Atlanta Braves: Mississippi 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
Mississippi Braves Coaching Staff
Manager – Aaron Holbert
Hitting Coach – Garey Ingram
Pitching Coach – Dennis Lewallyn
Mississippi Braves Roster – Catchers
The M-Braves have just two catchers, but they’ve both got some intrigue. Chris O’Dowd was acquired in the David Hale trade to the Rockies. He’s a switch-hitter with good contact and a frame that should add power, but he hasn’t displayed that power in game yet. His defense is also something that could use some work, but at 24, he’s shown enough to possibly be a solid backup, especially with his ability to switch-hit. Steve Rodriguez is the opposite. He’s a very solid defender with some limited offensive ability. He doesn’t strike out a lot, but he also doesn’t make a lot of contact.
Mississippi Braves Roster – Infielders
The infield of Mississippi is led by offseason acquisition Rio Ruiz (TT #11, MLB.com #6), a third baseman with tremendous power potential. Daniel Castro is also a well-considered middle infield prospect, though not quite on any lists just yet. Mississippi also features defensive stalwart Emerson Landoni, first baseman Corban Joseph, corner infielder Kevin Ahrens, and likely designated hitter Seth Loman, who is returning for a second season to Mississippi. Castro and Ruiz are the real prospects, but we could see Landoni or Ahrens turn into a solid backup type somewhere along the way.
Mississippi Braves Roster – Outfielders
The Braves’ outfield has an interesting mix of speed and power. Center Fielder Mallex Smith (TT #16, MLB.com #16), acquired in the Justin Upton deal from San Diego, made a huge impression in the Arizona Fall League, and he’ll be attempting to show his speed and on base skills can translate to higher levels. Former first round pick Matt Lipka returns to Mississippi after struggling before injuries limited his 2014 to a total of 32 games and 121 at bats. Kyeong Kang and David Rohm will play the corner spots. Kang is a power guy who’s now in his fifth season of AA ball. He has enough power to be valuable at the AA level, but hasn’t shown enough to show as a prospect. Rohm is an excellent defender, but doesn’t offer a lot with the bat.
Mississippi Braves Roster – Pitchers
The real jewel of both upper level Braves’ affiliates is the pitching. The M-Braves feature multiple pitchers who were likely destined for AAA as the offseason began, but have been bumped down due to the large amount of offseason acquisitions targeted for AAA Gwinnett. The biggest prospect is Tyrell Jenkins (TT #3, MLB.com #10), acquired in the Jason Heyward deal with St. Louis, but I’m much more intrigued with righty sinkerballer Jason Hursh (TT #10, MLB.com #12), who when paired with Gwinnett’s Matt Wisler, could provide tremendous value for the MLB rotation as inning-eating sinker ball starters or dominant closers in the MLB bullpen. While guys like Jenkins get a lot more attention due to their dominant “stuff” that can strike out hitters left and right, modern pitching has seemingly lost view of the value of a great sinkerballer. While he wasn’t ever a #1, Derek Lowe had a tremendous career, and while he’s never won a Cy Young Award (though he has finished top 6 in 4 seasons), Tim Hudson is a top 10 pitcher in accumulated WAR in the 2000s. Greg Ross returns to Mississippi in the rotation, joined by Victor Mateo and Jake Brigham. Ian Thomas has already been promoted to Gwinnett, leaving the bullpen headed by Ryan Kelly and Jorge Reyes. Reyes could be next in line to start if one of the starters is either injured or promoted.
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.