The Rome Braves 2016 team lives on in legend for Braves fans and prospect junkies around baseball, but it’s hard to overstate just how unbelievable that team was. Every single pitcher that started a game in their postseason run has reached the major leagues, an almost unheard of feat for a Low-A team, and two of those four can be considered among the brightest stars in the game.
The roster for the Braves looked very good coming into the year, with recent trade pieces Max Fried, Touki Toussaint, and Ricardo Sanchez joining first round pick Mike Soroka and seventh rounder Patrick Weigel in what was expected to be a strong rotation. Compensation pick Austin Riley and second round pick Lucas Herbert were the well known names on the offensive end, but the season began abuzz as whispers of a young center fielder named Ronald Acuña began to work their way into the mix. The team, though talented, didn’t break well out of the gates, and an injury to Ronald Acuña in late May left the team searching for an answer in the leadoff spot. All of this led to a team searching for answers and they finished the first half of the season 27-42.
The game turned in late June though, and the Braves found themselves streaking into the postseason. Despite the late season promotion of surprise team ERA leader Patrick Weigel, Rome was able to fill their void with a July promotion for first rounder Kolby Allard and Max Fried and Ronald Acuña Jr. each returned from injuries to bolster a team that cruised down the stretch. Austin Riley was the key cog to the offense in the second half, hitting 17 home runs in 66 games. All of this combined for the Braves and they went 24-11 in August and September to finish the second half 43-27 and earn themselves a playoff bid. This set them up to meet the Charleston RiverDogs in the best-of-three first round, and the stage for a run for the ages was set.
Game 1
September 7th, 2016
Charleston RiverDogs @ Rome Braves
Mike Soroka is the man for the Braves now, and he was the man for the Braves then getting the ball in game one of their postseason series. Soroka worked through the Charleston lineup with ease, though he wasn’t without his trouble. Soroka ran into it early with a couple of runners reaching base in the first inning, but he worked out of that unscathed. Ronald Acuña Jr. tripled to open the scoring in the first inning and then came in to score on a ground out and the Braves were off and running. Rome added another in the third inning, and Soroka had all he needed to seal the game with no questions.
Soroka did a little damage to himself in the fifth with a throwing error on a bunt hit that got the runner to third base, and the only run of the game scored off of him. Charleston got the tying run on base in that fifth inning, but Soroka forced a timely double play to escape the mess. Soroka finished 7 ⅔ innings on exactly 100 pitches and turned the ball over to the bullpen. Corbin Clouse recorded a strikeout that closed out the inning, and star closer Devan Watts closed out the game with a scoreless ninth inning. Tim Tebow signed a professional contract with the Mets the next day, which is totally irrelevant but I think it’s a nice stroll down memory lane.
Final Pitching Lines
Mike Soroka 7 ⅔ IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Corbin Clouse ⅓ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Devan Watts 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Final Score
Rome 3, Charleston 1
Game 2
Rome Leads 1-0
September 9th, 2016
Rome Braves @ Charleston RiverDogs
The day after Mississippi lost Ozzie Albies to a broken elbow it was up to the kids in Rome to deliver the Braves some good vibes. Well…..
It was on to first round pick Kolby Allard to deliver Rome to the championship series, and deliver he did. Allard was as good as you can be and he led the Braves to a late lead in the game. A Ray-Patrick Didder RBI hit by pitch, of course, was a defining moment for the Braves in the game and the Braves left the fourth inning with a 3-0 lead. Allard completed two more scoreless innings and he sent the game into the bullpen there. This is where it got dicey for Rome.
Chase Johnson-Mullins came in to pitch the seventh, and the implosion began for Rome. Mullins got a strikeout to open the inning, but a couple of walks and an RBI single put the tying run on base and the Braves were forced to turn back to Clouse in game two. Clouse was not himself, starting his outing off with a walk and then allowing a game-tying two run single. Clouse got a strikeout and then a potential inning-ending ground ball, but Austin Riley made a poor throw and the Braves fell behind 4-3. The offense stuttered and weren’t able to push any runs across, so despite a fantastic Kolby Allard start the Braves were forced into a game three in Charleston’s house.
Final Pitching Lines
Kolby Allard 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Chase Johnson-Mullins ⅓ IP, 1 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Corbin Clouse ⅓ IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Josh Graham 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Brandon White ⅓ IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Final Score
Charleston 4, Rome 3
Game 3
Series Tied 1-1
September 10th, 2016
Rome Braves @ Charleston RiverDogs
In the rubber match of a fantastic series the ball fell to the hands of Maximum Fried, and a legend was born. Austin Riley starred on the offensive end for the Braves, driving in three of their four runs on two hits and sending the message that Rome was not ready to go home yet. Ray Patrick Didder was hit by two pitches in this game, bringing his total to 42 between the regular season and postseason because he’s just wonderful.
