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:
AUGUSTA:
ROME:
The Emperors continued an impressive winning streak this week, running it up to 7 games after beating Greenville the first five games on the road before dropping the series finale on Sunday in a heartbreaking loss in the 9th inning. Rome is now 28-21 on the season, sitting atop the South Atlantic League South division standings, 2 games in front of Bowling Green. They come home this week to take on the Winston-Salem Dash for six games.
Rome started the series with a 9-0 drubbing of the Drive, lefty Riley Frey starting the first of two games on the week and pitching 6 scoreless innings thanks to getting a lot of soft contact which allowed him to pitch around 3 hits and 4 walks despite only striking out 1 batter. The Emperors had 11 hits, lead by third baseman Sabin Ceballos (4-for-5, HR, 2 RBI) and shortstop Ambioris Tavarez (2-f0r-5, HR, 3 RBI). The following night was a wild 10-8 comeback win in which Greenville jumped out with 5 runs in the second inning off starter Drue Hackenberg (3.2 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 5 SO), but the relentless Rome offense kept pecking away at that lead with Ceballos again having a big day (3-for-6, 2B). Ambioris Tavarez went 1-for-2 with 2 RBI on a sac fly and a solo HR in the 9th, but he was also hit on the hand with a pitch in the 4th inning. Tavarez would finish out the game, but would not appear the rest of the week.
Thursday night was another comeback win as Greenville would get 2 runs off starter Mitch Farris (5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 SO) and another 3 off reliever Tyree Thompson, but Rome would score 2 in the 8th to tie it up before winning in the 11th, final 6-5. Outfielder Ethan Workinger came up big in this one, knocking in the winning run with an RBI single and going 3-for-5 overall with a double and solo homer. The following night righty Lucas Braun pitched a solid start (5.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 7 SO) but the teams remained knotted at 3-3 after 9 innings. Shortstop E.J. Exposito broke the tie in the 11th with a 2-run home run give Rome a 5-3 win, their 6th in a row. They would make it 7 in a row on Saturday with a 4-0 shutout, with Jhancarlos Lara (4.2 IP, 6 H), Chad Bryant (2.1 IP, 0 H), and Shay Schanaman (2.0 IP, 0 H) combining on the effort. Exposito went 3-for-5 and outfielder Bryson Worrell knocked in 2 runs.
Rome lead in the series finale on Sunday 6-1 going into the 9th inning thanks to solo homers from Kevin Kilpatrick, who also got the scoring started in the 3rd with an RBI single, and Justin Janas in the top of the 9th. Righty Jared Johnson, who had a clean 9th on Wednesday to notch his 5th save of the year, was wild at first, loading the bases after a couple walks with no outs. It looked he may get out of it, striking out the next batter, then getting a ground out that knocked in a run to make it 6-2. But Johnson walked the bases loaded again, then a soft bloop single to left brought in two more runs to make it 6-4. Another soft grounder got under the glove of third baseman Ceballos with another run coming in on the error. Greenville then walked it off with a double down the line that scored two more, final score 7-6 Greenville and Rome’s winning streak came to a sudden and surprising end.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves had a chance to make up ground on the division lead this week as they faced off against the division-leading Montgomery Biscuits. Unfortunately, the offense for the M-Braves disappeared this week as they scored just thirteen runs in six games and dropped five of six games. Mississippi (23-28) now heads to Pensacola to take on the Blue Wahoos.
Starting pitching was not the problem this week as no starter allowed more than three runs during their starts. Hurston Waldrep, who was promoted to Gwinnett after this start, gave up just two runs over five innings on Tuesday, striking out seven while throwing 65% of his pitches for strikes. Ian Mejia had the best start of the week as he made his return to Mississippi with a seven-inning complete game shutout in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader and now has a 1.45 ERA for the season. Luis De Avila had a solid start on Saturday as he gave up just two runs over six innings. Landon Harper was the only bullpen arm to emerge unscathed this week as he tossed 1.2 scoreless innings on Sunday.
The M-Braves had very little offense this week but there were a couple of standouts: outfielder Justin Dean went 4-for-13 with seven stolen bases and four runs scored (.308/.438/.308). 2B Cal Conley upped his on-base streak to twelve games as he went 6-for-16 with three walks. Outfielder Brandon Parker had a big game on Sunday with two home runs and four RBI. Those were the first home runs hit by any Mississippi player since Drake Baldwin on May 19th.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers started a long road trip this week against the Norfolk Tides. Behind strong starting pitching and an uptick in offense, the Stripers took four out of the six games in the series. Gwinnett now takes their 27-30 record on to Durham to take on the Bulls.
Gwinnett received strong starting pitching efforts in five out of the six games, starting off on Tuesday as Grant Holmes made his first start as a Striper with just one hit and run allowed over five innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. Shortstop-turned-knuckleballer David Fletcher also made his first start on Wednesday with two runs allowed over five innings as he allowed just four baserunners while striking out six and throwing two-thirds of his 72 pitches for strikes. Allan Winans gave up just one hit and run in 4.2 innings on Thursday afternoon but he walked seven which led to an early exit. Darius Vines’ rough stretch continued Friday as he gave up six runs in just 3.2 innings. Bryce Elder had one of his best starts ever as he gave up just two runs in eight innings while striking out eleven. 21 of the 24 outs Elder recorded were via strikeout or groundout. Hurston Waldrep made his first start of the season for Gwinnett and it was a strong one as he gave up three runs over six innings while striking out a season-high eleven and throwing 72% of his pitches for strikes.
