Three Possible Championships in the Balance for Atlanta Braves’ Farm Teams

Whether they’re doing it with heart, soul, hitting, or pitching, Braves’ teams are vying for League titles this week in A, AA, and AAA levels. Let’s see how this might go down.

For sure, we’d like to see the Atlanta Braves in a playoff hunt at this time of the year, but the next best thing is to have a whole tribe of up-and-coming minor league teams all doing that together.

Saturday night was incredible as Rome, Mississippi, and Gwinnett all clinched first-round victories over Charleston, Pensacola, and Columbus respectively.  Now each team is playing for a championship.

Rome vs. Lakewood

BEST OF 5 SERIES:

• MON:  At Rome, 7:05pm
• TUE:    At Rome, 7:05pm
• THR:   At Lakewood Township, NJ, 7:05pm
• FRI:     At Lakewood, 7:05pm
• SAT:    At Lakewood, 7:05pm

The Lakewood BlueClaws are the the Phillies A-ball affiliate in the SALLY League and they are in the championship series as a result of defeating Hagerstown (Nationals) by 5-2 and 6-1 scores.

That was the wrap on a fantastic second half for Lakewood, having been 11 games under .500 for the first half, but 20 over (45-25) in the second half.  Rome followed a similar path this year:  15 below water to start followed by a 43-27 finish.

So these are the hottest clubs in the Sally league and it’s fitting to have them face one another.

Lakewood is lead by theses top Phils’ prospects:

• LF Cornelius Randolph (#6)
• RHP Franklyn Kilome (#9)
• RHP Edgar Garcia (#28)
• RHP Alberto Tirado (#29)

Perhaps surprisingly – that’s it… only 4 in the MLB Pipeline’s Top 30.

Despite those ranks, watch out for 23-year-old CF Mark Laird, who hit .353 this year with more walks (18) than strikeouts.  He’s the biggest offensive threat remaining, as 2 other past threats have moved on and aren’t with the BlueClaws any longer.  3B Jan Hernandez is the power threat (10 HR), but a .255 avg. is something the Rome pitching can probably manage.

Right-hander Jose Taveras leads the Lakewood club, which does have some pitching talent.  Taveras, 22+, struck out 154 in 137 innings with a 6:1 K/BB ratio and 1.03 WHIP.  He’s been going deep into games (6-7 innings) and hasn’t given up more than 2 earned runs since the beginning of August.

Rome is loaded with hitting and (especially) pitching, so there’s a good chance of getting a jump of these guys and perhaps bringing a trophy home.  As we say, however, both teams are riding a hot streak, so it will come down to whichever club can sustain that momentum.

Next: Southern League Nail-biter

Mississippi vs. Jackson

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BEST OF 5 SERIES:

• MON:   At Jackson, TN, 6:05pm
• TUE:  At Jackson, 6:05pm
• THR:   At Pearl, 7:00pm
• FRI:     At Pearl, 7:00pm
• SAT:    At Pearl, 6:00pm

The M-Braves are still fighting hard, despite losing Dansby Swanson (to the majors) and Ozzie Albies (to injury).  Mallex Smith has been left to continue his ‘rehab’ sessions, and he’s certainly contributing:  hitting .438 in AA overall and .353 in the first round series.

In support, Dustin Peterson, Carlos Franco, and Joey Meneses are all destroying baseballs as well – Peterson the “weakest” of that trio, hitting .375 in the first round.  I suppose I should also mention the recently acquired Kade Scivicque and his .875 average in the Pensacola series.  Yeah… that’s not an OPS:  it’s a batting average.

But it’s the Jackson Generals that they will face in the Finals, a Seattle affiliate.  Overall, they were 29 games above .500 for the year; 38-31 in the second half.  Mississippi was one game better than that after the break, and 9-6 head-to-head.

Early matchups were won by pitchers named Hursh, Bradly, Cabrera, and Whalen.  But the promotions of these players didn’t hurt:  Mississippi took 4 of the last 5 meetings using pitchers named Max Povse, Sean Newcomb, Akeel Morris and Evan Phillips.

That doesn’t even count Patrick Weigel, Lucas Sims and a formidable bullpen to throw at Jackson, but the Generals do have some weapons:

• #2 prospect and Futures Gamer Tyler O’Neill (.293/.882 OPS, 24 HR)
• 3B Adam Law hit .321 over the last 2 months.
• Andrew Moore is the top pitching prospect (#10), 3.16 ERA, 86K/18BB in 108 innings.  Threw a complete game 1-hitter 4 days ago vs. Montgomery in the playoffs.

This is the top-hitting team in the Southern League (.263, .717 OPS), though Mississippi should match that, given their improvement through the season.

Mississippi, however, is the best pitching team in this league (3.10 ERA – easily besting everyone else other than Pensacola… a team that has now gone home, thanks to the Braves).  Jackson is third in the league in ERA, but that’s almost a half-run behind the Braves.

Their one big thing is that Jackson’s pitchers don’t walk many. They are best in the league by far: 367 walks vs. Mississippi’s 534… which is actually worst in the Southern League.

If I were advising each club:  Mississippi should swing the bats; Jackson should be patient.  If there’s an Achilles’ heel for the Braves, that’s it.  And indeed, Jackson has accepted more walks (555) than any other team in the league…while the M-Braves have taken the fewest (369).

This will come down to keeping pitching down and avoiding the free passes.  Do that and the Generals’ bats will be disarmed.  Mississippi should be able to get some runs if they can get on base… and that it may be tough against Moore.

This matchup concerns me due to the walks/strikeouts factors.  Mississippi needs base-runners and that will only happen via actual hits.  If Jackson is content to wait, then runners will materialize for them.

This could go down to the wire.

Next: Triple A Match-up Ripe for an Upset?