Max Fried made it clear from the first pitch of the game that he was in control and he delivered the gem of the series. The only run of the game came off of a hit by pitch and then a double, and interestingly all four of Charleston’s hits in the game (three off of Fried) were doubles. Fried struck out eleven batters over his 7 ⅔ innings on the mound, matching the strikeout output from the entire rest of the team in their 18 ⅓ innings. Fried only walked one batter and threw 74 of his 108 pitches for strikes. Devan Watts finished out the game with 1 ⅓ innings of scoreless pitching and struck out two batters.
Final Pitching Lines
Max Fried 7 ⅔ IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 K
Corbin Clouse 0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Devan Watts 1 ⅓ IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Final Score
Rome 4, Charleston 1
In the series the team finished with a 1.73 ERA over 26 innings, with 22 strikeouts to nine walks. But you may remember that three of those runs all came in one inning. The starting pitching for Rome in this series averaged over seven innings per start, and finished with an ERA of 0.84. One of the most dominant series you could possibly see a pitching staff deliver, and they were only getting started.
Game 1
September 12, 2025
Lakewood BlueClaws @ Rome Braves
After finishing the series against Charleston the Braves had a day to prepare before turning to face the BlueClaws who had swept their first round series and came into this one rolling with a seven game winning streak and wins in nine of their previous ten games. Rome sent their ace Mike Soroka on the mound to give themselves the advantage in the series, but the Braves ran into a buzz saw and Lakewood flipped the momentum by taking a road game. Soroka was far from bad and finished seven innings with zero earned runs on just 90 pitches. The problem was that “earned” qualifier. Soroka got ground ball after ground ball after ground ball, and that didn’t always turn out well for him. After rolling through the first inning with no runs and getting the first two outs in the third, another of those ground balls was directed at Austin Riley who could not make the play. One of the few hard hits balls was doubled into the gap and the BlueClaws took a 1-0 with Franklyn Kilome cruising on the mound. In the seventh a double play ball to Kevin Josephina turned into an error, and a poor hop on a two out ground ball led to the second error of the inning and three unearned runs. In total Soroka forced ten ground ball outs and struck out six batters over his seven innings on the mound. The offense had no answer and was shutout, while the bullpen allowed another run to push the final score to 5-0 BlueClaws.
Final Pitching Lines
Mike Soroka 7 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Matt Custred 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Grayson Jones 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Final Score
Lakewood 5, Rome 0
Game 2
Rome Trails 1-0
September 13th, 2016
Lakewood BlueClaws @ Rome Braves
Rome found themselves backed into a corner needing a win at home to keep from going down 2-0 and trying to break an eight game winning streak for a red hot BlueClaws squad. The job fell on the shoulders of Touki Toussaint, who was making his first postseason start. Next man up set man after man down, cruising for the longest start of the Rome postseason and leading Rome to a commanding game two victory. Rome jumped out early to a 1-0 lead in the second inning, and then Austin Riley continued his offensive tear with a two run home run to expand the lead to 3-0. Rome slowly tacked on more insurance in the game, leaving no room for a comeback as they scored six runs and chased the BlueClaws starter early in the fifth inning. Also, Ray-Patrick was hit by another pitch.
So on to the brilliance of this Touki Toussaint start. An unleashed Toussaint had his best stuff working, arguably the best start of his career to this point, and he excelled in every aspect of his game to shut down the Blue Claws. Toussaint didn’t allow a walk in the game, and worked eight full innings on 90 pitches. The lone damage off of Touki came from a seventh inning home run, long after the Braves had put the game away. Toussaint only faced three batters above the minimum and struck out six batters. Chase Johnson-Mullins redeemed himself after a rough first outing by pitching a perfect ninth inning and striking out two batters.
Final Pitching Lines:
Touki Toussaint 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Chase Johnson-Mullins 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K
Final Score
Rome 6, Lakewood 1
Game 3
Series Tied 1-1
September 15th, 2016
Rome Braves @ Lakewood BlueClaws
Kolby Allard was back on the bump to try to steal a road game away from the BlueClaws, and he had no problems one-upping his first postseason game with another gem. The Braves needed every bit of that, as the Lakewood pitching staff was strong against them. Austin Riley was the star again, going yard for the third time this postseason to lead the Braves ahead. When the Lakewood starter departed in the fifth inning the Braves were holding on to a 2-0 lead and were leaning on the pitching staff to close it out. Allard went another inning, and while he was the least efficient of the Braves starters and only finished six innings in his two games he was also the most effective once again shutting down the opposition with a brilliant game. Allard upped his game this go around, only walking one batter and spiking his strikeout total to nine.
