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Week 13 Atlanta Braves Farm Report, Part 2: Rome is rising

By Clint Manry |
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - MARCH 13: A baseball sits on the field before a spring training baseball game between the the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals at Fitteam Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on March 13, 2019 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - MARCH 13: A baseball sits on the field before a spring training baseball game between the the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals at Fitteam Ballpark of the Palm Beaches on March 13, 2019 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
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(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

After spending most of the season with a light-hitting offense, Rome has received quite a jolt, thanks to recent Atlanta Braves draft pick, shortstop Braden Shewmake.

In Part 2 of Week 13’s Farm Report, we look at how Rome was able to go 5-2, despite mostly struggling this season, and also take a look at how several of the Atlanta Braves newly-drafted players did down in the Rookie levels.

For reference, here is a link to week one.

(37-43) Rome Braves (A)

Rome finished the week strong with four straight wins and they totaled five wins for the entire week.

Week 13 Notes

Monday was also a great day for Rome: It doesn’t happen very often, but Rome kicked off Week 13 with an abundance of offense beating Rome 12-3.

It all started in the opening inning, when Rome scored five runs. Braden Shewmake singled to right, knocking in a run; and Shea Langeliers doubled to right, scoring Shewmake. Man, those two could be a great duo for the rest of the season.

After those first two runs scored, Griffin Benson (double), Henry Quintero (triple), and Ariel Montesino all pushed across runs.

In the second, Benson homered to right, scoring Shewmake and Langeliers — Benson had a heck of a game, by the way, finishing with 6 RBI.

If you’re keeping count, that’s already eight runs for Rome, and we’re just through two innings.

Benson struck again in the 4th, a sac-fly to left that scored Shewmake, again. Shewmake finished with four runs.

Then in the 8th, Rome pushed across three more runs, one coming from none other than Benson, who singled to center field, scoring… you guessed it, Shewmake.

Rome totaled 15 hits and was 7-for-18 with RISP on Monday, hitting eight XBHs. Here’s every player that contributed:

  • (CF) J. Dean: 1-for-4, R, BB, K, SB
  • (2B) G. Cullen: 1-for-5, 2B, 2 K
  • (DH) B. Shewmake: 3-for-4, 2 2B, RBI, 4 R
  • (C) S. Langeliers: 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, R, 2 BB
  • (1B) G. Benson: 3-for-3, HR, 2B, 6 RBI, BB
  • (LF) H. Quintero: 2-for-4, 2 3B, 2 RBI
  • (3B/SS) D. Florentino: 1-5, RBI, 4 K
  • (SS) A. Montesino: 3-3, 2B, RBI, 2 SB

Outfielder Jose Bermudez was the odd-man out, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout, as the No. 9 hitter.

Reliever Victor Vodnik got the start. He’s one of my favorite pitchers for Rome, though for some reason they don’t utilize him very much.  Here’s his line from Monday’s game: 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

Despite Vodnik’s solid outing — which was 72 pitches by the way — Jake Higginbotham picked up the win (his second of 2019). Higginbotham pitched the 5th thru 7th innings, striking out three and walking none. He allowed two hits from the 11 batters he faced.

Braden Shewmake hits first home run of pro career on Tuesday:  Rome ended up with the loss, 5-4, but what really mattered was the Atlanta Braves second pick in the 2019 MLB Draft began his torrid stretch of hitting on Tuesday.

We’ll get to just how awesome Shewmake’s first full week as a pro was in a minute, but this game was notable because it was his first of many long balls.

The shortstop from Texas A&M finished 2-for-4 Tuesday, with two runs scored and a strikeout, to go with his 8th inning home run.

Other notable contributors were:

The Atlanta Braves first pick in the draft earlier this month, catcher Shea Langliers, went hitless in four tries, striking out once.

Jose Bermudez scores game-winning run in Rome’s win Thursday:  He may be the No. 9 hitter in the lineup and he may be having a poor season, but Bermudez was the hero for Rome on Thursday, as the R-Braves beat Greenville 4-3. Well, so was Greg Cullen.

In Rome’s half of the 9th, Burmudez led off with a ground ball single to left, then immediately stole second base with Justin Dean up to bat. Dean gave Rome one out, as he grounded out to shortstop, but it was productive as he pushed Bermudez to third base.

