Atlanta Braves Minor League Hotsheet (4/26-5/2)

by yondaime4 on May 2, 2010 11:05 PM EDT in Braves Minor League Hot Sheet

Another week and another Hotsheet! As always we have good and bad. Gwinnett has been hot lately but all three of the other teams have had it rough recently (especially Myrtle Beach). Let's see what players are doing well and which ones aren't.

Who's Hot?

Mitch Jones - 10-27 3 2B, 3B, 4 HR, 9RBI - Mitch Jones has been labeled a AAAA slugger with some gaudy performances in the past couple of seasons but so far had looked like a AA slugger this season. Jones put all those doubts behind him this week as he crushed homers in 3 consecutive games and racked up 8 XBH and almost had a walkoff HR that was later reversed.
Julio Teheran - 6.2IP 4H 1ER 1BB 8K - Teheran makes the list based on sustained performance as he has been consistently dominant in all of his starts this season. He has allowed no more than 4 hits in any outing and opposing hitters have posted just a .144 BAA in the first month of the season. Murmurs are already rising about whether he will get the call to the hapless Pelicans but I say he holds in Rome till at least mid season.
Gerardo Avila - 11-24 3B, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 5BB - Gerardo Avila has been the only consistent hitter on a terrible offensive Myrtle Beach club. He is currently on a 5 game hitting streak during which he has 4 games with 2+ hits and homers in 3 of those games. For the season he is 3rd in the Carolina League with a 1.021 OPS and sits in the top 10 in several offensive categories.
Gwinnett Bullpen (Not named Mariano Gomez) - 24IP 16H 2ER 15BB 24K - The Gwinnett bullpen has been pretty fantastic this season and this week was no exception. You can see from the stats that these guys shut down the opposition and helped the Braves to a 6-1 record on the week. Only two relievers gave up runs during the week (Mariano Gomez and Jeff Lyman), and while the component ratios don't blow you away (the walks are especially scary) a lot of major league teams would love to have this pen.

Honorable Mention: Barbaro Canizares, Brent Clevlen, Freddie Freeman, Wes Timmons, Gwinnett; Cody Johnson, Mississippi Bullpen (Not named Thomas Palica), Mississippi; Randall Delgado, Myrtle Beach; Kyle Rose, Cory Rasmus, Rome

Who's Not?

Gerardo Rodriguez - 3-23 0 XBH, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 15K - Gerardo Rodriguez was the best hitter on the Pelicans early in the season (and last season), and hit 4 home runs in the first 10 games of the season. He hasn't homered since April 18th and the slump was capped off with an 0-7 6K game that saw the Pelican lose in 15 innings.
JJ Hoover - 9IP 17H 10R 1BB 7K - Hoover actually had his best start of the season this week but he also had his worst. And the good one wasn't enough to cancel out the bad one. His transition to High-A has been rough going with him allowing a .347 BAA, and not being able to throw the ball past the more advanced hitters.
Van Pope - 3IP 4H 5R 5BB 2K - Van Pope's conversion to pitching has not gone well so far. Twice this week he came in to get the hold and gave up the winning runs. Pope has always had a cannon for an arm but I just don't see him being a good pitcher. He is only 6 innings into his pitching career though so I won't write him off just yet.
Scott Diamond - 10IP 15H 8R 9BB 6K - I really didn't expect Diamond to struggle this much with his second run through AA, especially with such an awesome name. As with Hoover, Scott had two starts this week and one of them was solid except for a few walks. The second start however was atrocious and ballooned his season ERA up to 6.94.

Honorable Mention: Brandon Hicks, Gwinnett; Donell Linares, Willie Cabrera, Thomas Palica, Mississippi; Everyone on Myrtle Beach not already listed; LV Ware, Mycal Jones, Rome

Stock Up - Cory Rasmus - Rasmus has been downright impressive all season, and while he has always had an interesting arm the injuries had eliminated him from many prospect lists. He had a good run in the Appy League last season, but he was old for the competition and struggled with command. So far this season he has breezed through the Sally League with a 1.15 ERA, and has begun to stretch himself out going 5 innings in his first start of the season. He also has 20K in 15.2 innings. His walks are still a little on the high side but not terrible. Keep an eye on him as he could be the first person promoted to Myrtle Beach.

Stock Down - Adam Milligan - Milligan came into the season as one of the most interesting prospects in the system. He dominated two levels last year and started off this year just as hot. Eventually the league made adjustments to him and he now has 20K in his last 10 games with just 3 walks. He has shown some life in the last week with a couple of multi-hit games and his only XBH. He has 35K so far in just 85 AB and has to make some adjustments if he is going to help out his struggling club.

