Outfield Fly Rule

Monday Farm Report, 6/17/2024

June 17, 2024 Andy Harris & Matt Chrietzberg Minor Leagues 0

Catcher Drake Baldwin celebrates with the Gwinnett Stripers after knocking in the winning run in a 4-3, 10-inning win on Saturday, June 15 with a bases-loaded walk. (Matthew Caldwell/Gwinnett Stripers)

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

COMPLEX LEAGUES:

The DSL Braves were able to get a complete week of games in after a water-socked opening week, going 3-3 that included a doubleheader to make up for a rainout the previous week. It’s still a little early to get a full read on the team, but at least in the early going it’s a squad that looks like it will put runs up on the board. This week the team was paced by oufielder Carlos Monteverde, who went 8-for-20, scoring 7 runs, knocking in 4, and swatting 4 doubles. Shortstop Juan Mateo kept up his hot start, going 6-for-22 with 6 RBI. Outfielder Michael Martinez hit the first home run for the team on the season, one of six hits he posted on the week. On the mound, both right-hander Rudit Pina and lefty Lewis Sifontes had solid 4-inning starts, with Pina only allowing 2 hits and an unearned run while striking out 6.
All the rain that hit the Dominican Republic the previous week seemed to find Florida last week as the FCL Braves were rained out in all but two games, splitting those two with the Rays on Friday and Saturday. The rain forced the team into some piggyback situations to get more people work, with righty Luis Arestigueta throwing 4 innings of scoreless relief on Friday. Infielder John Gil and outfielder Luis Guanipa each hit his first homer of the season while outfielder Junior Garcia continued his hot streak, going 4-for-8 in the two games.

AUGUSTA:

The Greenjackets started their 2-week swing through Virginia by beating Lynchburg on Tuesday, but dropping the next four games before rebounding with a win on Sunday. Their record has fallen to 26-36 and they remain tied with Charleston at the bottom of the Carolina League South division standings, 13 games behind front-running Kannapolis.
Tuesday saw the Augusta debut of 18-year-old Venezuelan righty Jeremy Reyes, and it he did well. He gave up 3 hits and only 1 run in his 5 innings of work, working around 4 walks with 4 strikeouts and notching a win. Augusta was ahead 2-1 when he left the game, then scored 7 more in a 7th-inning outburst to ice it away. Most of the rest of the starts were good as well: Didier Fuentes (4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 R, 3 BB, 5 SO), Kadon Morton (5 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO), Adam Maier (4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO), and Cade Kuehler (5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 SO) all pitching well enough, but only Kuehler coming away with the “W”.
Relievers William Silva and Davis Polo turned in some nice work as well, with Silva appearing in 2 games and posting a combined 5 scoreless innings. Polo pitched 3 scoreless innings in a piggyback outing with Morton, but the Jackets could only muster up 4 hits to back the efforts and got shut out 2-0.
Outfielder Isaiah Drake continued his recent hot streak, going 7-for-20 with 2 doubles, a triple, and 4 stolen bases. Infielder Will Verdung, now serving as the team’s first baseman in the wake of last week’s promotion of Drew Compton to high-A Rome, went 7-for-16 with 7 runs scored and 5 walks. Designated Hitter Jeremy Celedonio hit the only home run of the week for Augusta, and has hit .308/.406/.769 in the two weeks since returning from the injured list.

ROME:

Rome split a crucial series on the road at Bowling Green, holding serve to maintain their 1-game lead atop the South Atlantic League South division standings at 34-27. This week will see the end of the first half of the season, with Rome looking to remain in the lead at the halfway mark and clinch a playoff berth during a home series against Greenville.
The Emperors dropped the first two games of the series in some well-pitched matched. In game one, the Hot Rods limited Rome to 4 hits while started Drue Hackenberg (6.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 SO) and relievers Jared Johnson and Shay Schanaman held Bowling Green to only 6 hits, but it was enough for a 4-2 loss. The following night lefty Mitch Farris went 6 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits and striking out 7, but late-game runs surrendered by Ryan Bourassa and Cory Wall, along with Rome only getting 5 hits against Bowling Green, was enough for a 3-2 defeat.
Rome would bounce back with two wins on Thursday and Friday. Rome jumped out to an early lead on Thursday thanks to home runs by Nick Clarno in the 2nd and Drew Compton in the 3rd, and starter Luis Vargas went 5.1 innings, allowing only 4 hits and 1 run while striking out 6. A solo homer by outfielder Ethan Workinger in the 8th and a 2-RBI single in th 9th would but the game out of reach. Friday night was Lucas Braun Night, as the righty struck out a career-high 12 batters in 7 shutout innings to work the bulk of a 1-0 Rome shutout, with Schanaman and Johnson finishing up the last two innings on a combined 5-hitter.
The two teams would split the weekend, with Bowling Green winning 6-4 on Saturday and Rome spinning their second shutout of the series on Sunday and winning 6-0. The shutout was a combined effort by starter Blake Burkhalter (3.2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 SO) and piggybacker Riley Frey (5.1 IP, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 SO). Overall Workinger had a big week at the plate, going 8-for-23 with a double and 2 homers, knocking in 7 runs.

