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Atlanta Braves minor league season review: Part 3, the upper-minors

By Alan Carpenter |
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN: SPC Alfredo Vigil II (L) from Woodlake, California and SPC Patrick Carter from Lawrenceville, Georgia with the U.S. Army's 4th squadron 2d Cavalry Regiment patrol through a village on March 3, 2014 near Kandahar. It's ain't baseball, but we appreciate our troops. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN: SPC Alfredo Vigil II (L) from Woodlake, California and SPC Patrick Carter from Lawrenceville, Georgia with the U.S. Army's 4th squadron 2d Cavalry Regiment patrol through a village on March 3, 2014 near Kandahar. It's ain't baseball, but we appreciate our troops. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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JACKSON, MS – OCTOBER 28: Early morning fog is seen on the course as volunteers make their way to their positions during the Second Round of the Sanderson Farms Championship at the Country Club of Jackson on October 28, 2016 in Jackson, Mississippi. (Photo by Marianna Massey/Getty Images)

The third in a series of posts to review the seasons of the statesite Braves affiliates.

Today we review the seasons in the upper reaches of the Atlanta Braves‘ minor league teams:  the AA and AAA clubs of Mississippi and Gwinnett.

Prior installments:

MISSISSIPPI BRAVES

  • TYPE:  AA, Southern League
  • HISTORY:  In Pearl, MS (adjacent to Jackson) since 2005.  Were in Greenville, SC from 1984-2004, Savannah before that (from 1971).
  • FUN FACT:  The Braves AA affiliate was located in Atlanta for 10 seasons during the days of the Milwaukee Braves (1950-1959).
  • STADIUM:  Trustmark Stadium, capacity 8,480.
  • TEAMS:  10 teams across 2 divisions.
  • DIVISION:  Southern (CIN/MIL/MIA/LAA/ATL)
  • FINISH (1ST Half):  34-36, 3rd place, 6.0 GB Pensacola (Reds)
  • FINISH (2ND Half):  24-44, 5th place, 14 GB Jacksonville (Marlins)
    • Overall:  58-80, last in division; 9th in the league.
  • LEAGUE STANDOUTS:
    • Hitting: Joey Meneses (1B, .292, 7th in league), Jared James (LF, .279, 13th).  Travis Demeritte: 15 HR, 9th.  Ronald Acuna: 19 steals (8th, despite being there for only  57 games (about 40% of the season).  Keith Curcio and Demeritte both tied 3rd in triples (6).
    • Pitching:  Mike Soroka, 2nd in league in ERA (2.75). Logged nearly 154 innings, 1.09 WHIP, 125K/34BB.  Kolby Allard 8th with 3.18.  150 innings, 129K/45BB, 1.27 WHIP.

TEAM STATS – Pitching

  • 4th in team ERA (3.56).  3.09 was best in the league (Twins), 4.13 the worst (White Sox).
  • Homers:  2nd fewest (77).  Best was 75, worst was 129.
  • 562 walks allowed (worst in league by far).  Next worst was 518, best was 375.
  • 2nd in strikeouts (1196 in 1216 innings).  Missed #1 by 2K.  Fewest was 974.
  • WHIP of 1.34 was near the bottom.  Best 1.23; worst 1.40.

TEAM STATS – Hitting

This wasn’t very good.

  • Average:  .233 (8th worst: ranged from .229 to .265)
  • Homers:  3rd in league (98).  Best was 118.  That’s actually not bad, considering their stadium.
  • Doubles:  2nd fewest in league (191).  188 was worst; 280 best.
  • Triples:  4th with 27.  The spread went from 20 to 43.
  • Walks:  2nd fewest (405).  Ranged from 391 to 610.
  • Strikeouts:  2nd most by 1 (1170).  Fewest was 1009.
  • Steals:  2nd best in league with 157.  Best was 229; worst 46.
  • OPS: 2nd worst (.653).  Lowest was .651; best .748.

Best team overall:  91-49 for the Chattanooga Lookouts (Twins).  The Pensacola Blue Wahoos were 74-66 to lead the Southern division (Reds), but were 3rd overall to the Montgomery Biscuits (76-64).

The worst team was the Birmingham Barons (53-85), who the Braves beat up in 4 of the last 5 games of the year to make sure.

ROSTER

There was quite a turnover in this roster during the season.  Many movers through multiple levels, including Max Fried, Luis Gohara, Ronald Acuna, Jason Hursh, A.J. Minter, even Kris Medlen.

Manager:  Luis Salazar, along with pitching coach Derrick Lewis and hitting coach Ivan Cruz.

Notables:

