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 went 1-3 on the week with a suspended game on Saturday that will be made up on July 19. The Braves had trouble finding runs, but righties Sebastian Estiven (4 IP, 1 H, 5 SO) and Rudit Pena (4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 3 SO) provided solid starting efforts.
The FCL Braves went 4-2 on the week, including a rare doubleheader sweep over the Twins on Thursday. Rehabbing righty Ian Anderson made a start on Monday, throwing 3 innings before getting reassigned to Augusta for a Sunday start there. Another rehabber, right-handed prospect JR Ritchie, threw three hitless innings on Tuesday in his first game work since his UCL tear early last season.
AUGUSTA:
The big news of the week was a Sunday rehab start by right-hander Ian Anderson, who tossed three scoreless innings on Sunday to spearhead what turned out to be a 2-0 Augusta victory. Right-hander Adel Dilone got his second start of the season on Tuesday and provided 4 scoreless innings, allowing only 1 run and striking out 8.
Catcher Harry Owen starred on offense this week, going 6-for-14 in his 4 games and slugging his first homer of the season. Outfielder Robert Gonzalez only had 4 hits but hit for the cycle on the week, getting a single, double, triple, and home run with those four hits. Outfielder Kade Kern showed signs of coming out of the deep slump he has been in, getting five hits including 2 home runs.
ROME:
Rome will go into the second half without two workhorse starters, Drue Hackenberg and Lucas Braun, who were promoted to double-A Mississippi. In their place are lefty Mitch Farris and righty Cade Kuehler. The former had a better time of it in his return to the level, pitching five strong innings on Tuesday, allowing just 1 earned run and striking out 8 to secure the win. Kuehler struggled in his first start at the level, going into the 4th but allowing six runs in the frame without getting an out, with the Emperors losing that one on Sunday by a 8-12 score.
In between those games Rome got strong starting efforts from Luis Vargas (5.2 innings, 1 run), Blake Burkhalter (5 innings, 0 runs), and Cory Wall (5 innings, 0 runs).
At the plate, the star of the week was catcher Adam Zebrowski, who swatted three homers last week, including two on Sunday. The OFR Position Player of the Week had 7 hits overall, score 5 runs and knocked in another 4. Outfielders Stephen Paolini and Ethan Workinger each had 2 homers, while Kevin Kilpatrick and infielders Sabin Ceballos and Carlos Arroyo each had one. Overall it was tremendous offensive week for the club as they scored 45 runs in the 6 games.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves finally returned home this week to open the second half against the Montgomery Biscuits. Despite scoring just nineteen runs in the six games, the M-Braves rode strong pitching to win four of the six games. Mississippi now travels to Biloxi for a series against the Biloxi Shuckers.
Starting pitching was quite good this week as only one starter gave up more than three runs in their start. Drue Hackenberg opened the week on Tuesday with his first start after being promoted from Rome and was impressive as he tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just five baserunners while striking out eight. Ian Mejia battled on Tuesday to give up three runs over five innings while Lucas Braun made his first start on Thursday after his Rome promotion with three runs allowed over 5.2 innings as he scattered ten singles while striking out nine and walking no one. Luis De Avila had the start of the week for Mississippi on Friday as he tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits while striking out seven on just 89 pitches, enough to secure our OFR Pitcher of the Week honors. David Fletcher, however, could not carry over the success of his previous starts as he was chased after 2.1 innings on Saturday while giving up eight runs on seven hits and three walks while not striking out anyone.
The Mississippi bullpen received several good appearances this week as Landon Harper tossed 5.1 scoreless innings over two outings and Jonathan Hughes threw 3.2 scoreless innings over two appearances. Patrick Halligan and Jorge Juan each had two scoreless appearances as well.
2B-OF Cody Milligan had another good week for the Mississippi offense as he went 9-for-24 with two doubles, two home runs, three stolen bases, and four RBI (.375/.375/.708). David Fletcher played three games in the infield this week on his non-pitching days and was 6-for-10 with a double, two stolen bases, and four runs scored.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers had a home series against the Memphis Redbirds this week in which they scored either four or five runs in five of the six games. Unfortunately, their pitching wasn’t quite up to the task as they dropped four out of the six games to drop their record to 37-44 for the season. Gwinnett now heads off on a long road trip to face the St. Paul Saints.
