Atlanta Braves: Reviewing the AA Mississippi Braves Roster

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Atlanta Braves AA Affiliate Mississippi Braves

Catchers

Willians Astudillo, Matt Kennelly, Steve Rodriguez

No surprises here. Kennelly is a guy I hope the organization keeps bringing back until the day he decides to manage, because he will be a great one someday. Astudillo is the wild card here. He had Tommy John surgery when he was younger, and his arm is not a great asset for him behind the plate, but he has excellent contact skills, has incredible strike zone judgement, and he is reported to be solid enough behind the plate. He was a wise minor league signing that could prove to be worth something down the road.

Infielders

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Ozhaino Albies,

Johan Camargo

Carlos Franco

Levi Hyams

Emerson Landoni

Jordy Lara

, Jacob Schrader

Albies is absolutely the headliner here, as well he should be. I believe he has the better raw tools between he and Dansby Swanson, and having Camargo to back him up allows the team to have an excellent defender around. Franco shuffled for quite a while for the Braves before finally breaking through last year with Carolina, so I was glad to see the team sign him back this offseason. He may not be a big time prospect, but he’s got the ability to hold his own at the hot corner, which is not exactly common in the Braves system. Camargo will continue the process he started in the Arizona Fall League last year of moving to a defensive-focused utility player.

Outfielders

Connor Lien, Matt Lipka, Dustin Peterson, Dian Toscano

I like this outfield in terms of athleticism and upside. We’ll finally be able to see what Toscano looks like on the field. Hopefully the offseason to recover and get healthy will allow Peterson to get back to the beast that was tearing up Carolina before the bus crash last season. Lien will look to transition his elite defense to solid offensive skills as well.

Pitchers

Brandon Barker, Mauricio Cabrera, Hunter Cervenka, Chris Ellis, Brady Feigl, Jason Hursh, Stephen Janas, Steven Kent, Kyle Kinman, Matt Marksberry, Victor Mateo, Sean Newcomb, Brad Roney, Lucas Sims, Andrew Thurman, Rob Whalen

This is one extremely loaded pitching staff. I do find it incredibly intriguing that the team loaded so much of the left-handed bullpen pitching at this level with Cervenka, Kent, Kinman, Feigl, and Marksberry all in the bullpen. From the looks, I’d wager the rotation will look something like Newcomb, Sims, Ellis, Thurman, and Whalen, but with Barker, Mateo, and Janas at the level, there is definitely the ability to have some guys around to cover starts and save the bullpen for long outings.

Next: Minor League Roster Predictions

Coaching Staff

Luis Salazar – Manager, Garey Ingram – Hitting Coach, Dennis Lewallyn – Pitching Coach, Barbaro Garbey – Coach

The Mississippi club will be, in my book, the second-best club in the system, though I certainly would be hard-pressed to imagine a lot of AA clubs that will have the pitching that the M-Braves will have this season along with the balance in the lineup that the Braves will offer with the speed of Albies and Lien along with the power potential of Franco, Peterson, and the Schrader/Lara/Hyams first base group.

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