Impressive Stat of the Night: DSL 1B, Aris Alcantara is hitting .412 (14-34) in his last 8 games with 4 2B, 2 3B, 9 RBI, 9 BB, and just 5K. He has 4 three hit games during that span.
Charlotte 8, Gwinnett 4
- N. McLouth 1-4 K, SB(1), .286 Avg
- M. Young 1-2 2B, RBI, 2BB, 2 SB(20), .306 Avg
- W. Timmons 3-4 2B, .290 Avg
- S. Marek 1IP 0H 0R 0BB 0K 1.08 ERA
The Braves bullpen currently features three guys who have sub 1.10 ERAs in Michael Dunn, Craig Kimbrel and the oft forgotten Stephen Marek. In fact, for the year Marek has a 0.74 ERA split between AA and AAA. He pairs that with 44K in 37 innings though he has allowed his share of hits in Gwinnett he has still been very impressive after everyone had written him off last season.
Birmingham 5, Mississippi 11
- A. Richardson 3-5 K, .324 Avg
- E. Duncan 2-3 HR(4), 4 RBI, 2BB, .299 Avg
- W. Cabrera 3-4 2 2B, HR(4), 2 RBI, BB, .335 Avg
I bet you guys can't guess who is going to be my top pick on the hot sheet on Monday? Any takers? Willie Cabrera now has the sole league lead in doubles (ahead of teammate Mauro Gomez) and is just 3 points behind Dave Sappelt for the lead league in batting average as well. He has 9 XBH in his last 10 games and if the season ended today he would have my vote for Braves minor league hitter of the year.
Myrtle Beach @ Wilmington - Postponed
Charleston 3, Rome 1
- RSF 3-4 2B, K, .341 Avg
- C. Bethancourt 3-4 RBI, K, .252 Avg
- B. DeVall 6IP 9H 3R 0BB 5K 4.02 ERA
Brett DeVall had yet another solid, if unspectacular, start. His offense didn't give him a whole lot of help though RIaan Spanjer-Furstenburg continues to get on base and square balls up. I don't know if he is going to flash any power this season because of his hand injury but I have a feeling he might always hit for a high average. Christian Bethancourt is having what I would call a successful season even though his OPS is just above .600 this year (Braeden Schlehuber's was .591 coming into tonight). I have to keep reminding myself that he is just 18 years old, plays the toughest position on the field and has an incredibly impressive arm. I feel like it is still difficult to tell what form his bat will take but he did hit .305 in June and has cut his strike outs way down since a rough May.
Pulaski 1, Danville 7
- A. Simmons 2-4 2B, .250 Avg
- E. Gattis 1-3 2B, K, .353 Avg
- D. Falcon 1-3 3B, 2 RBI, SB(1), .214 Avg
- A. Northcraft 6IP 3H 1R 0BB 6K 5.51 ERA
Aaron Northcraft had an interesting. On top of what you see in his line he also hit three batters and had a wild pitch. He actually hit the first two batters of the 4th inning and then threw a wild pitch. The next batter popped to right which normally would score a run, but Danny Falcon got the ball in to Jakob Dalfonso at first who then tossed it to Andrelton Simmons who tagged the runner from second out when he was going to third. This play was scored as the very rare 9-3-6 double play.
GCL Phillies 7, GCL Baves 5 - 12 Innings
- M. Lipka 1-5 RBI, BB, K, .300 Avg
- R. De Los Santos 2-5 2B, .313 Avg
- S. Sekiguchi 3.1IP 1H 0R 0BB 4K 3.38 ERA
Edison Sanchez got the day off and my second love, William Beckwith, went 1-5 with 2K so I find it difficult to care about this game today. Matt Lipka has been hitting well lately. 20 year old Ramon De Los Santos has hit well in limited playing time so far.
DSL Indians 3, DSL Braves 6
- G. Reyes 2-5 K, 2 SB(14), .290 Avg
- A. Alcantara 3-3 2B, 3B, 3 RBI, 2BB, .313 Avg
- A. Espinosa 5.2IP 7H 2R 0BB 5K 2.19 ERA
11 year old Abraham Espinosa continues to impress in the DSL though he has been hit harder in the last 2 games, giving up 6 run vs just 3 in his first 5 games. He also has walked just one batter in 31.1 innings so far. Gerardo Reyes has been a fantastic leadoff hitter for the Braves as he has shown the ability to get on base and steal bases efficiently (12/14 so far). Aris Alcantara has been the best hitter for this team so far though at 20 years old I want to see him up a level or two before I make any assumptions on future production.