Richmond 39-46 (11-19 MTD)

You've seen me say it a lot lately, but this Richmond team has fallen hard. You can't really blame them as they have lost JoJo Reyes, Charlie Morton, Brent Lillibridge, Brandon Jones, and others for partial periods. Those guys have been replaced with the likes of Brian Lawrence, Jerome Gamble and Chris Resop and nothing special could be sent up from Mississippi with the exception of AAAA slugger Jason Perry. Perry has been the lone bright spot on the offense with a .938 OPS since his callup. The only other player with an OPS over .800 is Barbaro Canizares who I think might be best served as a bench player as he appears to get a little overexposed. Chuck James has been good with a 1.69 ERA but I don't expect him to ever be a good major league pitcher. We'll see how much that shoulder healing helps I guess.

Mississippi 9-3 2nd Half (17-9 MTD)

This team has really turned itself around in the past month and a half. They still aren't over .500 for the season but they are only like 6 games under. They have picked up help from everywhere from promotions (Tommy Hanson, Deunte Heath, Carlos Sencion) to injury/suspension (Jordan Schafer, Van Pope), to free agent signings (Jason Perry, Reid Gorecki). Jordan Schafer is hitting well since his return, Kala Kaaihue has become a dominant hitter in the last month and Kris Medlen has become an effective starter for the team. I wouldn't be surprised to see them carry this on to the end of the season. There is a chance these guys could see some more help come from Myrtle Beach in the form of Gorkys Hernandez.

Myrtle Beach 6-5 2nd Half (16-10 MTD)

Losing two pitchers with ERAs below 2.00 will always hurt a team, but The Beach is weathering the storm pretty well. The return of Gorkys Hernandez helped spark the offense, though this offense is pretty damn good no matter how you slice it. They are tied for the league lead in OPS, lead in HRs, 2nd in AVG, 1st in Runs, and 1st in OBP. Not bad. On the pitching side they still lead the league with a 3.31 ERA and 629 Ks. This team still has a lot of talent and will probably get a reinforcement or two from Rome (Heyward? Freeman? Locke?).

Rome 6-6 2nd Half (10-18 MTD)

This team was supposedly the most talented team we had in the minors coming into the season. The pitching staff alone was loaded with guys like Locke, Rodgers, Rohrbough and Barrett but for the most part that staff just hasn't been very good. Locke and Rodgers have been up and down which is probably just youth and learning to adjust to a full schedule. Most everyone else has been pretty bad. The offense has been even worse with only Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman being consistent sources of production, and even Heyward is slipping some this month hitting his only homer tonight.. Cody Johnson was good for most of the month and his numbers indicate he is making some strides. I don't think any other team is as happy to see the second half of the season as Rome.

Danville 11-3

After 14 games the Braves are 4 games up in the Appy League. Not bad I guess. It seems like the Braves short-season teams are always very good. Gerrardo Rodriguez has been the offensive star with 6 homers in 11 games. Some guys to keep an eye on in the upcoming weeks: Craig Kimbrel (bullpen arm from the draft will move fast), Jon Gilmore (supposedly the second best hitter we took last year seems to have found his stroke finally), L. V. Ware (Toolsy guy drafted out of a community college a couple years ago), Julio Teheran and Steve Kent (young pitchers with solid upside).

GCL Braves 6-4

So far this team has some of our younger draftees and a wave of rehabbing players. Mike Hampton, Anthony Lerew (remember him?), Cory Rasmus (possibly one of the most live arms in the system if he can stay healthy) Erik Cordier and Lee Hyde have all been here to rehab. The biggest prospect on the team is probably catcher Daniel Matra. He was supposedly a first round talent coming into his Sr season of high school but I believe he was hurt that season and really underperformed. The Braves got him in the 26th round and he only hit .143 in the GCL last year. He is hitting .452 in his first 10 games so far this season. A couple of pitchers to keep an eye on are Zeke Spruill (our second rd draft choice this year) and Dimaster Delgado (a 19 year old Panamanian lefty pitcher).

HOTLIST

1. Kris Medlen - I'm doing a monthly thing here but Medlen converted a starter after his first appearance of the month (June 1) so I'm just going to count his starters stats. His line: 2.63ERA 24IP 19H 6BB 22K. Not bad and deserving of the top spot simply for the difficulty in switching roles midseason.
   
