Atlanta Braves Minor League Ag Report, July 23

Aug 24, 2013; Chicago, IL, USA; National pitcher

(20) delivers a pitch during the 2013 Under Armour All-American Baseball game at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Reid Compton-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta Braves Minor League Ag Report

The farm is starting to tassel, which is a good indication that the heat of the summer is here. The heat often forces crops to either grow and excel or burn up and die before bearing fruit. We can see some of this in the Atlanta Braves system right now.

In Gwinnett, Tyrell Jenkins had a solid performance Wednesday pitching to contact, but he seemed from the bit that I saw to be intentionally staying around the zone to the detriment of his ability to get swing-and-miss from hitters, striking out no hitters in the game Wednesday. Notable that Todd Cunningham is hitting fairly well recently. If Cameron Maybin is traded away, it could be interesting to see if the Braves give Cunningham some run in the majors or if they bring back up Eric Young, Jr.

Mississippi had a successful week, but perhaps one of those prospects who won’t be “bearing fruit” in 2015 is Lucas Sims, who struggled quite a bit with his control in his Tuesday start. Sims wasn’t wowing this writer at Carolina before his promotion and was a peculiar promotion at that time.

Carolina swept their games in this report, but they seemed to do so in a number of different ways. Dustin Peterson has been mired in a pretty nasty slump lately, so that he had a 4/6 bb/k rate in the last week along with a home run was very positive. Brandon Barker continued to produce an excellent season with his Wednesday start.

Touki Toussaint (pictured) had a tremendous start on Monday, throwing 6 no-hit innings. The walks were still more than you’d like, but there’s a lot to like in that start.

In the short season leagues, Randy Ventura continues to run wild for the DSL Braves, Mike Soroka looked tremendous, and Dilmer Mejia had his best start of the young season.

Enjoy the report!

Next: Gwinnett Braves Report

Gwinnett Braves (48-49)

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Monday

Gwinnett used a 4-run 7th inning to defeat the Rochester Red Wings 6-3 on Monday. Kanekoa Texeira got his first win of the season, going 6 2/3 innings, allowing 3 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks while striking out 2. Todd Cunningham was on base three times with a single and two walks. Jose Peraza, Cedric Hunter, Sean Kazmar, and Mycal Jones each had 2 hits. Kazmar added a double, and Peraza added his 25th steal of the year.

Tuesday

Gwinnett had 5 runs in the 6th and 7th innings, winning 5-3 over Rochester. Williams Perez continued his rehab assignment, going 3 2/3 innings to start the game, allowing 1 run on 2 hits and a walk while striking out 7. Todd Cunningham had the big hit for the Braves, hitting his first home run of the season among 3 hits. Daniel Castro was the only other Brave on base twice, once for a single and once for a walk. Sean Kazmar had a double. Jose Peraza collected his 6th triple of the year.

Wednesday

Tyrell Jenkins pitched to contact much better today than in previous AAA starts, but a few of those hits got through the infield, and he and Gwinnett ended up losing to Rochester 4-2. Jenkins through 6 innings, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits and a walk. Sean Kazmar had two singles and a walk. Todd Cunningham had two doubles on the day. Eric Young, Jr. stole his 13th base of the year in AAA.

Weekend Matchups

Thursday: at Rochester, 11:05am ET
Friday: vs. Charlotte, 7:05pm ET
Saturday: vs. Charlotte, 7:05pm ET
Sunday: vs. Charlotte, 2:05pm ET

Next: Mississippi Braves Report

Carolina Mudcats (48-48)

Monday

Carolina took the Monday game over the Wilmington Blue Rocks 8-2. Mudcats starter Max Povse threw 1 inning, allowing 2 runs on one hit and one walk before exiting the game to injury. I’ve looked for what I can find on the injury, but he was placed on the DL after the game. Justin Jackson threw 4 no-hit innings behind Povse, allowing only a walk and striking out 3. Jacob Schrader was the star of the offense, hitting a double and his 9th home run of the season on the day. Carlos Franco added a single and a walk on the day. Jose Briceno had a double. Connor Lien had a double and stole two bases on the year to bring his season total to 25.

Tuesday

Carolina built on a 4-run first inning to defeat Wilmington 8-4 on Tuesday. Wes Parsons had a mediocre start, but he did get the win. Parsons threw 5 innings, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits and a walk. Andy Otero had an excellent day on the mound, going 2 1/3 perfect innings of relief, striking out 5. Joseph Odom provided much of the offense with 2 home runs on the day. Dustin Peterson was the only other Mudcat who was on base twice with a single and a walk.

Wednesday

Carolina got a huge 9th inning, but otherwise it looked like a pitcher’s duel as they defeated Wilmington 7-1. Brandon Barker got the start, and he went 6 innings, allowing 3 hits and a walk while striking out 6. Connor Lien had a home run and a single. Jacob Schrader became the first Braves farm hand to 10 home runs on the season. Carlos Franco had a single and a walk.

Weekend Matchups

Thursday: @ Winston-Salem, 7pm ET
Friday: @ Winston-Salem, 7pm ET
Saturday: @ Myrtle Beach, 7:05pm ET
Sunday: @ Myrtle Beach, 6:05pm ET

Next: Rome Braves Report

Rome Braves (42-53)

Monday

Rome took Lakewood to 11 innings before losing 4-0 on Monday. Touki Toussaint had a tremendous start for the R-Braves, throwing 6 no-hit innings, allowing 4 walks and 8 strikeouts. I will be reviewing a group of three starts from Toussaint for an upcoming article, including this one. What I’ve seen already has been nothing short of incredible. Rome only had two batters reach base twice in the game. Matt Tellor had two hits, including a double, and Joseph Daris added a single and a walk. Connor Oliver had a stolen base after pinch running in the 9th.

