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.

(27-46) Florida Fire Frogs (A+)

Week 12 Record: 2-5

FSL North Standings (1st Half)

Results 

FSL North Standings (2nd Half)

Current

Week at a Glance

Week 12 Notes

Nolan Kingham throws another shutout: The former Texas Longhorn did it again in Week 12, tossing a complete-game shutout on Tuesday night. Kingham now has three such outings this season, giving the Fire Frogs seven as a team.

Facing Daytona, Kingham only allowed three hits and struck out seven with just one walk. He only needed 91 pitches (66 strikes) to get through the 31 batters faced, generating 12 ground outs and six fly outs.

The Fire Frogs had an outstanding game on offense — which we’ll get to in a minute — tallying 13 hits and beating the Tortugas 4-0. Florida could’ve scored more if not for stranding 10 runners on the base paths and finishing 1-for-12 with RISP.

It has been a season of ups and downs for Kingham, who started the 2019 campaign with three-straight starts that consisted of one earned run or less. In his first 16 innings-pitched this season, Kingham only gave up one run, as well as only one walk.

The 2018 12th-round draft selection by the Atlanta Braves ran into some bad luck, though. Beginning with his May 15th start, Kingham labored through three consecutive poor outings:

• May 15:  4 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, BB, 3 K
• May 20:  7 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 3 HR, 2 BB, 11 K
• May 25:  2.1 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, HR, 4 BB, K

Altogether, those three starts combined for 13.1 innings pitched, 22 hits, 17 earned runs, 4 homers, 7 walks, and 15 strikeouts. But since that start on the 25th of May, Kingham has pitched rather well. In the four starts since, he has had only one lousy outing, a start in which he gave up seven runs and only lasted 4.1 innings on June 6.

For the season, Kingham’s numbers are far from flashy. He’s 4-5 with a 4.43 ERA, though his 3.67 xFIP illustrates a bit of bad luck for the 22-year-old righty. His 6.04 K/9 is not a dominant K-rate, but his 2.15 BB/9 shows that he does an excellent job of avoiding walks.

The general stat line may not look all that impressive for Kingham, but there are two stats that he has done quite well in: CG and SHo. In an era where pitchers are lucky to make it into the 6th inning, Kingham has already pitched the entire game three times in just his first 11 starts of the year. Dominant numbers or not, that’s a pretty cool accomplishment.

The Florida bats break out on Tuesday night: As I mentioned above, the Frogs’ bats had it going on Tuesday, in their 4-0 win against Daytona.

The Fire Frogs ambushed Daytona in the very first inning, scoring three runs from Trey Harris‘ two-run home run and Drew Lugbauer‘s solo-homer. With Kingham dealing the entire game, the Fire Frogs didn’t need any more runs, but in the 4th, second baseman Jordan Rodgers provided the final run with an RBI single to left field, scoring Kevin Josephina.

The play log may not depict much in terms of crazy offense, but when looking at the box score, Florida’s lineup was on a roll. Five different Fire Frogs batters finished with multi-games, with shortstop Riley Delgado going 4-for-4 with a double and run scored.

The only batters without a hit: leadoff hitter and centerfielder, Shean Michel; and catcher Zack Soria.

The hot-hitting Harris finished 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI, as well as a strikeout. Lugbauer went 2-for-4 with a homer and a double, a walk and a strikeout. Josephina had a double as well, picking up two hits and scoring a run. Last but not least, Rodgers went 2-for-4 with his RBI.

Logan Brown and Andrew Moritz make their High-A debuts on Thursday. Derian Cruz gets his on Saturday:  Another wave of promotions took place during Week 12, as three players got moved up to High-A Florida on Thursday.

Here’s how each fared in Rome. Notice how much Moritz and Cruz struggled in Single-A. Maybe this is another let’s-see-what-you-got trial by the Braves.