MISSISSIPPI:

The Mississippi Braves had an odd week after having their home series opener on Tuesday canceled and Wednesday postponed due to poor field conditions and then the series moved to Madison, Alabama against the Rocket City Trash Pandas. Despite the obvious adversity, the M-Braves took four out of five games, raising their record up to 29-33 on the season and they will now move on, in what is now an extended road trip, to Tennessee to face the Smokies.

Starting pitching went well for the M-Braves as they received three quality starts from the likes of Ian Mejia (6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K) on Tuesday, Drew Parrish (7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K) on Wednesday, and Luis De Avila (7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K) in a shutout during game two of Saturday’s doubleheader. David Fletcher was well on his way to a great start in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader, tossing five scoreless innings before being tagged for four runs in the sixth to lose the game.

Domingo Gonzalez once again led the way for the Mississippi bullpen with three scoreless innings over two outing with a win ad a save. Hayden Harris added two scoreless innings over two outings. Patrick Halligan added a scoreless innings and a save on Friday.

The Mississippi offense unveiled a new look this week after the promotions of Nacho Alvarez and Drake Baldwin to Gwinnett. Catcher Tyler Tolve went 3-for-10 with two doubles, a home run, and three RBI (.300/.500/.800). Third baseman Keshawn Ogans went 5-for-13 with two stolen bases and five runs scored, Cal Conley hit safely in all five of his games in a 5-for-16 week with a double and two stolen bases.

GWINNETT:

The Gwinnett Stripers returned home this week after a long road trip to face the Nashville Sounds at Coolray Field. The Gwinnett bats came alive this week, averaging more than seven runs a game and scoring at least a dozen runs on two occasions. After taking five out of six games, the Stripers are now closing in on a .500 record (34-35) and now head to Charlotte to face the Knights.

Gwinnett received two strong starts this week: Allan Winans continued his recent great run with six scoreless innings on Wednesday, although that was the lone loss for Gwinnett during the week, Bryce Elder continued his great streak as well with eight scoreless innings on Friday, allowing just four hits while striking out nine and walking no one. Grant Holmes opened the week with four runs allowed over 4.2 innings on Tuesday, he allowed three of the first four batters of the game to score but mostly settled down after that. Darius Vines’ tough season continued with three earned runs given up over just 3.2 innings and now has a 5.59 ERA for the season. Dylan Dodd had a nice outing on Saturday, giving up just two runs over five innings.

In the Gwinnett bullpen, Brooks Wilson had a good week as he tossed four scoreless innings over two outings with no hits allowed and four strikeouts. Zack Logue and Brian Moran each contributed a three-inning scoreless outing in long relief. Daysbel Hernandez gave up one earned run over 3.1 innings in two outings with three walks but got two wins for his efforts. Taylor Widener had a rough week between a start and a relief appearance with eight runs allowed over just two innings.

Gwinnett’s offense was given a shot in the arm this week with the arrivals of shortstop Nacho Alvarez and catcher Drake Baldwin from Mississippi. Alvarez went 11-for-23 over five games with two doubles, two home runs, five runs scored, and seven RBI (.478/.500/.826). Baldwin was 8-for-20 over five games with four walks, two home runs, and six RBI (.400/.500/.700) including a bases-loaded walk-off walk on Saturday. Forrest Wall returned from missing a few games after being hit on the hand with a pitch last week to go 6-for-17 in four games with four stolen bases (.353/.421/.353). Outfielder Ramon Laureano went 7-for-14 with a double, home run, four RBI, and seven runs scored in four games before being promoted to Atlanta (.500/.611/.786). Luke Williams went 9-for-24 with five stolen bases and five runs scored (.375/.444/.417).

POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:

Gwinnett shortstop Nacho Alvarez Jr. (Jaimie Spaar/MiLB.com)

PITCHER of the WEEK:

Rome RHP Lucas Braun (Rome Emperors)

Transaction Round-Up

  • 6/10/2024: RHP Chad Bryant released by A+ Rome
  • 6/11/2024: RHP Ryan Bourassa activated from the 7-day injured list for A+ Rome

A 25th-round pick in 2019 out of Pensacola State College, for whatever reason the on-field results never rose up to the arm talent that Bryant showed, and you cannot say the Braves didn’t give him a chance — in five minor league seasons, Bryant appeared in 69 games, including 18 starts, pitching to a 6.60 overall ERA. Bryant’s time in Rome this season mirrored that production, throwing 19 innings over 9 relief appearances with a 6.63 ERA.

Bourassa had been on the IL since mid-April.

  • 6/11/2024: C Drake Baldwin assigned to AAA Gwinnett from AA Mississippi; C Sebastian Rivero assigned to AA Mississippi from AAA Gwinnett

Baldwin, the top catching prospect in the system and one of the top position player prospects overall, comes back to Gwinnett after a one-week trip there to conclude the 2022 season. Getting out of cavernous TrustMark Park, Baldwin will look to add more power to a hitting profile that shows potentially elite strike zone judgement.

  • 6/11/2024: RHP J.J. Niekro transferred from the 7-day injured list to the full-season injured list

A tough blow for the 26-year-old nephew of Braves great Phil Niekro, who had been having a solid season in 8 starts with AA Mississippi.

  • 6/11/2024: C Jacob Godman activated from the 7-day injured list for A Augusta; C Dawson Dimon assigned to A+ Rome from A Augusta; C Jose Marcano assigned to A Augusta from A+ Rome

Lower-level catcher shuffling.

Paez had not made an appearance this season after pitching in 11 games as an 18-year-old for the DSL Braves in 2023.

  • 6/12/2024: SS Nacho Alvarez Jr. assigned to AAA Gwinnett from AA Mississippi; 3B Phillip Evans released by AAA Gwinnett

The top position player prospect in the system is Alvarez, and now he also escaped TrustMark to find instant success in Gwinnett, slamming his first two home runs of the season at CoolRay Field. Both Baldwin and Alvarez will be evaluated for potential contributions late in 2024, in 2025, or for potential use in trades to help the big league team in a more natural hitting environment.

To make room, the Braves elected to let go of major league veteran Evans, who had seen his playing time reduced with the signing of former NL MVP Yuri Gurriel to play first base for the Stripers.

  • 6/14/2024: RHP Matt Carasiti signed to a minor league contract and assigned to AAA Gwinnett

Carasiti is a 32-year-old major league veteran, spending parts of four seasons with Colorado and Seattle. This year he has made 7 appearances with the Rockies, where he allowed 10 earned runs in 8.2 innings pitched.

  • 6/15/2024: OF Michael Harris II placed on the 10-day injured list (strained left hamstring); OF Ramon Laureano selected from AAA Gwinnett; RHP Spencer Strider transferred from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list

Laureano was hitting .362/.424/.603 for Gwinnett at the time of his promotion. The 29-year-old former Oakland prospect had been released by Cleveland earlier in the season after only hitting .143/.265/.229 in 83 plate appearances this year. He seems likely get substantial playing time in Atlanta until the return of Harris, a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder who had begun heating up at the plate of late, hitting .286/.348/.381 over the last 7 days.

  • 6/16/2024: RHP Grant Holmes selected from AAA Gwinnett; LHP Ray Kerr optioned to AAA Gwinnett; RHP Huascar Ynoa recalled from AAA Gwinnett and placed on the 60-day injured list (right elbow stress reaction)

The 29-year-old Holmes wowed the team’s veterans in spring training, throwing a much sharper slider. It was working so well in Gwinnett that the team stretched him out over the last several weeks as a starter, so when called up and asked to cover three innings on Sunday he was well prepared to do so. The 10-year minor league veteran went 9-up and 9-down in his major league debut.

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