Tuesday

Rome had Tuesday off.

Wednesday

Rome’s bats slept in after the day off, and they were out of the game early to Lexington, losing 11-1. Sean Furney did have a rough start, going 4 innings, allowing 6 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4. Stephen Gaylor hit a pinch hit triple, and that was the only extra base hit or multi-hit day.

Weekend Matchups

Thursday: @ Lexington, 7:05pm ET
Friday: @ Lexington, 7:05pm ET
Saturday: @Asheville, 6:05pm ET
Sunday: @ Asheville, 2:05pm ET

Next: Danville Braves Report

Danville Braves (12-13)

Monday

Danville went to 11 innings with the Bristol Pirates before falling 7-6. Patrick Weigel had a rough start, going 3 2/3 innings, allowing 6 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 2. Stephen Moore had a very good relief stint, going 5 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing 5 hits and striking out 2. Jeff Campbell collected 3 hits, including a double. Ray-Patrick Didder had 2 hits, including a double, along with a walk. Kurt Hoekstra had two hits, including a triple. Luke Dykstra had a double and a walk. Leudys Baez added a double.

Tuesday

Johnson City defeated Danville 9-1 on Tuesday. Josh Graham started and thew 2 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 2. Matthew Custred pitched in 3 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits and striking out 4. Ray-Patrick Didder stole his sixth base on the year.

Wednesday

Danville got a great pitching performance, defeating Johnson City 2-0. Ryan Lawlor went 5 innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out 4. Leudys Baez picked up 3 singles on the day. Kurt Hoekstra added a single and a walk along with a stolen basis. Ian Hagenmiller had a double.

Weekend Matchups

Thursday: @ Johnson City, 7pm ET
Friday: @ Bluefield, 7:05pm ET
Saturday @ Bluefield, 7:05pm ET
Sunday @ Bluefield, 6:05pm ET

Next: GCL Braves Report

GCL Braves (10-16)

Monday

The GCL team brought out the bats, defeating the Pirates 10-3. Mike Soroka got the start and looked incredible, going 4 scoreless innings, allowing only 1 hit while striking out 3. Ronald Acuna had a tremendous day, knocking out 2 doubles and his second home run of the season. Justin Ellison had three hits and his first home run of the season while also stealing a base. Juan Yepez had two doubles on the day. Angel Perez and Ruben Perez each added two singles. Jonathan Morales had a double. Alejandro Sanchez had his 4th steal of the year as well.

Tuesday

The Braves put up a 4-run 1st inning, and they held on to win 9-6 over the Pirates. Jaret Hellinger threw 3 1/3 innings, giving up 3 runs (none earned) on 2 hits and 4 walks while striking out 3. Juan Yepez had a double, single, and 2 walks on the day. Austin Riley had a double and a single. Ronald Acuna had a single and 2 walks on the day while stealing his 5th base of the year. Alejandro Salazar had 2 singles and a walk. Collin Yelich had a single and a walk while stealing his first base of the season.

Wednesday

The Braves swept a doubleheader from the Astros on Wednesday. In the first game, the Braves eeked out a 2-1 win. Andrew Thurman started for the Braves, throwing 2 no-hit innings while walking 1 and striking out 1. Angel Perez and Bradley Keller each had two singles. Jose Pina stole his 2nd base of the season.

In the night cap, the Braves won 6-4. Dilmer Mejia got the start for the Braves, hurling 4 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 6. Bradley Keller had two doubles on the day, but the big story on the game was the power as Austin Riley, Juan Yepez, and Isranel wilson all went yard for home runs.

Weekend Matchups

Thursday: @ Astros, 12pm ET
Friday: vs. Yankees2, 12pm ET
Saturday: @ Yankees2, 10am ET
Sunday: @ Tigers, 12pm ET

Next: DSL Braves Report

DSL Braves (19-26)

Monday

The Cubs used a 4-run 2nd inning to defeat the Braves 7-2. Javier Sanchez had a rough start for the Braves, going 2 innings, allowing 4 runs on 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 2. The Braves had no hitters with multiple hits, but they did walk 8 times as a team on day. Randy Ventura, Luis Mejia, Raysheandall Michel, Sander Boeldak, and Danyer Salazar each had a single and a walk. Anthony Concepcion added two walks.

Tuesday

The Cubs took the Braves to the 11th inning before pulling out the win 2-1. Luis Mora had a decent start, going 3 innings, allowing 1 run on 1 hit and 3 walks while striking out 4. Randy Ventura and Luis Mejia each had two singles, and Jeremy Fernandez walked twice. Ventura stole 3 bases on the day, and Alex Aquino stole a base after pinch running in the 7th inning.

Wednesday

The Braves offense had a very good day on Wednesday, defeating the Pirates 14-7. Gabriel Henry threw 3 innings, allowing one run on 2 hits and a walk while striking out 1. Alex Aquino had a big day with 4 hits, including a double. Terrence Josephina had 2 hits and a double along with a walk. Sander Boeldak had two singles on the day and stole a base. Raysheandall Michel had two singles and drove in 3 runs. Luis Mejia had a single and 2 walks and stole his 4th base. Randy Ventura and Jeremy Fernandez each had a single and a walk. Fernandez added a steal.

Weekend Matchups

Thursday: @ Pirates1, 10:30am ET
Friday: @ Yankees2, 10:30am ET
Saturday: vs. Yankees 2, 10:30am ET
Sunday: No game

Next: How a TT writer missed out on $2500