Atlanta Braves Minor League Weekend Wrap Up, April 17th
Atlanta Braves Minor League Weekend Wrap Up
Transactions
4/13 – RHP Joel De La Cruz placed on 7-Day DL by Gwinnett
4/13 – IF Emerson Landoni activated from 7-Day DL to Gwinnett
4/13 – LHP Andrew Albers assigned to Gwinnett Braves from Danville Braves
4/14 – RHP Luke Jackson recalled to Atlanta Braves from Gwinnett Braves
4/14 – RHP Jason Hursh optioned from Atlanta Braves to Gwinnett Braves
4/14 – RHP Enderson Franco assigned to Rome Braves from Danville Braves
4/14 – RHP Matt Custred assigned to Danville Braves from Rome Braves
Hitter of the week: Since Chipper Jones retired, Atlanta Braves fans have been looking for their next great third baseman. A franchise with two of arguably the top 5 all-time third basemen is understandably eager to find the next great.
Carlos Franco had that sort of make up at one time, though he was behind guys like Edward Salcedo in that pecking order. He’s established himself as a solid organizational guy, and weeks like he just had are exactly why.
Franco beat the stuffing out of the ball, posting a .318/.375/.863 line, and while his OPS isn’t the highest on the week, and he had a batting average 200 points lower than others in consideration on the week, Franco just smoked what he did hit, leading the entire system in total bases on the week as he smacked 3 doubles and 3 home runs, driving in 11 runs.
Honorable mention: Trying to separate one from the other seems impossible, so I chose to group all three high minors outfielders that had big weeks together.
Xavier Avery hit .500/.524/.850 for Gwinnett on the week with 2 doubles, a triple, a home run, and 3 steals.
Lane Adams really showed well for Gwinnett, hitting .450/.476/.750 with a double, 3 home runs, and 2 steals.
Last, but certainly not least, Connor Lien had a big week for Mississippi, hitting .350/.423/.850 with two doubles and two home runs. The biggest thing for Lien was that he posted a 4/6 BB/K ratio on the week.
Pitcher of the week: With an aggressive promotion to AA at just 19, many pitchers would struggle out of the gate. Not so with Mike Soroka. He posted two starts on the week, but he didn’t just accumulate numbers, he had two dominant outings.
Combined between his two starts, Soroka threw 11 2/3 innings, allowing just 1 run on 5 hits, avoiding even a single walk while striking out 14 hitters. Of interest, Soroka has not faced a single batter younger than he is on the season. It will be interesting to see if he goes the entire season maintaining that.
Honorable mention: Many Atlanta Braves fans saw Aaron Blair‘s 2016 major league results and thought that he was not going to be much. Hard to fault those thoughts as Blair posted a 7.59 ERA and 1.66 WHIP over 70 innings.
However, Blair was a pitcher that had gotten off track from his best use of his arsenal, and having a full offseason working with the Braves staff really has shown well. After a rough first outing, Blair was very solid across two outings this week, throwing 11 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and 5 walks, striking out 13 batters.
Next: Gwinnett Braves
AAA Gwinnett Braves (7-4)
Thursday
Gwinnett put together an 8th inning rally to defeat Norfolk 3-2 on Thursday. Matt Wisler had a solid start, going 6 innings, allowing 2 runs (1 earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5. Sam Freeman threw 1 1/3 perfect innings with two strikeouts to get his first save.
Ozzie Albies had a single, double, walk, and a stolen base. Matt Tuiasosopo had a double and two walks. Sean Kazmar had two singles with a stolen base. Adam Walker had a double and a stolen base.
Friday
Gwinnett used a 5-run 6th inning to defeat Durham 6-4. Lucas Sims had a start fitting of his mixed bag background, going 4 2/3 innings, allowing 4 runs on 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 8. Jason Hursh, Jason Motte, and David Hernandez combined for 4 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits without a walk, striking out 4.
Adam Walker had two doubles. David Freitas had a double and a walk. Matt Tuiasosopo had two singles. Kyle Kubitza had a triple and a stolen base. Mel Rojas, Jr. and Ozzie Albies each had a double.
Saturday
In spite of a big 9th inning rally by Durham, Gwinnett was able to pull a win on Saturday 8-6. The bullpen threw the game on Saturday after Luke Jackson was called up. Andrew Albers opened the game with 3 2/3 innings, allowing a run on two hits and 3 walks, striking out 5.
Matt Tuiasosopo and Mel Rojas, Jr. each had a double, single, and a walk. Kyle Kubitza had a single and two walks. Ozzie Albies had a double, single, and a stolen base. Xavier Avery had a home run and a single. Rio Ruiz had a double and a walk. Blake Lalli had a double. Adam Walker stole a base.
Sunday
Gwinnett had a battle with Durham on Sunday, as both teams scored 2 runs in the first inning, and it was on from there. The score was 5-5 in the top of the ninth when the Braves got two runs to win the game 7-5.
Aaron Blair had a solid start, going 6 innings, allowing 2 runs on 2 hits and 2 walks, striking out 7.
Xavier Avery led a potent offensive attack from Gwinnett, with a triple, single, walk, and two stolen bases. Ozzie Albies had a triple and a walk. Sean Kazmar and Mel Rojas, Jr. each had two singles. Lane Adams had a home run.
