Atlanta Braves Minor League Review: Gwinnett Braves
Mar 12, 2015; Tampa, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Tyrell Jenkins (63) throws a pitch during the seventh inning against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Atlanta Braves Minor League Review: Gwinnett Braves
Like the hitters, Gwinnett had just a handful of pitchers who came through Gwinnett and didn’t make their way up to Atlanta, but there are more legitimate prospects here than the hitters list.
Starters
In a season that saw highly regarded prospects like Manny Banuelos, Mike Foltynewicz, and Matt Wisler come through Gwinnett, it sounds hyperbolic to say that Tyrell Jenkins was the best prospect to pitch in Gwinnett, but with his performance in 2015, he very well may have shown himself at least worthy of that discussion. The tall righty was on his first full season after shoulder surgery ended his 2013 season and cut into his 2014 as well. Acquired in the Jason Heyward trade with St. Louis, Jenkins has front line stuff as a starter, but he has some work to do with consistency in his high-kick delivery. Overall between Mississippi and Gwinnett, he posted a 3.19 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and a 51/88 BB/K ratio over 138 1/3 innings. His strikeout numbers were not high, but he profiles with a heavy fastball and slider that should induce a lot of weak contact when he’s on the top of his game. Jenkins could surprise everyone and come out of spring training in 2016 with a starting slot in the Atlanta rotation, but most likely the 22 year-old will return to Gwinnett and be ready upon any struggles from the guys ahead of him like the three mentioned earlier and Williams Perez.
After 7 years of slowly working up the Rays system, Victor Mateo signed with the Braves before the 2015 season. Mateo had a very good season in Mississippi before being promoted to Gwinnett to finish the season. His overall line on the season was 3.41 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, and 54/78 BB/K ratio over 147 2/3 innings. Mateo is definitely not an elite starter, but he’s the type of guy who could keep the bullpen fresh by giving 6 innings every night. He’s a great ground ball pitcher, and he would likely do much better with the elite defense that Atlanta has behind him, but he’s also a guy who could see an uptick in his stuff in the bullpen if he ever moves to the bullpen.
Greg Smith is a perfect example of an organizational guy. The 31 year-old lefty was signed for depth in Gwinnett, and he more than proved adequate in that role. He put up a 2.71 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and 25/67 BB/K rate spanning 119 2/3 innings over 31 appearances (19 starts). While Smith may not ever be a major league starter, he’s the type of control lefty that can be a great asset for a AAA club and, if he wants, he could have a number more years of doing that if he’d like.
Kanekoa Texeira bounced around for a number of years before the Braves signed him out of independent ball in 2014. In 2015, he returned to the Braves, and he was excellent in a swing role for Gwinnett. Similar to Smith, Texeira is a 29 year-old who’s an org guy. He put up a 3.55 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, and a 49/71 BB/K ratio spanning 101 1/3 innings over 26 appearances (14 starts). Texeira very well may be back in Gwinnett soon, and he’s a solid guy to keep innings from the bullpen at AAA.
Next: Gwinnett Relievers
Feb 23, 2015; Lake Buena Vista, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Jason Hursh fields a ground ball during spring training workouts at Champion Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports
Relievers
The Braves signed Hunter Cervenka after the Cubs let him go, and he was pitching in indy ball. His overall season for both the Cubs and Braves showed a 4.03 ERA and 1.74 WHIP with a 27/55 BB/K ratio over 38 innings. Cervenka’s line in Gwinnett was tremendous, however, at 0.00 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and 8/23 BB/K over 16 2/3 innings. Cervenka’s a very strong lefty and could be a very solid LOOGY as he is tremendous against LHP over the year with a .560 OPS and 7/23 BB/K against lefties on the season.
Carlos Fisher has the size to make you think he’d be a fireballing reliever at 6’4, 220. However, he simply does not have that sort of top end velocity, which is why at 32 years old, he spent the season in the Gwinnett bullpen. He tallied a 1.61 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 28/58 BB/K over 56 innings of relief. Fisher is nothing more than an org bullpen arm, but a good season like this will keep him employed as a AAA reliever for another year if he wants to do such.
When I wrote about Jason Hursh at the beginning of the season, I quite literally caught his only 3 solid starts of the entire season for Mississippi. Hursh made the transition to the bullpen, and at Mississippi, he was quite solid out of the pen. He had a couple blow up games that really skewed his ERA for Gwinnett. Hursh’s season line was 5.18 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, and a 37/65 BB/K ratio over 97 1/3 innings spanning 34 appearances (15 starts). Hursh has a very heavy fastball and slider that gets a ton of ground balls. He compares similar to Derek Lowe in the bullpen if he could put the location together. He’ll be in Gwinnett to start 2016, but he could move up quickly.
The Braves acquired Mitchell Lambson from the Astros midseason, and he’s shown to be a very excellent lefty. His overall numbers were 2.35 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, and a 20/52 BB/K ratio over 57 1/3 innings over 40 appearances. He’s got a solid fastball in the low 90s with movement. He could be a guy to keep an eye on as a future LOOGY.
The Braves signed Vin Mazzaro after he was released by the Marlins. He spent the rest of the year in Gwinnett, tallying a 2.36 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and a 13/18 BB/K ratio on 26 2/3 innings. He’s at the point of being an org guy at this point. He still has enough guys around the league with memory of him being successful in the majors to settle for a minor league deal to start 2016, so he’ll likely be in another organization to start 2016.
David Peterson was an 8th round selection in 2012 for the Braves. After dwelling at high-A for two seasons, Peterson jumped up 3 levels in 2015, pitching for Carolina, Mississippi, and Gwinnett. While he put up solid numbers, he never got a call up. The overall numbers are 2.28 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and a 12/35 BB/K ratio over 51 1/3 innings. Peterson certainly has enough stuff to be a major league reliever. It will just require an opportunity to show it in the major leagues.
We’ll look at the system’s leaders on Thursday!