(OF) Andrew Moritz (Rome stats)

52 G, .231 BA, .537 OPS, 2 2B

(C) Logan Brown (Rome stats)

51 G, .301 BA, .734 OPS, HR, 11 2B

(INF) Derian Cruz (Rome stats)

25 G, .195 BA, .560 OPS, 3 2B, 4 SB

If it was, Moritz made a good first impression as he had an outstanding first four games with the Fire Frogs, including a 3-for-3 night on Sunday. After batting 9th in his first game, he was moved to lead-off for the next three games. Moritz ended play on Sunday with an excellent start:

4 G, 8-for-15 (.533 BA), 2B, 2 RBI

Brown batted 7th on Thursday and Friday, before being moved to the cleanup spot on Sunday. He posted back-to-back 1-for-3 games in Games 1 and 2, then finished 1-for-4 with an RBI and a strikeout on Sunday.

4 G, 3-for-14 (.214 BA), RBI, 2 runs

The start to High-A wasn’t as fun for Cruz. He made his debut Saturday with an 0-for-4 game, batting 6th and playing third base. He did manage an RBI bases-loaded walk, though. Overall, Cruz finished 0-for-8 for Florida, in Week 12.

Players of the Week

(OF) Trey Harris

Harris is having a season similar to Drew Waters in 2019, now only one class below the Mississippi outfielder.

Week 12 was one of Harris’ finest as he ripped off three consecutive games with a home run, going deep on Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday.

It’s remarkable the numbers he’s put up this year, both in Rome and in Florida now:

Harris in Rome

56 games, .366 BA, 1.031 OPS, 8 HR

Harris in Florida

15 games, .333 BA, .965 OPS, 3 HR

It wasn’t enough for him to be a superstar in Rome, but even now, Harris is one of the leaders of this Florida Fire Frogs team as he leads all qualified hitters in batting average and OPS.

With Harris still performing this great and now catcher Logan Brown and outfielder Andrew Moritz a part of the Florida team, the Fire Frogs will most likely start winning some games in bulk, thanks to this loaded offense.

(SP) Nolan Kingham

(Read about his start above. He was good.)

Transactions/Injuries

(33-41) Rome Braves (A)

Week 12 Record: 2-2

South Atlantic Standings (1st Half)

Results 

South Atlantic Standings (2nd Half)

Current

As of Monday, June 24

Week at a Glance

Week 12 Notes

Three players represent Rome in the North vs. South All-Star Game: Second baseman Greg Cullen, catcher Logan Brown and Jose Montilla all got in on the action Tuesday in the South’s loss to the North, 6-2.

The South Division lost Tuesday night, but at least Rome was represented well by reliever, Jose Montilla. The righty picked up the hold after coming in with two outs in the 6th inning. Montilla worked 1.1 innings and struck out one.

Brown was 0-for-1 at the plate while stranding a runner, and Cullen finished 0-for-1 with two strikeouts.

Brown and Cullen both started the game, as Brown hit 6th and Cullen batted in the eight-hole.

The Braves top two 2019 draft picks start their career. Outfielder Justin Dean returns from the IL.

On Thursday, the Braves first two picks from the 2019 MLB Draft were assigned to their respective teams, with catcher Shea Langeliers and infielder Braden Shewmake starting their professional careers in Rome, a nice head start for the two college bats.

Also, Rome’s leadoff hitter, Justin Dean, made his return from injury, adding strong bat after the team was depleted offensively by promotions in a Week 12.

It didn’t take long for Langelier’s or Shewmake to make their mark:

Here’s a different view of Langelier’s homer…

And here’s one of Shewmake’s six hits in his first week of pro ball…

It’s still extremely early, but both young players are starting off just right:

• (C) Langeliers: 2 G, 2-for-5 (.400 BA), HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, K
• (SS) Shewmake: 4 G, 6-for-15 (.400 BA), 2 RBI, K

Dean’s week wasn’t to great — 3-for-21 (.142 BA) with a triple and two RBI — but after missing almost a month, he may need several games to shake off the rust.

Players of the Week

(2B) Greg Cullen

4 G, 7-for-20 (.350 BA), HR, 3B, 3 RBI

Frankly, Braden Shewmake deserves to be in the mix for Batter of the Week, as he batted .400 in Week 12. However, Cullen had the homer and the triple, so he’s perhaps a bit more deserving.