  • Mauricio Cabrera.  Remember Juan Jaime?  100mph stuff and no idea where it was going?  Same thing here.  2016 turns out to have been a banner year for him, as 2017 saw him drop multiple levels. All you need to know:  13.2 innings, 15K, 18 walks, 5.27 ERA.
  • Wes Parsons:  103 IP, 2.71 ERA, 89K/33BB. 1.13 WHIP
  • Corbin Clouse:  22IP, 2.86, 26/13, 1.55 WHIP, though.
  • Jesse Biddle:  almost 50 innings, 2.90, 53/16, 1.29, but ended the year on the DL.
  • Patrick Weigel – Tommy John surgery.
  • Touki Toussaint got 7 starts, though his walk rate was back up (22 in 39.2 innings, though 44K).
  • C Cade Scivicque – .269 in 68G before a promotion.
  • 3B Austin Riley like Southern League ball:  .315 in 48G/178 AB.  .900 OPS with 8 jacks.
  • Ronald Acuna… .326 in 57 games, .895 OPS.  Yawn.
  • C Alex Jackson hit .255 here, with 5 HR, but was only around for 30 games.
  • Several underperforming hitters:  Keith Curcio (.219), Tyler Neslony (.194 in 43G), Connor Lien (.187 with a horrible K ratio near 40%), and most notably:  Travis Demeritte (.231 and .708 OPS – down 200 points from 2016).
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KANDAHAR, AFGHANISTAN: SPC Alfredo Vigil II (L) from Woodlake, California and SPC Patrick Carter from Lawrenceville, Georgia with the U.S. Army’s 4th squadron 2d Cavalry Regiment patrol through a village on March 3, 2014 near Kandahar. It’s ain’t baseball, but we appreciate our troops. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

GWINNETT BRAVES… or Buttons… or something worse

  • TYPE:  AAA, International League
  • HISTORY:  In Lawrenceville, GA since 2009.  Was in Richmond, VA from 1966 until then.
  • FUN FACT:  The Braves AAA affiliate was located in Atlanta for the 1965 season, just prior to the major league club moving there in 1966.
  • STADIUM:  Coolray Field, capacity 10,427.
  • TEAMS:  14 teams across 3 divisions.
  • DIVISION:  South (TB/ATL/BAL/CWS)
  • FINISH (full season):  71-71, 2nd place, 15.0 GB Durham Bulls(Rays)
  • LEAGUE STANDOUTS:
    • Hitting: Ozzie Albies (7th in hitting; .285, Tie 7th in steals, 21; Tie 1st in triples, 8).  Rio Ruiz 14th in HR (16), tie 17th in doubles (25).  Lane Adams 15 steals.  Ronald Acuna 11 (in 54 games).  Xavier Avery 5th in OPS.
    • Special Ronald Acuna section:  hit .344, which would have been 2nd in league, had he qualified.  .940 OPS would have been 2nd as well behind Rhys Hoskins (.966).
    • Pitching:  Andrew Albers was 3rd in ERA (2.61) and 6th in WHIP (1.15) until being traded to Seattle.  He’s now 5-1 for the Mariners with a 3.09 ERA, 1.97 BB/9 and should be credited for keeping them within sight of the Wild Card race (currently 4 back).
    • Lucas Sims was 12th with 3.75 ERA, 5th in K (132 in 115 innings… just 2 behind Lucas Giolito, who had 13 more innings) and 5th in WHIP (1.14).

TEAM STATS – Pitching

  • 4.02 team ERA – 9th overall (3.33 to 5.03).
  • Homers:  105, 6th best, but only 4 away from #1.  Worst was 152.
  • 470 walks allowed.  350 was best, 521 worst.
  • 3rd in strikeouts (1184 in 1231 innings).  Best was a staggering 1421 from Durham.  Worst 993 (Buffalo).
  • WHIP of 1.35 was near the middle.  Best 1.19 (yeah – Durham); worst 1.50.

TEAM STATS – Hitting

  • Average:  .257 (in the middle… range was .247 to .272)
  • Homers:  middle… 117.  Range was 78 to 153 (the Yankees, with 8 guys in double-digits).
  • Doubles:  4th fewest in league (219).  195 was worst; 279 best.
  • Triples:  2nd best with 33 (11 to 36).
  • Walks:  In a change from the other affiliates, 3rd best (483).  Ranged from 381 to 513).
  • Strikeouts: 2nd most by 1 (1170).  Fewest was 1009.
  • Steals:  2nd best in league with 1258.  Best was 977; worst 1297.  Big range.
  • OPS:  In the middle with .721 (.683 to .775).

Best team overall:  Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (Yankees) with 86-55, just edging out the Durham Bulls (Rays) at 86-56.

The worst team was the Syracuse Chiefs (Nats) at 54-87.  Louisville wasn’t much better (56-86).

ROSTER

There was quite a turnover in this roster during the season.  Many movers through multiple levels, including Max Fried, Luis Gohara, Ronald Acuna, Jason Hursh, A.J. Minter, even Kris Medlen.

Manager:  Damon Berryhill, with John Moses as hitting coach and Reid Cornelius as pitching coach.

Notables:

More from Tomahawk Take

CF Xavier Avery.  Best hitter on the club not named Acuna.  FUN FACT:  4 different players are listed as Center Fielders:  Acuna, Avery, Lane Adams, and Micah Johnson.

  • LF Dustin Peterson.  Struggled in AAA a bit:  .248 and no power (1 HR, 17 2Bs).
  • C Kade Scivicque made the most of limited time:  .272, 2HR, in 81 PA.

    • Micah Johnson in 40 games hit a solid .289 with .777 OPS.

  • Matt Wisler:  3.56 ERA in almost 94 innings, 1.29 WHIP.  Looking a lot like a AAAA pitcher.
  • Aaron Blair:  5.02 ERA in 127 innings, 1.50 WHIP.  Looking a lot like AAA is his ceiling.

    • Kris Medlen:  struggled at this level.  5.42 ERA, 84K/23BB in 95 innings… but hittable (105 hits allowed).

    Mauricio Cabrera:  remember the stats on the prior page?  It was worse here in 26 innings:  25BB, 20Km 7.86 ERA.

    Next: We'll Manage... at least somebody will

    This concludes our series on the affiliates and their 2017 seasons!

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