Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 5/18
by cbwilk on May 19, 2010 12:46 AM EDT
in Braves Minor League Recaps
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Gwinnett 5, Columbus 4
The G-Braves did the majority of their damage in the bottom of the 5th, when they had both of their extra base hits in back to back at bats, with a Matt Young double followed by a Clint Sammons homer. The inning also featured a double steal that saw Gregor Blanco take second and Brandon Hicks take home. Jose Ortegano was solid in his first AAA start, much better than he was in any of his High A starts this season. Jo Jo Reyes makes his second rehab appearance, this time in relief, but left the game before recording the final out. I don't know if it was due to injury or just to get a better matchup by bringing the right handed Steve Marek in to replace him.
Mississippi 2, West Tennessee 1
Mississippi managed just 3 hits, none of them for extra bases, but it was just enough to get 2 runs on the board. Scott Diamond dominated again and now has 30 strikeout in his last 3 starts, covering 22 innings. Soft tossing lefties aren't supposed to strikeout 12.3 per 9, but there's a lot of that going around with soft tossing lefties on the M-Braves. Maybe pitching coach Marty Reed is just some kind of freaky genius. Brett Butts picks up his second save with a perfect inning, continuing to prove what most of us knew before the season started, that he has no business left to take care of in the Southern League.
Myrtle Beach 0, Winston-Salem 2
Luis Sumoza picked up his first hits of the season after making his debut on Sunday. JJ Hoover made his longest appearance of the season and after a rough start has allowed just 2 runs in his last 13, good for a 1.35 ERA in that span with an equally impressive 0.69 WHIP. It looks like whatever mechanical issues he had have been worked out and he's back to being the guy who dominated the Sally League last year. If former Brave farmhand Jon Gilmore, who picked up a pair of hits, could only play Myrtle Beach he'd easily be the Carolina League's MVP.
Rome 9, Charleston 2
Rome picks up its 3rd win in a row, and they've done it with offense, knocking out 14 hits after collecting 24 in the previous 2 games. The new guys, Jake Hanson, Jace Whitmer, and Chris Curley, were a big part of things tonight, combining to go 5-11 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI out of the 7-8-9 spots. Robby Hefflinger straight up hates baseballs. In his last 3 games he's gone 5-11 with 5 doubles and 7 RBI. Arodys Vizcaino has his longest start of the season, and, I'm guessing, the longest of his career. He'd been pitching well this year, but aside from a couple of starts, hadn't really been dominating. Tonight he managed to keep the River Dogs off the bases, allowing just 3 hits and no walks.
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Reyes
No injury for Reyes. Just on a pitch count so needed to get somebody else in to finish off the last batter.
Good to know. Kind of an odd time to reach your pitch count.
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Did anyone ever figure out why Ortegano started in Myrtle?...
was it to let him rest after a long off season pitching back home, work on a new pitch? Would love to hear that explanation.
Next time I see one of the teams I’ll ask the pitching coach.
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I think Butts will get pounded at the major league level.
60% of the time, it works every time
by ATLandUNC on May 19, 2010 1:43 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
This
"…aren’t worthy enough to hold his (Pujols) ass cheeks apart while Playboy models wipe him with thousand dollar bills after he craps out the cure to whatever previously-incurable disease." by royhobbs 1/7/09
You know what i realized CB?
I’ve been asking all the wrong people and I’d trust your opinion over anyone else because you’ve (probably) seen our pitchers more than anyone else:
How do you rank our top-8 pitching prospects? Is Teheran your #1? And who’s our #2? Minor, Vizcaino, Delgado or someone else?
"Batting 4th and doing the catching, says here this guy weighs 210 pounds...I'm not buyin it! It's Brian McCann."