Next, Cullen came to the plate and slapped a ground ball to third baseman Brandon Howlett. Bermudez took off for home and Howlett’s throw was errant at the plate, giving Rome the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th.

Reliever Jose Montilla struck out two of three Greenville batters in the bottom of the inning, preserving Rome’s dramatic win, and earning the win himself.

Bermudez finished the game 1-for-3 with a strikeout and a run scored, the game-winning run, of course. He also finished with two stolen bases. Dean was 1-for-5 and Cullen hitless in five at-bats, with one strikeout.

Third baseman Brendan Venter led Rome with two RBI, as he went 1-for-4 with a double, a run and a strikeout. Braden Shewmake had another solid game, going 1-for-4 with an RBI, a walk, a strikeout, and a stolen base.

Dilmer Mehta started Thursday’s game, going 5 innings and striking out three. He allowed five hits and walked three, while surrendering three runs.

Braden Shewmake wins it for Rome on Friday:  It’s never to early to win the game for your team, as Shewmake provided Rome with more theatricals on Friday, beating Greenville 4-3.

With one out in the top of the 9th, and two-straight singles by Rome (Justin Dean and Greg Cullen), Shemake had runners on the corners, when he slapped a ground ball to left, scoring Dean and pushing Cullen to 2nd base to take a one-run lead.

Overall, Shewmake had himself another outstanding game, as the fresh-outta-college shortstop is killing it in his first taste of pro ball. Shewmake finished 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI, as he also plated a run in the 1st inning from his line drive double to left.

Langliers may have stalled the 9th-inning rally for Rome (struck out with runners on), but he also picked up an RBI in the game, an RBI single in the 3rd that scored Dean.

First baseman Griffin Benson and DH Henry Quintero both finished with two hits and two runs apiece, as seven out of nine Rome batters recored a hit. Rome finished with 11 hits as a team.

Starter Alan Rangel went five innings, laboring through 94 pitches and striking out four and walking two. He allowed thee runs and seven hits, as he wasn’t involved in decision.

Ryan Shetter ended up the win, working the 8th and 9th innings, striking out three.

Player of the Week

(SS) Braden Shewmake

6 G, 13-for-28, .464 BA, HR, 5 2B, 6 RBI, SB

Who saw this coming? I guess this is why he was the second pick in the ’19 Draft by the Braves.

Shewmake has now completed his first 10 games as a pro, and the numbers are staggering. He already has three 3-hit games and three 2-hit games, with his six Week 13 games consisting of five multi-hit performances.

All of those hits add up to a season total of 19-for-23 (.440 BA) and a 1.082 OPS with 27 total bases.

Roster Moves & IL List

(Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)
(Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images) /

(7-5) Danville Braves (RK+)

Danville went 4-2 last week to keep the trend going of Atlanta Braves teams having a good week.

Week 13 Notes

Mitch Stallings suffocates the Blue Jays on Wednesday:  Bluefield hitters didn’t have a chance Wednesday night as Stallings shut down the Jays with six scoreless innings, only allowing two hits in Danville’s 4-2 win.

The 23-year-old lefty and former Duke pitcher, faced 20 batters, striking out more than half of them, finishing with 11 strikeouts. The eight batted-ball outs against Stallings consisted of five groundouts and one flyout; and out of the 89 pitches (59 strikes) Stallings hurled on Wednesday — none resulted in a free pass, as he finished with zero walks.

This latest start was Stallings second this season, with his first outing of 2019 also being productive: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, BB, 5 K

The two starts combined compute to a dominant first 11.2 innings-pitched for Stallings, as he’s yet to allow a single earned run and has struck out 16 batters already, compared to just one walk. The early signs point to a very short stay in Rookie ball for the 30th round pick in the 2018 Draft.

Other notable news in Wednesday’s game involved the Atlanta Braves third pick in June’s draft, second rounder Beau Philip.

The shortstop finally picked up his first professional hit, going 1-for-4 with an RBI single in the 5th inning.

Philip has had a bit of a rough start to his Atlanta Braves career, going hitless in his first 10 at-bats. The base-knock lifts his average to .071 for the season.

