Atlanta Braves Minor League August All-Star Squad

The Month of August for the Atlanta Braves Minor Leagues

As the season is winding down, August brought up the top prospect to the major league Atlanta Braves club along with the top-performing pitcher in the system. What did that leave in the system for performances in the month?

Hitters

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Catcher

– While the big league club is needing help behind the plate, the system is deep with tremendous talent at the catching position.

is one of those guys that is likely under the radar for most fans, even those who follow the system. Contreras has a big arm behind the plate along with some solid all-around defensive skills. His biggest asset could be at the plate, however, in his eye. He went .323/.382/.516 on the month with 4 runs scored, 3 doubles, a home run, and 4 RBI to barely beat out

, who had a great month with a .339/.442/.387 line himself.

First Base

–

came out this season launching balls after being a tremendous contact hitter previously in his minor league career. He’s really found a combination of both in the last month. He went for .323/.337/.505 this month with 10 runs scored, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, 20 RBI, and even stole 3 bases. He did not walk in the month, and that is concerning, but he has very good bat-to-ball skills with excellent power, so he will keep getting chances.

Second Base

– When the Braves acquired

from the Rangers system, he was known to be quite raw. He’s certainly shown to have a lot of raw tools in his time with Carolina in August. His defense was superb for sure, but his offensive line showed exactly that raw-ness he has. Demeritte went .240/.377/.470 on the month with 15 runs scored, 6 doubles, 4 triples, 3 home runs, 9 RBI, and 3 stolen bases as he worked from Carolina’s leadoff spot. Demeritte had the most walks in the system with 22, but he also easily struck out the most with 38 as well.

Third Base

–

began really getting his swing together in July, but he really put a tear into the ball in August. Riley hit .283/.367/.604 on the month with 23 runs scored, 7 doubles, 9 home runs, 25 RBI, and even stole a base for good measure. The runs, RBI, and home runs all led the entire system for the month.

Shortstop

– While he typically plays all over the infield,

made many starts at short in the month, and he had by far the best month of anyone to play the shortstop position on the month. His offensive line was .296/.373/.459 with 20 runs scored, 7 doubles, 3 home runs, 11 RBI, and 2 stolen bases.

Outfield

– The Braves have tucked

away in Gwinnett all season long, but Bonifacio made a case for a September call-up with his play in August. Bonifacio led off for Gwinnett with a .376/.452/.514 line for the entire month, scoring 20 runs and hitting 4 doubles, 4 triples, a home run, and driving in 13 runs. He stole 11 bases and put up a 15/18 BB/K ratio.

Outfield

– The Braves liked

that they drafted him for the 2nd time this June. He’s hit so well that he pushed himself all the way up to Rome in this 1st year, a rarity for a draft pick to do. His August was a great show of the skills he brings to the table as James went .289/.351/.530 with 13 runs scored, 4 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, 17 RBI, and 4 stolen bases along with a very solid 6/11 BB/K ratio.

Outfield

– The 2015 July international free agent class was highlighted by

and

. While Cruz has struggled after his promotion to Danville, Pache has been simply tremendous, running a long hitting streak and showing exceptional defense along with making good contact. While the power numbers weren’t great, Pache showed his ability to be a diverse force. His August line was .321/.363/.396, 11 runs scored, 2 doubles, 3 triples, 10 RBI, 4 steals, and a 7/10 BB/K ratio along with nearly an assist per game in the outfield.

Designated Hitter

– While Riley was a stud on offense,

also had a monster month at the plate, arguably the second best overall month offensively with a .286/.375/.505 line with 14 runs scored, 9 doubles, a triple, 4 home runs, 23 RBI, and a great 15/22 BB/K ratio.

