Braves Farm Report: Several Roster Changes Impact Mississippi

Just days after I preview the first two levels of minor league talent regarding the Atlanta Braves organization — the Mississippi Braves post their ‘Official Roster’.

Over the last couple of days, the Atlanta Braves have made changes to their Double-A team, as the season kicks off Thursday at 7 p.m. (EST).

If you’ve been keeping up with my previews lately, you probably noticed a few players that didn’t quite seem to fit where they were; or maybe it seemed like there was a player missing.

Well, this piece serves as an update regarding all of those changes. Here’s the official roster for the M-Braves for the 2019 season.

Mississippi Braves (AAA)

As you can see, there have been several promotions/additions made by the Mississippi Braves since my preview:

(SP) Tucker Davidson
(SP) Joey Wentz
(P) Jordan Harrison
(P) Phil Pfeifer
(P) Ben Rowen
(P) Jeremy Walker
(SP) Patrick Weigel
(INF) Andy Wilkins
(OF) Conner Lien
(OF) Drew Waters

Several of these players were going to be discussed in my next report regarding the Florida Fire Frogs, the Braves High-A team. But since my Minor League coverage got a late start this season, I will just go ahead and give you some tidbits on all of the players listed above:

(SP) Tucker Davidson

Left-handed pitcher
23-years-old
#20 prospect (40 FV)

In 2018, Davidson pitched to a tune of a 4.18 ERA and posted 7.53 K/9 and 4.41 BB/9 for the Florida Fire Frogs (A+)

(SP) Joey Wentz

Left-handed pitcher
21-years-old
#11 prospect (45+ FV)

Wentz has a plus-changeup and sits in the low-mid-90s with his fastball currently. While with the Fire Frogs in 2018, he ran a 2.28 ERA and struck out 7.12 per nine innings.

(RP) Jordan Harrison

Left-handed pitcher
27-years-old

Coming over from the Tampa Bay Rays, Harrison has spent 7 seasons in the minors. He’s got a nice career ERA of 2.83 and was dominant in 2018 with a 1.56 ERA from 36 appearances in Double-A.

(RP) Phil Pfeifer

Left-handed pitcher
26-years-old

Pfeifer got touched up in his stint with Gwinnett last season (6.86 ERA), but was solid last year in Mississippi (2.51 ERA). He’s got 4 minor league seasons under his belt thus far.

(RP) Ben Rowen

Right-handed pitcher
30-years-old

Ben Rowen has made 12 appearances in the big leagues, showing a 6.94 ERA while there. He pitched in the Reds organization in 2018 (10 appearances / 9.28 ERA). Recently, Rowen notched a save, struck out three and walked one batter in three appearances for the Braves this past Spring.

(SP) Jeremy Walker

Right-handed pitcher
23-years-old

Walker went 5-11 with a 4.07 ERA in 25 starts last season with the Fire Frogs. His three seasons in the minors consists of 6.7 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9. Jeremy Walker pitched 0.2 innings and walked one in Spring Training recently.

(SP) Patrick Weigel

Right-handed pitcher
24-years-old
#21 prospect (40 FV)

Weigel missed mostly all of last season from TJ surgery, but made 15 starts in 2017 across the Mississippi and Gwinnett teams (4.14 ERA / 6-2 record). He pitched 1.2 innings of two-hit ball this past Spring, surrendering one earned run.

(1B) Andy Wilkins

Left-handed hitter
30-years-old

Coming over from the Minnesota Twins organization, Wilkins had a strong Spring for the Braves recently (2 home runs and batted .389 in 11 games). In 2018, he played 62 games across two levels (AA and AAA), and hit 14 homers with a .740 OPS.

(OF) Conner Lien

Right-handed hitter
25-years-old

Lien is a former 12th-round pick by the Braves (2012 draft), and played 99 games last season for Mississippi. He hit 7 home runs and stole 8 bases last year in Triple-A, but hit for a poor average of .198. His 2019 Spring featured 5 games, a home run and an .821 OPS.

(OF) Drew Waters

Switch-hitter
20-years-old
#6 prospect (50 FV)

It’s somewhat of an aggressive promotion, but the toolsy Waters had a fantastic 2018 season while in Rome (Single-A). There he hit. 303 and slugged 9 home runs, while also stealing 20 bases in 84 games. Once in Advanced-A he seemed drained, as Waters fought for a .268 batting average, no homers and 3 stolen bases in 30 contests. He played seven Spring Training games, hitting a double, knocking in a run and finished with a .308 average.

Tonight’s Game

The Mississippi Braves will face the Tennessee Smokies at 7:00 p.m. Top pitching-prospect, Ian Anderson, is slated to get the start for the M-Braves in Sevierville, TN.

What’s Next?

As I mentioned above, my late start to covering the Braves Minor League system obviously has caused my reporting to spill into the start of the season.

That’s OK, as a preview of the Florida Fire Frogs (A+) and Rome Braves (A+) will still incur. So be sure to check back for the next reports, and also the two Rookie-level teams that kick off their play in June (GCL and DSL Braves).

Also, coming soon will be a preview regarding the upcoming 2019 MLB Draft that takes place in June.

Next. 2019 Preview of Gwinnett Stripers. dark

All in all, it should be an exciting year for the Braves organization and the prospects that will be grinding their way towards a promotion. Now that the season is about to be underway, be sure to check back every Monday for my weekly Farm Report, reporting the previous week’s Braves games.

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