Well, in the offseason I had it as Teheran, Spruill, Kimbrel, Minor, Osuna, Ortegano, DeVall, and Gearrin. So that’s not a great list, and may just be proof that I don’t have a clue what I’m talking about. And let’s just say Kimbrel doesn’t qualify anymore, so I’d go with something like Teheran, Minor, Delgado, Vizcaino, Lopez, Gearrin, Ortegano, and Otero. Maybe if I looked at things longer I’d come up with something else, but that’s what I’ve got for now.
Yeah, to me there’s no question that Teheran is the best pitching prospect. To me he’s right behind Freeman overall for the Braves, and Freddie gets the nod because he’s a position player and playing at AAA as a 20 year old. Minor is advanced and while long term he might not project as well as Delgado, Vizcaino, or maybe even Lopez, he seems like more of a sure thing.
I wrote a novel, it's about baseball, you should buy it: https://www.createspace.com/3407939
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I would think Carlos Perez over Otero
but they are so young they have plenty of time to go up or down a chart.
And I still don’t get the “projections” of Minor. Mid 90s heat, good mound presence, control over 4 quality pitches, how much better can a pitcher get?
My Top-8 SP pitchers are:
Teheran
Delgado
Minor
Vizcaino
Lopez
DeVall
Spruill(still love the kid even with the horrible start)
Otero
I think this is what mine would look like.
Guys like Hoover, Diamond, Brewer, Perez, Stovall, Rasmus would be in the next bunch methinks. Though at that point you’re talking more about guys who may profile for relief long-term.
"Make the most of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere." - George Washington, 1794
Everything made from oil and wood can be made from HEMP. It's the earth's number one bio-mass resource.
Good point, especially if those Mississippi announcers are right that he’s hit 96 at times. But to me, he still projects behind Teheran/Vizcaino/Delgado/Lopez as far as ceilings go but that’s no disrespect to Minor. It’s just that all those guys are all extremely young, athletic, and are already throwing in the mid to upper 90’s.
Honestly, I’m not even concerned with his velocity. Where he’s sitting now is plenty of FB for a big league lefty, especially one that may have command over four different pitches. Everyone wants guys with monster FB, and yeah it’s definitely nice to have someone who can rear back and fire 98+ at will. But I think in the era of Strasburg, Chapman, Jimenez and Verlander we’re getting a bit carried away with it at times. There’s only three qualifying starters that average over 95 MPH, and none of those guys have especially nice K/BB ratios. Minor’s Vandy team-mate David Price has averaged 92.6 MPH on his FB this year, so it’s not like Minor is that many ticks behind even him. There’s just no shame in throwing 88-92 especially if you’re a lefty who can get good life on it.
To me Tim Lincecum is the perfect example, every season of his career his FB has slowed down a bit, but every season his K/BB ratio has improved.
"Make the most of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere." - George Washington, 1794
Everything made from oil and wood can be made from HEMP. It's the earth's number one bio-mass resource.
Oh definitely, there’s obviously a lot more to pitching than velocity and Minor seems to grasp a lot of the little things that it takes to be a good pitcher. That’s why I’d probably have him anywhere from #2-4 in a list with those other 4 guys as far as prospect rankings go. In a perfect world though, if they all hit their ceilings and learned how to pitch, I’ll take the guys throwing consistently in the upper 90’s. But again, that’s pure projection and Minor has just as good of a chance if not a better chance to be a very good major league pitcher based on his current stuff.
I liked what I saw out of Carlos Perez, but Otero’s dominance last year, combined with the scouting report from Johnny Almaraz, convinced me that the kid is gonna be good.
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www.dropoutproductions.com
gotcha...
and not to get too far ahead of myself, but you may wanna start drafting that mea culpa from our bet. I so rarely get predictions right, so I’m gloating a bit, but it looks like I may not even need the 3 years with the way Feliz is gunning and Elvis Andrus coming along so well at the plate.
by Mr. Sanchez on May 19, 2010 11:37 AM EDT up reply actions
What was the bet, that neither of them would be all stars in 10, 11, or 12? Hmm. Looks like Feliz might have a chance this year, but Andrus won’t. I don’t care how good that OPS is, 0 homers will make baseball dummies keep him out. The AL is tough for shortstops anyway.
