Atlanta Braves: Carolina Mudcats Roster Review
Last week, minor league baseball had their opening day on Thursday. Tomahawk Take will bring you the rosters for each full-season league the Braves currently have a team in. The 2014-2015 offseason brought a lot of new faces to the minor league system, so it’s good to know where you can find them all!
Our schedule:
Tuesday: Rome Braves roster review
Wednesday: Carolina Mudcats roster review
Thursday: Mississippi Braves roster review
Friday: Mississippi Braves roster review
Carolina Mudcats Coaching Staff
Manager – Luis Salazar
Hitting Coach – Carlos Mendez
Pitching Coach – Derrick Lewis
Coaches – Jose Mota
Carolina Mudcats Roster – Catchers
This is the first season for the Braves in Carolina after a number of years in Lynchburg for their high-A affiliate. Their catching trio features a guy in his first year in the Braves organization after being acquired in a trade for David Hale, Jose Briceno. Briceno is a 22 year-old Venezuelan with very good pop and offensive skills. If he can show he has the skills behind the plate to go with it, he could quickly jump up prospect lists. The other two catchers are Sal Giardina and Joseph Odom, who are late picks hoping to stick in the organization.
Carolina Mudcats Roster – Infielders
The Mudcats feature a deep infield, headed by Johan Camargo (TT #26, MLB.com #22). There are not headline type of prospects in the infield, but Joey Meneses, Jacob Schrader, and Levi Hyams are considered first basemen, and all are looking to make an impression with the bat this year. Meneses had his break out last season at age 21, and hopefully he can expand on that in 2015. Schrader is a more traditional big bat guy that is likely a DH. Eric Garcia is a defense-first second baseman that likely won’t have enough bat as he moves up the ladder. The wild card in my eyes is third baseman Carlos Franco. I watched a lot of him in 2012 when he was in Danville and showed very good bat control along with solid defense at third base. He’s struggled with strikeouts in two seasons at Rome since, but if he can regain that eye, he could be a huge piece as third base, even after the acquisition of Rio Ruiz, is a shallow position in the organization.
Carolina Mudcats Roster – Outfielders
The outfielders are good in Carolina, but a number of casual fans would likely only know one – former third baseman Dustin Peterson (TT #15, MLB.com #17), acquired from San Diego in the Justin Upton deal. Peterson has significant power, but he also has a very long swing that could use some adjustments to tap into that power. His move to a corner outfield is not unexpected as he struggled with instincts at third base. Fans should keep their eyes open on the rest of the outfield as well, though. Sean Godfrey was a very late pick from Ball State that the Braves were quite excited to get him. Godfrey did nothing but produce after signing, hitting .321/.358/.464 across both rookie levels and Rome. He is a legit center fielder defensively, so if he can keep hitting, the Braves could have a steal on their hands. Connor Lien was a 12th round pick in 2012 that has taken his time advancing, but is still only 21. He profiles similar to a guy like Todd Cunningham, but more likely a left fielder. Connor Oliver is considered a fairly high-end defender, but his bat has not caught up yet, but if it does, he could take off as a prospect as well.
Carolina Mudcats Roster – Pitchers
The Carolina roster has probably one of the best prospects in the entire organization, Lucas Sims (TT #2, MLB.com #4). The pitching staff is not as deep as some of the other Braves affiliates, but the staff also includes Mauricio Cabrera (TT #18, MLB.com #18) and Andrew Thurman (TT #29, MLB.com #20), acquired in the Evan Gattis trade. The pitching staff also includes Yean Carlos Gil and Steve Janas, who was a 6th round pick in 2013 that stands 6’6 and put up a pretty tremendous first start. Closer Tyler Jones anchors the bullpen for the Mudcats. According to his player page on milb.com, TT #21 and MLB.com #19 Wes Parsons is a member of the Carolina roster, but he does not show up on the Carolina roster page and has not pitched this year yet.
My plug to watch your favorite team’s minor league players
I am not being paid for this comment by any means, and please don’t take this as an advertisement by Tomahawk Take. I would like to encourage all the readers of the site to consider the idea of subscribing to milb.tv this year. Those of you who subscribe to mlb.tv will know the quality production done as part of mlb.tv. The availability is awesome, and you can watch as many minor league games as you’d like in a day for $49.99 per year. You can utilize the same site you check for all your minor league news and box scores to subscribe, milb.com.