2. Kala Kaaihue -  A .338 AVG, a .646 SLG and an OBP approaching .500 he has been fairly dominant over the last month. I wonder if he is becoming a good prospect again? He took his time adjusting to AA but he always has had an adjustment period to new levels.
3. Tyler Flowers - Tyler turned his best month fo the season with a .970 OPS and an impressive 21/15 BB/K ratio. His stats have improved gradually every month as the season has worn on. 
4. Tommy Hanson - Several Mississippi players here. He makes is solely because he threw a no-hitter. His ERA for the Month was 3.30, but that is moot.
5. Gerrardo Rodriguez - I know Danville has only played about half the month but when a guy blasts 6 homers in his first 11 games he gets put on here. He is slugging .830 so far and has an OPS nearing 1.200. Move him up and see if he can boost the Rome team at all.
6. Cody Johnson - Johnson gets a mention here because he had his best month so far this season and appears to have found some sort of middle ground. He only struck out 28 times in 93 ABs this month whereas he K'd 44 times in 93 ABs last month and 40+ the month before. So hitting .280 with an .817 OPS this month is a bit of an improvement.

So yeah I'll try to cover some of the stuff that I have missed over the past week or so.

Richmond 28-28

Richmond has dropped back to second in the division and 2 games back of Durham. They went 14-15 during the month of May but they did have a 7 game losing streak tossed in there in the last week or two that kind of crippled them. The pitching has dropped a bit and now sits in the middle of the league with a 3.95 ERA. The offense has plummeted though down to the second worst OPS in the entire league. Thats just horrible considering what they were doing a few weeks ago. Jason Perry might help a little though I think he will struggle more at AAA. Scott Thorman has been coming around so we might see a boost there.

Mississippi 22-35

The M-Braves went 16-13 for the month which is obviously a marked improvement over the first month of the season. Jason Perry powered the offense most of the month but he was moved up to Richmond recently and Reid Gorecki (another journeyman OF) hit the crap out of the ball for a few days but then went on the DL. Jordan Schafer is back with the team and will probably be in the lineup again here in the next couple of days. The team still has the worst BA in the league at .236 as a team and the second worst OPS at .676. They also have the worst ERA in the league with a horrible 5.06 mark. I don't know how they won most of the month like they did. They are 10-8 in 1 run ball games.

Myrtle Beach 37-20

This team has been a juggernaut the last month and a half. They are 9.5 games up on the second place Kinston team. Recently the Pelicans have been my only bright light in the Braves Universe. They went an incredible 20-9 during the month of May. They did lose their best pitcher (Tommy Hanson) to Mississippi but the rest of the pieces in that rotation have been solid and Chris Vines has been pretty good since he returned to starting. Their ERA is easily the best in the league at a paltry 3.06. They still have the best OPS in the league and lead in homers also. We'll probably see an OF with Gorkys Hernandez and Jason Heyward here soon I would think.

Rome 18-38

I am just amazed at how bad this team is. As good as the Pelicans have been this team has been worse. At 20-8 for the month nothing good can really be found outside of the 3-4 men in the lineup. Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman have been all the offense for most of the past month and sooner or later I would think they'd break down from all the pressure. The ERA hasn't been horrible, not good, but not horrible either. The team OPS is second to last. All I have to say is Secondbass and company need to root harder or slip the team some HGH or something!

Hotlist!!!!

1. Jason Heyward - So as one of the youngest players in the SAL (Angel Villalona of Augusta is the youngest) Heyward .345/.398/.564 for the month of May. He walked more, struck out less and spiked his power. A good sign of real improvement.
   
2. Freddie Freeman - What these have done can't be stated without also noting how bad their offense is outside of them. Frederick went .313/.336/.625 on the month. Obviously he needs to walk a bit more after only 4 in 112 ABs in May but his power was amazing with 21 XBH for the month after only 7 in April.
   
3. Scott Thorman - A bounce back month for the former prospect. He went .333/.343/.635 for the month. Again, not many walks but 17 XBH in less than 100 ABs ain't bad.
   
4. Kyle Cofield - a 1.57 ERA for a month is excellent. He walked a crap ton of people - 28.2 IP 22/16 K/BB -  but it didn't matter too much. I'll keep an eye on those Ks and Walks but everything else was good it seems. He had a decent ground ball average so that works for him.
   
