Atlanta Braves Week 22 Farm Report: The final week

(53-81) Florida Fire Frogs

Florida’s 2019 season was cut short before the final weekend, as FSL President Ken Carson announced on Thursday. 

With Hurricane Dorian bearing down on the Gulf last week, the League canceled the last few games, as well as the 2019 postseason.

So with the Fire Frogs season ending on Thursday,  Florida played just four games in Week 22, finishing 2-2, as they played all their games against Charlotte.

Florida ends their 2019 campaign with a 29-41 second-half record while going 25-41 in the first half — good for an overall record of 53-81. The disappointing 2019 season results in a last-place finish for the Fire Frogs, ending 10 games behind first-place Dunedin.

There weren’t many players that stood out last week for Florida and the pitching wasn’t anything special, either. Here are a few players of note:

RHP, Walter Borkovich

WK 22: 1 start, 4 IP, 7 H, 3 R, BB, 3 K

What he did: The Fire Frogs won an extra-inning game versus Charlotte on Monday, 5-4, and Borkovich made the start. He didn’t dominate the outing, but he gave the team a chance to win with his 85-pitch start.

The 24-year-old, and former Michigan State pitcher, ends his 2019 season totaling 58.1 innings between Florida and Gwinnett, mostly as a reliever (just 2 of his innings were with the Stripers). Borkovich finishes with a 5.25 ERA, while allowing a .310 batting-average from opposing hitters.

He finished strong, running a 4.23 ERA and striking out 25 batters in his final 27.2 innings-pitched (10 appearances).

RHP, Freddy Tarnok

WK 22: 1 start, 4 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 4 BB, 2 K

What he did: On Tuesday, the Fire Frogs dropped their game versus Charlotte, 4-3, but Tarnok pitched fine in his final start of 2019.

The 20-year-old didn’t have the best season this year, but his last 10 starts were impressive: in Tarnok’s last 52.1 innings of 2019, he struck out 50 batters and walked just 10, good for a 2.92 ERA.

Altogether, Tarnok made 22 starts between the GCL Braves (3 starts) and Fire Frogs (19 starts), compiling 106 innings and 91 strikeouts while maintaining a 4.75 ERA.

2B/3B, Kevin Josephina

WK 22:  4 games, .333 BA, 2B, 2 RB

What he did: Josephina makes the list more for what he did on Monday, when he knocked in the go-ahead run in the 10th inning, giving Florida the lead over Charlotte and eventually the win.

There really wasn’t enough games for any Florida hitters to put up too many stats, but Josephina was able to slap a couple of doubles last week,  including a 2-for-3 finish on Tuesday, when he finished with a double and an RBI.

Josephina ends his 2019 season with a .258 average in 112 games with Florida, plus 20 doubles, a couple of homers and four triples. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him in Mississippi sometime next season if he can continue to play well in 2020.

(65-74) Rome Braves

Rome finished the week 3-5, splitting their 4-game series with Greensboro but then losing 3-of-4 to Asheville. The R-Braves’ final 2nd Half record ends at an even .500, 35-35.

Thanks to a second-half surge, Rome was actually in the postseason hunt for a little while but was unable to hold on down the stretch. They end up finishing in 4th place in the Southern division of the South Atlantic League, six games behind the leader, Augusta.

LHP, Dilmer Mejia

WK 22: 1 start, 0-1, 5 IP, 5 H, ER, 4 K

What he did: Rome couldn’t muster much offense in their loss on Tuesday, a 3-0 defeat to Greensboro. As a result, Mejia was tagged with the loss, though he pitched rather well.

LHP, Mitch Stallings

WK 22: 1 start, 1-0, 8 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 K

What he did: That’s three wins in-a-row for the lefty, as Stallings was a ground ball machine Thursday night, generating 9 ground outs in his 104-pitch outing.

The small exposure to Single-A ball has went well. Stallings owns a 1.42 ERA in 19 innings-pitched in Rome.

RHP, William Woods

WK 22: 1 start, 0-1, 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 6 K

What he did: Unfortunately, Woods didn’t get any help on Friday night as Rome’s defense committed 3 errors and the lineup only managed 7 hits with one XBH. Even more injustice: Woods was tagged with the loss, giving him a rough 1-5 record to end his 2019 season.

Although his record may look a bit lacking, the 6’3″ righty put together a nice season, illustrated by his 3.35 ERA and 58 strikeouts in 51 innings-pitched. The Tennessee native was used mostly as a reliever (13 relief appearances / 7 starts).

RHP, Ricky DeVito

WK 22: 2 starts, 1-0, 9 IP, 11 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K

What he did: Yeah, DeVito’s stats don’t exactly jump off the page, but his 2 starts last week was only his third and fourth starts in full-season ball, and so far it appears that he’s handled himself nicely after making just one relief appearance for the GCL Braves earlier in 2019.

On Sunday, DeVito made a 5-inning start for Rome as the Braves won 8-4 over Asheville. The 2019 8th round draft pick struck out four and walked just one, while allowing two runs from 7 hits in the win.

DeVito will end his first pro season with a 3.57 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 17.2 innings-pitched, in four starts and one relief appearance between the GCL and Rome.

RHP, Victor Vodnik

WK 22: 1 start, 1 app., 8 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

What he did: Mostly used as a reliever in 2019 (20 relief appearances and 3 starts), Vodnik doesn’t usually get a chance to pitch many innings. However, the righty was tasked with starting Rome’s final game of the season on Monday night.

Vodnik pitched 5 strong innings, allowing just a run and 5 hits, while striking out five and walking one. Rome lost on Monday (5-3) but Vodnik finished off an excellent 2019 season on the mound.

In 67.1 innings-pitched with Rome, the California native struck out 69 batters and finished with a 2.94 ERA.

1B, Bryce Ball

WK 22: 8 G, .290 BA, 2 HR, 2 2B, 7 RBI

What he did: What a nice way to finish off the final week of your first pro season. Ball continued to hit well in Week 22, including a 2-homer night on Thursday when he finished with 5 RBI.

The power-hitting first baseman finished the 2019 season with 4 home runs in Rome, plus a .337/.367/.547 slash to boot. Ball should be a fast mover in 2020.

1B, Brendan Venter

WK 22: 8 G, .384 BA, HR, 2B, 4 RBI

What he did: Last week Venter put together some nice at-bats, including two 3-hit finishes (Friday and Monday). Venter also homered on Saturday.

The South Africa native saw a nice improvement compared to his first season in the organization in 2018. Venter finishes 2019 with a .220 average in 84 games with Rome (he hit .186 with Danville and Rome last season). Venter also hit 6 home runs and 20 doubles in 2019 (5 and 8 in 2018, respectively).