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Atlanta Braves Spring game 2 recap vs. Houston

By Alan Carpenter

WEST PALM BEACH, FL - MARCH 19: A general view of The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches during the spring training game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees on March 19, 2017 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Yankees defeated the Astros 6-4. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)
WEST PALM BEACH, FL - MARCH 19: A general view of The Ballpark of the Palm Beaches during the spring training game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees on March 19, 2017 in West Palm Beach, Florida. The Yankees defeated the Astros 6-4. (Photo by Joel Auerbach/Getty Images) /
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Game 2 was nearly a mirror of the first… though with some additional digging you might see the silver linings.

The Atlanta Braves scored again in the 8th inning today – just as in the opener.  The Braves had one of their several pitchers struggle – just as in the opener.

In the meantime, there might be another break-out candidate in minor league action to watch closely this season.

For the “tl;dr” folks, I’ll go ahead and spoil the ending:  the Braves fell to Houston 6-1 Saturday afternoon.  However, there’s much more going on here.

First, I’ll cover the downer bits:

  • Jason Hursh in the 7th inning.  3 hits, 2 walks, and just 2 outs on the way to a 4 run outburst by Houston.  There will be days like this… and indeed, with 7-9 pitchers run out there on any given day, the odds are the somebody is gonna be “that guy”.  Today, it was Hursh.
  • Prospect 1st game results:  Ronald Acuna 0-3 (2 K), Alex Jackson 0-3 (3 K), and Austin Riley 0-3 (1 K).  That said, the Houston pitchers carved up the Braves well:  12 K on the day against 4 walks and 5 hits.

Upsides:

  • Rio Ruiz rebounded a bit from yesterday’s silver sombrero with a hit in 3 tries.
  • Ozzie Albies ambushed another pitcher:  1st pitch single again today (1-3).
  • Johan Camargo got the lone RBI in a late appearance via a sacrifice fly.

The pitching hung in there vs. a tough Astros lineup that featured a lot of regulars at their home in West Palm Beach.

Sean Newcomb only got 1 inning due to pitch count issues, and was… uneven.  2 K, though early jitters may have lead to an early double and walk, which in turn led to a run – unearned, thanks to a Charlie Culberson error.

Mike Soroka reportedly looked good (see below), even though he got nicked for a homer by Yuli Gurriel.

Aside from Hursh, no pitcher gave up more than one hit and more walked one or none:

Prospect Watching

First off, a hat tip to @thunderveins44 for getting this in a tweet:  Keith Law has blocked me (for reasons unknown), so I have to rely on others for his insights.  But here’s both his inputs and those from a reddit user.

https://twitter.com/thunderveins44/status/967560781616308232

Also, there was this:

https://twitter.com/thunderveins44/status/967565276173754368

The fangraphs scouting grades for Pache include 30/50 (now/future) for raw power, though 20/40 for game power… which is to say ‘average or less’.  But things may have changed here a bit.

More from Tomahawk Take

At 19 years old, Pache still has some growing or at least ‘fill out’ room, and at 6’2″/185, he’s got the body that certainly could generate some power.

Braves Scouting Director Brian Bridges told me once that power is the last thing to develop in a kid.  Pache is already hitting:  .283 in one rookie league and .333 in another in 2016; then .281 at Rome in 2017… with zero homers.

But things are a-changing for this Dominican.  He always has the speed.  He already has the glove.  Now just watch out… he could be the Next Big Thing.

Next: ICYMI: the Game 1 recap

Scott Kazmir goes for the Braves on Sunday vs. the Nationals

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