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.
Schwellenbach Solidifies Big League Bona Fides
Spencer Schwellenbach won’t be on the next round of prospect lists. The Midwestern righty has over 50 innings in the big leagues now and no longer qualifies, but he is making his mark as the latest Braves farm product to rise the majors and make a big impact on a contending team.
It didn’t look like it was going to end up here after his first few big league starts when he looked overmatched and underdeveloped. In his last 8 starts however he has pitched 48 innings to a 3.19 ERA and has struck out 51 batters to only 7 walks. Control was one of Schwellenbach’s hallmarks while making his swift ascent up the Braves organizational ladder — the strikeouts were not, highlighted by Saturday’s brilliant outing in which he struck out a professional career high 11 batters.
This change comes after a rapid series of adjustments made by Schwellenbach under the supervision of Braves pitching coach Rick Kranitz and his staff. After concentrating on his 4-seam fastball, slider, and cutter in the minor leagues, Schwellenbach has started to incorporate his curveball and change-up in the mix more often. Most impressively, he started throwing a splitter before his third start in Baltimore after having never thrown it in a game situation before, and it starting paying immediate benefits. For pitchers with at least 50 innings, Schwellenbach’s splitter rates as fifth-best in the majors this season by Statcast’s pitch value metric, giving him a put-away pitch that had been missing from his arsenal as he came up through the minors.
Schwellenbach’s emergence has been an unmitigated bit of good news for a contending team that nonetheless has been mired in an offensive funk most of the season and dealing with a dizzying list of injuries.
Weekly Round-Up
COMPLEX LEAGUES:
The DSL Braves had their best week of the season to date, going 4-1, including the conclusion of a suspended game started on July 2 that ended up going 11 innings before the Braves finally settled it, 14-10. Seventeen-year-old centerfielder Juan Espinal lead the charge on offense this week, getting on base at a .539 clip (3-for-9, 3 walks, 1 HBP). The Braves bullpen was uncommonly good this week, with Lewis Sifontes, Noslen Marquez, Rafael Lasorsa, Edwarlys Hidalgo, Kendy Francique, and Jeiki Beltran all turning in scoreless appearances.
The FCL Braves wrapped up their regular season with a whimper, going 0-3 on the week to conclude with a 20-39 overall record, last place in the South division. The biggest news from North Port was a rehab assignment by Hurston Waldrep, who have up 2 hits and 1 run in 2 innings in a warm-up to another rehab appearance for Augusta on Sunday. Right-hander Jimmy Herget also made a stop on the mound, tossing a perfect inning before to New York to rejoin the big league Braves. Outfielder Carlos Monteverde finished on a high note, going 3-for-6 in the 3 games with 3 walks. Third baseman Diego Benitez homered.
AUGUSTA:
The Greenjackets travelled to a rainy Myrtle Beach and got swept by the Pelicans in five games, with one game being outright cancelled. Augusta will bring their 9-19 last-place second-half record home this week to face the Down East Ducks.
Augusta’s offense was paced by newcomer John Gil, the shortstop going 5-for-17 on the week with a double and a triple as well as 3 stolen bases. Reserve outfielder Noah Williams did well in his opportunities, going 4-for-11 with 2 doubles and a home run. Catcher Harry Owen went 3-for-9 and has hit .291/.356/.380 since the start of June. On the flipside, newcomers Junior Garcia and Luis Guanipa have struggled since their promotion from the FCL, hitting .040 and .097 respectively in the last two weeks.
Starting pitching was uninspiring this week. JR Ritchie gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in 3.1 innings. Right-handers Garrett Baumann and Didier Fuentes had similarly short starts, going 4 and 4.2 innings respectively. Right-hander Davis Polo had a disaster start, giving up 6 runs in only 2 innings, and a rehabbing Hurston Waldrep gave up four runs in 2 innings on Sunday.
ROME:
The Emperors concluded their 9-game road trip to New York this week, dropping 4 of 6 games against the Brooklyn Cyclones. They return to Rome this week to face the division-leading Bowling Green Hot Rods for six games.