5. Charlie Morton - Well amazingly Morton was even better this month than last. He went 3-1 with a 1.60 ERA in 39.1 innings with a 32/12 K/BB. An excellent month for him and if anyone else goes missing in the starting rotation in Atl. it will be hard to ignore his performance so far. Only thing we have to watch for with him is his annual late season decline.

Richmond 24-19 (4-2 WTD)

A nice week for the boys at Richmond. They still lead their division by 4 games and they are doing it mostly with pitching. Their offense is actually solid, but they have the fewest HRs in the league and the third lowest SLG. They do lead the league with 52 SB and have only been caught 13 times which is very impressive as a team. Their ERA is now second in the league, dropped from 1st (to be expected with the loss of Reyes) and they have only allowed 17 homers so far this season. This team has a lot of veteran and young talent and I think that they will keep up their lead until they are pilfered a bit more by Atlanta.

Mississippi 16-29 (3-4 WTD)

The M-Braves played a little above their head this week as they played some teams with similar records as themselves. They still have the worst record in the league, but now they are tied with Tennessee for the worst record! The big news was the acquisition of Reid Gorecki who had a couple of huge games and helped solidify the lineup even more. (They are now 4th in the league in Runs Scored). Tommy Hanson got hammered in his second start in AA which isn't really alarming as the Southern League is considered very difficult. I wouldn't be surprised to see this team sitting around .500 at the end of the season.

Myrtle Beach 26-17 (3-4 WTD)

Wow 4 losses on the week for the Pelicans. They only has 2 in the two weeks before that this month. Right now they lead their division by 5.5 games and are cruising comfortably for the time being. Their pitching took a bit of a hit with the loss of Tommy Hanson and Deunte Heath took a lump this week, but they still have the return of Gorkys Hernandez to look forward to. Tyler Flowers is probably the coldest regular on any farm team right now and they really need his offense. Their offense still sits among the league leaders in most categories and the pitching staff has the lowest ERA in the league. Expect them to get a boost from Cole Rohrbough in about a month.

Rome 13-30 (0-6)

This team is really bad right now. They are 3-13 on the month and are on a 7 game losing streak. They have the worst record in the league  (tied with Lexington). For a team with so much of our young talent it baffles me. The pitching staff, which is supposed to be good, have been pretty decent. They are right in the middle of the pack in most categories. The offense, however, is incredibly bad ranking dead last in nearly every conceivable list. Cody Johnson leads all minor leaguers in strike outs and has something like 66 in 42 games. That just doesn't cut it.

HOTLIST!!!!

1. Jason Heyward - Heyward is currently on an 11 game hitting streak where he is hitting .386 with 5 doubles and 2 HR.This comes right after a cold streak he had that saw him accumulate half of his season strike outs in about a week and half. I like to see him making adjustments.
   
2. Brnadon Jones - Brandon went 9-21 this week with 5 doubles and a HR to bring his season AVG up to .284. Jones has long been one of my favorite farmhands but I fear he has become trade bait. He is a bit streaky but always has had some pretty consistent season ending numbers. I like his broad (albeit mostly average) skillset.
   
3. Scott Thorman - Good ol' Scotty went 7-22 on the week but had 6 XBH (4 2B and 2 HR) to continue his torrid May. He already has 4 times more doubles than April and infinity more HRs (3 in May vs. 0 in April). His OPS for the month is 1.062.
   
4. Reid Gorecki - Gorecki is hitting like Jason Perry did when he first showed up in Mississippi. He went 10-22 on the week with 2 doubles and 2 HR. Gorecki has been around for a while like Perry, but I think he has more of a chance to help out in the majors at some point than Perry. I don't consider either one a prospect per se but journeyman sluggers could be useful at some point. I doubt it though. Gorecki was also just put on the DL tonight after being named Southern League hitter of the week.
   
5. Cole Rohrbough -  Rohrbough made one appearance this week (tonight actually) and he did it in relief but he went 4 innings allowing 3 hits and striking out 6. He makes the list just because I'm glad to see him pitching. I don't expect him to be in Rome for long really. They are probably going to stretch his arm out a little and if he keeps up his pace from last season he could rise as high as AA this year I think. That curveball of his is nasty.
   