Pitchers

Starter – When the Braves drafted Matt Withrow, many thought he was going to be a reliever going forward. Instead, he was Carolina’s ace this year, and he was easily the ace of the system in August. He made six starts, going 3-1 on the month, posting a 1.64 ERA and 1.09 WHIP over 33 innings with an 18/44 BB/K ratio.
Starter – The Braves “stole” Jed Bradley from the Brewers this season, and it’s beginning to look like Coppy’s biggest trade steal of the summer. Bradley was pushed up to AAA in August, and now he’s been called up to the major leagues to make the first lefty start on the Braves this year. He made 6 starts in August, going 4-0 over 37 2/3 innings with a 1.43 ERA and 1.12 WHIP, posting a 14/44 BB/K ratio, tied with Withrow for the most strikeouts in the system on the month.
Starter – Patrick Weigel is making his case for the pitcher of the year award with his performance after being promoted to AA. He made only 4 appearances on the month, 3 of them starts (one of them a long appearance after a 1-inning rehab appearance by a rehabbing reliever), throwing 25 1/3 innings. In that time, he posted a 1.78 ERA, 0.87 WHIP, and a very nice 10/29 BB/K ratio.
Starter – After struggling with some focus issues his first go round in Rome, Kolby Allard has thrown much better this time. In August, he had moments of pure dominance and some of lackadaisical mindset that will drive you bonkers as an evaluator. In the end, the numbers were very solid over 5 starts where he threw 31 1/3 innings, posting a 4-0 record, 1.72 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and a 6/37 BB/K ratio.
Starter – After a stellar April, Mike Soroka has been solid, but not spectacular. August was another one of those spectacular months as he made 5 starts, getting the win in every single one for a 5-0 record, hurling 32 1/3 innings, with a 2.51 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and a 6/32 BB/K ratio.
Reliever – If you don’t know the name Corbin Clouse by now, get used to that name as this is his second month on this list, and he’s really only had two months he could be on the list! Clouse threw in 8 games this month, pitching 13 innings. He saved 4 games with a 0.00 ERA on the month, a 0.85 WHIP, and a 8/23 BB/K ratio.
Reliever – In one of the rare times the Braves promote a guy midseason from their Dominican Summer League team to stateside, Jasseel De La Cruz made that transition, and he’s been untouched for GCL in his time there. He did not allow a run in August over 5 appearances and 14 innings, posting a 0.36 WHIP and a 1/11 BB/K ratio.
Reliever – The giant Chase Johnson-Mullins is intimidating on the mound, but his results this season have been mixed along with some personality issues that led to him being suspended this year and demoted. He’s bounced back well, and in August, he really pitched very well, appearing in 9 games, saving 2 of them, throwing 15 innings, with a 0.00 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, and a 4/17 BB/K ratio.
Reliever – The return in the Jhoulys Chacin trade, Adam McCreery was little known, but the Braves saw something they could work on in the incredibly tall reliever (6’8″), and it began to show in his August performance on the field after some early struggles. In August, McCreery made 7 appearances, throwing 15 1/3 innings with a 0.59 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, and a 5/12 BB/K ratio. The Braves very well may have found a diamond in the rough here!

Next: Braves Minor League Database

Now we come to my pitcher and hitter of the month…

Hitter of the month for August: Austin Riley has been flat-out raking the ball in August. He’s established himself as one of the best young power-hitters in the minor leagues, not just in the Braves, and he eclipsed the 20 home run mark in early September, something not done for two seasons. Riley has some struggles with elite velocity, but he has worked hard to get to “above average” velocity, something that was giving him fits early in the season. His biggest issue now is on the defensive side as he’s eclipsed 30 errors on the season at third base and really taken some steps back there in the second half of the season as his hitting has moved forward.

Pitcher of the month for August: Carolina has struggled throughout the season for consistency with most of their rotation, but one guy that has been a mainstay and rock in the rotation has been Matt Withrow. He led the entire minor league system in strikeouts, and while he tied for that lead with Jed Bradley, he tied Bradley with 4 2/3 less innings pitched on the month for the same amount of strikeouts. When he’s on, Withrow has the stuff that could absolutely be a mid-rotation starter in the big leagues.