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Atlanta Braves Minor League Season Review: DSL Braves

By Benjamin Chase |
Apr 4, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; The teams lineup and the flag is pulled across the outfield prior to the game between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 4, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; The teams lineup and the flag is pulled across the outfield prior to the game between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 4, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; The teams lineup and the flag is pulled across the outfield prior to the game between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 4, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; The teams lineup and the flag is pulled across the outfield prior to the game between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports /

Atlanta Braves Minor League Season Review: Dominican Summer League

The DSL Braves did not have the same hitting talent as last year’s team that featured guys like Anthony Concepcion, Randy Ventura, and William Contreras, but they did have some more arms this year than last year’s squad. overall, the team finished 30-40 on the season, finishing in the middle of the pack in their division.

Stat Leaders (no AB/IP limits on rate categories)

  • BA: Braulio Vasquez .333, Shean Michel .316, Reilys Blanco .307, Jean Carlos Encarnacion .264, Luis Ovando .263
  • OBP: Brian Figueroa .444, Braulio Vasquez .416, Yoeli Lopez .382, Shean Michel .379, Reilys Blanco .374
  • SLG: Shean Michel .414, Danyer Salazar .390, Braulio Vasquez .374, Luis Ovando .366, Yoeli Lopez .357
  • 2B: Yoeli Lopez 11, Danyer Salazar 10, Jeffrey Ramos 8, Jose Bermudez and Eudis Lora 6
  • 3B: Shean Michel and Luis Ovando 5, Jean Carlos Encarnacion and Yoeli Lopez 3, Three with 2
  • HR: Danyer Salazar and Yoeli Lopez 3, Eudis Lora, Jeffrey Ramos, and Luis Ovando 1
  • R: Yoeli Lopez 38, Jose Bermudez 28, Shean Michel 26, Luis Ovando 22, Danyer Salazar 21
  • RBI: Yoeli Lopez 33, Carlos Centeno 20, Shean Michel, Danyer Salazar, and Eudis Lora 19
  • SB: Yoeli Lopez, Jose Bermudez, and Braulio Vasquez 11, Shean Michel 9, Luis Ovando 7

Ben’s Award Winners

More from Tomahawk Take

Player of the Year

– There are two real candidates here. The first is the guy who was dominating so much that the Braves promoted him state side midway through the season in Shean Michel, and that’s what the organization did. Instead, I’ll go with the guy who was on the leader board for nearly every stat category in Yoeli Lopez. He was a guy who was born in the Dominican Republic, so in spite of attending high school in Miami, the Braves were able to sign him as an international free agent. Lopez has incredible raw tools in the outfield with speed, power, excellent corner defense, and a big arm in the outfield. The guy in the Braves system that he would compare to as far as raw tools would be

Travis Demeritte

with his big swing and athleticism, yet still having excellent pitch recognition.

Pitcher of the Year – There was much more pitching depth for the team that makes this decision tough. While the organization went with closer Filyer Sanchez, I’m going to go with the team’s best-performing starter this season, Gregory Bautista, who threw 50 1/3 innings with a team-leading 48 strikeouts, 11 more than the second-most on the team. Bautista is a late signee, already 23 years old in his first season in pro ball, so there may not be a long career ahead of him, but for 2016, he was an excellent performer.

Guys To Watch


Jose Bermudez, OF, .258/.348/.308, 11 SB, 17/47 BB/K, 159 AB – Speedy player who was shut down by injury early in the season, but flashed a ton of raw speed. Late signee out of Venezuela who is already 19.

Reilys Blanco, 3B, .307/.374/.330, 3 SB, 10/7 BB/K, 88 AB – Diminutive infielder (5’10, 150) had been passed over for some time out of Venezuela and is already 20, but showed an excellent eye and an ability to play around the infield and even outfield.

Jean Carlos Encarnacion, 3B/SS, .264/.340/.329, 3 triples, 4 SB, 11/30 BB/K, 140 AB – Signed in May as a late signee out of the Dominican. Has a big body (6’3, 195) but is already 18, so could be where he will be physically.

Miguel Jerez, LHP, 11 G, 22 IP, 1.64 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 8/23 BB/K – Signed in May, the lefty has a small build, but a sharp breaking ball and was very effective against same sided hitters. May come to the GCL as a LOOGY next year or spend his 2017 back in the DSL stretching out, but already 18, turning 19 in October.

Deyvis Julian, RHP, 17 G, 40 1/3 IP, 2.68 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 14/37 BB/K – Took a big step forward in results this season, but he is a 20 year-old in the DSL, so there has to be some consideration, but once again a guy the Braves signed “late” as he was 19 in his first season with the organization.

Carlos Lopez, RHP, 10 G, 17 2/3 IP, 1.53 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 14/14 BB/K – Certainly should have had a much worse ERA than he posted with the walk rate he had (5 of his 8 runs given up were unearned, which is a pretty lucky rate), but I was surprised to see the tall Mexican righty not in the GCL at the start of the year. The walks didn’t endear him for a promotion this year, however.

Yoeli Lopez, OF, .240/.382/.357, 17 XBH, 11 SB, 33/78 BB/K, 221 AB – See the Player of the Year write up

Jeffrey Ramos, OF, .230/.283/.333, 10 XBH, 3 SB, 9/27 BB/K, 126 AB – Signed on July 2nd out of Dominican, but like Vasquez was already 17, so he could play this season a partial year. He came out like gang busters, but fell off by the end of the year. Good build for power and a nice total skill set to keep an eye on going forward, in spite of his struggles later in the season.

Filyer Sanchez, LHP, 19 G, 44 2/3 IP, 2.01 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 10/30 BB/K – Lefty out of Venezuela in his second season with the DSL club and really pitched a near mirror image of his 2015 season. I’m not sure what to make of Sanchez, but I would wager we’ll get to see him state side next season to see how he fares.

Lisandro Santos, LHP, 4 G, 6.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 2/4 BB/K – Signed out of the Dominican this July, Santos was able to play due to being over 17 when he was signed. He only made four appearances, but he showed a very heavy fastball, with only two balls leaving the infield all season for Santos.

Braulio Vasquez, SS, .333/.416/.374, 11 SB, 11/22 BB/K, 99 AB – Signed in the July 2nd class out of Dominican Republic, but was already 17, so he was allowed to start play immediately. May have the most raw tools of any player who finished the season in the regular lineup, including Lopez. Very exciting young player.

Willians Vasquez, RHP, 17 G, 42 2/3 IP, 2.95 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 14/27 BB/K – In his first season after signing last August, 19 year-old out of Venezuela put up solid numbers, albeit not dominant numbers.

Next: Braves Minor League Database

Albinson Volquez, RHP, 20 G, 43.2 IP, 3.50 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 13/36 BB/K – Signed this January as an 18 year-old out of the Dominican, Volquez is one guy I’ve gotten very interesting reports on. I could see him making a jump forward to the GCL or even Danville next year, and he’s got a very loose arm in his 6’3, 185-lb frame that generates a lot of ground balls and weak contact.

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