Leaders
BA: Xavier Avery .414
OBP: Xavier Avery .469
HR: Lane Adams 4
SB: Ozzie Albies 5
W: Seven with 1
SV: David Hernandez 3
SO: Aaron Blair 16
ERA: Four with 0.00
Video Highlights
Next: Mississippi Braves
AA Mississippi Braves (6-4)
More from Tomahawk Take
- Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos’ views on the offseason so far
- Braves News: Dansby goes to the Cubs, prospect rankings, more
- The Paradox of Dansby Swanson
- Report: Dansby Swanson to sign seven year deal with Chicago Cubs
- Braves News: Braves add multiple new players, Max Fried extension?, more
Thursday
Mississippi entered the bottom of the 9th inning Thursday with a commanding 7-0 lead. Then Tennessee touched up the M-Braves bullpen for 8 runs to score a walk-off win 8-7 over the Braves.
The blown 9th inning covered over an exceptional start by Kolby Allard, who went 5 scoreless innings, allowing 3 hits and 2 walks, striking out 3. Jesse Biddle continued his excellent return to health, throwing 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing a walk and a single with 3 strikeouts.
Jared James had a home run, single, and a walk. Travis Demeritte had a double, single, and a walk. Connor Lien had two doubles. Joey Meneses had a single and a walk. Luis Valenzuela had a double.
Friday
Mississippi got a huge start from Matt Withrow and a big game from the offense to defeat Tennessee 10-2. Withrow went 6 innings, allowing just a solo home run for runs scored as part of 4 hits and a walk allowed, striking out 5.
Carlos Franco had a home run and a double in the game. Keith Curcio had a single, two walks, and stole a base. Travis Demeritte had a double and two walks. Connor Lien had a home run and a walk. Kade Scivicque had a single and a walk. Stephen Gaylor had a stolen base.
Saturday
Mississippi had a scheduled double header on Saturday in order to give their players Sunday off for Easter. Both games ended up being pitchers’ duels, with game one going to Tennessee 3-2 in 9 innings and game two going to the M-Braves 3-1 in regulation 7 innings.
Max Fried started game one, going 6 innings, allowing a run on two hits and two walks, striking out 4. Joey Meneses had a home run, a double, and a single. Carlos Franco hit a home run. Luis Valenzuela had a stolen base.
Game 2 saw the continued elite production of Mike Soroka. Soroka went 6 2/3 innings, allowing a solo home run as the only run allowed on 3 hits total, no walks, and 7 strikeouts. No M-Braves hitter reached base twice. Connor Lien had a triple. Jared James had a double.
Sunday
The Braves were off Sunday for Easter.
Leaders
BA: Kade Scivicque .391
OBP: Kade Scivicque .423
HR: Carlos Franco 3
SB: Luis Valenzuela 3
W: Mike Soroka 2
SV: Akeel Morris 3
SO: Mike Soroka 14
ERA: Akeel Morris 0.00
Video Highlights
Next: Florida Fire Frogs
Florida Fire Frogs (5-6)
Thursday
St. Lucie used a 4-run 3rd inning to power past the Fire Frogs 6-2. Drew Harrington struggled to follow up his excellent first start with a second, going 4 1/3 innings, allowing 6 runs on 12 hits and no walks, striking out 4.
Alex Jackson had a home run, single, and a walk. Alay Lago had a triple and a single. Ronald Acuna stole his 5th base of the season.
Friday
Florida fought back to tie St. Lucie in the 6th inning, only to see the bullpen give up 2 runs in each the 7th and 8th innings to lose 7-3. Ricardo Sanchez had a very solid start, going 4 innings, allowing an unearned run on one hit and three walks, striking out 2.
Jonathan Morales and Tyler Neslony each had a single and a walk as every Florida hitter reached base, but just those two reached base twice.
Saturday
Florida attempted a big come back, but fell well short, losing 9-5 to St. Lucie. Touki Toussaint was on the hill for Florida, going 5 innings, allowing 5 runs on 6 hits and no walks, striking out 8.
Tyler Neslony had a big day at the plate, hitting a home run, double, single, and a walk. Jonathan Morales had a home run and a single.
Sunday
Florida scored a big win on Sunday 10-1 to salvage one game with St. Lucie. Luiz Gohara went 5 innings, allowing 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 4. Taylor Lewis and Devan Watts combined for 4 hitless innings of scoreless relief with 3 walks and 3 strikeouts combined.
Alejandro Salazar and Ray-Patrick Didder had three singles, while Didder added a stolen base. Carlos Castro had two singles and a walk. Wigberto Nevarez had a double, single, and a walk. Tyler Neslony had a double and two walks. Jonathan Morales had a single and two walks. Omar Obregon had a triple and a single. Austin Riley had a single and a walk.
Leaders
BA: Omar Obregon .412
OBP: Tyler Neslony .478
HR: Alex Jackson 3
SB: Ronald Acuna 6
W: Five with 1
SV: Two with 1
SO: Touki Toussaint 14
ERA: Five with 0.00
Video Highlights
No Video Available
Next: Rome Braves