Welcome to the Braves Farm Report and Happy Labor Day, thank you for spending a few minutes of your day of rest with us. 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
AUGUSTA:
Augusta wrapped up the home portion of their schedule with 7 games against Columbia, winning 4 of them behind a surge of pitching reinforcements from the 2024 draft. The Greenjackets will travel to Kinston, North Carolina this week for the final series of the season against the Down East Ducks.
The starting pitchers for the whole series (minus the first game of a Tuesday doubleheader that was the resumption of a suspended game) were 2024 draft picks. In the suspended game, originally started by the then-rehabbing Ian Anderson on July 6, right-hander Garrett Baumann cleaned up the rest of the game, throwing 5.2 scoreless innings in what turned out to be his Greenjackets swan song as he would be promoted to high-A Rome later in the week, Augusta winning 8-0. Baumann has been Augusta’s best most consistent starter of the season, and overall turned in a 3.42 ERA over 2024, throwing 92 innings. Left-hander Jacob Kroeger started game 2, essentially the opener in a bullpen game that Columbia won 5-6.
Wednesday saw the first in a string of four professional debuts for Augusta starters with righty Logan Samuels first out of the chute, pitching a scoreless innings before giving way to lefty Jacob Gomez for three scoreless to follow. Eighteen-year-old Luis Arestigueta would take the game the rest of the way, but the duel shutouts would end in the top of the 9th as the Fireflies would finally break through for three runs and win 0-3. Augusta would turn the tables on Thursday, thanks in no small part to left-hander Herick Hernandez‘s brilliant debut. The fourth-rounder out of Miami was sharp as he struck out 7 Fireflies in 3.2 innings without allowing a baserunner. Righties Kadon Morton and Rayven Antonio would follow and allow just 1 run on 4 hits the rest of the way, Augusta hanging on to win 2-1.
Second-rounder Carter Holton debuted the following night an allowed 3 run in 2 innings, but the Jackets would scratch their way back to win 5-4. First-rounder Cam Caminiti debuted on Saturday, fresh off being placed in the top 100 prospects in baseball by MLB Pipeline before throwing his first pitch. The stuff was as impressive as advertised even if the command wasn’t always there; in the end he gave up one run on three hits in three innings, striking out 4 and not walking a batter. Unfortunately that would be enough to earn Caminiti his first professional loss as the Jackets only could muster 6 hits to support the pitching leading to a 2-5 Columbia victory. The Jackets would win the rubber game on Sunday however behind strong performances from 17th-rounder Jacob Shafer (6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO) and righty David Rodriguez (3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 4 SO) as well as a walk-off 9th-inning RBI single by third baseman Wilmer De La Cruz to squeak through a 2-1 win.
While the offense overall remained pedestrian, outfielder Junior Garcia did show some signs of adapting to the level, going 7-for-16 on the week with 4 walks. Catcher Harry Owen only had one hit on the week, but it was a big one, a homer that put Augusta ahead for good in Saturday’s win.
ROME:
After dropping the first three games of last week’s final home series of the regular season, Rome rebounded over the weekend split the series 3-3. Rome will travel to Hickory this week for a warm-up series against the Crawdads before likely heading to Bowling Green for the first game of the Divisional playoff series Tuesday, September 17. Bowling Green has a 5.5 game lead in the second-half standings with six games remaining. The best-of-three Divisional Series will switch to Rome on Thursday, September 19, with tickets on sale for only $5.00
First baseman Drew Compton continued to be an on-base machine at the top of the order, this week going 5-for-19 with 3 walks for a .462 OBP. Infielder E.J. Exposito looked to continue to put his long summer slump behind him, getting 3 doubles on the week. Rome’s defense also got a boost this week with the return of shortstop Ambioris Tavarez, out since late May after breaking his hand on a hit-by-pitch.
Right-hander Blake Burkhalter struck out a career-high 11 batters in Sunday’s 3-2 win, only allowing 3 hits and 1 walk in six innings. Reliever Isaac Gallegos had his best week since his mid-summer promotion from Augusta, throwing 3.1 shutout innings over 2 appearances, striking out 7 and picking up a save. Braves 2022 first-rounder JR Ritchie was promoted from Augusta and made a successful high-A debut, allowing 3 hits and 1 run in 6 innings and picking up a win. Righty Adam Maier had his best performance as an Emperor on Friday, allowing 4 hits and no runs in 6 innings, helping the squad to a 7-4 win.
