Atlanta Braves Pitching Prospects Minor, Clemens, Delgado And Filak All Shine On The Mound In Thursday's Minor League Action

More great pitching from top to bottom as the organization goes 3-1 on the night. I think the Braves are primed to make a big move with all these prospects this trade season. On the flip side none of the Braves offensive prospects appears to be having an above average season. 

Gwinnett Braves 2, Rochester Red Wings 3

• Mauro Gomez 1B - 2-4 HR(4), 2 RBI, K, .389 Avg
• Ed Lucas 2B - 2-4 2 2B, .239 Avg
• Mike Minor 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 6 K, 1.93 ERA

Mike Minor pitched another solid game for Gwinnett though the walk monster has caught up with him in his past two games. He has surrendered seven of them in his last 13.2 innings. He still managed seven innings on 108 pitches so even with the walks he was decently efficient. Mauro Gomez is still hitting the cover off the ball butt the Braves couldn't pull off the timely hits. They also didn't pick up any walks on the game. 

Rodrigo Lopez will take the mound for the Braves tomorrow night against the Red Wings.

Mississippi Braves 10, Chattanooga Lookouts 3

• Mycal Jones CF - 1-6 2B, .167 Avg
• Jeff Fiorentino LF - 2-4 2 2B, BB, K, .500 Avg
• Ernesto Mejia 1B -  4-5 HR(6), 4 RBI, K, .311 Avg
• Cory Harrilchak RF -  3-5 2B, RBI, .240 Avg
• Paul Clemens 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 2.08 ERA

Paul Clemens is having the break-out seasons the Braves have been hoping for and he has been getting better each time out. His walks have been a little bit of an issue so far but he has struck out just better than a batter an inning and his ground ball rate has increased nearly every time out (11-2 GB:FB tonight). We really need to start thinking about what the Braves are going to do with all this pitching at some point. Harrilchak has been showing some signs of life lately. He has been a personal favorite of mine but I worry that he may just be another Gregor Blanco in the making.

J.J. Hoover will toe the rubber for Mississippi on Friday. 

Lynchburg Hillcats 3, Wintson-Salem Dash 1

• Andrelton Simmons SS -  1-3 CS(4), .344 Avg
• Adam Milligan DH - 1-3 2B, RBI, .237 Avg
• L.V. Ware LF -  2-3 2B, SB(6), .300 Avg
• Braeden Schlehuber C - 3-3 2B, RBI, BB, .269 Avg
• Arodys Vizcaino 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K 3.72 ERA
• Dimaster Delgado 6 IP, 2 H , 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K, 4.01 ERA

There were a lot of good performances out of the surging Hillcats tonight. Andrelton Simmons is still hitting well though he is 4/8 on steal attempts for the season (seriously what is it with the Braves and stealing bases?). Arodys Vizcaino pitched a solid inning without his arm falling off which is always a good sign. I really want him to be able to stay in the rotation. Dimaster Delgado has quietly rolled off 15.2 innings of two run baseball after not getting out of the first inning in his first game of the year. 

Look for the Zeke Spruill on the mound against the Dash tomorrow. 

Rome Braves 2, Savannah Sand Gnats 0

• Edward Salcedo SS - 1-3 BB, E(12), .286 Avg
• Elmer Reyes 3B -  1-3 2B, K, .198 Avg
• David Filak 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 K, 4.87 ERA
• Chasen Shreve 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 4.30 ERA

This may have been one of the most unlikely pitching showdowns you'll see. Only one of the pitchers involved in the game had an ERA under 4.50 coming into the game but combined the teams allowed just 11 hits, 5 walks and 0 earned runs. Chasen Shreve is a guy the Braves took last year who increased his velocity pretty significantly before the draft in 2010 but had previously battled some arm troubles. So far in 2011 he has been pretty effective racking up 19 K in 14.2 innings of work with just three walks and 14 hits. He came into tonight with an ERA of 4.85 but his FIP was just 2.10 and that only got better after tonight. 

Caleb Brewer will look to rebound tomorrow against the Sand Gnats.