Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 8/30

Durham 4, Gwinnett 0

• B. Barton 2-3

Gwinnett laid an egg as Barton accounted for the only 2 baserunners the team had all night. Tampa Bay prospect Jeremy Hellickson, A.K.A. Hellboy, dominated them, tossing a scoreless 8 innings. The loss drops the G-Braves to 2 games back in the division, though they maintain the lead in the Wild Card standings.

Mississippi 6, West Tennessee 1

• B. Hicks 3-4, 2B, RBI
• W. Cabrera 1-2 RBI
• T. Jones 2-4
• J. Ortegano 6 IP, 0 ER
• B. Butts 3 IP, 0 ER

A nice all around win for the M-Braves as Jose Ortegano continues to pitch better at AA than he did in High A. Brandon Hicks also continues his fine play of late, as August is the only month he's hit with any authority. Maybe he will be able to take this upswing with him out to the AFL and perform like he was expected to prior to the season. Travis Jones and Willie Cabrera have been hot this month too; it's nice to see guys working hard to finish the year strong.

Frederick 9, Myrtle Beach 8

• D. Linares 1-4, GS (14), 4 RBI
• J-M Owings 2-4, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 R
• C. Roohrbough 5.2 IP, 3 R

Poor Myrtle Beach, even when they score 8 runs they can't win. Donell Linares is finishing off a fine season, providing a huge blow with a grand slam tonight. Cole Rorhbough had a better start than he's been having lately, but still nothing to be too excited about. Also of interest, former Pelican Jake Stevens allowed 4 runs in 2 innings of work for the Keys.

Savannah 2, Rome 0

• S. Moody 2-4, 2B
• A. Milligan 0-3, K
• JJ Hoover 7 IP, 2 R 11 K

Hoover is the unfortunate loser as he has an outstanding start, gunning down 11 Sand Gnats. The offense couldn't back him up though, and I blame Adam Milligan. How dare he not hit 4 home runs tonight. Actually, it really is worth noting that he went hitless, cause that hasn't happend in a long while.

Kingsport 4, Danville 1

• J. Kreke 2-3
• M. Jones 1-2, 3B

Not much going on for the D-Braves as they only muster 4 hits. Still, this team has been outstanding, winning 70 percent of their games, winning the division by more than 10 games. The team has 2 more regular season games against Kingsport, followerd by a 3 game championship series against the Elizabethton Twins.

GCL - Off

The Orlando Braves will play their final game of the season against the GCL Yankees tomorrow morning.

The Dominican Summer League Braves actually finished their season on the 21st. The team went 39-24, finishing second in their division. I'll highlight some of their better performers:

• OF Juan Flores (22 years old): .368 AVG, .950 OPS, 27 G
• 3B Edison Sanchez (18 years old): .283 AVG, .900 OPS, 4 HR, 39 RBI, 9 SB, 49 G
• OF Wilson Rivera (19 years old): .273 AVG, .809 OPS, 28 G
• P Andy Otero (17 years old): 6-1, 0.84 ERA, 64 IP, 93 K, 1.00 WHIP
• P Jorge Paulino (20 years old): 2-2, 1.20 ERA, 8 SV, 30 IP, 49 K, 1.17 WHIP
• P Alex Pinto (19 years old): 5-1, 1.47 ERA, 43 IP, 50 K, 0.93 WHIP
• P Luis de Luna (19 years old): 9-2, 2.08 ERA, 73.2 IP, 66 K, 0.81 WHIP

Clearly Sanchez and Otero where the best hitter and pitcher respectively on the team. It's impressive since they're both so young, especially Otero, who is the youngest player on the team. He's also the smallest, at just 5'9" and 160 pounds, which is a sharp contrast to Sanchez's 6'4", 195 pound frame. These are definitely two players to keep an eye on next year, likely at Danville.