The Rome offense continued their second-half sputtering, managing only 23 runs in the 6 games, and squandering two solid starts by swingman Cory Wall, who went 5 innings on Tuesday, giving up just one run, and 4.1 innings on Sunday, surrendering 3 runs (1 earned). Right-handers Blake Burkhalter had his best start of the season to date, going 6 innings and scattering 6 hits, allowing only an unearned run. Jhancarlos Lara threw 6 shutout innings in his start on Wednesday, allowing only 2 hits and striking out 6, but the Emperors ended up dropping the game 1-2.
Catcher Adam Zebrowski went 6-for-20 with 2 doubles, a triple, and a homer to pace the offense. Outfielder Ethan Workinger went 7-for-25 with a double and a triple and appears to be working his way out of a second-half slump.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves continued their road trip this week with a series against the Montgomery Biscuits. In a very low-scoring series in which the M-Braves scored just seventeen runs in the six games while allowing only twenty, the two teams split the series. Mississippi now brings a 15-12 second-half record home to face the Tennessee Smokies.
The starting pitchers performed well this week as four starts resulted in just one earned run being allowed with Luis De Avila having two of those in his Tuesday/Sunday bookend starts. De Avila gave up a total of two runs over eleven innings, good enough to earn him our OFR Pitcher of the Week honors for the third time in four weeks. Lucas Braun gave up just one run over 6.2 innings on Friday while Drue Hackenberg followed up his spectacular start from the previous week with five innings of one-run baseball in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader. Ian Mejia gave up four earned runs in four innings on Wednesday while allowing eleven baserunners and David Fletcher allowed four earned runs in five innings on Thursday.
In the bullpen, Patrick Halligan tossed two one-inning scoreless outings while Drew Parrish had a three-inning scoreless outing in relief. Rolddy Munoz and Elison Joseph earned saves over the course of the week with Joseph’s being his first at Double-A.
There was not much offense this week but there were several highlights: Keshawn Ogans extended his on-base streak to 24 games while Justin Dean stole four bases on Sunday to set the club’s single-season stolen base record with 44 and counting. Outfielder Geraldo Quintero went 5-for-11 with a stolen base and three runs scored while Bryson Horne went 3-for-13 with a double, home run, and four RBI.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers took to the road this week for a series against the Durham Bulls. Although the Stripers averaged six runs a game and outscored Durham 36-24, the teams split the six-game set. Gwinnett now brings home a 48-54 record to take on the Nashville Bats.
The starting pitching got off to a good start on Tuesday as Darius Vines gave up just one run over six innings on Tuesday, but the rest of the week did not go as well. Dylan Dodd gave up two unearned runs over four innings on Thursday while Ian Anderson gave up three runs in 4.1 innings on Friday while allowing nine baserunners and throwing 81 pitches. On the rehab front, AJ Smith-Shawver gave up three runs in four innings on Saturday, all on solo home runs, while throwing 84 pitches. Huascar Ynoa followed that up on Sunday with three scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out two and throwing 44 pitches.
In the bullpen, Zach Logue followed up Smith-Shawver’s start on Sunday with four scoreless innings in relief. Brian Moran and Matt Carasiti were the only other Gwinnett relievers to escape unscathed this week as each had a two-inning scoreless outing. Ken Giles had three appearances during the week, giving up a run in his first appearance but nothing else for the rest of the week while striking out five.
First baseman Yuli Gurriel had a big week as he hit safely in all four of his games and went 7-for-19 with three home runs and five RBI. Infielder Luke Waddell went just 6-for-24 but had three doubles and seven RBI (.250/.333/.375). Catcher Drake Baldwin went 5-for-18 with a double and three RBI (.278/.458/.333) while fellow catcher Sandy Leon went 4-for-10 with a double, two home runs, and four RBI. Infielder Alejo Lopez also had a big week in going 12-for-28 with a double, home run, three stolen bases, eight runs scored, and four RBI (.429/.448/.571), earning our OFR Position Player of the Week honors.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 7/22/2024: IF Nacho Alvarez Jr.selected by MLB Atlanta; 2B Ozzie Albies placed on the 10-day injured list (fractured left wrist)
It’s not the way anyone wanted it, but the Braves top position player prospect made his pro debut this week. He’s off to a slow start at the plate, going only 2-for-23 so far and striking out an uncharacteristic 10 times.
