(Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
(1-3) Mississippi Braves (AA)
The Braves of Double-A took it on the chin to start off the year, losing 3 out of 4 to the Tennessee Smokies in their first series of the season. It might take a bit, but this team should be extremely good this year with guys like:
- (RF) Drew Waters
- (CF) Christian Pache
- (1B/OF) CJ Alexander
- (SP) Ian Anderson
- (SP) Kyle Muller
The Braves hung in there on every game, as all 4 games were decided by two runs or less, and Sunday evening’s game ended up being a comeback victory by the Smokies.
Frankly, Sunday night probably should’ve been a win, but the Braves are easing starter Patrick Weigel at the moment. He’s coming back from Tommy John surgery.
All in all, not great results record-wise, but Mississippi still played fairly well over the past 4 days.
THURSDAY @ Tennessee: Lost, 5-7
- (L, 0-1) Philip Pfeifer:
- (BS, 1) Josh Graham
- (RF) Drew Waters (3-4) 2B, R, BB, K
(SP) Ian Anderson
- 4 innings-pitched
- 3 hits
- 1 ER
- 3 walks
- 7 strikeouts
- 1 home run allowed
FRIDAY @ Tennessee: Won, 4-3 (F/11)
- (W, 1-0) Jason Creasy
- (S, 1) Josh Graham
- (1B) Andy Wilkins (2-5) HR , RBI , 2 K
(SP) Kyle Muller
- 3.2 innings pitched
- 1 hit
- 0 ER
- 4 walks
- 4 strikeouts
SATURDAY @ Tennessee: Lost, 3-4
- (L, 0-1) Jason Hursh
- (SS) Ray-Patrick Didder (1-2) 3B , 2 RBI , BB
(SP) Joey Wentz
- 3.2 innings pitched
- hits
- 1 ER
- 3 walks
- 4 strikeouts
- 1 home run allowed
SUNDAY @ Tennessee: Lost, 3-4
- (L, 0-1)(BS, 1) Michael Mader
- (C) Jonathan Morales (2-4) 2 2B , 2 RBI
(SP) Patrick Weigel
- 0.2 innings-pitched
- 0 hits
- 0 ER
- 3 walks
- 0 strikeouts
PITCHING
The starting-pitching for Mississippi wasn’t the greatest, as neither Braves pitcher made it past the 4th inning in the last 4 days. The only pitcher to make it four, Ian Anderson, had the best performance on the mound.
Anderson pitched around 3 hits on one earned run (HR) and struck out 7, walking three Smokies hitters. Anderson made it through those 4 frames on 78 pitches (42 strikes).
The Mississippi bullpen was hit-or-miss mostly, with Josh Graham picking up a save this week, but also surrendering a run (6.75 ERA after two games). Reliever, Jason Hursh, made 2 appearances and has a 4.50 ERA; and Jason Creasy made an appearance, picking up the win and giving up no runs.
HITTING
The hitting is still a tad cold at the moment, but as mentioned above: watch out when this team gets going because they have alot of talented players in this lineup.
Interestingly, the leaders in hitting are the two Mississippi catchers at the moment (Jonathan Morales and Carlos Martinez). Morales is hitting .364 with three doubles in 3 games and Martinez is batting a nice .400 in his 2 games behind the plate.
Centerfielder, Christian Pache, has been active as he usually is; the toolsy top-prospect isn’t quite there with the batting average (.211), but has already stolen 3 bases and has 2 doubles to go along with a triple. Keep an eye on Pache; he’s got a great year ahead of him.
Pache’s partner in the outfield, right fielder Drew Waters, has started nicely for the Braves. Waters is batting .316 over his 4 games, and has an above-average .802 OPS.
We seen him this past Spring, but 30-year-old Andy Wilkins has brought the power with him to Double-A, as the first baseman and designated-hitter has the sole home run on the team. Of course, his corner-power profile has provided just a .182 batting-average so far.
Here’s the 4-day results for the rest of the Mississippi lineup:
(2B) Alejandro Salazar
- .313 batting-average
- .728 OPS
- 1 double
(SS) Ray-Patrick Didder
- .154 batting-average
- .697 OPS
- 1 triple
(3B) Daniel Lockhart
- .182 batting-average
- .523 OPS
- 1 double
(LF) Conner Lien
- .111 batting-average
- .333 OPS
- 1 double
(1B/OF) CJ Alexander
- .222 batting-average
- .586 OPS
What’s Next
(all times EST)
@ Tennessee Smokies (CHC)
- Monday, April 8 @ 7PM
vs. Mobile BayBears (LAA)
- Wednesday, April 10 @ 7:35PM
- Thursday, April 11 @ 7:35PM
- Friday, April 12 @ 7:35PM
- Saturday, April 13 @ 7:05PM
- Sunday, April 14 @ 2:05PM