Atlanta Braves Minor League Hotsheet: 8/2-8/8

Sorry this is a day late, I had some work issues crop up yesterday that forbade me from being at home. This week was really dominated by good pitching with very few solid offensive contributions.

Who's Hot?

1. Freddie Freeman - 11-20 3 2B, HR, 8 RBI, 2/2 BB/K - Freddie has been dominant recently and this week's stretch was probably his best of the season. He collected multiple hits in all but one of his games and reached base 4 times in two separate games. Since the All-Star game he has put up a .373/.442/.614 line while hitting 5 of his 15 homers in that 22 game span.
   
2. Julio Teheran - 11.2IP 3H 0R 4BB 14K - Julio had one bad game when he was first promoted but the two games after that were pretty damn good. On Aug 2 he didn't allow any hits over 5.2 innings of work and then he gave up just 3 hits over 6 innings on Aug 7. His walks did spike a little in the first start, but overall he had another fantastic week.
3. Joe Leonard 9-26 3 2B, 7 RBI, 4/5 BB/K - For me the best stat that Leonard put up this week has got to be the walks. He had just 2 walks in his first 70 ABs for Rome. I was starting to get a little worried about his plate discipline. Other than that Leonard has shown surprising power and solid defense in his pro debut and continues to be one of my favorite players (which is most important here).
   
4. Todd Redmond - 7.2IP 4H 1R 2BB 9K - Redmond was a solid starter for Gwinnett last season and he has been better this year with more K and less walks while going longer each time out. He is just 10 innings short of his total from last year and looks to surpass that in his next two outings. He may never blow your socks off (though let's not forget his no hitter this season) but he has the potential to be a workhorse 4 or 5 guy in the majors though he may never get the chance with the Braves.
   

Honorable Mentions: Gwinnett - Brandon Beachy, Craig Kimbrel; Mississippi - Richard Sullivan, Jacob Thompson; Myrtle Beach - Ezekiel Spruill, Gerry Rodriguez, LV Ware, Ty'Relle Harris; Rome - RSF, Steve Kent, Christian Bethancourt, Willie Kempf; Danville - Jakob Dalfonso, David Filak, Joey Terdoslavich

Who's Cold?

1. Cody Johnson - 0-20 5 BB, 12K - I hate piling on a guy but it doesn't get a whole lot worse than this week for Cody. His poor performance was finally noted by the front office and he was demoted from Mississippi to Myrtle Beach. Cody wasn't terrible when the season started (yes his strikeouts are always high even when he is good) but for a guy whose game is predicated on his ability to hit home runs it has been nearly 100 ABs since he has done so.
2. Edward Salcedo - 3-19 HR, 4K, 2 CS - Just so everyone knows: I am NOT knocking Edward Salcedo's talent and I do believe he is still our second best position prospect. That said, he has been pretty bad lately. His errors are really high, but that is too be expected for a young SS. Short term: it has been a rough transition for him. Long term: he is still going to be a major league infielder. And what do I always say about a player's first season in professional baseball? Take it with a grain of salt, especially a foreign teenager.
   
3. J.J. Hoover -  5IP 7H 4R 3BB 5K - Its funny how months really are just arbitrary dates that we can pick to show good and bad players performances. It is also equally funny how those arbitrary dates often times do coincide with good and bad performances in players. Case in point:
   Hoover in July - 37IP 24H 5ER 8BB 38K
   Hoover in August - 5IP 7H 4ER 3BB 5K
   JJ dominated the Carolina league in every start of July but as soon as he made his first start in August he slipped and gave up nearly as many runs as he did in the whole month of July. That has been his modus operandi this season alternating good and bad months. Hopefully he can switch it up this month.
   
4. Matt Young - 3-21 2B, 2BB, 3K, CS -  Matt Young has been a fan favorite around here since late last season and I will always like his game. After reeling off two consecutive good months Matt has fallen off a bit this month with just the one XBH so far and very few of his characteristic walks. I hope he gets a shot one day with Atlanta but realistically he must perform at a higher level than most in order to get a chance.
   

Dishonorable Mention: Gwinnett - Nate McLouth, Willie Cabrera; Mississippi - Randall Delgado, Myrtle Beach - David Francis; Rome - Jake Hanson, Chris Master; Danville - Andrelton Simmons, Ronan Pacheco, Tyler Stovall.

Special Mention: Brett DeVall - Brett had one of those weeks where I don't really know what to do with him. In his first start on Aug 2 he posted this line: 9IP 6H 1R 0BB 4K. That is pretty freaking awesome, especially for a guy coming off of surgery. Unfortunately he followed that up with this line on Aug 7: 6IP 13H 10R 3BB 4K. These two outings are at the extreme ends of the good/bad spectrum and I felt he didn't deserve to be on either list, but hedefinitely deserved a mention.