Atlanta Braves Week 8 Farm Report: A third of the season complete

(22-26) Mississippi Braves (AA)

WEEK 8 RECORD: 3-3

Players of the Week

(OF) Cristian Pache 

6 games, .416 BA, 2 doubles, 1 triple, RBI

No one really stood out for the M-Braves in Week 8, in terms of crazy good offensive numbers. But, Pache did indeed bat over .400, a feat that shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Pache has made some strides this season, but still is far from a finished product with the bat. He’s running an 8% walk-rate, which is good for him, but still needs to be improved upon. His 27.5% K-rate also isn’t a preferred rate either.

Regardless, Pache has turned in an excellent start to the 2019 season, playing 45 games thus far and slashing .299/.349/.483 with 3 home runs and 13 doubles. He also has six stolen bases and five triples.

He’s still not quite there yet with his plate-discipline, but Pache has definitely provided above-average results with the bat.

(SP) Kyle Muller 

2 starts, 2-0, 12.2 IP, 6 H, ER, 4 BB, 17 K

As we’ve seen throughout the 2019 season, this M-Braves team has a rather stacked starting pitching staff with several key Braves pitching prospects rostered.

Muller has been one of the most consistent of them all, sporting a 1.89 ERA for the season, as well as 57 strikeouts in 52.1 innings pitched.

In the M-Braves Sunday recap below, I shared just how dominant he’s been, especially in the month of May.

Muller, a Dallas, Texas native and 2nd round pick by Atlanta in 2016, has been lights out in his first 10 starts this season (3-1). If he can keep this up, it won’t be long and he’ll be pitching on the mound in Gwinnett.

Week At A Glance

(5/20) Monday: Won 6-1 vs. Birmingham Barons – FULL RECAP

• (P) K. Muller: 5.2 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 8 K
• (DH) R. Casteel: 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, BB, K
• (CF) C. Pache: 2-5, 3B, RBI, 2 R, K

Ryan Casteel picked up right where he left off last week, leading the M-Braves to a victory on Monday. Christian Pache hit his fifth triple of the season (leads the league) and scored two runs.

Speaking of triples, Mississippi finished with a season-high of three 3-baggers. Also, out of the M-Braves 10 hits Monday, five went for an XBH.

Third baseman Riley Unroe and right fielder Shean Michel were the other triplers, with Unroe finishing with an RBI and two strikeouts. Michel’s triple was also his only hit. First baseman Andy Wilkins went 2-for-2 with a double and a run scored.

Kyle Muller put together his best start of the season, and he still has yet to allow more than five hits in a single outing. Monday’s win was also Muller’s fourth consecutive quality start.

(5/21) Tuesday: OFF DAY

After 20-straight games the M-Braves were off on Tuesday.

(5/22) Wednesday: Won 7-0 vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp – FULL RECAP

• (P) J. Wentz: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
• (3B) L. Valenzuala: 2-4, 3B, 2B, 2 RBI, R
• (SS) R. Unroe: 1-4, 2 RBI

M-Braves starter, Joey Wentz, was remarkable Wednesday, only facing two over the minimum. Wednesday’s win was his fourth quality-start this season (9 total starts) and second in-a-row.

https://twitter.com/mbraves/status/1131377275411271680?s=19

First baseman Ryan Casteel made some history Wednesday, recording a hit in his 11th-straight game, the longest such streak by a Mississippi Braves hitter and the longest active hitting-streak this season. Casteel finished 1-for-3 with a run and a walk.

Christian Pache picked up a hit and a run in three at-bats, while also walking once. Drew Waters went hitless but did provide a sac-fly in the 6th inning.

Relievers Jason Hursh and Jordan Harrison took care of the 8th and 9th innings. Only Hursh allowed a hit, while Harrison struck out two. Both relievers walked none in their two combined innings.

(5/23) Thursday: Lost 5-2 vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp – FULL RECAP

• (P) T. Davidson: 4.2 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 5 K
• (LF-CF) D. Waters: 1-4, 3B, RBI, R, K
• (SS) R. Unroe: 1-4, RBI, SB, K

The M-Braves ran into some solid pitching Thursday night, facing the Miami Marlins #10 prospect, Cody Poteet. The former 4th round selection in the 2015 MLB Draft struck out six Braves in 7 innings, only surrendering two hits and walking none.

