Atlanta Braves: Minor League Monday
The Atlanta Braves minor league system had an excellent weekend, going 10-5 from Thursday through Sunday:
Atlanta Braves Minor League Monday – Gwinnett (11-13)
Gwinnett had a good weekend, but started with a rough loss on Thursday to the Toledo Mud Hens of the Detroit Tigers organization, 7-1. Chien-Ming Wang took the loss in spite of going 7 innings for Gwinnett. While he is 0-2 and sports a 5.55 ERA, Wang has given the G-Braves 24 1/3 innings over his four starts, which has been very good for an overtaxed bullpen. The Braves had no multi-hit games or extra base hits in the game. Jose Peraza had his 6th error of the season.
Gwinnett’s bats blew up on Friday with a 15-1 victory. Sugar Ray Marimon continued a very good transition to the rotation with a 6 inning start, giving up 3 hits and one run while walking one and striking out one. The G-Braves had this offensive outburst against highly-regarded Mud Hens starter Buck Farmer. Obviously a 15-run output had some very good offensive performances, though no home runs. Todd Cunningham, Cedric Hunter, and Barrett Kleinknecht all had three hits, with Hunter and Kleinknecht getting 2 of the 5 Gwinnett doubles. Jose Peraza, Adonis Garcia, Eury Perez, and Joe Benson all had multiple hits while Garcia, Elmer Reyes, and Matt Kennelly each had doubles. The G-Braves did have another display of their biggest bugaboo of this season with three errors on the day, on by Adonis Garcia at third base, and two by Elmer Reyes at shortstop.
The Braves came out with another great pitching performance on Saturday, shutting out Toledo 5-0. Manny Banuelos went 6 innings, allowing 2 hits and 3 walks while striking out 3. Adonis Garcia and Braeden Schlehuber had multiple hits. Joe Benson had a double while Jose Peraza stole a base.
For a third game in a row, the Braves got a very good pitching performance to win Sunday‘s game against Toledo 8-1. Williams Perez started the game, but his pitch count ran high as he got to 79 pitches after 4 innings, giving up one unearned run, 6 hits, and 2 walks while striking out 5. Greg Smith provided 4 innings of scoreless relief. Though he had an error at third, Adonis Garcia provided the offense with 3 hits and a double. Jose Peraza had 4 hits and a steal on the day. Barrett Kleinknecht had a home run and two hits. Others with multiple hits included Eury Perez and Matt Kennelly.
Atlanta Braves Minor League Monday – Mississippi (10-12)
Mississippi was the only Braves minor league affiliate who had a sub-.500 record on the week, and much of it was due to the Montgomery Biscuits squad of the Tampa Bay Rays system. The Biscuits outclubbed the M-Braves on Thursday to the tone of 10-6. Jason Hursh had another poor start for the Braves, going 2 2/3 innings, allowing 7 hits and 5 runs while walking 3 and striking out 4. Hursh’s ERA sits at 8.50 currently, and he may need to be considered for a brief demotion to either the bullpen or to high-A Carolina. Four Braves had multi-hit games, including Matt Lipka, Daniel Castro, Keven Ahrens, and David Rohm. Seth Loman provided the game’s only home run with a 1st inning 3-run blast. Matt Lipka stole his 3rd base as he raised his season average to .377.
While the other three affiliates combined on Friday to allow a total of 2 runs, Mississippi gave up 11 in an 11-1 loss to Montgomery. Tyrell Jenkins took the loss, going 5 2/3 innings while allowing 9 runs on 9 hits, 3 walks, and 6 strikeouts. The M-Braves ran into the pitching buzzsaw that has been Blake Snell this season thus far. Snell has yet to allow a run on the season, and this was his first AA start of the season, yet he certainly didn’t slow down, allowing only two base runners and striking out 8. Kevin Ahrens got two hits on the day as Biscuits relievers gave up 5 hits after Snell only gave up 1 in 6 innings.
Mississippi picked up their only win of the weekend on Saturday, defeating Montgomery 8-2. Jake Brigham picked up the win by throwing six innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 3. Jorge Reyes picked up the save on 3 perfect innings of relief, striking out 3. Daniel Castro led the way with 3 hits and a stolen base, while Matt Lipka and David Rohm also had multiple hits. Kyeong Kang had a double and Kevin Ahrens had a stolen base on the day.
The end to the M-Braves weekend was a 7-2 loss to Montgomery on Sunday. Ryan Weber started the game and threw 4 innings, giving up one run. He’s done a nice job as a swing man for Mississippi this year, but once he exited, the bullpen simply couldn’t hold it together. Mississippi’s offense put plenty of guys on base with 10 hits and 4 walks, but they could only push two runs across. Mallex Smith returned to the lineup and had three hits. Daniel Castro had two hits to bump his season average to .373. Corban Joseph had two hits and a double while Seth Loman hit a home run.