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Comments

I love these.

"(Jason Heyward) is like the Grim Reaper -- you know he's going to get you, you just don't know where or when."

by Scott Coleman on May 3, 2010 1:17 AM EDT via mobile reply actions

Since when did Van Pope convert to a pitcher??

Kawakami - 1, Halladay - 0

by BigG1392 on May 3, 2010 6:39 AM EDT reply actions

this year.

by Mr. Sanchez on May 3, 2010 8:19 AM EDT up reply actions

concerning mitch...

Dont players labeled “AAAA” normally get a chance to flop in the majors? mitch has never even been given a chance.

My opinion cant be wrong. It's my opinion. Those who don't like it can piss up a rope.

by ryan c on May 3, 2010 7:56 AM EDT reply actions

Nor is he likely too with us unless one of Hinske, J-Hey, or Glaus gets hurt (God forbid, knock on wood, etc.) Or if Glaus goes stone cold again and ends up getting himself released by early June.

by J-Freak on May 3, 2010 8:38 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah but he is already 32 years old and has only had one callup to the majors. He may not be the stereotypical AAAA guy, but he fits the bill in about every way imaginable.

by yondaime4 on May 3, 2010 9:57 AM EDT up reply actions

The big thing behind being 4-A is typically that a guy has proven without a doubt he can handle AAA, but has never really been given a shot to prove whether or not he can in the Majors. Thus, Mitch certainly qualitifes. If you were to look through a list of guys that most would consider 4-A you’ll see a bunch of guys with a small amount of at bats or innings pitched, usually spread over a few different callups. When a guy actually gets a chance and flops he’s usually just considered a failure.

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by cbwilk on May 3, 2010 10:00 AM EDT up reply actions

I thought a 4-A guy was one to good for the minors, yet can’t play in the majors. Like Jo-Jo. To me he is 4-A. Sucks in ML, but good in AAA.

by FitzFan on May 3, 2010 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions

That’s one way it gets used, but that’s not really the usage that’s the most common. Usually those guys are just considered useless, because you already know they can’t play in the Majors. Most 4-A guys have never gotten a shot to prove if they have worth or not.

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by cbwilk on May 3, 2010 5:00 PM EDT up reply actions

I promise I’m not trying to pick a fight with you here CB, and I may be in the minority here, but I’ve always thought it was a term used for guys who proved no value in the majors and thus the only level to assign them was 4-A because they were obviously proven in AAA but failed in the majors. Mike Hessman and Dallas McPherson are a couple of names that come to mind.

by ajones2522 on May 3, 2010 5:50 PM EDT up reply actions

I know you’re not, you’re just trying to have a discussion about the term. Mike Hessman has 185 plate appearances spread over 4 ML seasons, spread over 6 actual years. That’s hardly giving a guy a chance to prove himself. Dallas McPherson has more time, 399 plate appearances over 4 ML seasons, spread over 5 actual years, and actually has decent numbers with a .245 average (which you expect a low average out of a slugger) and a .756 OPS. Still, neither has even a full season’s worth of at bats, and Hessman never got any regular ABs aside from maybe a two week stretch one September with Detroit. These guys are 4-A, not because they’ve proven they can’t play, but because they haven’t had the chance to prove it.

I wrote a novel, it's about baseball, you should buy it: https://www.createspace.com/3407939
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by cbwilk on May 4, 2010 1:02 AM EDT up reply actions

Well I think having that many chances to stick to a roster over that many seasons is a legitimate shot. There’s a reason the team decides over and over to send them back down. But that’s where we differ. Mitch Jones on the other hand has literally not even sniffed a major league roster other than for a very small cup of coffee.

by ajones2522 on May 4, 2010 5:33 PM EDT up reply actions

Being on the team for a small period doesn’t really mean you’ve gotten a chance. If you’re not getting regular playing time, you’re not getting a chance. If you’re trying to make it as a pinch hitter and a sub in your first crack at the highest level, you’re not getting a chance.

I wrote a novel, it's about baseball, you should buy it: https://www.createspace.com/3407939
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by cbwilk on May 5, 2010 10:03 AM EDT up reply actions

oops

reply fail

see below

by ajones2522 on May 5, 2010 11:14 AM EDT up reply actions

Fair enough, I disagree but that’s fine. How about this. Going back to the actual definition of a 4-A player. It seems like the need for a “4-A” designation stemmed from the fact that some guys were too good for AAA but not good enough for the majors. If a guy stayed in AAA but never got a chance in the majors, you can’t rule out that he is a major league player yet so what’s the need for making a new designation?

by ajones2522 on May 5, 2010 11:13 AM EDT reply actions