Fansided

Atlanta Braves minor league season review. Part 1: the lower minors

By Alan Carpenter |
View from Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, circa 1960. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
View from Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, circa 1960. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
2 of 2
Next
KEY BISCAYNE, FL – APRIL 01: Johanna Konta of Great Britain poses in front of the Cape Florida Lighthouse after defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the Women’s Final on Day 13 of the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center on April 1, 2017 in Key Biscayne, Florida. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
KEY BISCAYNE, FL – APRIL 01: Johanna Konta of Great Britain poses in front of the Cape Florida Lighthouse after defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the Women’s Final on Day 13 of the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center on April 1, 2017 in Key Biscayne, Florida. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

This season could be dubbed ‘the year of the prospects’ as the organization exploded with talent at all levels.  But did that help the bottom line?

This is the first part of what I hope to be a run-down of the Atlanta Braves minor league teams and players for 2017.  This first bit involves the teams themselves.  We’ll look at the GCL and Danville teams today.

Let’s get right to it.

GULF COAST LEAGUE BRAVES

  • TYPE:  Short-season rookie league
  • TEAMS:  17, across 4 divisions
  • DIVISION:  Northeast (Yankees East/Atlanta/Pittsburgh/Detroit)
  • FINISH:  2nd place, 31-28 record, 1.5 games behind Yankees (33-27)
  • LEAGUE STANDOUTS:  None on the pitching chart; Yunior Severino best hitter (22nd in league) with .286/.345/.444/.789 slash line (qualifiers only).  Braulio Vasquez (30th) at .270/.371/.329/.700.

TEAM STATS – Pitching

  • Third in league with 3.18 ERA.  Blue Jays 2.86, Tigers East 4.90.
  • 4th fewest homers allowed (17).  Red Sox 13, Yankees West 33 (ouch).
  • Among highest in walks allowed (215).  Yanks East team allowed an astonishing 144 (Cardinals 149); Mets 248.
  • Mid-pack in strikeouts (428).  Orioles with most at 486; Tigers East 352.
  • WHIP of 1.31 was tied for 5th best; Nats 1.19; Tigers East 1.57.

TEAM STATS – Hitting

  • 3rd highest team average (.258).  Phillies:  .267.  Yanks East worst with Rays at .231.
  • Homers:  mid-pack with 21 (Pirates 34, Tigers East 14)
  • Doubles:  3rd (107).  Orioles 113, Tigers East 66)
  • Triples:  Tie 6th (17).  Pirates 36(!) and Red Sox 9
  • Walks: mid-pack with 197.  Yanks East 250, Mets 171.
  • Strikeouts:  5th worst at 455.  Phillies 313, Blue Jays 495.
  • Steals:  In the middle with 58.  Twins 88, Cardinals 32.
  • OPS:  .697… in the middle.  Phillies .718, Tigers East .618.

Yes… if you read all of that, the worst team in the league was the Tigers East squad (14-45).  Their West team was 29-28.  Not sure 2 teams were necessary.

Best team overall:  a 36-22 record posted for the Phillies.  Nationals (34-22) and Twins (35-23) were close behind.

ROSTER

This list is more static than most of the minor league squads.  In general, it’s made up of higher 2017 draft picks, a few instructional league guys, and promising “graduates” from the Dominican Summer League.

Manager:  Barrett Kleinknecht, a long-time catcher in the organization.

Notables:

  • RHP Troy Bacon, 2017 4th round pick.  3.44 ERA, 18.1 IP, 22/7 K/BB.
  • RHP Freddy Tarnok, 2017 3rd round pick.  2.57 ERA, 14 IP, 10/3 K/BB.
  • LHP Tanner Allison, 2017 19th round pick.  2.20 ERA, 16.1 IP, 15/2 K/BB.
  • LHP Troy Conyers, 2017 23rd round pick. 0.00 ERA, 14 IP, 19K, 2BB, 0.64 WHIP.
  • C Abrahan Gutierrez.  .264, 9 2B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 129 AB.  21K in 129 AB.
  • 2B Yunior Severino.  .286, 17 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 27 RBI.  61 K in 189 AB.
  • RF Carlos Baerga… yes, son of that Carlos Baerga (but he hit .208)

Wunderkid Kevin Maitan was on this roster… for 9 games.  After he hit .314 with 11 hits (3 doubles) and 3 RBI he was promoted.  We’ll talk about him later.

Ditto for 1st overall pick Kyle Wright.  He made 3 cameo appearances:  1.59 ERA, 5.2 innings, 8K, 2BB (he was shipped up to Rome).

Of Note

I highlighted Troy Conyers above.  After these numbers, he was immediately bumped to Rome – skipping over Danville.

At Rome he still held his own:  2.86 ERA in 28 innings with 24K and 10BB for a 1.27 WHIP.  Not quite as dominant, but respectable.

In another tweet, an opponent – Tulane – described his college changeup as “filthy”.

