Atlanta Braves Minor League Standouts For June

The Month of June for the Atlanta Braves Minor Leagues

June was a busy month! The Braves made a big splash in the draft, and all of the short-season leagues have now begun. That leaves us with a lot more players to view in our top players of the month, so let’s get right to it!

Hitters

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Catcher

–

was signed by the Braves in early May after being released by the Cleveland Indians. He’s been a very solid hitter for the Braves ever since while providing a veteran presence behind the plate. In June, Recker went .271/.366/.529 with 5 home runs and an 11/19 BB/K. He barely beat out

, who earned a promotion to AA Mississippi with 5 home runs of his own and 18 RBI on the month.

First Base

–

may not be eligible at this position next month, and that will make other guys at the first sack happy. Three 1B in the Braves system had .900+ OPS on the month, but Meneses’ .370/.411/.540 line led to his promotion to AA Mississippi, where he’s been spending time in the outfield and at first both, likely working to see if he can handle the outfield as a way to work his bat to the majors. Meneses beat out

, who led the system with 9 home runs on the month and

, who had a .338/.402/.527 line.

Second Base

– I didn’t realize it until I started tallying up the numbers, but

made his move to second base very early in the month, only playing 3 games the entire month at shortstop, and his move brought an uptick in his bat, as he hit .273/.349/.345 with 6 stolen bases and a 14/15 BB/K. Albies did move back to Mississippi, but mostly as a way to play alongside his future double play partner, not due to any issues with his play.

Third Base

– Two very different performances led to a tough decision at the position, but I’ll go with

for the month as he hit .293/.333/.478 with 13 RBI and provided a solid power threat again to the Rome lineup.

found his stroke again, and he had a .310/.394/.379 line on the month.

Shortstop

– Once again a weak month at shortstop leads to

taking the spot with less than impressive numbers, .256/.326/.384 with 14 runs scored and 10 RBI. Concerning were his 23 strikeouts on the month, but Swanson did take some big steps forward defensively on the month, securing himself as the shortstop of the future.

Outfield

– He struggled through the first two months, but

‘s bat really came alive in June, and it seems like it was quite under the radar. His line for the month was .264/.398/.471 with 3 home runs, 2 stolen bases, and 17 RBI. He had 5 more walks than any other player in the entire system!

Outfield

–

was a former Yankee signee from Cuba that was well-known from many of the scouting department that returned to the Braves after Frank Wren left. He was brought in to provide depth to the organization, and much like

in 2015, he’s simply hit all season for Gwinnett. June was his best month thus far, however, as he put up a .333/.393/.431 line with a 9/12 BB/K ratio for the G-Braves.

Outfield

–

has been one of the most impressive prospects this season as he looks healthy after struggling with injury last season. He had another great month last month, going .320/.374/.454 with 20 RBI in the middle of the Mississippi order, playing excellent outfield defense, such that he was even tried in center field by the M-Braves.

Pitchers

Starter – Max Fried was a guy who entered June struggling some, but he’s worked with the Braves to really use his dynamic stuff low in the zone and releasing that ridiculous curve ball to put away hitters. He led the organization in ERA and strikeouts on the month. Overall on the month, he threw 28 innings over 5 starts, with a 1.29 ERA and 1.04 WHIP, sporting a 10/35 BB/K.
Starter – Touki Toussaint is also working the low zone well, and he’s getting hitters to look simply foolish, while working his way deeper and deeper into games. Over the month, he threw 29 innings over 5 starts, totaling a 2.17 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and a 11/32 BB/K. He may be moving to Carolina soon.
Starter – Patrick Weigel was fairly unheralded coming into the season, but he’s been solid all season long, and his June performance was no different, as he made 4 starts, going 25 innings with a 1.44 ERA and 1.04 WHIP, finishing with a 5/25 BB/K ratio.
Starter – Robert Whalen followed up his dominant May with another excellent month, making 5 starts, tallying 32 innings, a 1.41 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and a 9/29 BB/K. He’s been the best starter in the entire system this season statistically.
Starter – Matt Withrow tied for the system lead in strikeouts in the month, though he did struggle with his control at times. He’s still getting the nod as the 5th member of the starting rotation for June based on an overall tally of 6 starts, 31 innings pitched, 2.61 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, and 15/35 BB/K.
Reliever – The Braves grabbed Jed Bradley from the Brewers as a failed prospect, and he’s really taken to his new organization, making 7 appearances, 2 of them starts, throwing 17 2/3 innings with a 2.55 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and a 9/20 BB/K ratio. He could end up being a very valuable piece in the bullpen.
Reliever – Mauricio Cabrera earned a call up to the big league club due to his June numbers, in spite of my monster reservations about his abilities. He did make 7 appearances in June, putting up 12 innings with a 2.25 ERA and 0.83 WHIP. On the month he also posted a 5/14 BB/K. While I’m not all that confident, I hope he figures out how to harness the velocity and stuff to be an effective reliever – just keep him away from the back end.
Reliever – Hard to argue with Taylor Lewis being on this list as he didn’t allow a single run in the month. He made 8 appearances, throwing 14 innings, racking up a 1.00 WHIP to go with his 0.00 ERA and 3/10 BB/K ratio.
Reliever – Rob Wooten is one of those “re-tread” veterans that the Braves brought in and put on the Gwinnett squad to the ire of many who wanted to see young arms getting a shot. After this week’s no-hitter on a spot start, Wooten had 13 games in June, one of them a start, totaling 26 1/3 innings with a 2.05 ERA and 0.87 WHIP, adding in a 4/23 BB/K ratio for good measure.

Next: Braves Minor League Database

Something we hadn’t done in previous months, but I wanted to start was to select a hitter and pitcher of the month. As you may follow, I do this every week on my Monday weekend wrap up, selecting one hitter and one pitcher of the week.

For June, my winners will be Joey Meneses and Max Fried. As I go back, I’ll name a winner for May and April here and track these to release at the end of the season. If you follow my Twitter, I also mention a hitter and pitcher of the day each day. At the end of the season, I’ll tally up all the winners in a final post. My May winners would be Brandon Snyder and Robert Whalen. April’s winners will be Dansby Swanson and Lucas Sims.

As we kick into July, there will be lots of trade rumors to read, but also lots of first games for draft picks to watch as well, so keep your eyes on Tomahawk Take as we bring you all the latest on the Braves!