Atlanta Braves Minor League Weekend Wrap, April 24th
Atlanta Braves Minor League Weekend Wrap Up
Transactions
4/20 – RHP Luke Jackson optioned by Atlanta Braves to Gwinnett Braves
4/20 – RHP Aaron Blair recalled by Atlanta Braves from Gwinnett Braves
4/20 – RHP Bradley Roney assigned to Florida Fire Frogs from Gwinnett Braves
4/20 – IF Johan Camargo optioned by Atlanta Braves to Gwinnett Braves
4/20 – RHP Josh Graham assigned to Danville Braves from Florida Fire Frogs
4/21 – IF Emerson Landoni placed on 7-day disabled list by Gwinnett Braves
4/22 – RHP Caleb Dirks assigned to Danville Braves from Gwinnett Braves
4/22 – 1B Ryan Howard assigned to Gwinnett Braves from extended spring training
4/22 – OF Adam Walker assigned to Mississippi Braves from Gwinnett Braves
4/22 – RHP Enderson Franco assigned to Gwinnett Braves from Rome Braves
4/22 – OF Stephen Gaylor placed on 7-day disabled list by Mississippi Braves
4/22 – RHP Raymar Navarro assigned to Rome Braves from Florida Fire Frogs
4/22 – RHP Bladimir Matos assigned to Rome Braves from Danville Braves
4/23 – RHP Aaron Blair optioned by Atlanta Braves to Gwinnett Braves
4/23 – RHP Matt Wisler recalled by Atlanta Braves from Gwinnett Braves
4/23 – LHP Joe Rogers activated from 7-day disabled list by Mississippi Braves
4/23 – RHP Chad Sobotka assigned to Danville Braves from Mississippi Braves
Hitter of the week: This may have been the easiest week I’ve ever had. Partially because of the dominant week of the winner, but also because there just wasn’t anyone else with a major week.
I am more than willing to be open about my doubt about the acquisition of Alex Jackson when it happened, especially when the announcement to move him back to catcher was made. My viewing of his bat showed a guy who had a ton of work to do to even get to the point where he could handle high minors pitching, let alone major league arms.
Instead, Jackson has shown tremendous power all season long, and this last week was a great example. He slashed .367/.387/.733 with 2 doubles and 3 home runs, driving in 7 runs on the week, to lead the system in that statistic as well.
Jackson’s catching is a work in progress, and he’s still not showing a lot of patience at the plate, as his week’s 1/9 BB/K rate shows, but the power has been very pleasant thus far.
Honorable mention: One of the best things the Braves have done in their recent drafting is getting a number of excellent mature college players who can provide guidance to their young players at lower levels while also providing value on the field.
This season the guy who is making noise on the field while helping to guide a young Rome club is infielder Marcus Mooney, who had a standout week of .444/.500/.500.
Mooney’s real value has come in his ability to play around the diamond, as he’s played 2B, 3B, and SS this season. With the youth on the Rome roster, his solid play and effort every day is notable for those guys.
Pitcher of the week: Two Florida pitchers will get the notice this week, and deciding who got the nod for the top spot was the toughest choice.
I went with Drew Harrington, who threw two excellent starts, controlling the tempo of both of his games with a week’s total of 12 innings pitched without a single earned run, striking out 8 while only walking one.
Harrington was the Atlanta Braves 3rd round selection in 2016 out of Louisville, and while he worked primarily out of the bullpen after being drafted, much of that was due to the amount of innings he’d tallied in college, and there was plenty of talk that he’d start this season.
He’s been a very welcome veteran presence on the Florida staff this season.
Honorable mention: With Harrington being the steady, in-control performer, Tyler Pike was the guy who absolutely dominated the week.
Pike had seemingly stalled out with the Mariners organization at high-A, but that was in the California League, and the Braves put him with renowned pitching coach Dennis Lewalyn in Florida. Pike has had one rough outing, but the most impressive part of his dominance has been his efficiency.
He threw 11 2/3 innings on the week, allowing 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits and 3 walks, striking out 15 (!!) hitters. The most crazy part of that is that he took just 150 combined pitches to get through those innings, even with those strikeouts, which is an impressive rate of efficiency for a guy generating high strikeouts.
Next: Gwinnett Braves