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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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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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