The Braves once again turned to Chase Johnson-Mullins in the seventh, and he delivered a lock down performance to bring the Braves closer to that win. Johnson-Mullins pitched two scoreless innings, allowed only one hit, and sent the Braves to the ninth and closer Devan Watts still clinging to that two run lead. Watts was once again lights out, closing out the game with a perfect ninth inning and a strikeout. Watts finished his postseason as an unsung star, with 3 ⅓ innings, only two hits allowed, no runs, no walks, four strikeouts, and three saves.
Final Pitching Lines
Kolby Allard 6 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K
Chase Johnson-Mullins 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Devan Watts 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K
Final Score
Rome 2, Lakewood 0
Game 4
Rome Lead 2-1
September 16th, 2016
Rome Braves @ Lakewood BlueClaws
The Braves had well and truly stolen the momentum of the series, and they now turned to Max Fried who hoped to deliver them a clinching win in game four. Max Fried rose to the challenge in a big way. Fried cruised through the first three innings with six strikeouts and the game went into the bottom of the fourth with the score still at zero. A leadoff single gave Lakewood a chance in the inning, and a two out double brought in the first run of the game. Fried prevented more damage with his eight strikeout of the game but Rome found themselves needing to come from behind to win the game.
The fifth inning belonged to Rome, and got started with a bunt base hit. By the catcher. Alejandro Salazar, one of those who committed an error in that rough game one, tied the game two batters later with a base hit and the inning was still alive. Anfernee Seymour drove in the go ahead run with a double, and the lead swelled to 3-1. Also, Ray-Patrick Didder was hit by another pitch if you’re counting. If you’re not, that’s five this postseason. Fried was lights out for the remainder of his start, adding five more strikeouts over the final three innings to give him a career high thirteen. A career high in strikeouts, in a potential championship clinching game. Rome, having added three runs in the top of that seventh inning, could smell a championship. The bullpen made sure there was no drama. Josh Graham went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the eighth inning, and Corbin Clouse was called on to complete the game. Clouse locked it down, striking out two in a scoreless inning, and the celebration was on.
Final Pitching Lines
Max Fried 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 13 K
Josh Graham 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K
Corbin Clouse 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
Final Score
Rome 6, Lakewood 1
The most incredible part of this postseason run was just how consistently great the team was. Only one pitcher, in the entire postseason, allowed multiple earned runs in an outing. The bullpen locked it down in the championship series with one run allowed in eight innings and finished the postseason with a 2.84 ERA over 12 ⅔ innings. The starting pitching, however, was the story.
The numbers
Over seven starts the Rome pitching staff averaged seven innings per start. Outside of the four unearned runs in game one of the championship series not one starter allowed more than a run. Max Fried had a 1.23 ERA in his two postseason starts. That was the highest ERA on the staff. In 49 ⅓ innings pitched the Rome Braves starters struck out 50 batters, walked 8, and had a 0.73 ERA. Rome’s starters had more strikeouts than baserunners allowed. In the Championship series Rome’s starters had a 0.64 ERA and struck out eleven batters per nine innings with one 1.3 walks per nine. The pitching staff as a whole had an ERA of 0.75 in the championship series, and across the 62 innings constituting the postseason they had a 1.16 ERA and 65 strikeouts to 15 walks. If one person on a pitching staff pitched this well in the postseason it would be incredible. For the ENTIRE TEAM to put up superstar numbers across a seven game stretch like this is virtually unheard of.
Rome’s Starting Pitchers Totals
Mike Soroka 14 ⅔ IP, 14 H, 5 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, 0.61 ERA
Kolby Allard 12 IP, 9 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 10 K, 0.00 ERA
Max Fried 14 ⅔ IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 24 K, 1.23 ERA
Touki Toussaint 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 1.13 ERA
A team expected to be stars not only reached but exceeded expectations and continue to do so to this day. Three years after his Low A postseason dominance, a 21 year old Mike Soroka went into St. Louis and shut down the Cardinals’s bats to the tune of 7 innings, 2 hits allowed, 1 run allowed, no walks, and seven strikeouts. While Toussaint is still struggling to find his footing, Kolby has seemingly earned himself a starter’s job out in Texas. Soroka and Fried are leading the next generation of Braves pitchers over in Atlanta. The continued success of this pitching staff, along with Patrick Weigel who will likely find himself in the major leagues, the superstar in Ronald Acuña, and likely MLB regular Austin Riley, means this team has produced an astonishing amount of major league talent and will go down as one of the most memorable teams in minor league history. Together they put together perhaps the greatest postseason run in the history of professional baseball.
I would also like to send a shout out to Miranda Black with the Rome Braves. At the time of writing this article, the MiLB site was not loading box scores and she was quickly able to get me box scores that I could reference for this article. We’re always so thankful to Rome for how helpful they are and how much access they allow us. A truly A1 minor league operation and we could not do what we do without the cooperation of them and other minor league teams.
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