Tucker Davidson pitched well himself, once again keeping the ball on the ground and limiting the Jacksonville hits to five. Thursday’s outing was Davidson’s third-straight start allowing exactly three hits. He hasn’t allowed more than six hits all season.

Staying with the pitching, two M-Braves relievers made appearances, Jonathan Aro and Jeremy Walker. Both combined to pitch 4.1 innings and surrender only four hits, while preventing the Jumbo Shrimp from scoring.

Cristian Pache finished 0-for-4, but on the bright side, he didn’t strike out in any of his four tries at the plate.

(5/24) Friday: Lost 4-1 vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp – FULL RECAP

• (P) De La Cruz: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (RF) C. Pache: 4-4, 2B (LF) D. Waters: 1-4, RBI, K

Jacksonville got another strong outing from their starting pitcher, as the Marlins 22nd ranked prospect, Robert Dugger, struck out eight and only gave up 5 hits and a run.

Jasseel De La Cruz didn’t keep his pitches down like he’s been doing in the past, and left the game after facing 25 batters in five frames (80 pitches).

One positive from Friday’s loss was Cristian Pache, who recorded a hit in every at-bat.

https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/status/1132114786551042048?s=19

Other than Pache and Drew Waters, the only other batter in the lineup for the M-Braves that contributed was Ray-Patrick Didder, as he finished 1-for-2 with a run and a walk. Didder also had one strikeout.

Reliever Claudio Custodio came in the game in the 6th and pitched three innings of one-hit ball, striking out five and walking none. Custodio has been consistently dominant for Mississippi this season, running a 0.52 ERA in 17.1 innings-pitched (1 ER in that span).

(5/25) Saturday: Lost 8-7 vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp – FULL RECAP

• (P) I. Anderson: 6.2 IP, 5 H, ER, 2 BB, 9 K
• (RF) C. Pache: 2-5, 2B, R
• (LF) D. Waters: 2-5, 3B, RBI, 3 R, SB

Before the game there were a few roster moves that impacted the M-Braves:

Saturday night was a matchup between two top pitching prospects in Ian Anderson (Braves #4 prospect) and Sixto Sanchez (Marlins #1 prospect).

https://twitter.com/mbraves/status/1132455027774316552?s=19

In terms of their final pitching lines, Anderson prevailed as the better pitcher.

Anderson’s line is shown above, but Sanchez wasn’t bad himself, as he pitched 5 innings and struck out six. Sanchez surrendered three runs on seven hits and walked none.

Offensively, the M-Braves picked up 12 hits (5 XBHs) and had a 4-0 advantage going into the 6th inning. Ray-Patrick Didder went deep in the 3rd, slugging his third homer of the season. The Braves center fielder finished 2-for-4 and also had a double on Saturday.

Other M-Braves that contributed with RBI were: Riley Unroe (1-for-5), Ryan Casteel (1-for-3), and Alejandro Salazar (1-for-5, stolen base). Catcher Carlos Martinez also plated 2 runs in the loss, and finished 2-for-5.

Reliever Conner Johnstone surrendered the lead in the eighth and ended up giving up four runs in just 0.2 innings.

Some more roster moves on Saturday:

(5/26) Sunday: Won 4-0 vs. Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp – FULL RECAP

• (P) K. Muller: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K
• (1B) R. Casteel: 3-4, 2 RBI
• (LF) D. Waters: 1-3, 2B, 2 R

Sunday featured the Braves 12th ranked prospect doing it all, as starting pitcher Kyle Muller not only threw a 3-hitter but also finished 2-for-2 at the plate, with one hit being this double:

Here’s him showing some speed with his infield single in the 3rd inning:

Muller is the first M-Braves starting pitcher to record a hit, let alone two! The lefty threw 98 pitches (66 strikes) in his 7-inning start, notching his fourth-straight quality start in his past five starts.

The month of May has been great for Muller. He has only given up three runs in 33.1 innings, good for a 0.86 ERA for May.

On offense and batting leadoff, Cristian Pache finished with a hit in three at-bats, also drawing a walk and scoring a run. Pache is batting. 299 with an .832 OPS after Sunday.

Riley Unroe and Daniel Lockhart both finished with multi-hit efforts, with Unroe picking up his 7th RBI of the season.

Reliever Jeremy Walker worked the 8th and 9th innings, adding a strikeout. Walker now has 37 strikeouts in 44.2 innings-pitched for Mississippi, and is sporting a 2.82 ERA.