Atlanta Braves Week 12 Farm Report: A fresh class of players

It’s Week 12 and several of the recent Atlanta Braves draft picks began their pro careers. A few of them look as if they’ve been here for a while.

I’m sure by now you’ve all seen where a lot of the recent draftees will be starting their careers in the Atlanta Braves organization. Be sure to check the Rome and Danville pages to get up to date on a few of their performances.

Week 1 — Week 2

Week 3 — Week 4

Week 5 — Week 6

Week 7 — Week 8

Week 9 — Week 10

Week 11

(41-33) Gwinnett Stripers (AAA)

Week 12 Record: 4-2

South Division Standings

As of Monday, June 24

Week at a Glance

June 17 – June 23

Week 12 Notes

Kolby Allard is on fire!  It was another week of strong pitching by the Braves’ No. 13 prospect, as Allard made two starts for Gwinnett during Week 12:

• Tuesday:  6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 9 K
• Sunday:    6 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K

We here at T.T. had already begun to take notice before Sunday’s start:

But with his last outing thrown into the mix, the numbers look even better now, as Allard’s last four starts combined look like this:

2.00 ERA, 27 IP, 21 H, 6 ER, 8 BB

On Tuesday, Allard, again went at least six innings for the third consecutive time, as Gwinnett beat Louisville in 10 innings, 5-3. He was a ground ball machine as he generated seven such outs in his 95-pitch outing — his third quality start in a row.

Sunday’s outing resulted in a win for Allard, another six-inning start, but this time an even more efficient one. The lefty from California only needed 84 pitches this time, though somehow he got by with only 49 strikes thrown.

Only facing 20 total batters on Sunday, Allard generated seven ground outs, compared to only two fly outs.

The 21-year-old lefty has pitched like a totally different person compared to last season, striking out five or more in each of his last four starts.

It’s not like Allard was pitching poorly to begin with, but he was providing his usual low-strikeout type outings. Basically, when the calendar turned to June, he started trading contact for punch outs.

The finesse-turned power-pitcher (I know that’s a bit hyperbole!) is now 6-3 on the year. In 15 starts with the Stripers, Allard has a 3.75 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 84 innings pitched.

A successful Kolby Allard opens up so many windows for the Atlanta Braves. If he’s pitching well, he not only provides starting pitching depth, but also excellent trade value. Hopefully he keeps this up.

Adam Duvall is a hero! In the same game that Allard provided the Stripers with six strong innings on Tuesday night, veteran Adam Duvall provided Gwinnett with a walk-off two-run homer in the 10th inning.

(That bat flip, though!) With Sean Kazmar Jr. placed at second base for the start of extra innings, Duvall came to the dish looking to end the game. With a full count against him, he absolutely crushed a pitch from former Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher, Sal Romano.

Duvall is still kicking it down in Gwinnett, having himself quite a season. He now has 20 home runs and is maintaining a highly unusual .256 batting average, in 66 games for the Stripers (as of Tuesday morning).

I’m not sure if we’ll see him in Atlanta anytime before September this season, but until then, I think he’s having plenty of fun belting homers down on the farm, as the cleanup hitter.

Bryse Wilson goes six strong on Saturday night: Similar to Allard, Wilson has pitched well of late — except for his start previous to Saturday’s, where he gave up five runs, though he still struck out seven.

Against Syracuse on Saturday, Wilson provided an 86-pitch performance for the Stripers, looking strong through six scoreless frames. He only surrendered five hits and walked two, while striking out seven. Efficiency was the key, as Wilson only faced six batters over the minimum.

At 4-6 with a 3.79 ERA, Wilson hasn’t necessarily pitched like a super star this season, but he’s done an excellent job of turning around a poor start to the year that also included a pretty average stretch afterwards:

As you can see, improvements have been made. Wilson has never had issues with walks, but at times he can throw too many strikes, which gets him into trouble. However, in his last seven outings, he’s traded hits for strikeouts and has even lowered an already-low BB-rate.

Here’s a tweet to take in…

Either way, it’s nice to see both Allard and Wilson pitching well.

Players of the Week

(INF) Jack Lopez

6 games, 13-for-21 (.619 BA), 3 doubles, RBI

No, that’s not a type, Lopez hit over .600 in Week 12. That’s how it goes when your week looks like this:

• Tuesday: 4-for-4
• Wednesday: 2-for-3
• Thursday: 2-for-2
• Friday: 2-for-4
• Saturday: 0-for-4
• Sunday: 3-for-4

I believe Austin Riley‘s replacement has done a fantastic job thus far, as Lopez is now batting .323 in 46 games for Gwinnett. At 5’9″, 165-pounds, he’s not very imposing at the plate, but in just 167 at-bats he already has five home runs and 12 doubles.

(SP) Kolby Allard

2 starts, 1-0, 12 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 14 K

As you read in Gwinnett’s notes above, the strikeout-version of Allard seems for real, at least for now. With the latest development regarding Mike Foltynewicz, Allard just may be close enough to next-on-the-list as far as the next prospect pitcher to get a start in the majors.

He doesn’t necessarily have to average more than a strikeout per inning for the Atlanta Braves, but if he does find himself contributing for the big league team in 2019 — his most recent style of pitching will surely be welcomed.

Transactions/Injuries

Transaction Notes:  Huascar Ynoa was jerked back and forth quite a bit this week. On Monday he was optioned to Gwinnett, only to be brought back up to Atlanta two days later, on Wednesday. After only spending one day with the Atlanta Braves, he was again optioned back to the Stripers, on Friday.

On Saturday, Sean Newcomb was sent to Gwinnett to begin a rehab assignment, stemming from his head injury in his last start. Also on Saturday, the Atlanta Braves signed free agent shortstop, Garrett Saunders, to a minor league contract.

The inevitable happened on Sunday, as Atlanta Braves starter, Mike Foltynewicz, was optioned to Gwinnett. Chad Sobotka was recalled to take Folty’s place on the big league roster.