Atlanta Braves Arizona Fall League Update
Lucas Sims
with
Greg Ross
at
Hank Aaron
Stadium with the Mississippi Braves in August 2015. Photo credit: Alan Carpenter, TomahawkTake.com
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There are several Braves’ farmhands still toiling away in the desert this Fall, and it’s time we checked up on their progress.
We should start with Lucas Sims, who had a rocky first outing for the Peoria Javalinas (3 runs, 2 earned in 2 innings), but has rebounded a bit. But I don’t wish to bury the lead on this story: the most important bit is that his walks are down!
In Sims’ last 2 outings, both for 3 innings, he has walked just 2 batters – total. Yesterday was his best stint yet: 1 hit, 1 walk, 3 K, and nobody scored. He also seems to be getting the ball down a bit, with an overall ground ball ratio of 67%. Sims’ ERA for the league is now 3.38, but as said, the best news is that he’s limited his walks to 3 in 8 innings.
In High-A and AA action this season, he had walked 52 batters in 88 innings… clearly a bad ratio that needed attention. So while it’s still just 8 innings here in the AFL, it’s encouraging to see just 3 BB overall and 2 in his last 6.
The Rest of the Pitchers
Mixed results here… some very mixed, you might say.
- Daniel Winkler. Only 3 innings pitched, so the single runs he’s yielded in his last two outings add up in a hurry. A homer blemished his line over the weekend, but he’s doing okay: 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 2 walks, and 5 K.
- Mauricio Cabrera is struggling. In 3.2 innings, 8 hits, 1 homer, 4 K, 2 walks… and 5 earned runs. However, he got through an inning unscathed on Saturday (despite loading the bases). Opponents are hitting .4212 against him.
- Andrew Thurman was just pounded unmercifully on Friday. Only recording 1 out, he gave up 6 earned runs on 4 hits and a strikeout. Evidently, the next pitcher in line didn’t give him any help. but that’s still pretty ugly, and has led to a 30.86 ERA over just 2.1 innings thus far. Ouch.
Hitters
Few of the Javalinas are hitting at all – which probably explains their 4-6 record (5th among the 6-team league). Also, no one on the roster has yet appeared in more than 7 games, so small sample sizes abound. Regardless…
- SS Johan Camargo leads the Braves’ contingent at .227. Not great, but also has played error-free defense, which is noteworthy at that position.
- OF Connor Lien is hitting .154. The problem he has – aside from a lack of hitting – is 10 strikeouts in just 26 ABs. Camargo, in contrast, has just 2 whiffs.
- C Joseph Odom is at .083… but then again, the best team average among their 3 catchers is .105!