/.348). Outfielder Geraldo Quintero went just 3-for-16 but had three stolen bases, a home run, and three RBI.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers finished their long homestand this against North Carolina-based teams this week as they took four out of six games from the Durham Bulls, culminating in a walk-off home run on Mother’s Day from temporary fill-in Bryson Worrell. The Stripers now head back on the road with a .500 record (19-19) to face the Memphis Redbirds.
AJ Smith-Shawver got the bookend starts this week and did not fare well in either one as his command was lacking. On Tuesday, Smith-Shawver gave up three runs in 4.1 innings and 91 pitches, giving up four hits, three walks, and two home runs. Sunday’s start was even worse as he gave up four runs in just 3.2 innings, giving up five hits (one home run) and three walks. Gwinnett’s starting pitching was much better in between those starts as Dylan Dodd (6 IP, 3 ER), Darius Vines (six scoreless innings), and Allan Winans (6 IP, 2 ER) all put up quality starts.
In the Gwinnett bullpen, Jimmy Herget continued his good run since joining the Braves organization with two more one-inning scoreless appearance including a save. Ken Giles gave up two runs in his first one-inning appearance of the week but fared better later in the week with a scoreless outing although he walked two in his one inning of work. Patrick Halligan had a rough first outing after being promoted from Mississippi during the week as he gave up three runs (two hits, two walks) while retiring just two hitters. He cleaned that up on Sunday with a scoreless outing where the only blemish was a walk. Daysbel Hernandez had two more scoreless outings, striking out six in three innings while allowing just one baserunner. Hernandez now has seven straight scoreless appearances dating back to April 18th (9.1 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 6 BB, 15 K).
Gwinnett’s offense was mostly dormant although the team had a winning week due to averaging just 3.7 runs per game. Yuri Gurriel’s timing started to come around this week as he went 5-for-19 with two doubles and a home run (.263/.333/.526). Outfielder Forrest Wall went 5-for-18 but added four walks, a double, triple, stolen base, and six runs scored (.278/.409/.444). Infielder David Fletcher hit safely in all six games as he went 7-for-25 with five RBI (.280/.308/.280). Shortstop Luke Waddell hit safely in all four of his games as he went 4-for-13 on the week with a walk and two RBI. The hero of the week was outfielder Bryson Worrell, who was called up temporarily from Rome and went 2-for-4 on Mother’s Day with a double and game-winning walk-off home run to take the series.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 5/6/2024: SS Jose Perdomo transferred from the 7-day to the 60-day injured list for FCL Braves
The excitement over Perdomo’s inclusion on the roster of the more advanced of the Braves two complex league teams was dashed when he started on the IL, and this confirms that we won’t be seeing the team’s top 2024 international signee any time soon.
- 5/7/2024: LHP Tyler Matzek placed on the 15-day injured list for MLB Atlanta (left elbow inflammation); LHP Ray Kerr recalled to MLB Atlanta from AAA Gwinnett
- 5/8/2024: RHP Patrick Halligan assigned to AAA Gwinnett from AA Mississippi
Matzek surrendered 3 runs and only got 2 outs on May 4 in Los Angeles and the next day reported a sore elbow. Kerr had been pitching well with Gwinnett after being acquired this offseason in a deal with San Diego. Kerr made his Braves debut with a scoreless inning against Boston.
Halligan had been pitching well in Mississippi after a strong spring.
- 5/9/2023: RHP Ronaldo Alesandro released by FCL Braves
Alesandro pitched well for Augusta and Rome in 2023, but injuries kept him off the field in 2024 and his time in the Braves organization comes to a close at age 25.
- 5/11/2024: OF Luis Liberato placed on the 7-day injured list for AAA Gwinnett; OF Bryson Worrell assigned to AAA Gwinnett from A+ Rome
Liberato has spent a lot of time inactive for Gwinnett so far this season as he missed 10 days in April on the temporarily inactive list and now is hurt. As happened before this season, Worrell gets to be the temporary back-fill, but that seems likely to be short-lived with outfielder Skye Bolt making rehab appearances in the FCL and the Gwinnett outfield already including J.P. Martinez, Eli White, Forrest Wall, and Leury Garcia.
- 5/11/2024: C Harry Owen assigned to A Augusta from FCL Braves
Owen will join Augusta catching corps which has been solid defensively but almost non-existent at the plate.
Leave a Reply