I wrote a novel, it's about baseball, you should buy it: https://www.createspace.com/3407939
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yep, that was the bet...
maybe no HR, but he’s leading all SS in average at .331 (next closest is Cabrera for Cleveland at .287), and in steals at 14 (tied with Podsednik, behind Juan Pierre at 18 and Brett Gardner with 17). Although he has been caught 7 times.
Other than Jeter, I don’t see the AL as that tough. Given he will be the starter, behind him who else does Andrus have to beat out. Maybe Alex Gonzalez with Toronto if he can keep up his slugging. Jason Bartlett has 0 HR too, and his batting average is below .250. Marco Scutaro, Asdrual Cabrera, Alexei Ramirez, the competition looks pretty weak to me. Here’s the stats so far.
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable_player_stats.jsp?c_id=mlb&baseballScope=AL&subScope=pos&teamPosCode=6&statType=1&timeSubFrame=2010&sitSplit=&venueID=&Submit=Submit&timeFrame=1
Jeter’s automatic, but other than Alex Gonzalez, I don’t see anyone else that’d be a threat.
Scutaro plays for the Red Sox, so right there he’s got a leg up. I don’t know, we’ll see I guess.
I wrote a novel, it's about baseball, you should buy it: https://www.createspace.com/3407939
www.dropoutproductions.com
In voting maybe, but I wouldn't think that makes...
a big difference beyond the starting spot, which is a lock for Jeter. Does a manager care about that when filling out bench spots? If the game was in Boston maybe, but I couldn’t see that mattering much. Either way, we’ve got over a month until then, so things could change all over by that time. I just wanted to gloat once since so many of my predictions like that turn into utter disasters.
I think we’d all be amazed how much status has to do with things more than performance.
I wrote a novel, it's about baseball, you should buy it: https://www.createspace.com/3407939
www.dropoutproductions.com
Simply playing for the Red Sox gives Scutaro that level status?...
he’s not Nomar, Tejeda, or someone who’s earned a name through several years of excellent play. I agree with you to an extent, I just feel confident if Andrus can keep it up, he has a good shot at making the game. There really is a lack of big name SSs in the AL, and no one is having some out of this world season like Bartlett did last year.
Was thinking the same thing.
Another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults...
by Smoltz's Beard on May 19, 2010 10:05 AM EDT up reply actions
Mississippi announcer said that
Minor has been hitting as high as 96 late in games WOW! I was extremely critical of this pick and I’m still kinda in the wait and see mode now but hearing this is really starting to make me like him more and more.
I'll admit thus far the crow has been rather tasty.
It’s like the Braves scouts knew something about Minor that we didn’t. Honestly though, I just think he’s too advanced for AA.
"Make the most of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere." - George Washington, 1794
Everything made from oil and wood can be made from HEMP. It's the earth's number one bio-mass resource.
As much as I hated the Vasquez trade
I love even more that we got Vizcaino back. Keith Law sold me on him soon after the deal.
Vizcaino
Think Vizcaino is just coming out of his shell in a new system? Kid can toss it!
anyone else get mixed up by "DB"...
i get it, but it takes me a second. Just haven’t really seen doubles as anything but 2B. Not that it means anything, just sayin is all.
this
Another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults...
by Smoltz's Beard on May 19, 2010 10:09 AM EDT up reply actions
Sorry, I felt like 2 2B would get a little confusing. Yes, officially it’s 2B, but I’ve seen DB and TR in lots of places with quick recaps. Heck, we don’t put 4B for a HR do we?
I wrote a novel, it's about baseball, you should buy it: https://www.createspace.com/3407939
www.dropoutproductions.com
that makes sense...
especially with the 2 2B part.
by Mr. Sanchez on May 19, 2010 11:39 AM EDT up reply actions
Interesting that Schafer got a night off for Gwinnett…but then again I’m sure his wrist is still not 100% so you don’t want to throw him out there everyday. Hopefully I can get out to another game this weekend.