Another 2019 draftee, first baseman Bryce Ball, failed to get a hit Wednesday, but did score a run after he walked in the 4th inning. Going into the game, Ball led Danville in hitting with a .500 average and 11 hits in his first 22 attempts. His 0-for-3 finish didn’t spoil his pace, as he’s still batting over .400 for the season.

Outfielders Willie Carter and Michael Mateja both had two hits apiece, with Mateja also scoring a run.

Infielder Cody Birdsong finished with three RBI, leading the D-Braves with his three-run double in the 4th. Those of you that don’t remember, Birdsong was selected in the 32nd round this past month by the Braves out of Quincy University, in Illinois.

The Danville bullpen was a bit shaky. After Stallings’ gem of a start, Alger Hodgson came in and coughed up a run due to a balk. Hodgson was able to get out of there without further damage, though, and even pitched another inning. He struck out three and walked one, allowing three hits.

Javier Ciriaco picked up the save, but his appearance also didn’t lack drama, with Bluefield plating a run from a bases-loaded forceout. Ciriaco did his job and got out of the inning, finishing the game by forcing a flyout to left field.

Looks like the Atlanta Braves may have another exciting pitcher starting pitcher to keep up with this season, in Mitch Stallings! Good stuff.

Danville pushes across go-ahead run from a wild pitch on Friday:  In a game where just one small mistake could ruin either team’s chances at a win, Danville outlasted the Pulaski Yankees, winning 3-2 on Friday.

With Danville’s second baseman Juan Morales on 3rd and one out in the top of the eighth inning, the Yankees got together with a mound visit, with hopes of calming pitcher, Elvis Peguero.

Apparently it didn’t work.

In the ensuing at-bat, Peguero threw an errant throw that got past his catcher, allowing Morales to score the go-ahead run and ultimately seal the deal for the Danville Braves.

It was a day where star first baseman, Bryce Ball, had the game off, so the D-Braves certainly missed his bat in the lineup, only managing four total hits as a team.

Only Nicholas Vizcaino (Ball’s replacement at first) and Charles Reyes achieved XBHs, with both batters hitting doubles (Reyes’ being an RBI double).

Other than Morales’ single in the 8th — in which he eventually scored from — leadoff hitter Jose Palma was the only other Danville player to contribute, besides Vizcaino and Reyes above.

Alec Barger started on the mound for the Braves, lasting just three innings, though only allowing one hit. Barger struck out four in the outing.

Third baseman and 32nd round pick in June’s draft, Cody Birdsong, went hitless in four tries, striking out three times. The Quincy University product has struggled a bit thus far, batting under .180 going into the weekend.

Players of the Week

(1B) Bryce Ball

5 G, 4-for-17, .235 BA, 3 HR, 6 RBI

With three homers in Week 13 and two in Week 12, Ball already has five home runs this season, in just 10 games.

The big first baseman is slashing .389/.476/.861 and is already a key bat in this Danville lineup.

(SP) Mitch Stallings

6 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K

I detailed his start from Wednesday above. The lefty from Atlanta has started off his 2019 season strong.

Roster Notes

The following players were added to Danville’s roster on Saturday, from the GCL Braves:

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /

(1-4) GCL Braves (RK)

It was a terrible week for the GCL Braves going 1-4, and the DSL Braves didn’t do much better at 3-3.

Week 13 Notes

The GCL Braves start the season with a 26-run game, but lose by eight runs: The GCL Braves found themselves in a football game on Opening Day for the Gulf Coast League, losing 17-9 to GCL Baltimore.

Both teams combined for 27 hits, though only three home runs, with both Rookie teams scoring seven runs apiece in the fourth inning.

DH Brandol Mezquita and second baseman Eliezel Stevens led the way for the Braves, finishing with seven RBI combined.

  • (DH) Mezquita: 3-for-4, 3 RBI, R, BB, K
  • (2B) Stevens: 2-for-5, HR, 2B, 4 RBI, 2 K

A little background on both players:

Both Mezquita and Stevens are still just teenagers (Mezquita 17, Stevens 18) and from the Dominican Republic, with both playing for the DSL Braves in 2018.

Mezquita OPS’d .674 and hit four home runs in 52 games last season, as a 16-year-old; while Stevens finished with a .683 OPS and two homers in the same amount of games.

