Atlanta Braves Minor League Weekend Wrap: July 11th
Atlanta Braves Minor League Weekend Wrap Up
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7/7 – 1B/OF Jordy Lara placed on DL by Mississippi
7/7 – OF Stephen Gaylor promoted from Carolina to Mississippi
7/7 – IF Luis Valenzuela activated from DL by Carolina
7/7 – SS Juan Carlos Encarnacion assigned to DSL Braves
7/9 – IF Levi Hyams demoted from Gwinnett to Mississippi
7/9 – IF/OF Emilio Bonifacio demoted from Atlanta to Gwinnett
7/9 – RHP Andrew Thurman placed on DL by Mississippi
7/9 – C Matt Kennelly retired
7/9 – RHP Max Povse promoted from Carolina to Mississippi
7/9 – 2B Luke Dykstra placed on DL by Rome
7/9 – 2B Darien McLemore promoted from Danville to Rome
7/9 – OF Tyler Neslony promoted from Danville to Rome
7/9 – LHP Corbin Clouse promoted from Danville to Rome
7/9 – OF Bradley Keller demoted from Rome to Danville
7/9 – LHP Adam McCreery demoted from Rome to Danville
7/9 – RHP Jacob Webb demoted from Rome to Danville
7/9 – RHP Devan Watts promoted from Danville to Rome
7/9 – RHP Ian Anderson assigned to GCL Braves
Hitter of the week: Connor Lien injured himself on the first game of the season, and he missed quite a while before coming back at the end of June. He’s getting back in the swing of things, and you can definitely tell it in the last week. On top of his elite defense (which is an incredible sight to behold if you can ever get to a Mississippi game or catch them on MiLB.tv), Lien this last week put up a line of .400/.556/.800 with two runs, an RBI, two doubles, two triples, and two stolen bases.
Honorable mention: Honestly, this is the hardest choice of them all, but I will go with the home run leader in the system on the week in Mel Rojas, who put up a .407/.484/.926 line with 5 runs, 2 doubles, 4 home runs, and 10 RBI. Rojas was acquired midseason by the Braves, and he’s showing to be a decent find that could be living up to the prospect hype he got right away after being a 3rd round pick in 2010, playing elite defense along with providing a power/speed balance (6 HR/4 SB in the Braves system this season).
Pitcher of the week: After one of his toughest starts last week, Robert Whalen rebounded with one of his most dominant starts of the season, going 6 innings with only an unearned run allowed on five hits and two walks, tying a career high with nine strikeouts. Whalen has been an incredible revelation in the system, and I think you’ll be surprised where you’ll see him show up in this week’s top 50 prospect list!
Honorable mention: Touki Toussaint didn’t truly dominate either one of his starts, but after you look at the total of both, you see he had a 2.45 ERA on the week with a 1.36 WHIP over 11 innings, striking out 12 batters. Touki’s worked his ERA down nearly every start through May and June after his rough April, and he’s now got a lower ERA than guys who are thought to have had better seasons like Max Povse, Sean Newcomb, or Kolby Allard.
Next: Gwinnett Braves