Atlanta Braves Minor League Monday
A wet Sunday cancelled the docket of the Braves’ minor league system, and it was an up-and-down weekend before that for the entire system:
Atlanta Braves Minor League Monday – Gwinnett (3-7)
Gwinnett had a rough weekend before mercifully having their Sunday game postponed with Charlotte. The G-Braves were outscored 20-13 in three games. Thursday was a 10-inning loss, and in spite of the loss, Jose Peraza and Eury Perez put up a very nice game along with Adonis Garcia. The three combined for 7 hits in 15 at bats with 2 walks, a triple, and two steals. Sadly, the bullpen blew Thursday’s game after a solid start by Williams Perez and a tremendous inning by Ian Thomas (one inning and 3 strikeouts!) out-dueling Carlos Rodon in his last start before going up to the majors. Friday was a rough game for Matt Wisler, though he had a solid walk/strikeout ratio with one walk and five strikeouts. Adonis Garcia continued his tear with a home run, 3 RBI, and a walk. Chien-Ming Wang started Saturday and went 7 innings, though he did allow 6 runs. Eury Perez stole his 7th base, and Adonis Garcia had another hit and a walk.
Atlanta Braves Minor League Monday – Mississippi (6-4)
Mississippi had a very solid weekend before Sunday’s rainout. After sweeping a double header on Wednesday, the M-Braves lost a rain-shortened game on Thursday. Tyrell Jenkins threw a solid game, but he was bit by the error bug, leading to 3 unearned runs. Mallex Smith continued his early season success with 2 hits in 4 at-bats along with 2 RBI. Friday brought a 6-5 victory in 12 innings. Mallex Smith had another 2 hits while Chris O’Dowd had a big game, going 3 for 6 with 3 RBI, including a 12-inning home run. Ryan Kelly shut the door on the game for his 3rd save by striking out the side in the 12th. Greg Ross threw 5 innings of solid baseball on Saturday while Andrew Waszak struck out four over 2 innings of relief. Once again, Mallex Smith was the star with 3 hits in 5 at bats along with 2 steals. An interesting note to the season is the success of Matt Lipka. He is hitting .393/.438/.536 on the early season in 28 at bats. He’s had a solid eye with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts and stolen two bases as well. He’s not been the “standout” in any game thus far, but the former top pick is having a very nice year now that he’s healthy after a lost 2014 season to injury.
Atlanta Braves Minor League Monday – Carolina (5-4)
At this point a week ago, the Mudcats were sitting at 4-1 and looking very solid overall. They then suffered through a 1-2 weekend before Sunday’s rain out. Thursday’s game was a 13-3 drubbing at the hand of the Salem Red Sox. The Mudcats didn’t have anyone who got more than one hit, though Jacob Schrader did hit a home run. Lucas Sims took the brunt of the Salem offensive explosion, giving up 5 earned runs in 2 1/3 innings. Friday was closer than the previous day, but certainly nothing to write home about, losing 6-2. Andrew Thurman did take the loss, but he had a decent start, throwing 5 innings and giving up 2 runs. Trey Ball of Salem pitched 6 no-hit innings, however, which burned that solid performance from Thurman. Finally, the Mudcats got a win on Saturday, pulling out a 3-1 win. Steve Janas continued his excellent start, hurling 7 innings with 5 hits, no walks, and 5 strikeouts. He’s now struck out 11 and walked none in 13 innings.
Atlanta Braves Minor League Monday – Rome (3-5)
Rome lost three games to rain on Saturday/Sunday, so splitting the weekend 1-1. Thursday, the Braves lost to Augusta 1-0. Brandon Barker threw 5 scoreless innings with 5 strikeouts and a walk. Kyle Kinman had yet to allow a run, striking out one in his inning of relief. Bryan de la Rosa had the only extra base hit among only 3 Braves hits on the day. The Braves found themselves on the winning side of the ledger on Friday with a 6-3 victory. Joseph Daris had 3 hits in 4 at bats and scored two runs. Ricardo Sanchez had a mixed result start. He gave up 2 runs in 2 2/3 innings with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks. I have not had a chance to watch this start, but Sanchez is one of the youngest players in A-ball this year, so raw starts like this are likely to be expected for now. Braxton Davidson continues to sport an incredibly odd line, .100/.357/.250 with 8 walks and 8 strikeouts. His contact has not been great, but he has shown a solid eye so far and made very powerful contact when he has gotten ahold of the ball.
That’s All!
While the Braves players had a mixed week, there are some definite bright spots in the performances of the center fielders in Gwinnett and Mississippi. Eury Perez is showing off tremendous speed and Mallex Smith is following suit while also showing a bit of power as well. Both are tremendous defenders in center field, and the rise of Matt Lipka could really help the depth of the Braves positional prospect depth.