Cullen has been a man on a mission lately, recording a hit in every game this past week, as he’s in the midst of a nine-game hitting streak.

Through 69 games this season, the second baseman is hitting .255 with five home runs. As Rome’s table-setter, Cullen is doing his job well and getting on base at a .377 clip.

At 22-years-old and in his first year of full-season ball, he’s on the right track to earn a promotion possibly sometime this season or the beginning of 2020.

The Atlanta Braves need all the middle-infielders they can get, as the top side of the minors is thin at second base and shortstop.

(P) Dilmer Mejia

1 start, 1-0, 5 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 4 K

Making his first start of 2019 (he’s made 13 appearances as a reliever), Mejia worked a solid 76-pitch (57 strikes) outing on Saturday, as Rome won 5-3.

Mejia is quietly having an awesome season, pitching to a 1.47 ERA with a 4-1 record, predominantly as a middle-reliever. He’s not much of a strikeout-pitcher, but throughout his 43 innings-pitched thus far this season, the righty is only walking 2.3 batters per nine.

The results must be rather refreshing for Mejia, as he’s coming off a 2018 season where he posted a 7+ ERA in both Rome and Florida; though, he did pitch to a 2.87 ERA in 13 starts with Danville last season.

Hopefully he keeps it up. Lord knows Rome needs some quality pitching.

Transactions/IL List

(—) injured before 2019 season began

(3-3) Danville Braves (RK+)

Week 12 Record: 3-3

Appalachian East Standings

*As of Monday, June 24

Week at a Glance

Week 12 Notes

The ‘other’ Atlanta Braves 2019 draft picks start their pro careers. Danville wins two games on their Opening Day.

What an interesting thing baseball can be. Within just a few weeks of a team drafting it’s newest members of the organization, those same players start their professional careers in Rookie ball.

On Wednesday night, the Danville Braves opened up their 2019 season with a doubleheader against the Princeton Rays — the Tampa Bay Rays affiliate.

Danville swept the day, winning both games and putting forth a great showing on offense. Game 1 was even a thriller, as it went an extra inning and featured a walk-off win.

Filyer Sanchez started the first game for Danville.

A little background on Sanchez: he’s been in the organization since 2015, signing as an 18-year-old from Venezuela. After making it up to High-A last season (Florida), Sanchez is back down in the Appy League to continue honing his craft.

Anyways, in Game 1 Wednesday, Sanchez tossed five innings of five-hit ball, giving up a homer and one run with one strikeout. It wasn’t a very exciting first-start of the season, but acceptable nonetheless.

The D-Braves offense tallied eight hits, with two of those coming from newly-drafted Bryce Ball. The 24th round pick finished with two singles, an RBI and a strikeout.

The Atlanta Braves 9th round pick in this year’s draft, infielder Cody Milligan, was the hero Wednesday. Milligan went 1-for-3 with two RBI, slugging a two-run walk-off home run to win the game in the 8th (doubleheaders are 7 innings).

As you can see by the score up top, Game 2 was a high-scoring affair. Ball hit another homer, this time a solo shot. He finished 2-for-4 with a double, starting his career with a bang.

The real standout performer from Danville’s opening day, was third baseman Ray Hernandez. Hernandez is an Alabama State alum, drafted in the 29th round of the 2018 Draft.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Hernandez finished with six RBI in Game 2, going 2-for-4 with a grand slam and a double as Danville’s No. 3 hitter in the lineup. What a first day!

Other RBI providers consisted of second baseman and leadoff hitter Cody Milligan (0-for-2, a run and two walks); left fielder Willie Carter (2-2, two runs, and a walk); and right fielder Charles Reyes (1-for-3, a run, a walk and a strikeout).

Luis De Jesus started Game 2 on the mound, but only lasted one inning, as he gave up four runs after facing 10 batters. The righty needed 29 pitches to get the first three outs of the game, giving up five hits and striking out one.