Honorable Mentions:

J. Perry, Mississippi; C. Morton, Richmond; C. Vines, Myrtle Beach; T. Redmond, Mississippi; B. Canizares, Richmond

I don't know whats going to be going on with me the next couple of weeks because there is a decent chance I am getting a promotion and I'm going to have to move, so don't be mad if I'm not consistent getting stuff out even though Martin is back. But I'll do my best.

Richmond 20 - 17 (2-5 WTD)

An uncharacteristic rough week for the Richmond team. They still have a 4 game lead in their division so things aren't scary yet. The offense has been a little weak lately (only 5 hits total in the double header against Louisville). They lead the league in average and are second in OBP but are next to last in SLG. Their pitching has been solid with the third best ERA in the league thus far. That will take a hit with Jo-Jo being called up and the whispers of Charlie Morton starting later this week for the big club.

Mississippi 13 - 25 (4-2 WTD)

Mississippi is playing a little more even keeled as of late. Jason Perry's offense is now combining with a mini resurgence of Kala Kaaihue who has 5 XBH in his last 5 games. He only had 5 in his previous 30 games. You understand if i reserve my excitement for a later date and time. The big news for Mississippi this week is that Tommy Hanson has been promoted to AA to help boost the worst rotation in the league. I think his HRs allowed will go up just because he is such an extreme flyball pitcher, but he hasn't been allowing much contact period this year so I think he will still post some solid lines.

Myrtle Beach 23 - 13 (4-1 WTD)

The Beach leads their division by six games right now. They have been really impressive lately in just about all facets of the game. In the pitching oriented league the Pelicans have the best OPS in the league and lead in HRs, 3Bs and are second in 2Bs. They also own the best ERA in the league. That will probably change a bit now that they have lost Tommy Hanson to AA. It looks like Chris Vines is taking his spot in the rotation after throwing very well out of the pen in extended outings. I still don't have any word on when Gorkys Hernandez will return to action. At this point they don't really need him.

Rome 13-24 (2-4 WTD)

Rome has fallen to last in the division and 13.5 games out of first place. Wow. For a team that has so much talent (especially on the pitching staff) you have to wonder how this has happened. Well the pitching isn't doing all that poorly. They are hovering around the middle of the pack currently with a 3.91 ERA, but the hitting, oh the hitting. They are second to last in the league with .637 OPS and a horribly bad .296 OBP. Heyward and Freeman have turned it up lately but I just don't think two guys can do much for this offense.

Hotlist!!!

1. Jason Heyward - Heyward went 9-23 (.391) on the week and currently is riding a 5 game hitting streak. He doubled in 4 straight games and hit his 4th HR of the season. He even threw in a SB. His Ks have leveled off a bit after having a bad spurt a couple weeks back and current has 27 in 142 ABs which is perfectly acceptable in his first full season. Well it is for me anyways. It is also greatly encouraging to see him hitting for some more power.
   
2. Freddie Freeman - Teammate of Heyward, Freeman helped combine for a solid 3-4 punch all week long. He also went 9-23 adding 6 doubles and his first HR of the year. His AVG has been hovering around .300 the past couple of weeks and his OPS is a solid .802 for the season. If Gilmore can start hitting these three could be a difficult trio to deal with.
3. Charlie Morton - Charlie Morton's on-again/off-again relationship with prospect lists might finally be a steady relationship. He only had one game this week but he pitched 7.1 scoreless innings of relief and lowered his ERA to 1.76 on the season which has started some speculation that he will start Friday since Jurrjens has to pitch on Monday due to the rain-out. Everyone likes this kid right now and I'm more than willing to give him a shot at the rotation.
   
4. Scott Thorman - I'm giving Thorman credit for all of May in this. So far this month he is hitting .417 with 5 doubles and his only HR of the year. For a guy that his .176 in April he is murdering the ball so far this month. His OPS is over 1.000 and he only has 6 K on the month so far. I wonder what got him swinging all of a sudden?
5. Ernesto Mejia - Mejia gets credit for a little more because he is currently on a 13 game hitting streak. What was more impressive was the fact that he had an XBH in 11 straight games during the streak including doubles in 8 straight at one point. He raised his average from .193 to .270 during the streak and has pulled his OPS up to .799 on the season. That is just impressive. He is 22 in HI A so if he gets a bump up and keeps hitting he might someone to keep an eye on. I know there are a couple people here who love him.
   

