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Atlanta Braves minor league season review. Part 1: the lower minors

By Alan Carpenter

View from Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, circa 1960. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
View from Clingman's Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee, circa 1960. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images) /
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KEY BISCAYNE, FL – APRIL 01: Johanna Konta of Great Britain poses in front of the Cape Florida Lighthouse after defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the Women’s Final on Day 13 of the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center on April 1, 2017 in Key Biscayne, Florida. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
KEY BISCAYNE, FL – APRIL 01: Johanna Konta of Great Britain poses in front of the Cape Florida Lighthouse after defeating Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the Women’s Final on Day 13 of the Miami Open at Crandon Park Tennis Center on April 1, 2017 in Key Biscayne, Florida. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) /

This season could be dubbed ‘the year of the prospects’ as the organization exploded with talent at all levels.  But did that help the bottom line?

This is the first part of what I hope to be a run-down of the Atlanta Braves minor league teams and players for 2017.  This first bit involves the teams themselves.  We’ll look at the GCL and Danville teams today.

Let’s get right to it.

GULF COAST LEAGUE BRAVES

  • TYPE:  Short-season rookie league
  • TEAMS:  17, across 4 divisions
  • DIVISION:  Northeast (Yankees East/Atlanta/Pittsburgh/Detroit)
  • FINISH:  2nd place, 31-28 record, 1.5 games behind Yankees (33-27)
  • LEAGUE STANDOUTS:  None on the pitching chart; Yunior Severino best hitter (22nd in league) with .286/.345/.444/.789 slash line (qualifiers only).  Braulio Vasquez (30th) at .270/.371/.329/.700.

TEAM STATS – Pitching

  • Third in league with 3.18 ERA.  Blue Jays 2.86, Tigers East 4.90.
  • 4th fewest homers allowed (17).  Red Sox 13, Yankees West 33 (ouch).
  • Among highest in walks allowed (215).  Yanks East team allowed an astonishing 144 (Cardinals 149); Mets 248.
  • Mid-pack in strikeouts (428).  Orioles with most at 486; Tigers East 352.
  • WHIP of 1.31 was tied for 5th best; Nats 1.19; Tigers East 1.57.

TEAM STATS – Hitting

  • 3rd highest team average (.258).  Phillies:  .267.  Yanks East worst with Rays at .231.
  • Homers:  mid-pack with 21 (Pirates 34, Tigers East 14)
  • Doubles:  3rd (107).  Orioles 113, Tigers East 66)
  • Triples:  Tie 6th (17).  Pirates 36(!) and Red Sox 9
  • Walks: mid-pack with 197.  Yanks East 250, Mets 171.
  • Strikeouts:  5th worst at 455.  Phillies 313, Blue Jays 495.
  • Steals:  In the middle with 58.  Twins 88, Cardinals 32.
  • OPS:  .697… in the middle.  Phillies .718, Tigers East .618.

Yes… if you read all of that, the worst team in the league was the Tigers East squad (14-45).  Their West team was 29-28.  Not sure 2 teams were necessary.

Best team overall:  a 36-22 record posted for the Phillies.  Nationals (34-22) and Twins (35-23) were close behind.

ROSTER

This list is more static than most of the minor league squads.  In general, it’s made up of higher 2017 draft picks, a few instructional league guys, and promising “graduates” from the Dominican Summer League.

Manager:  Barrett Kleinknecht, a long-time catcher in the organization.

Notables:

  • RHP Troy Bacon, 2017 4th round pick.  3.44 ERA, 18.1 IP, 22/7 K/BB.
  • RHP Freddy Tarnok, 2017 3rd round pick.  2.57 ERA, 14 IP, 10/3 K/BB.
  • LHP Tanner Allison, 2017 19th round pick.  2.20 ERA, 16.1 IP, 15/2 K/BB.
  • LHP Troy Conyers, 2017 23rd round pick.  0.00 ERA, 14 IP, 19K, 2BB, 0.64 WHIP.
  • C Abrahan Gutierrez.  .264, 9 2B, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 129 AB.  21K in 129 AB.
  • 2B Yunior Severino.  .286, 17 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 27 RBI.  61 K in 189 AB.
  • RF Carlos Baerga… yes, son of that Carlos Baerga (but he hit .208)

Wunderkid Kevin Maitan was on this roster… for 9 games.  After he hit .314 with 11 hits (3 doubles) and 3 RBI he was promoted.  We’ll talk about him later.

Ditto for 1st overall pick Kyle Wright.  He made 3 cameo appearances:  1.59 ERA, 5.2 innings, 8K, 2BB (he was shipped up to Rome).

Of Note

I highlighted Troy Conyers above.  After these numbers, he was immediately bumped to Rome – skipping over Danville.

At Rome he still held his own:  2.86 ERA in 28 innings with 24K and 10BB for a 1.27 WHIP.  Not quite as dominant, but respectable.

In another tweet, an opponent – Tulane – described his college changeup as “filthy”.

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