Eudi Asencio, a 20-year-old Domincan, started on the mound for the Braves on Monday. Asencio lasted three innings, allowing four runs and six hits. He struck out four and walked one.

The Braves used five total pitchers in their opening loss and the final pitching line was pretty atrocious: 9 IP, 16 H, 17 R, 14 ER, 10 BB, 13 K, 2 HR

Woah. Good thing the season just started!

Eliezel Stevens hits go-ahead RBI double to put Braves on top Friday:  The GCL Braves found themselves down 2-0 early, as the Rays put up a couple of runs in the opening inning, one being from a Braves’ passed-ball by catcher Javier Valdes.

The Braves answered back immediately, though, receiving an RBI single from Michael Harris in the bottom half of the 1st, 2-1 Rays.

Fast-forward to the Braves’ half of the 8th inning, the score tied at two apiece. With two outs, Stevens came to bat after two straight singles. With runners on first and second, Stevens hit a fly ball to right field that got down, scoring Brandol Mezquita to put the Bravos up, 3-2.

Reliever De La Cruz faced four batters in the 9th, allowing a pop-out before giving up a single. Cruz then held down the lead, striking out the next batter, followed by a ground out to second base, where Stevens would throw out the runner for a fitting final out of the game.

Both teams went with a pitching committee on Friday, deploying four different pitchers with each pitcher getting around two innings of work. Miguel Pena was the Braves’ second pitcher to appear in the game, performing the best with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings-pitched. He also allowed four hits and walked two.

Other than Stevens’ heroics on offense, center fielder Michael Harris finished with a nice game, going 2-for-4 with a homer. Harris was a 3rd round pick by the Braves in their most recent Draft, out of Stockbridge High School in Stockbridge, GA.

(11-14) DSL Braves (RK)

Week 13 Notes

Osiris Sierra tosses a one-hitter versus the Astros on Monday: Well that went well. For the first time all season a DSL Braves starting pitcher lasted more than four innings, and as a result, the guy throws a gem. (More than likely the short outings by Braves pitchers have less to with performance and more to do with the coaching staff attempting to ease in their guys, but anyways).

It only took 44 pitches (34 strikes) for Sierra to complete his outing and pick up the win, 4-3. His dominance was predicated by a 77.27% strike-rate. Wow.

The Astros batters were tremendously overmatched Monday, striking out eight times, grounding out six times and flying out twice. The one hit allowed by Sierra was a double to left in the 4th.

The 6-foot-2, 145-pound lefty only walked two on the game, and the win improved his record to 1-1. Sierra is flashing a 1.53 ERA in five starts this season, his first season in the Braves organization. The 19-year-old was signed by the Atlanta Braves just this year.

The rest of the game featured the usual DSL Braves style of play: not a lot of action.

The team tallied four total hits, compared to the Astros five, and the Braves almost spoiled their lead in the 8th when the ‘Stros scored two runs to climb within a run, 4-3.

Braves third baseman Wilmer Smith was the only hitter in the lineup to manage two knocks, going 2-for-4 with two runs a strikeout. Smith started at first base Monday.

More from Tomahawk Take

Right fielder Deivi Estrada and DH Kelvin Pena were the only contributors on offense for the Bravos, as Estrada scored two runs and Pena plated a run.

Surprisingly, the speedy Braves only stole one base in their win, a swipe of 2nd base by none other than catcher Randy Ruiz! Two Braves did get caught stealing, though.

Center fielder Carlos Paiva threw out two baserunners, one at third base and one at second and left fielder Nelson Celesten gunned down a runner all the way at 3rd, giving the Braves three outfield assists in the game.

Still no dingers: This team continues to play small-ball, as they failed to hit a home run in Week 13. Outfielder Jeremy Celedonio still leads the team with three long balls.

Deivi Estrada leads the team with a .296 batting average in 25 games this season. He also has two doubles and four stolen bases.

Jorge Bautista leads all DSL Braves pitchers with 25 strikeouts in 22.1 innings-pitched. Bautista is carrying a 4.84 ERA.

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Check back next week as we continue to keep you up to date on every happening down on the farm for the Atlanta Braves.

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