MISSISSIPPI:
The Mississippi Braves played a big series in Pensacola this week against the Blue Wahoos with a chance to solidify their chances in the second-half playoff chase. The M-Braves held their ground by taking four out of the six games although they remain three games out of first place with twelve games remaining. Mississippi returns home for the final time this week as they take on the Tennessee Smokies, who have the best record in the Southern League for the second half at 38-18.
The starting pitchers held their own this week as Jhancarlos Lara got the bookend starts. Lara didn’t show good command in either start but the bottom line looked decent as he lost Tuesday’s start in 1-0 fashion, allowing just an unearned run in five innings while giving up just one hit but walking six. In Sunday’s tilt, Lara gave up two runs in five innings, giving up five hits and three walks in earning the win. Landon Harper headed a bullpen game on Wednesday and tossed four scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 1.32 while playing for the M-Braves. Ian Mejia was wild in Friday’s start as he walked five and gave up two runs in 4.1 innings while throwing 95 pitches. Lucas Braun struggled but still gutted out six innings of four-run baseball while earning the win.
Elison Joseph was the highlight of the bullpen this week as he threw three one-innings scoreless outings while earning two saves. Jake McSteen, Jonathan Hughes, and Patrick Halligan each had two one-inning scoreless appearances while Drew Parrish had 4.2 scoreless innings over two appearances with seven strikeouts.
Yolbert Sanchez continued to hit well as he was 8-for-17 with a double, home run, and an RBI. Outfielder Cody Milligan was just 6-for-24 this week but had two doubles, a triple, and nine RBI. Cal Conley was 7-for-25 with a double, home run, two RBI, and four stolen bases. The stolen bases put Conley over forty stolen bases for the season, joining Justin Dean as the only M-Braves to do so. Outfielder Ethan Workinger had three multi-hit games during a 6-for-20 week with four RBI but David McCabe’s struggles continued with five multi-strikeout games during a 1-for-23 week with a double and an RBI.
GWINNETT:
The Gwinnett Stripers entered a big series with the Columbus Clippers, the team on top of their division, with a chance to make up ground to try to win the second-half title. Unfortunately, in a closely played series, Gwinnett dropped four games by a total of five runs (the two wins were each by a run as well) to virtually eliminate themselves from playoff contention. Gwinnett, now 31-26 in the second half and 6.5 games back of first place with two other teams ahead of them, visit the Nashville Sounds this week.
The starting pitching had mixed results this week as the rotation received good efforts this week from Hurston Waldrep on Thursday, who scattered ten baserunners over five innings but allowed just one run, Drue Hackenberg on Friday, who gave up just one run in six innings in his first Triple-A start, even though he walked five and barely threw half of his pitches for strikes, and AJ Smith-Shawver on Sunday, where he threw five scoreless innings while allowing just four baserunners. Smith-Shawver also started on Tuesday but that start did not go as well as he gave up five runs over 5.2 innings while allowing eleven baserunners. Ian Anderson had a subpar start on Wednesday, giving up five runs in four innings while allowing twelve baserunners and two home runs. Bryce Elder did not fare well at all on Saturday as he gave up four runs in five innings with an uncharacteristic seven walks.
In the bullpen, Daysbel Hernandez tossed three scoreless innings over two outing but did walk four and hit a batter. Allan Winans had a great relief appearance on Sunday in which he threw four scoreless innings to finish off a combined shutout to earn the win.
Gwinnett did not perform as well offensively as in past weeks but there were still some good performances. Brian Anderson was just 5-for-18 with a double, home run, and three RBI, but had a walk-off hit on Saturday and threw out a runner at the plate to end Sunday’s win. Shortstop Nacho Alvarez was 3-for-15 with an HBP, two walks, a stolen base, and two RBI while catcher Drake Baldwin was 4-for-21 with a double, home run, a stolen base, and two RBI. Chadwick Tromp continued his hot streak with an 8-for-22 week with a double, home run, and six RBI.
