Atlanta Braves Minor League Weekend Wrap Up: April 18

Atlanta Braves Minor League Weekend Wrap Up

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4/13 LHP Jon Kennedy assigned to Rome
4/14 LHP Trevor Belicek demoted to Rome from Mississippi
4/14 OF Sean Godfrey placed on DL by Mississippi
4/14 RHP Victor Mateo activated from DL to Mississippi
4/14 OF Dian Toscano activated from DL to Mississippi
4/14 RHP Rob Wooten activated from DL to Gwinnett
4/14 RHP Jose Ramirez outrighted to Gwinnett from Atlanta
4/14 RHP Kanekoa Texeira activated from DL to Gwinnett
4/14 RHP Mike Foltynewicz placed on temporary inactive list
4/16 RHP Dalton Geekie assigned to extended spring from Rome
4/16 C Braeden Schlehuber activated from DL to Gwinnett
4/16 RHP Jose Ramirez placed on DL by Gwinnett

Hitter of the week – Rio Ruiz, 3B, Gwinnett. Incredibly enough, there were a number of Atlanta Braves minor leaguers with a 1.000 or better OPS on the week. The reason I went with Ruiz was simply that he did what he’s been doing all season, but his hard hits finally started falling. For the week, he went .391/.440/.600 with a home run, triple, and double, six runs, and four RBI. Ruiz added a lift to his follow through in July of 2015, and this led to a big turnaround in his season, and he’s simply kept going strong in 2016 with that same swing. Honorable mention: Jonathan Morales, C/DH, Rome – .455/.455/.591, 3 2B.

Pitcher of the week – Brandon Barker, RHP, AA Mississippi. Barker was an afterthought on the construction of the loaded Mississippi rotation, but he turned in two very solid starts on the week, putting up a total of 10 innings pitched, 1.80 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 2/8 BB/K ratio. There were a number of single great starts on the week, but Barker’s total line outweighed the singular starts. Honorable mention: Lucas Sims, RHP, Mississippi – 2 GS, 9.2 IP, 1.86 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 7/17 BB/K.

Next: Gwinnett Braves

AAA Gwinnett Braves (9-2)

Thursday

Gwinnett continued their strong start to the season Thursday, defeating Norfolk 5-0. Aaron Blair had a strong start, throwing 6 scoreless innings, allowing 5 hits, 3 walks, and striking out 6. Even the three walks look worse than the performance actually was as both pitchers were pinched at the bottom of the zone, where Blair works most frequently, which really hurt him. The G-Braves defense was excellent, turning 3 double plays behind Blair and 3 relievers. Rio Ruiz was the offensive star, with his first home run of the season along with a single, driving in three runs. Emilio Bonifacio had a single and a double. Ryan Lavarnway had a single and a walk.

Friday

The Braves offense showed up big and the pitching staff showed up even bigger as Gwinnett defeated Norfolk 10-0. Tyrell Jenkins took the mound and threw 6 scoreless innings, allowing 5 hits and a walk, striking out 5. Every member of the starting lineup reached base at least once. Reid Brignac walked 4 times. Chase d’Arnaud had 3 hits, including a double, and stole a base. Tyler Moore, Ryan Lavarnway, and Rio Ruiz each had two singles. Emilio Bonifacio stole his third base of the year.

Saturday

Gwinnett continued on their winning ways behind Casey Kelly Saturday, winning 4-1. Kelly went 7 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits and one walk, striking out 4. Emilio Bonifacio slapped three singles and stole two bases. Ronnier Mustelier had a triple and a single. Brandon Snyder had two singles. Matt Tuiasosopo added a double.

Sunday

Gwinnett scored the only victory in the Braves system on Sunday, defeating Norfolk 4-3. John Gant had a few bleeders fall on him in the 3rd inning, but otherwise he pitched well, going 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 6. The bullpen combined for 4 scoreless innings, 2 hits, and struck out 3. Ronnier Mustelier had two singles. Ryan Lavarnway walked twice. Chase d’Arnaud and Matt Tuiasosopo each had a double. Rio Ruiz had a triple.

Leaders

BA: Emilio Bonifacio .375
OBP: Emilio Bonifacio .407
HR: Matt Tuiasosopo 3
SB: Emilio Bonifacio 5
W: Aaron Blair 2
SV: David Peterson 2
SO: Aaron Blair 12
ERA: Four with 0.00

Video Highlights

Next: Mississippi Braves

AA Mississippi Braves (2-9)

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Thursday

The M-Braves got a great start from Sean Newcomb, but the bullpen couldn’t hold down Montgomery as they lost 6-3. Newcomb went 5 innings, allowing one run on one hit, 4 walks, and struck out 4. The only Mississippi hitter to reach base twice was Carlos Franco, who walked twice. Jacob Schrader and Levi Hyams each had a double.

