Atlanta Braves: Minors Monday

With respect to Ben and his vacation tour that you’ll learn about later today, I will attempt to fill his considerable shoes (though I go size 15) by giving you today’s Minors Monday report.

We’ll start in the Dominican Summer League, where the DSL Braves are having a rough start:  they are now 3-10 on the season (0-3 since last report), and – this is weird – were beaten by a pitcher for the DSL Mets named Familia in their last game.  That contest went 2-1 in 15 innings with neither team able to put much together despite an evenly split 22 combined hits.

It’s still very early, of course, but there are signs of hitting with this DSL club:  seven players sport batting averages above .275 thus far; five over .300… including C Anthony Concepcion, who is at .318 with 12 game appearances.

The pitching is likewise hard to gauge at this point, though four members of the staff have ERA’s around 1.15 after 7+ innings, though pitching control is always an issue at these ages.  Oddly, the one pitcher seemingly without control issues (Luis Mora) is getting hit hard:  9 strikeouts, 1 walk in 10 innings… but a 6.30 ERA… though he’s also whacked 4 hitters.