POSITION PLAYER of the WEEK:
PITCHER of the WEEK:
Transaction Round-Up
- 8/27/2024: RHP Yoel Correa signed to an international amateur free agent contract and assigned to the DSL Braves
Correa is a late-bloomer, already 22 years old.
- 8/27/2024: RHP Drue Hackenberg assigned to AAA Gwinnett from AA Mississippi; LHP Brian Moran placed on the developmental list for AAA Gwinnett; RHP Ryan Bourassa assigned to AA Mississippi from A+ Rome
Hackenberg’s college numbers and scouting report didn’t scream “over-slot second-round pick” to many outside observers when the Braves selected him in the second-round of the 2023 draft and gave him an overslot bonus to sign, but his development and rapid rise up the organizational ladder has shown the Braves may actually be pretty good at scouting and developing pitching talent. Who knew?
- 8/27/2024: RHP JR Ritchie assigned to A+ Rome from A Augusta
- 8/28/2024: RHP Garrett Baumann assigned to A+ Rome from A Augusta
A couple of well-deserved bumps up the org ladder. I would expect Burkhalter and Ritchie to be the 1-2 starters in the Divisional Series for Rome in a couple weeks.
- 8/27/2024: SS Ambioris Tavarez and RHP William Silva activated from the 7-day injured list for A+ Rome
- 8/28/2024: IF Tim Bowden II released from A+ Rome
Tavarez was just starting to heat up at the plate in May when an arrent inside pitch broke his hand. Even if his bat doesn’t come around, Tavarez improves the defense all-around.
- 8/27/2024: OF Isaiah Drake placed on the 7-day injured list for A Augusta
- 8/29/2024: OF Luis Guanipa activated from the 7-day injured list for A Augusta; C Alen Pineda placed on the developmental list
Two young, talented, and toolsy outfielders who have been bit all season by the injury bug and haven’t produced at the plate switch out in Augusta.
- 8/28/2024: LHPs Cam Caminiti, Carter Holton, and Herick Hernandez and RHP Logan Samuels assigned to A Augusta from FCL Braves
The big news on the farm last week were the debuts of Caminiti and Holton, but it was the lefty Hernandez who had the best performance.
- 8/29/2024: RHP Darius Vines placed on the 60-day injured list for AAA Gwinnett
And thus concludes an annus horribilis for Vines, who started the year vying for a spot as a fifth starter or long reliever for the big league Braves but finds himself off the 40-man roster, back in Mississippi, and finally out for the year. No word on the injury, but in his last start he only allowed 2 hits and 1 run over six innings against Biloxi.
- 8/31/2024: IF Yuli Gurriel traded to the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations; RHP John Brebbia and LHP Tyler Matzek signed to minor league contracts and assigned to AAA Gwinnett
Gurriel was nursing a slight hamstring injury last week, but was expected by many to not only be activated but added to Atlanta’s roster as a bench bat when the rosters expanded to September 1. Instead the Braves decided to add outfielder Eli White, and Atlanta did Gurriel a solid by sending to another contender.
Speaking of doing someone a solid, old friend Tyler Matzek returns to the organization, allowing him to continue to throw ahead of his free agent season.
- 8/31/2024: IF Colby Jones assigned to A+ Rome from A Augusta; IF Nick Ward placed on the 7-day injured list for A+ Rome; IF Cam Magee activated from the developmental list for A Augusta
Jones, Atlanta’s 13th-round pick in this year’s draft, becomes the first of this year’s class to rise to high-A after hitting .281/.343/.328 in 20 games for Augusta.
- 9/1/2024: RHP John Brebbia selected from AAA Gwinnett; OF Eli White recalled from AAA Gwinnett; LHP Zach Logue designated for assignment; OF Justin Dean activated from developmental list for AAA Gwinnett
Brebbia is a 7-year veteran who has spent time with the Cardinals, Giants, and toiled this year in Purgatory for the White Sox. While his numbers this season are ugly, he owns a career 3.82 ERA in 349 major league appearances.
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