Friday

Rob Whalen didn’t have his best stuff, but he fought through and gave Mississippi enough to get the offense going, and it blew up, scoring 9 runs to defeat Montgomery 9-2. Whalen went 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk, striking out 5. His defense had his back, turning two double plays behind him. Dustin Peterson was the offensive star of the night, going 3-4 with a big home run, scoring 3 runs and driving in 3 as well. Jake Schrader hit a home run of his own and walked twice on the night. Willians Astudillo added three singles. Johan Camargo and Carlos Franco each had two singles. Dian Toscano had a triple and a walk. Ozzie Albies had a single and a walk.

Saturday

One big swing sunk Mississippi on Saturday as a grand slam was the big blow to defeat the M-Braves 5-1. Brandon Barker got the start and went 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks, striking out 4. Ozzie Albies is the only M-Brave with two hits as he collects two singles. Jacob Schrader had a single and a walk.

Sunday

Poor defense and continued struggles from two big pieces of the Mississippi bullpen turned a 2-1 lead into a 4-3 Mississippi loss to Chattanooga. Lucas Sims started the game and went 5 2/3 innings, allowing 1 unearned run on 2 hits and 3 walks, striking out 10. While I listened to the game on the radio and haven’t been able to see the game yet, the radio announcers stated that the zone changed drastically in the 4th inning, and that’s the inning when Sims allowed all 3 of his walks, showing quite good control throughout the rest of the game. He handed off a 2-1 lead to the bullpen, and Kyle Kinman and Mauricio Cabrera continued their recent issues in the bullpen, as Kinman allowed an inherited runner from Jason Hursh to score along with two walks and a single to tie the game, and Cabrera gave up 2 runs in his inning or work (though he didn’t walk anyone after walking 3 last time out) to put Chattanooga in the lead. Ozzie Albies had two triples on the day and scored two runs. Carlos Franco had two singles. Dustin Peterson had a single and a walk. The M-Braves committed 4 errors on the day, however, making life tough on their pitchers.

Leaders (through Saturday)

BA: Ozzie Albies .326
OBP: Ozzie Albies .380
HR: Three with 1
SB: Three with 1
W: Rob Whalen, Chris Ellis 1
SV: Mauricio Cabrera 1
SO: Lucas Sims 26
ERA: Hunter Cervenka and Bradley Roney 0.00

Video Highlights

Next: Carolina Mudcats

Rome Braves (4-7)

Thursday

Rome went to the bottom of the 8th inning with a 4-0 lead, but they ended up blowing that lead to Asheville, going to extra innings before losing 5-4 in 10 innings. Max Fried toed the rubber today, and he was absolutely stunning on the day. His curve ball in particular was snapping with incredible depth, and in fact, he actually ended up with a few walks because the pitch was getting so much depth. His final line was 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 4 BB, and 7 K. Ronald Acuna had three singles and a stolen base. Jonathan Morales had three hits, including a double. Justin Ellison had a single and a home run. Luke Dykstra had two singles. Austin Riley had a double and a walk.

Friday

Rome played another extra innings game on Friday with Asheville. After both teams scored 2 runs in the first inning, both teams again scored in the 10th inning before Rome scored in the top of the 12th inning and then held Asheville to seal the win 4-3. Ricardo Sanchez had a rough start, but he was saved by his defense, the only damage to his ERA being a big home run by top prospect Brendan Rodgers. His final line was 4 innings, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks without a strikeout. Jonathan Morales had 3 hits, including a double. Ronald Acuna had two singles and a walk with his 4th stolen base. Ray-Patrick Didder had a double and a triple. Bradley Keller had a triple and a single. Austin Riley smashed his 6th double of the season, but he also struck out 3 times. Matt Tellor had a double.

Saturday

A back and forth game ended with Rome on the top 9-8. Caleb Beech got the start and went 5 innings, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits and a walk, striking out 2. The Rome offense was led by Bradley Keller, who had 3 hits, including a home run. Erison Mendez had two doubles. Luke Dykstra and Jonathan Morales each had a single and a double. Justin Ellison had a double.

Sunday

Touki Toussaint was taken behind the woodshed on Sunday by the Asheville offense as Rome lost 12-5. Toussaint only survived 1 2/3 innings, allowing 5 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks. His initial replacement, Oriel Caicedo goes 2 1/3 innings, allowing 4 runs of his own. Ray-Patrick Didder reached base 3 times on a single and two walks and stole his 2nd base of the season, and also had two assists in the outfield, one of them a ridiculous throw from deep center field to third base to get a double play. Bradley Keller kept up his torrid recent hitting pace, with 2 doubles. Alejandro Salazar had 3 hits, including a double. Luke Dykstra had two hits, including a double. Lucas Herbert had a double and a walk. Wigberto Nevarez had a single and a walk.

Next: From Winless To Sweep

Leaders

BA: Jonathan Morales .421
OBP: Ray-Patrick Didder .459
HR: Three with 1
SB: Ronald Acuna 4
W: Dalton Geekie 2
SV: Grayson Jones and Oriel Caicedo 1
SO: Mike Soroka and Patrick Weigel 12
ERA: Mike Soroka 0.90

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