Atlanta Braves upper minor league levels
MISSISSIPPI BRAVES
- AA South League (8 teams; member of South division)
- Pensacola series: 2-4
- Biloxi series: 2-4
- Chattanooga: 3-2, 1 game today
- Overall: 7-10, 3rd/4th place tie (Biloxi)
Mississippi has been struggling to score at all: 52 runs so far, easily the worst in the league (Birmingham has 100!). Of note, this counts a 14-10 loss in a game a week ago… yeah, almost 20% of their runs can in that one game.
On the plus side, the pitching has limited the damage by giving up a league-low 60 runs (most clubs are at well over 70).
The Braves are 2-4 in 1-run contests.
Leading hitters: you might have guessed, but there really aren’t any. Wendell Rijo has a .256 average to lead qualified batters. His OPS is just .630.
There are a couple of brighter spots, though: catcher Shea Langeliers has an .834 OPS (.245 avg) while CF Justin Dean has an .811 OPS (.288 avg. in less-than-qualified ABs so far).
Dean also boasts 5 steals, tied for 2nd in the league (caught once). Still… wondering here when Michael Harris gets promoted to lend a hand.
GWINNETT STRIPERS
- AAA East (member of 20-team league and 7-team Southeast division)
- Charlotte series: 5-1
- Louisville series: 4-2
- Nashville series: 0-5
- Overall: 9-8, 4th place.
Until this Nashville series, the Stripers were flying high. As it is, the Nashville Sounds have been scraping by with their wins: 4 of them have been 1-run victories, the other had a 3-1 final score.
Gwinnett had survived their other 1-run contests at a 3-1 clip. Their run-scoring enjoys a +33 run differential, fueled primarily from a consecutive 19-1, 7-3, and 12-9 drubbings of Charlotte coupled with an 11-1 beating of Louisville.
Leading hitters: of the qualifiers, Abraham Almonte is hitting .349 and Orlando Arcia is at .333. Travis Demeritte (remember him?) is mentionable at .326.
Demeritte is smoking hot overall, too, with a 2nd-in-league 1.233 OPS. Arcia is close behind at 1.090; Almonte 1.014.
Drew Waters has stolen 5 bases (though caught twice) to rank him at the bottom of a large tie for 6th in the league. He’s hitting .268 overall with a .869 OPS.
Leading pitchers: I will mention Connor Johnstone here. In 18.1 innings, he has a 3.44 ERA with a WHIP of 0.60. That latter number is 2nd in the league.
Tucker Davidson (14 innings) has an 0.64 ERA with a 0.71 WHIP. That got him a start in Atlanta last week.
That’s a wrap on the minors this week. We’ll periodically review these teams and see how things are progressing.