Week 17 Atlanta Braves Farm Report: Mississippi’s pitchers show out

Getting accustomed

Rome’s catcher and the Atlanta Braves’ top pick in June’s draft, catcher Shea Langeliers didn’t start the season quite the way he wanted. Perhaps he just needed some at-bats?

Meanwhile, Florida’s starting pitching had what was probably their best overall week on the mound.

(14-25) Florida Fire Frogs

The Fire Frogs are still a last place team in the FSL North, but there was a lot to like about their overall performance last week. Florida finished Week 17 with a 2-3 record and 7.5 games behind the division lead.

Proving that his outing in Week 16 wasn’t a one hit wonder, starter Philip Pfeifer posted another strong start on Wednesday, providing Florida with a quality-start.

Pfeifer pitched 7 innings, allowing 7 hits and two runs while striking out 8 and walking two. His most recent performances prop his numbers up a bit, but over Pfeifer’s last 10 starts, he’s striking out over 11 batters per nine and preventing runs to the tune of a 3.15 ERA.

Freddy Tarnok, who has dealt with injuries this season, got in two starts last week. He combined for 13 innings-pitched and allowed just 3 runs, striking out 10 and walking none.

Tarnok, the Atlanta Braves No. 16 prospect, has turned up the heat of late, carrying a 2.15 ERA over his last 6 outings. Even better, he’s become super stingy regarding free passes, only walking a minuscule 0.71 batters per nine.

Lastly, the Braves’ 12th round pick in the 2018 draft, Nolan Kingham, pitched a gem on Saturday. Kingham, who also hardly walks batters (1.81 BB/9 for the season), pitched 8.2 innings, walking none and striking out nine. He’ll go into Week 18 with a 3.96 season ERA.

Practically the entire Florida offense hit the ball well last week, as five of the regulars in the Fire Frogs’ lineup hit over .300.

• SS, Riley Delgado:    .375 BA
• OF, Andrew Moritz:  .307 BA
• OF, S. Michel:             .500 BA
• INF, K. Josephina:      .312 BA
• INF, B. Langhorne:    .315 BA

Langhorne also hit a home run and 2 doubles, while Lugbauer finished with 3 two-baggers. Both guys are big-time strikeout victims, as the former goes down on strikes in 40.2% of his at-bats and the latter 38.2%.

The only difference is that Lugbauer has some decent pop, belting 13 homers so far, in 96 games this season.

Roster Moves

(19-19) Rome Braves

Sitting at 3rd place in the South Atlantic Southern division, Rome finished 3-3 in Week 17. They’re are just 2.5 games back from 1st place, still benefiting from a good start to the 2nd Half of the season.

The starting pitching was a bit down last week for Rome, but starters Alan Rangel and Gabriel Noguera continued their solid years, putting together two quality-starts on Thursday and Friday.

Rangel took the mound on Thursday and pitcher seven scoreless innings, allowing just 4 hits and striking out eight; Noguera pitched Friday, striking out seven and walking three in a 6.1-inning outing. He allowed eight hits and two runs.

Relievers Ryan Shetter and Kasey Kelich also stood out last week. Shetter made two appearances (4 IP) and struck out five while allowing just 3 hits and a run. Kelich also worked 4 innings, striking out 5 and allowing just two hits.

Two Rome batters were heroes last week, as second baseman Greg Cullen and catcher Shea Langeliers both had walk-off hits. On Tuesday, Cullen provided a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th, scoring Langeliers to be at Hagerstown, 5-4.

Then on Friday, Langeliers slapped a sac-fly (also in the 10th inning), scoring Braden Shewmake to walk if off and beat West Virginia, 5-4.

Offensively, things are looking up for the Atlanta Braves top choice in last month’s draft. Langeliers capped off last week with back-to-back 3-hit performances, finishing Week 17 with a home run, 7 RBI and a double.

He’s beginning to figure out this professional baseball stuff, as he’s hitting a healthy .286 over his last 10 games — a solid improvement from his .231 average in 27 games this season.

Two players that we haven’t heard much of this season: 2019 Draft pick Drew Campbell has also elevated his game lately. Campbell hit .280 last week, slugging his first home run; outfielder  Jeremy Fernandez hit .277 during his time in the Rome lineup.

It was a down week for Shewmake, as he hit just .230 (6 for 26), though he did knock in four runs and finish 4 for 9 in Friday’s and Saturday’s games combined.

Roster Moves