Atlanta Braves Late-Season Prospect Reports: New News
Aug. 14, 2015. Mississippi Braves pitcher Lucas Sims, with fellow pitcher Greg Ross, during a game at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile, AL. Photo credit: Alan Carpenter, TomahawkTake.com
Two Updates
Earlier, we checked in on Lucas Sims and Rio Ruiz, both now with AA Mississippi. Our previous reports were down on both of these players (Sims, Ruiz), but there’s been enough of a change in the last month to update these reports briefly… or at the very least, you might have seen some news of recent performance upticks that warrant some commentary.
More from Tomahawk Take
- Braves News: Atlanta makes a pair of trades, prospect debuts, more
- Atlanta Braves History: How the Red Stockings became the Braves
- Braves News: Atlanta Braves acquire Eli White from the Texas Rangers
- Atlanta Braves Swing Trade with the New York Yankees for Lucas Luetge
- Atlanta Braves 2012 Top Prospects Review: Zeke Spruill
LUCAS SIMS. Sims now has 8 starts under his AA-sized belt (40.2 innings). The outcomes have been good – 3.54 ERA and a 4-2 record with decreased HR’s allowed. However, there’s still ample reasons to continue to question the notion that he’s suddenly ‘got it’ after a poor run at Carolina.
It’s all about his walk rate. Already bad at 5+ per 9 innings at High-A, it’s actually gotten worse at Mississippi (6.2). Yes, his K-rate has increased (8.3 to 10.8), but he’s also managing to get himself in and out of trouble often (72% LOB rate) and he’s been helped by an opponents’ BABIP that is significantly lower than what he experienced in Zebulon (.325 down to .266).
Sims’ WHIP is actually better (1.55 to 1.33) along with his opponents’ hitting (.181 to .255). This indicates that he’s getting more movement on his pitches, which would also account for poorer contact (that lower BABIP).
But until he can control that movement by getting the walk rate reduced… something under 4.0… then we’ll not be convinced. However, there seem to be improvements here, and thanks to the bus crash, he’s kinda had time to rest and reset in the middle of this season.
2016 will be an important year for Sims to see if he can build on this recent success and develop consistent control.
Aug. 14, 2015. Mississippi Braves 3rd baseman Rio Ruiz warming up prior to a game at Hank Aaron Stadium in Mobile, AL.
RIO RUIZ. Ruiz was hitting .218 when we wrote “It will be up to him to determine how far he can go” seeing that he’s now blocked from the majors thanks to Hector Olivera. While I had expressed some defensive concerns, this has mostly been about hitting, since he bottomed out at .207 on July 26th.
In just thirteen games since that last writeup, he’s raised his average to .238. When this writer saw him play, he was actually hitting .216 prior to lacing a double late in that blowout loss, so it seems that was the start of a mini-breakout.
Starting on that August 14th game, Ruiz began a hitting streak that continues today: 16 straight. Notably, much of that streak appears to be ‘Dan Uggla-like’, with a bunch of 1-for-4’s, but when you’re hitting in the low .200’s, everything counts. Overall, it’s 21 for his last 58 – a .362 clip. Among those hits are 7 doubles, a triple, and 2 homers (both streak extenders), though while Ruiz is hitting more, he’s also walking less during the streak (5 walks; slight uptick in K’s). Notably, he also had 3 RBI in games last Friday and Saturday to support his teammates.
Nonetheless, it does appear that Ruiz is trying to be more aggressive at the plate as his season winds down – and that’s working for him. If he can gain a bit of mobility around third base, then he’s got a shot at fulfilling the promise that man him on of our pre-season Top 10 prospects.
Next: New in the Rotation