- 7/22/2024: UT Whit Merrifield signed to a free agent contract and assigned to the Atlanta Braves; OF Eli White optioned to AAA Gwinnett; OF Forrest Wall designated for assignment
On the heals of signing Eddie Rosario, the Braves will try again to pick up a discarded low-performing veteran from a division rival and try to fill a hole. That goal was hampered by a finger injury suffered by Merrifield while taking infield on the day he reported to the team.
Wall was picked up off waiver by the Miami Marlins and is back in the majors in the wake of the Jazz Chisholm trade to the Yankees.
- 7/22/2024: Draft pick C Nicholas Montgomery signed
- 7/23/2024: Draft picks OFs Patrick Clohisy, Jake Steeels, Eric Hartman, Dalton McIntyre, Titus Dumitru, and Owen Carey; LHPs Herick Hernandez and Carter Holton; RHPs Luke Sinnard, Ethan Bagwell, and Jacob Shafer; and IFs Mason Guerra and Colby Jones signed
In extremely short order the Braves sign their entire draft class, less than a week after the draft concluded.
- 7/22/2024: Signed C Mac Guscette and LHP Jacob Gomez to amateur free agent contracts and assigned them to FCL Braves
Filling out the 2024 draft class with undrafted free agents. The Braves have made some solid signings in recent years, including LHP Hayden Harris, who may log time in Atlanta before the end of the season.
- 7/22/2024: SS Alexander Sanchez signed to a minor league free agent contract, assigned to DSL Braves
- 7/23/2024: RHP Francisco Vicioso and LHP Yonathan Frias released by DSL Braves
- 7/24/2024: RHPs Jose Ojeda, Genderson Almonte, Miguel Hernandez and OFs Elian Garcia and Jair Casanova released by FCL Braves
Complex league comings-and-goings. The end of the FCL regular season means the end of the line for these five, at least in the Braves organization.
- 7/23/2024: 3B Austin Riley placed on the paternity list for MLB Atlanta; IF Luke Williams recalled from AAA Gwinnett
- 7/25/2024: 3B Austin Riley activated from the paternity list for MLB Atlanta; IF Zack Short designated for assignment
- 7/27/2024: IF Zack Short outrighted to AAA Gwinnett
The Riley family welcomed home a bouncing baby boy, and it weirdly ended up costing Short his roster spot. Short filled in well when Riley suffered an oblique issue in May, but has only hit .125/.300/.188 in part-time work since June 1. Short cleared waivers and was assigned to AAA Gwinnett.
- 7/24/2024: RHP Allan Winans recalled from AAA Gwinnett; LHP Dylan Dodd optioned to AAA Gwinnett
- 7/25/2024: LHP Zach Logue selected by MLB Atlanta; RHP Allan Winans optioned to AAA Gwinnett; OF Michael Harris II transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list
- 7/25/2024: RHP Daysbel Hernandez recalled from AAA Gwinnett; LHP Zach Logue optioned to AAA Gwinnett
- 7/27/2024: RHP Jimmy Herget activated from the 15-day injured list for MLB Atlanta; RHP Daysbel Hernandez optioned to AAA Gwinnett
Rain this week played havoc with the last spot on the pitching staff. Harris reportedly had a slight setback in his return from the grade-2 hamstring strain, prompting the move to the 60-day IL to allow room for Logue on the 40-man roster as an emergency up-and-down pitcher.
- 7/24/2024: UT Brian Anderson signed to a minor league free agent contract and assigned to AAA Gwinnett
The former Marlins veteran decided to remain in the organization after he was designated for assignment last week.
- 7/25/2024: RHP David Rodriguez assigned to A Augusta from FCL Braves
Last year’s 15th-round pick, Rodriguez had to overcome injury before making his pro debut in the FCL this summer. He will continue his journey in Augusta after the FCL season concluded.
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