Atlanta Braves: Minors Monday
Mississippi Stars
The Southern League also recently announced its slate of All-Stars for their June 23rd contest in Montgomery, and the Mississippi Braves are very well represented.
Named to the South Division team are Pitchers Tyrell Jenkins, Jake Brigham and Jorge Reyes, plus outfielder Mallex Smith. Catcher Chris O’Dowd was originally named as well, but due to his PED suspension, that honor will undoubtedly be rescinded.
Jenkins and Brigham are throwing very well for the Braves, with 3.00 and 3.10 ERAs respectively as starters. Jorge Reyes follows up in relief with a 1.73 ERA over 41 innings with a 1.10 WHIP. If Jenkins can get his control dialed in (31 walks in 69 innings), then he will be a force to be reckoned with. Brigham is already getting there with 14 walks in 58 innings.
Mallex Smith is continuing to work on his defense while posting excellent numbers at the plate, a key part of what makes this Mississippi club one probably the most exciting to watch in the farm system. Mallex is hitting .338 with a .415 OBP and 21 steals in 53 games (.825 OPS).
Kyle Tait, the M-Braves radio voice, commented (via twitter) that Mallex’s routes to fly balls are still a work in progress, but when you have ’80’ grade speed, that overcomes also any routing error you can come up with… add a soft glove and you’ve got the makings of a solid center fielder for the future.
Mississippi had a rough weekend as they ran into a buzzsaw named ‘the Biloxi Shuckers’. Some minor league organizations will tend to “load up” their clubs at times to help improve their records and draw fans in. This team, which was the Huntsville Stars (Brewers affiliate) last year, may have done just that to get the attention of fans in their new Southern Mississippi home.
Biloxi is now 39-24 on the year and clinched the first half title at the expense of out M-Braves this weekend. Mississippi went 1-3 since Thursday, now standing at 32-30, and now has a shutout string of 21 innings in which they haven’t scored. Even Mallex failed to get a hit on Sunday in the 2-hit shutdown. Ouch!