Atlanta Braves: Thursday Minor League Ag Report

Braves Minor League Ag Report: Rome Braves (11-14)

Rome began the week with an offensive burst, winning Monday 10-7 over Kannapolis. The R-Braves starter Daniel Cordero went 5 innings, but the pitching “hero” of the day was Caleb Dirks who came in to hurl 2 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out two, to close out the win as Rome put up 4 runs in the 9th inning to win the game. Rome had 16 hits and 4 walks, and with 20 baserunners, the offensive stats look very good. Joseph Daris led the way with 4 hits in 5 at bats. Keith Curcio and Tanner Krietemeier had three hits each, with Krietemeier looping two triples in those three hits. Ozhaino Albies and Jordan Edgerton had multiple hits and a double each.

After a day off on Tuesday, Rome suffered a loss to the Hagerstown Suns of the Washington Nationals organization 9-6 on Wednesday. Rome starter Alec Grosser allowed 9 runs, but he was the victim of 4 errors from the Rome defense. Jordan Edgerton had two hits, including a triple, to lead the offense.  The R-Braves did get two steals from Ozhaino Albies, bringing his season total to 9.

Weekend matchups:
Thursday, 10:30am ET: Max Povse vs. Hagerstown (Phillips Valdez)
Friday, 7:00pm ET: Sean Furney vs. Hagerstown (Jefry Rodriguez)
Saturday, 6:00pm ET: Brandon Barker vs. Greensboro (To Be Determined)
Sunday, 2:00pm ET: TBD (it is Daniel Cordero’s slot in the rotation) vs. Greensboro

Braves Minor League Ag Report: Carolina Mudcats (15-10)

Carolina had a very bright start on Monday from Lucas Sims, who had been struggling recently, in a 6-5 win over Frederick. Sims threw six innings, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk while striking out 4. Joey Meneses led the offensive attack with three hits and a walk in four trips to the plate. Three Mudcats had 2 hits, led by Dustin Peterson, who also had a walk, along with Sean Godfrey and Carlos Franco.

The Mudcats won on Tuesday 4-1 behind another very solid pitching performance from Andrew Thurman, who hurled 5 innings of scoreless ball, allowing 3 hits and a walk while striking out 3. Connor Lien had two doubles on the day, and Johan Camargo added a double of his own.  Sean Godfrey stole a base and was on base twice via a hit and a walk. Dustin Peterson also had a very nice play in the outfield on an assist at 2nd base in spite of an 0-4 day at the plate.

Carolina played a Wednesday double header against Lynchburg. Steve Janas started with a near perfect game, going 7 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out 4. Dustin Peterson had two hits and a double, Sean Godfrey had two hits and a home run, and Joey Meneses also had 2 hits and drove in 3 runs. Carolina took the second game of the double header 8-3. Blair Walters started the game of relief pitchers, closed by Tyler Jones by striking out 4 in 4 hitters. Overall, the relief game produced a very solid pitching line – 7 innings, 3 runs allowed on 7 hits and one walk while striking out 11. The Mudcats sported 11 hits, including 6 extra base hits. Eric Garcia had three hits and two doubles, Joey Meneses had two hits and a double, Conor Lien had 2 hits and a home run, Joseph Odom had a double, and Johan Camargo had a double as well.

Weekend matchups:
Thursday, 7:00pm ET: Tyler Brosius vs. Lynchburg (Michael Peoples) – this is also “Bald Is Beautiful” night, so find your favorite follically-challenged friend or family (or self) and come out to the game!
Friday, 7:05pm ET: TBD (it is Yean Carlos Gil‘s rotation spot) vs. Salem (TBD)
Saturday, 5:05pm ET, Game 1: TBD (Lucas Sims’ rotation spot) vs. Salem (TBD)
Saturday, Game 2: TBD (likely a bullpen game) vs. Salem (TBD)
Sunday, 4:05pm ET: TBD (Andrew Thurman’s rotation spot) vs. Salem (TBD)

Braves Minor League Ag Report: Mississippi Braves (11-13)

Tomahawk Take favorite Greg Ross got the win on Monday against Montgomery with 3 innings of scoreless relief. Victor Mateo had a solid start, throwing 5 innings, allowing 2 runs on 4 hits and a walk while striking out 3. His one mistake to Daniel Robertson resulted in a 2-run home run, but otherwise, he had a very notable start. Ryan Kelly pitched a scoreless ninth for his 6th save on the season in the 3-2 victory. Kyeong Kang, Matt Lipka, and Corban Joseph had 2 hits each with Kang, Rio Ruiz, and David Rohm each recording a double.