Atlanta Braves Minor League Monday – Carolina (11-10)
The Thursday game for the Mudcats was rained out, but on Friday, Carolina was on the top end of a 1-0 pitcher’s duel over the Frederick Keys of the Baltimore Orioles system. Steve Janas got the win with 7 innings of 3-hit shutout ball where he gave up one walk while striking out 6. Jacob Schrader had the only run with a home run in the 2nd inning. He and Dustin Peterson both had 2 hits on the day.
Carolina had a 3-run first inning and held on to a 4-3 win against Frederick on Saturday. Mauricio Cabrera picked up the win with two hitless innings and four strikeouts. Tyler Brosius allowed two runs on six hits over six innings while striking out six. One of his runs was walked in by Cabrera. Jose Briceno had a rare solid offensive game, with 2 hits and a double on the day. Sean Godfrey had a double while Connor Oliver and Joey Meneses stole bases.
The Mudcats offense exploded on Sunday, winning over Frederick 13-3. Yean Carlos Gil allowed 3 runs in 5 innings and got a no decision as the Mudcats beat up on Frederick once starter Luis Gonzalez (no, not that Luis Gonzalez) left the game. Carolina had 15 hits and 6 walks on the game. Sean Godfrey and Jacob Schrader both had four hits and a double each. Dustin Peterson had two hits and a walk. Joey Meneses poked out two hits and drove in 4 on the day. Connor Lien hit a home run in the 8th inning after the game was already out of hand.
Atlanta Braves Minor League Monday – Rome (10-13)
Rome started off a weekend against the Lexington Legends of the Kansas City Royals system with a 5-2 victory on Thursday. Alec Grosser had a very solid start with 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Zach Quintana pitched very well again in relief. The Braves were led by Jordan Edgerton with 4 hits. Keith Curcio had 3 hits and a stolen base, and Omar Obregon had 2 hits, including a triple. Tanner Murphy had a double as well. Ozhaino Albies had a double, but he also committed two throwing errors.
The Braves came out on top of a 3-1 pitching duel Friday against the Kannapolis Intimidators of the Chicago White Sox system. Rome’s Sean Furney threw 6 2/3 innings, scattering 5 hits for one run while allowing one walk and striking out four. Keith Curcio had another 2 hit game, along with a triple and a stolen base. Omar Obregon had a multi-hit game and stole two bases as well. Jacob Edgerton had a double, as did Braxton Davidson. Curcio’s big day brought his season average up to .373.
Saturday, the Braves were shut out 5-0 by Kannapolis. Caleb Beech took the loss as the Rome starter, though Dustin Emmons and Felix Marte did have good games in the bullpen. The Braves could not push a run across in spite of 7 baserunners on the day. Ozhaino Albies had two hits on the day, and Braxton Davidson had a double for the team’s only extra base hit.
Rome rebounded from their Saturday loss with a 6-5 win on Sunday over Kannapolis. They had a 6-1 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning and held on for the win. Brandon Barker had another solid start, hurling 5 innings of one-run ball, giving up 4 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. Kyle Kinman came in after Bradley Roney gave up four walks and picked up the save on 2/3 innings and has yet to allow an earned run on the season. Keith Curcio had another big game with three hits, including two triples. Ozhaino Albies had 2 hits and a steal. Wigberto Nevarez had two hits, including a double.
That’s All!
So, on the first post of May, I thought I would highlight the leaders for each team in the organization to this point (at least 30 AB for hitters and either 10 appearances or innings for pitching leaders):
Gwinnett:
Batting Average: Adonis Garcia, .372
On Base Average: Adonis Garcia, .405
Slugging Percentage: Adonis Garcia, .500
Home Runs: Cedric Hunter, 2
Stolen Bases: Eury Perez, 12
Earned Run Average: Donnie Veal, 0.00 in 10 GP
Strikeouts: Michael Foltynewicz, 30
Innings: Williams Perez, 27
Mississippi:
Batting Average: Daniel Castro, .373
On Base Average: Chris O’Dowd, .513
Slugging Percentage: Chris O’Dowd, .733 (Matt Lipka is second in every average stat with a .368/.410/.461)
Home Runs: Seth Loman, 3
Stolen Bases: Mallex Smith, 6
Earned Run Average: Ryan Kelly, 0.84
Strikeouts: Ryan Weber, 21
Innings: Tyrell Jenkins, 25
Carolina:
Batting Average: Jacob Schrader, .360
On Base Average: Jacob Schrader, .396
Slugging Percentage: Jacob Schrader, .660
Home Runs: Jacob Schrader/Dustin Peterson, 3
Stolen Bases: Connor Lien, 3
Earned Run Average: David Peterson, 0.00
Strikeouts: Steve Janas, 19
Innings: Yean Carlos Gil, 26
Rome:
Batting Average: Keith Curcio, .369
On Base Average: Keith Curcio, .426
Slugging Percentage: Keith Curcio, .524
Home Runs: Braxton Davidson, 2
Stolen Bases: Ozhaino Albies, 7
Earned Run Average: Zach Quintana, 1.26
Strikeouts: Brandon Barker, 21
Innings: Sean Furney, 24 2/3