View from Clingman’s Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, circa 1960. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
View from Clingman’s Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, circa 1960. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) /

Advanced Rookies – Danville Braves

  • TYPE:  Short-season rookie league, APPY (Appalachian) League
  • TEAMS:  10, across 2 divisions
  • DIVISION:  East (Blue Jays, Yankees, Braves, Rays, Royals)
  • FINISH:  3rd place, 36-32 record, 10 games behind Jays (46-22). Won 8 of last 10.
  • LEAGUE STANDOUTS (qualifiers only):

TEAM STATS – Pitching

  • Best in league with 3.71 ERA.  Next was 3.81; worst was 5.53.
  • Best in fewest homers allowed (32).  Next was 41; worst was 70.
  • 3rd in walks allowed (222).  Range was 197 to 271.
  • Mid-pack in strikeouts (570).  (471… 654)
  • WHIP of 1.31 was 3rd best (1.29 to 1.54)

TEAM STATS – Hitting

  • Middle of pack in average (.260).  League range from .242 to .288.
  • Homers:  4th with 53 (range: 31… 69)
  • Doubles:  4th with 124 (range: 83… 134)
  • Triples:  middle of pack with 16 (6… 25)
  • Walks:  6th with 225 (203… 268)
  • Strikeouts:  2nd worst with 631 (515… 644).  Oddly, the team with the most walks also had the most Ks.
  • Steals:  Tie 5th with 51 (35… 74).
  • OPS:  5th at .729 (.677-.808)

Best team in league:  Bluefield Blue Jays (46-22).  Worst: Bristol Pirates (17-49

Best team overall:  a 36-22 record posted for the Phillies.  Nationals (34-22) and Twins (35-23) were close behind.

ROSTER

Manager:  Nestor Perez.

Notables… Pitching first

  • LHP Bruce Zimmermann, 2017 draftee.  3.09 ERA, 23 innings, 28/9 K/BB.
  • Huascar Ynoa, obtained in Jamie Garcia trade, 5.26 ERA, 51.1 innings, 50/29.
  • Kyle Muller, 4.15 ERA, 47.2 innings, 49/18.
  • Dilmer Mejia, 3.91 ERA, 50.2 innings, 52/10.
  • Odalvi Javier, 3.14 ERA, 63.0 innings, 50/22.
  • Zach Rice, 2.97 ERA, 30.1 innings, 38/12.
  • Taylor Hyssong, 2.77 ERA, 26.0 innings, 23/11.
  • Cutter Dyals, 2.05 ERA, 22 innings, 21/9.
  • John Curtis, 2.13 ERA, 25.1 innings, 27/9.
  • Jacob Belinda, 3.64 ERA, 29.2 innings, 22/14.

Hitters

  • C William Contreras – 45 games/169 AB.  Slash line above.
  • C Drew Lugbauer – 29 games/105 AB, .243 and 10 HR… easily leading team. 30K, .939 OPS.
  • 2B Derian Cruz – .235/.281/.315/.596.  61K in 213 AB.  Led team in steals (11) when he got on base.  20 errors at 2B to lead the team by a mile.
  • 3B Jean Carlos Encarnacion – .290/.316/.355/.671.  21K in 93 AB
  • SS Kevin Maitan – .220 in 33 games/127 AB.  39K, 9BB.  10 errors.
  • CF Drew Waters – .255/.331/.383/.714 in 36G/149AB.  59K.
  • LF Leudys Baez – .340 in 25 games/94 AB, 1.000 OPS.
  • OF Isranel Wilson – 17G/68AB and .882 OPS.
  • RF Garrison Schwartz – 31G/96AB, .930 OPS (with .281 avg).
  • LF Bradley Keller – 33G/124AB, .957 OPS with .306 avg.

2017 draftees will suffer from Small Sample Size issues in evaluating them strictly from stats.  As a result, Danville tended to lean on 2016 draftees and International players for the majority of pitched innings, given that the newcomers have already gone through an entire season – mostly in the college ranks.

Kevin Maitan was clearly struggling in his first season of pro ball – and his first season in the United States.  The Braves were treating his carefully anyway – giving him extra instructional league time before he even went to the GCL.

But then there’s Huascar Ynoa… stumbling through the Summer.  What about him?

That is pretty well evident in his K-to-Walk numbers shown above.  Ben’s assessment almost sounds like he’s a guy that suddenly grew 3-4″ in the past year… but there’s no way that’s the case.  Thus it’s a bit concerning that after multiple seasons, Ynoa hasn’t gotten things together yet.

On the upside:  there’s the Catchers.  William Contreras in particular, but Drew Lugbauer as well.  Both had excellent seasons, and it will be very interesting to follow both at Rome next season.

That’s enough for now… will continue the series as time permits, but 2 at a time seems to be quite enough volume.

Next
Home / Braves Minors

Schedule