Honorable Mentions: Ryne Reynoso, Myrtle Beach; J. Perry, MIssissippi; K. Kaaihue, Mississippi; D. Hernandez, Richmond; D. Heath, Myrtle Beach.

Time to take a look at the week in the minors and see who is smoking hot and sort of not in the world of Braves Farmhands.

Richmond 19-12 (4-3 WTD) 1st pl.

Well not a bad week overall for Richmond. They did lose their best pitcher to the big club but received a major boost from Diory Hernandez who just loves Richmond so far. He'll come down eventually but it sure is fun to watch. Not a hotlist performer but certainly doing what he does best - play consistent baseball -  has been Brandon Jones. I think he was hurt a couple weeks ago, but he has hit safely in 8 of his last ten games. I really like him but I don't know if he will ever get a real shot in ATL. The Braves lead their division by 3.5 games.

Mississippi 9-22 (3-3 WTD) 5th pl.

You know these guys are actually 7-7 in their last 14 but when you start 2-15 it is difficult to come back from. Also that 7-7 run coincides with the day after Jason Perry got signed. Coincidence? Or just a good run for a bad team? They have shown some improvement in the stat department now ranking next to last in both OPS and ERA in the Southern League, so they are, in fact, improving. (Also I do know that they aren't 9-22 yet, but they are losing 10-3 in the 6th. If they pull it out I will edit as necessary.)

Myrtle Beach 19-12 (5-2 WTD) 1st pl.

This is a team that is just rolling along and apparently getting better and better even without their best hitter in the lineup to spark the offense. You know what trips me out about these guys too? They have the best OPS in the league by 40 pts. They lead the league in homers, triples, SLG, and are second or third in nearly every other category. That is hilarious considering how horrible their park is, especially for homers. Potomac is the only team that has a better ERA than the Pelicans and, coincidentally, they are the only team with a better record. The birds lead the league in strikeouts by a healthy margin though.

Rome 11-20 (1-6 WTD) 6th pl.

What is crazy about this team is their starting pitching is soooooooo good. I don't have starter/bullpen splits but until tonight (Monday) their starters had only given up 4 runs on the week. Ortegano got hammered after striking out 6 in his first 4 innings. They have the second worst offense in the league and their team ERA is somewhere in the middle of the pack mostly because of their horrid bullpen.

HOTLIST!!!!

1. Diory Hernandez - Currently on a 10 game hit streak and he is destroying AAA pitchers thus far. He is 15-31 in the last week which is just stupid. He has a HR and 4 doubles against only 1 strikeout. He should probably be at the top of the list and in fact ::cut paste::. Now he is :-)
2. Brandon Hicks - Hicks has really been a one man wrecking crew lately going 10-30 this week with 2 HR, 4 doubles, and 7 RBI. The caveat to him is that he Ks a TON (26 in 72 AB) and doesn't really walk much. But I like his bat.
   
3. Tommy Hanson - He probably had the best week yet again, but since it was still his worst week of the season I'm knocking him down a spot. He went 0-1 with 11 IP, 6 hits allowed, 3 ER, 3 BB, 11 K. Definitely not a bad week. I know I am down on his fly ball rate, but he has now had 4 games where he gave up 1 hit or less. Just WOW. Only 26 baserunners allowed in 40 IP.
   
4. Travis Jones -  He is currently on a 9 game hitting streak and is hitting .410 (16-39) over that stretch. More relevant to our discussion he is 11-25 in the last week with a couple homers, a couple doubles and a triple. He has really held down the leadoff spot since Gorkys went down especially teaming with Hicks at the top of the order.
   
5. Jeff Locke - Locke has really started to turn it around as the season has gone on. He threw another 6 scoreless innings and has controlled the ball very well so far. He only has 5 walks in 30 IP and he was really only hit hard in one start. I like him a lot.

Honorable mentions: Char Rodgers, Rome; Eric Barrett, Rome; Brandon Jones, Richmond; Chris Vines, Myrtle Beach; Phil Stockman, Richmond; Ryne Reynoso, Myrtle Beach; Greg Creek, Mississippi.

I was going to do a not list but this took much longer than I was planning for. So maybe next time.