The win went to Miguel Jerez, who pitched four innings and struck out six, though he walked four and surrendered three runs in his 67-pitch appearance.

All in all, Day 1 of the Appy League season was a success for Danville. Two games and two wins.

That Bryce Ball fella’ ain’t no slouch!  The Atlanta Braves went with a tall lefty-hitting first baseman with their 24th round pick in the most recent draft. At 6-foot-6 and 235-pounds, Ball shouldn’t have any problems hitting balls out of the park as a pro. He did it plenty of times —18 times to be exact — while at Dallas Baptist this past season, where he played his college ball.

The 20-year-old has started his career about as good as one can, as he recorded a hit in all five of the games he played in, in Week 12, picking up at least two hits in all but one.

His very first homer as a professional came in Game 2, one of two hits he had that night. Then on Sunday, Ball struck again, another home run and three total hits for the night, to go along with two RBI.

Here’s what Ball did in his first five games of action this past week:

10-for-19 (.536 BA), 2 HR, 2 2B, 7 RBI

Now, it’s only been five games but this looks to be a pretty talented player, to say the least.

He gave an interview last week, discussing his hot start:

I’ll try to include more bits from the new Danville players in next week’s report, as it appears that the D-Braves have a wonderful social media presence on Twitter, with plenty of content regarding the Braves new draft picks.

Players of the Week

(1B/DH) Bryce Ball

See notes above. He won by a landslide.

(SP) Mitch Stallings

1 start, 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, BB, 5 K

Danville got more great play from a late-round draftee (from the 2018 Draft), as former Duke pitcher, Mitch Stallings, threw a solid first-game on Thursday.

The Atlanta native pitched 5.2 scoreless frames, only needing 61 pitches to get through his outing. Stallings was a ground ball machine, forcing nine ground outs from the 22 batters he faced.

I haven’t seen him live before, but he was an interesting pick by the Braves in the 2018 Draft. Stallings carried a career 4.46 ERA at Duke, including a 5.84 mark in his final season with the Blue Devils.

Here he is with Duke…

Last season, he finished with a 3.94 ERA in seven appearances (16 IP), including 18 strikeouts and only three walks. Maybe the Braves knew something Duke didn’t know. Whatever it is, it’s working.

Transactions/ IL List

(8-11) DSL Braves (RK)

Week 12 Record: 2-5

Week at a Glance

June 17 – June 23

Week 12 Notes

The DSL Braves walk it off on Tuesday against the DSL Dodgers:  The Braves played in two extra-inning affairs in Week 12. Their first one came on Tuesday and was from a hit-by-pitch.

With bases loaded in the bottom if the 10th, the Braves’ Randy Ruiz drew a bean-ball to score Francisco Floyd for the win, 3-2.

That 10th inning run was their first since the 3rd inning, as they went seven innings without pushing across a run.

Cesario Moreno started on the mound for the Braves, tossing three innings of two-hit ball and striking out one, before giving way to Reibyn Corona. Corona worked five innings and struck out three, surrendering one run off four hits.

The Braves tallied seven hits, with Geraldo Quintero providing two of them and Kelvin Pena finishing with the only XBH.

The Dominican team only has six home runs so far this season:  I wrote a bit about this last week, but this DSL Braves team seriously lacks some power.

Already with 19 games behind them and only three different players in the lineup have hit a homer:

• (OF) Jeremy Celedonio: 3 HR
• (3B) Yerangel Medina: 2 HR
• (SS) Geraldo Quintero: 1 HR

The stolen bases are coming in at a frequent pace, though, as 11 different Braves have swiped a bag and seven have swiped at least three.

As far as batting average, the only .300 hitter left is shortstop, Nelson Celesten, who only has nine at-bats this season. This is, of course, a very young team, but it’s interesting to see an entire team with basically the same style of play: Steal bases!

The GCL Braves started play yesterday, versus the GCL Orioles, in a high-scoring contest. With the opening of their season being a part of this week, I’ll cover their entire opening week in the Week 13 Farm Report next week.

That’s it for this week’s Atlanta Braves farm report. Share your thoughts below!