Gwinnett starting pitching was decent this week and highlighted by the efforts of Allan Winans, who got the bookend starts for the week. On Tuesday, he pitched very well as he tossed six scoreless innings while striking out nine but had to battle through his start on Sunday to record a quality start (6 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2 HR). Zach Logue had a fine start on Wednesday as he allowed just two runs in five innings while Darius Vines was able to provide some length on Thursday by going seven innings while giving up four runs while throwing just 84 pitches. Dylan Dodd had a tough start on Friday in giving up six runs in 4.2 innings although shoddy defense caused four of those runs to be unearned even though he gave up two home runs.
The bullpen certainly had its ups-and-downs this week with the spotlight on two newcomers that were promoted from Mississippi, Hayden Harris and Domingo Gonzalez. Harris had a good first outing in which he tossed a scoreless inning but gave up four runs in his second one-inning appearance on Sunday. Gonzalez fared much better as he pitched two one-inning scoreless outings, striking out five while allowing just a walk. Ben Bowden has been under the radar this season but had two one-inning scoreless outings and now nine consecutive scoreless outings covering 9.2 innings dating back to June 6th. Brooks Wilson also had two one-inning scoreless outings and has allowed just one run over his last eight outings covering 13.2 innings dating back to May 29th. Rehabbing A.J. Minter had two one-inning outings in which he gave up a run in the first appearance that was the result of a walk that came around to score without the benefit of a hit while the second appearance was scoreless and Minter allowed just a walk.
Gwinnett’s offense was once again highlighted by shortstop Nacho Alvarez, who went 6-for-19 with a double, home run, and four RBI (.316/.458/.526), and catcher Drake Baldwin, who was 5-for-18 with a double, five walks, and just three strikeouts (.278/.435/.333). Infielder Luke Waddell continued his great month of June with a 7-for-22 week (.318/.375/.500) in which he had two doubles, a triple, and drove in the winning run in Saturday’s 5-4 walk-off win.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 6/25/2024: UT Luke Williams recalled from AAA Gwinnett; UT Brian Anderson placed on the 10-day injured list (bacterial infection); C/1B Ryan Casteel activated from in developmental list for AAA Gwinnett
Anderson’s IL stint was back-dated to 6/22, so he could be activated early this week.
- 6/25/2024: LHP Hayden Harris and RHP Domingo Gonzalez assigned to AAA Gwinnett from AA Mississippi
- 6/25/2024: RHPs Drue Hackenberg and Lucas Braun assigned to AA Mississippi from A+ Rome
- 6/25/2024: RHPs Cade Kuehler and William Silva assigned to A+ Rome from A Augusta; LHP Mitch Farris assigned to A+ Rome from AA Mississippi
- 6/25/2024: LHP Rolando Gutierrez assigned to A Augusta from FCL Braves; RHP Isaac Gallegos activated from 7-day injured list for A Augusta
Essentially all of the affiliates gained two pitchers from the lower levers. The big prospects here are Hackenberg, last year’s 2nd-rounder who had held opponents to a .211/.327/.271 with Rome prior to his promotion, and Kuehler, who had a 2.52 ERA in 11 starts with Augusta.
Harris and Gonzalez had been very effective in the Mississippi bullpen, especially in the last month. Braun has been a workhorse for Rome and joins the Mississippi rotation in need of innings.
- 6/26/2024: RHP Bryce Elder appointed as the 27th man for the doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals
- 6/27/2024: RHP Bryce Elder returned to AAA Gwinnett
Elder pitched well in his first start with the big league club in 37 days. Odds seem good that he could be recalled soon if the team wishes to employ a 6th starter.
- 6/27/2024: OF Luis Liberato activated from the 7-day injured list for AAA Gwinnett; C/1B Ryan Casteel placed on the developmental list
Liberato has only been able to play 20 games for Gwinnett so far this year between IL stints.
- 6/28/2024: IF Keshawn Ogans activated from the injured list for AA Mississippi
It was a short stint for on the shelf for Ogans, who has commanded the majority of playing time at third for the M-Braves this season.
- 6/28/2024: RHPs Anthony Garcia and Albert Rivas assigned to A Augusta from FCL Braves; C Jose Marcano placed on the developmental list for A Augusta
Garcia had missed all of the 2023 season with injury, so this is almost like an injury rehab return.
- 6/29/2024: RHP Daysbel Hernandez optioned to AAA Gwinnett
All indications are that A.J. Minter will be activated prior to Tuesday’s home series opener against the San Francisco Giants. Optioning Hernandez earlier starts the 10-day clock on when he could potentially be recalled again.
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