Atlanta Braves Minor League Review: Carolina Mudcats
Sep 10, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; A tarp covers the field during a rain delay before a game between the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Outfielders
Keith Curcio has been turning heads since being selected in the 6th round last June out of Florida Southern College. He and Mallex Smith have some similarities in their 2015 performance in that they dominated an early level before moving up and struggling before a late-season push to respectability. Curcio’s final combined numbers between Rome and Carolina were .265/.327/.369, but he started with a 32-game stretch at Rome where he raked in a .342/.416/.479 line. Overall, he was one of two hitters in the Braves system with double-digit triples as he hit 10 of them on the season while stealing 24 bases. Curcio has shown excellent defense at both center field and second base, so there’s the chance he ends up at second long-term, but he’s played the majority of his time in center field thus far. Curcio is 22 and will have an upward climb to be more than a backup, but with his defensive flexibility, a strong start at Carolina in 2016 could move him quickly to AA next season.
Connor Lien was selected as the Carolina offensive player of the year by the organization, and there’s certainly merit in the numbers. Originally selected in the 12th round of the 2012 draft, the Orlando, Florida native hit .285/.347/.415 while spending much of the year in the leadoff role for the Mudcats. Lien showed more power than he had at any stop in his career with 9 home runs and 5 triples to go along with 22 doubles. He also led the team with 34 stolen bases. Lien’s biggest knock going forward is instinctual. He had a 129/33 K/BB ratio on the season, and while he stole 34 bases, he was also caught 12 times for a sub-par 74% success rate. Neither of those things is so poor as to be alarming, but certainly they are things to work on moving forward for the 21 year-old Lien. Lien split time between center field and right field, and he’s probably best suited for a corner outfield spot defensively, but that would put even more pressure on the offensive skills to translate. He’ll likely be bumped up to Mississippi to start 2016.
After 38 errors at third base in the Padres system in 2014, the Braves took Dustin Peterson, acquired in the Justin Upton deal, and moved him immediately to left field. He showed a little early season jitters defensively, but by the end of the year, he definitely looked comfortable patrolling the outfield, and he definitely has the arm for an outfield corner. That said, outfield corner carries with it an assumption of some high-end offense. Before the crash, Peterson was showing exactly that after some work with the Braves on his swing path. At the time of the crash, Peterson was hitting .314/.392/.448 with a very solid 14/21 BB/K ratio over 30 games. Peterson’s swing mechanics were very off upon his return, and he finally recovered that retooled swing path in late August. By the end of the season, he had a slash line of .251/.317/.348 with a 44/91 BB/K ratio. The biggest issue was the loss of power in his swing. Peterson has a ton of natural raw power when his swing is right. Hopefully, Peterson can recover that swing, but he is just 21, so he could move to AA and be one of the youngest guys in the league next season.
We’ll look at the Carolina pitchers on Monday!