Mississippi opened a series on Wednesday against the Biloxi Shuckers of the Milwaukee Brewers system and former Braves farmhand Kyle Wren. The Braves had a poor start from Jason Hursh, who went 3 2/3 innings, allowing 6 runs on 10 hits and 3 walks while only striking out one. Hursh did suffer from another display of poor defense that has plagued Mississippi as Daniel Castro had 2 errors and Kyeong Kang had an error in the outfield as well. The offense clawed back into the game before losing 8-7. Daniel Castro and Caleb Joseph each had 3 hits. Rio Ruiz and Kevin Ahrens had two hits each, with Ahrens knocking a double. Kang and Mallex Smith had doubles as well.

Weekend matchups:
Thursday, 7pm CT: Tyrell Jenkins vs. Biloxi (Tyler Wagner)
Friday, 7pm CT: Jake Brigham vs. Biloxi (Hobbs Johnson)
Saturday, 6pm CT: TBD (the rotation spot Greg Ross and Ryan Weber have been trading off) vs. Biloxi (TBD)
Sunday, 1pm CT: TBD (Victor Mateo’s spot) vs. Biloxi (TBD)

Braves Minor League Ag Report: Gwinnett Braves (12-14)

Gwinnett had Monday, so their week began Tuesday when the Braves traveled to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and the G-Braves came out with a 3-1 victory. Matt Wisler had an excellent start, going 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on 5 hits and a walk while striking out 7. This was more the Wisler we were hoping to see. The Braves knocked around 10 hits to get their 3 runs, led by 3 from Jose Peraza, including a triple. Todd Cunningham and Joe Benson had multiple hits, with Cunningham adding a double.  The G-Braves went wild on the basepaths with 4 stolen bases, two from Peraza, one from Cunningham, and one from Eury Perez.

Chien-Ming Wang pitched another 6-inning start on Wednesday, but once again, it was deep into the game without excellent results, as he took the loss for Gwinnett as the Braves lost 5-3. Eury Perez had two hits and a stolen base while Barrett Kleinknecht had two hits. Jose Peraza kept his 5-game hitting streak alive (he also has a 9-game on-base streak) and also stole a base.

Weekend matchups:
Thursday, 6:35pm ET: Sugar Ray Marimon vs. Scranton/WB (TBD)
Friday, 7:05pm ET: Manny Banuelos vs. Lehigh Valley (Phillippe Aumont)
Saturday, 6:35pm ET: Williams Perez (though this may change with his promotion) vs. Lehigh Valley (Adam Morgan)
Sunday, 1:35pm ET: TBD (Matt Wisler’s rotation spot) vs. Lehigh Valley (Paul Clemens)

That’s All, Folks!

Today in my neck of the woods, we had what is considered around here a “million dollar rain” – a great rain that promotes growth and allows newly-planted crops to grow.  I used to enjoy those days because it meant I had a rare spring evening to spend with my dad. Right now, we’re beginning to see the fruits of early production in promotions for a number of players in the Braves system.  Williams Perez was the most recent, and those who have been reading my stuff know that I’ve been on Perez for over a year, since he first appeared in Lynchburg at high-A. Perez is a great example of a slow growing prospect that takes his time to get his feet under him, but then has solid growth once those feet are there.  Perhaps we’re seeing similar returns in 2015 with guys like Matt Lipka and finally seeing the expected results from Lucas Sims and Matt Wisler. I hope you enjoy the weekend previews and utilize milb.tv to enjoy a game or two this weekend!