Atlanta Braves: Rome Braves Roster Review
Last week, minor league baseball had their opening day on Thursday. Tomahawk Take will bring you the rosters for each full-season league the Braves currently have a team in. The 2014-2015 offseason brought a lot of new faces to the minor league system, so it’s good to know where you can find them all!
Our schedule:
Tuesday: Rome Braves roster review
Wednesday: Carolina Mudcats roster review
Thursday: Mississippi Braves roster review
Friday: Mississippi Braves roster review
Rome Braves Coaching Staff
Manager – Randy Ingle
Hitting Coach – Bobby Moore
Pitching Coach – Gabriel Luckert
Coaches – Tim Straus, Nestor Perez
Rome Braves Roster – Catchers
Rome has a fairly deep catching squad, including two guys drafted in the first five rounds in the last few years along with a small college prospect picked late in the 2014 draft. Bryan De La Rosa is a defensive wiz who struggled mightily with the bat in Rome in 2014, earning him a demotion to rookie league ball. Tanner Murphy is an offensive standout who is only 20 and showed a very good eye last year in Danville. His biggest issue is on the defensive end. The real wild card is 20th round 2014 selection Wigberto Nevarez from Lubbock Christian University, who showed defense and offense in his rookie league stints after being drafted, but at 6’3 and 230 pounds will likely have to move away from catcher. Some have compared his potential to a certain El Oso Blanco.
Rome Braves Roster – Infielders
The Braves have a wealth of infielders, a number of whom will get a chance to play some outfield. The most known of all these, Ozhaino Albies, was the #7 Braves prospect of both Tomahawk Take and MLB.com, and he was ranked as high as #1 by various respected industry people. He’s an 18 year-old that is a shortstop currently, but he will likely move as he climbs the ladder due to the presence of Andrelton Simmons. We’ll hopefully see his excellent eye continue to excel and move up quickly through the system. Other infielders on the roster include Jordan Edgerton, a 3B drafted in the 9th round in 2014; Reed Harper, an infield utility type with good contact and eye, but not much power or speed; Tanner Krietemeier, a late round 2014 pick from Oklahoma State at first base; Codey McElroy, a utility guy drafted late in 2014; and Omar Obregon, a middle infielder from Nicaragua that has shown very good eye at each stop thus far.
Rome Braves Roster – Outfielders
Due to the overload of infielders, the Rome squad has just three guys listed as primary outfielders. Braxton Davidson is the stud of this group, ranking #9 on TT’s list of Braves prospects and #8 on MLB.com’s. He’s already flashed his power and shown his less-than-average contact grade. He’s got a great eye and a ton of power, and the Braves are hoping that translates to a future corner outfielder and middle-of-the-order bat. Keith Curcio is a solid defensive center fielder, but the 2014 pick will need to show more with the bat to advance. Joseph Daris is an intriguing prospect with the speed to play center, but needing some work on his outfield routes. His speed on the basepaths could be a huge weapon if he can hone his eye to being a tool as well.
Rome Braves Roster – Pitchers
The pitching staff at Rome may not have the studs that some of the higher levels have, but there are absolutely some intriguing arms to pay attention to. Most notably, Alec Grosser (#22 TT, #14 MLB.com), Max Povse (#30 TT), and offseason acquiree Ricardo Sanchez (#12 TT, #9 MLB.com) make an impressive front three for the rotation. Already bullpen arms Kyle Kinman, Caleb Dirks, Sean Furney, former top prospect Carlos Salazar, and Bradley Roney have all had successful, albeit brief, starts to their season. Sanchez is the highest ranked prospect in this group, and he probably had the toughest start to his season so far, but at only 18 years old and throwing with his left hand, he’s one to keep a close eye on. Povse and Grosser were 2014 and 2013 draftees, respectively, who are very different pitchers in size and arsenol, but similar excellent results. Povse at 6’8 would seem the more intimidating of the two, but he’s actually the sinkerballer of the pair, and he’s had amazing success with it. Grosser has more of a traditional repertoire, without a monster fastball, so his control of his pitches will determine how quickly he moves up the ladder.
My plug to watch your favorite team’s minor league players
I am not being paid for this comment by any means, and please don’t take this as an advertisement by Tomahawk Take. I would like to encourage all the readers of the site to consider the idea of subscribing to milb.tv this year. Those of you who subscribe to mlb.tv will know the quality production done as part of mlb.tv. The availability is awesome, and you can watch as many minor league games as you’d like in a day for $49.99 per year. You can utilize the same site you check for all your minor league news and box scores to subscribe, milb.com.