Like you say...
he’s played how many games in a row? At some point let the wrist rest for a day or two.
by Mr. Sanchez on May 19, 2010 10:22 AM EDT up reply actions
Diamond is 23 already…is he supposed to eventually get called up to AAA? Or would the Braves maybe promote him straight to the bigs if they needed a spot start for some reason?
Another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults...
by Smoltz's Beard on May 19, 2010 10:11 AM EDT reply actions
if there hadn’t already been so many pitchers ahead of him i would think he’d have started in AAA this year because he was pretty good in AA last season. He has always had solid K numbers for a ‘soft tosser’ as well. That said I doubt he will be promotoed straight to MLB though. There are probably better options to spot start in AAA and even AA.
Gotcha. I would assume that he’d be the next person called up from AA to AAA in the event that one of the Gwinnett pitchers gets the call though, right?
Another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults...
by Smoltz's Beard on May 19, 2010 10:18 AM EDT up reply actions
Wouldn't that depend on if we take a starter, or reliever?
Since guys like Butts are about as deserving. They have Parr, Ortegano, Reyes, Dunn, Marek, etc. Man, our minor league pitching depth is crazy. A decent batch of high level spects, but the bulk of the rest still seem like solid potential journeyman/middle relievers with Diamond, Sullivan, Parr, etc. Guys who aren’t special, but wouldn’t be surprising if they bounced around for the better part of a decade as kind of spot filler and long relief for teams like the Royals, Pirates, Mets, etc.
by Mr. Sanchez on May 19, 2010 10:26 AM EDT up reply actions
That was my thinking yondaime...
when I was fiddling with ideas on minor rotations over the winter, I thought Diamond had more than proven himself at AA last year, but the numbers crunch could keep him there a little longer.
by Mr. Sanchez on May 19, 2010 10:23 AM EDT up reply actions
I think at some point you see him get promoted to AAA, but it may be to work from the bullpen.
His splits speak towards future LOOGY-dom. But that’s not really a bad thing. One can make quite the living in that business.
"Make the most of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere." - George Washington, 1794
Everything made from oil and wood can be made from HEMP. It's the earth's number one bio-mass resource.
Pelicans and Delgado on the radio now!
http://player.cumulusstreaming.com/SLPLayer.aspx?WIQB-AM
"Make the most of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere." - George Washington, 1794
Everything made from oil and wood can be made from HEMP. It's the earth's number one bio-mass resource.
Delgado finishes with 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K, 23 BF
From listening to the game, he was throwing strikes all day, getting ahead of almost every hitter, I believe two of the hits were infield weakly hit balls, and one was immediately erased via DP. He was getting swings and misses and had success with the change vs lefties. The walk came with one out in the 7th (after K’ing our old friend Jon Gilmore who’s hitting .347 now, but was hitting .355, he went 0-4), and was also immediately erased via DP. Delgado faced 23 batters, and got 21 outs.
"Make the most of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere." - George Washington, 1794
Everything made from oil and wood can be made from HEMP. It's the earth's number one bio-mass resource.
Real similar to Vizcaino’s line yesterday. Not a ton of strikeouts but still flat out dominating. These guys are going so good right now, it’s just ridiculous.
11:4 gb to fb, nice...
wonder how long he stays in Myrtle.
And they have Teheran debuting tonight. Nice. Hope he can match.
Other day game news...
the new bats are bringing Rome to life at the plate, 11 runs already with several innings left to go. Hanson and Whitmer are coming out of the gates strong.
Hefflinger is getting hot too, and Myke Jones (.946 OPS this month after posting a .344 OPS in April, yeah wow). Bethancourt has even started to hit the last few days.
"Make the most of the Indian Hemp seed and sow it everywhere." - George Washington, 1794
Everything made from oil and wood can be made from HEMP. It's the earth's number one bio-mass resource.
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