Atlanta Braves Minor Leaguer Gartrell Wins AAA Home Run Derby While Hillcats Homer Show Falls Short

by yondaime4 on Jul 12, 2011 4:14 AM EDT in Braves Minor League Recaps

A slow night for baseball in the Braves minor league system with none of my favorite players showing up tonight (beside's Adam Milligan who really didn't show up). Stefan Gartrell put on a show in the AAA HR Derby but wasn't even the star of the night! The Hillcat bats awoke tonight but the pitching staff went to sleep and a couple of DSL guys are making a name for themselves.

Gwinnett Braves - All Star Break

Stefan Gartrell won the AAA Home Run derby today beating a 17 year old high school kid with an aluminum bat. The high schooler (Kayden Porter) allegedly hit a 545 ball over the batter's eye in centerfield at Bee's Spring Mobile Park.

Mississippi Braves 3, Mobile BayBears 4

Mycal Jones, CF 1-5, 2B, RBI, 3 K, .212 Avg
Ernesto Mejia, 1B 1-4, HR(14), K, .308 Avg
Dan Nelson, 3B 2-3, 2B, RBI, BB, K, .292 Avg

A pretty ho-hum game for the M-Braves tonight. Myke Jones continues to struggle after starting the year pretty hot. He is still taking an absurd amount of walks but he can't make much contact with the bat and he has hit for very little power recently. His numbers have gotten worse each month: .8331 OPS in May, .639 in June and just .525 in July.

Potomac Nationals 11, Lynchburg Hillcats 10

Barrett Kleinknecht, SS 2-5, 2 RBI, .252 Avg
Phil Gosselin, 2B 2-4, 2 HR(4), 4 RBI, BB, .289 Avg
Adam Milligan, LF 0-5, 5 K, .280 Avg
Joey Terdoslavich, 1B 3-5, HR(13), K, .274 Avg
Joe Leonard, 3B 3-4, 2B, HR(5), 2 RBI, BB, .252 Avg

Don't look now but Phil Gosselin has turned the switch on in July. In his first three months of the season he walked 20 times vs 48 strikeouts in 269 AB and he posted an OPS in the low .700s. In July he has five walks against four strikeouts in 35 AB and is hitting .371/.439/.629. It might be time for someone to see the next level. Terdoslavich hit his first homer of the month and even though the homers have dried up he has 44 extra base hits on the seasons which puts him on pace for around 70 for the season. That would be very impressive indeed. Also, apparently Joe Leonard did not like CBwilk calling him out on the hot sheet today.

Rome Braves

Off Day

Danville Braves

Off Day

GCL Tigers 1, GCL Braves 6

Logan Robbins, 2B 1-3, HR(3), 2 RBI, BB, K, .244 Avg
Troy Snitker, C 1-3, RBI, K, .225 Avg
Daniel Lopez 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K, 0.00 ERA

Logan Robbins is, so far, giving me the impression of an all or nothing type offensive player. He has a .200 ISO in the short season and has a few wiffs to his name as well. Baseball America said his arm and speed are both pro tools and he has some pop but with a little bit of a swing from the heels approach.

DSL Braves 4, DSL Blue Jays 8

Emmanuel Daniel, RF 1-3, 2B, RBI, BB, .326 Avg
Robinson Arno, LF 2-4, 2 RBI, .212 Avg
Oriel L Caicedo 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 K, 1.13 ERA

The good Oriel Caicedo is getting better every time he takes the mound. Today's start was his longest of the season and he allowed just .056 batting average against. He still isn't striking out a ton of guys (not unlike teammate Abraham Espinosa) but so far you can't argue with the results. Emmanuel Daniel has been, hands down, the best hitter on this team so far. His .326 average leads all regulars and his .880 OPS is tops. He takes walks and has hit for some power as well so keep an eye on him.

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Is Gartrell on the 40 man?

I’d assume not, and I know he is 27, but if he was you’d think the Braves would give him a chance. He is right handed and not much of a person who gets on base as his .316 obp would indicate, but it seems like he absolutely mashes with 17 hr, 21 doubles, and a .533 SLG.

Chopmaster: my link is my dad who has watched the braves since I don’t know. he’s 56.

by austinhb on Jul 12, 2011 4:25 AM EDT reply actions

I know the organization decided to give Wilken Ramirez a chance and he has done fairly well, including defensively, and has added to the team’s speed, Gartrell does seem to be pounding on the door. His K rate, on the other hand, is almost 28%, which could be the deal breaker, although neither Wilken’s K rate (23%) nor OPS (.283) was good.

by fandave on Jul 12, 2011 8:55 AM EDT up reply actions

Since this was Milligan’s 1st game back after 14 days of shelf time, maybe 5 Ks in 5 ABs should be given a one time only free pass.

Is Terdoslavich likely to be moved up? His XB power (SLG is now .508, 2d on team behind Milligan’s .538) has been very impressive.

by fandave on Jul 12, 2011 8:55 AM EDT reply actions

Getting more excited about Gosselin everyday

Just seems like he consistent puts up a 1 or 2-4 with an XBH everyday. Once his 2B/HR ration normalizes, I could see him as a Marcus Giles type. Not bad for someone that was generally panned as a 5th round pick.

by theatlfan on Jul 12, 2011 12:08 PM EDT reply actions