In the Gwinnett bullpen, Zach Logue and Taylor Widener each had scoreless outings of at least three innings. Ken Giles and Parker Dunshee were also impressive in recording saves early in the week. Dylan Dodd and Brooks Wilson each also had a multi-inning scoreless outing.
Gwinnett’s offense averaged 6 ½ runs during the week and was led by shortstop Luke Waddell, who went 7-for-24 with two doubles, a home run, and nine RBI (.292/.320/.500). Outfielder Ramon Laureano made his Gwinnett debut after being signed as a free agent during the week and was 3-for-15 with two walks in four games. Andrew Velazquez went 8-for-20 with a double, home run, and four stolen bases (.400/.500/.600). Outfielder Eli White was 5-for-18 with a double, two home runs, and five RBI (.278/.458/.667). Phillip Evans had three multi-hit games during a 8-for-17 week with a home run and three RBI (.471/.526/.647). Luke Williams went just 6-for-27 but added three doubles, two home runs, and seven RBI (.222/.276/.556).
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 5/27/2024: OF Ronald Acuña Jr. placed on the 10-day injured list (left ACL tear); OF J.P. Martinez recalled from AAA Gwinnett
What is there to say? Acuña is the top position player on the squad and a tremendous loss to the line-up, even in a season where he hadn’t quite gotten going to his previously established levels. Martinez gets the spot on the roster for now, but the Braves will go with a Kelenic/Harris/Duvall outfield alignment every day so his opportunities will be limited despite having played well for the Stripers.
- 5/27/2024: C Sean Murphy activated from the 10-day injured list; IF Joey Wendle designated for assignment
- 5/30/2024: IF Joey Wendle elects free agency
The Braves got some consolation in the wake of the Acuña injury with the return of All-Star catcher Sean Murphy. In an interesting move, the Braves elected to keep three catchers on the roster, dropping the recently-signed veteran Joey Wendle who in the space of a week finds himself a free agent once again.
- 5/29/2024: RHP Spencer Schwellenbach selected from AA Mississippi and assigned to MLB Atlanta; RHP Jimmy Herget optioned to AAA Gwinnett
After two dominant starts in Mississippi, Schwellenbach gets the quick promotion to Atlanta. He was apparently going to move up to Gwinnett, but as other rotation options disappointed he was instructed to keep driving south on I-85 and then take the Perimeter west to the Cumberland interchange.
- 5/29/2024: OF Ramón Laureano signed to a minor league contract and assigned to AAA Gwinnett
Seven-year MLB veteran Laureano was cut loose by the Guardians on May 29. He is a lifetime .242/.318/.422 in the majors and an above average defender.
- 5/30/2024: LHP A.J. Minter placed on the 15-day injured list (left hip inflammation); RHP Jimmy Herget recalled from AAA Gwinnett
Minter had a six-day layoff between his previous appearance and his last on on May 29, then he was immediately placed on the injured list, so this may be something that bothered him for awhile. Herget has been a solid bullpen addition with Gwinnett and in his opportunities with Atlanta.
- 06/01/2024: RHP Hurston Waldrep assigned to AAA Gwinnett from AA Mississippi; IF/RHP David Fletcher assigned to AA Mississippi from AAA Gwinnett; RHP Jake Walsh released by AAA Gwinnett
Waldrep has been pitching exceptionally well in Mississippi after a couple of difficult starts at the beginning of the year. In his final 7 starts for Mississippi he pitched to a 1.28 ERA, striking out 41 batters in 42.1 innings and walking 12.
The saga of David Fletcher carries his to Pearl, Mississippi. Presumably he will continue to be worked on the mound, with the long-term plan being to take advantage of the two-way roster rules, which allows carrying an extra pitcher if they also qualify as a position player.
Walsh pitched well in 11 appearances for Gwinnett but got hurt and it doesn’t look like it was a good prognosis. Walsh made it to the Show with St. Louis in 2022.
- 06/01/2024: RHP Daniel Martinez released by A+ Rome
Martinez pitched well for Rome and Mississippi in 2023 and re-signed as a minor league free agent, but he sustained a season-ending injury with Rome in April.
- 06/01/2024: SS Angel Nieblas assigned to A+ Rome from FCL Braves
This came on the heals of Ambioris Tavarez’s injury on Wednesday. E.J. Exposito can handle shortstop in Tavarez’s absence and the team clearly thinks Tavarez can return soon given they haven’t placed him on the 7-day injured list, but having another shortstop handy when there’s a roster spot available seems prudent.
- 06/01/2024: SS Elio Campos traded by Los Angeles Dodgers to Atlanta Braves for cash considerations; assigned to DSL Braves
- 06/01/2024: SS Nixson Cueche signed to a minor league contract and assigned to DSL Braves
Campos has played the last three seasons with the Dodgers in the DSL and will likely fill out the Braves DSL roster this season. Cueche was with the DSL Red Sox last season but was released in April.
- 06/02/2024: C Chadwick Tromp optioned to AAA Gwinnett
When manager Brian Snitker elected not to pinch hit Travis d’Arnaud for a struggling Orlando Arcia in the 8th inning of Sunday’s game against the Oakland A’s, it showed there was essentially no value in keeping up a third catcher. No off-setting move has been announced, and with an off-day for Atlanta today there may not be one until Tuesday.
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