It was a busy day on the farm for Atlanta Braves affiliates with five games going and four of those featuring Braves prospects. Jared Johnson was the biggest news of the day as he made his season debut, but he wasn’t the biggest performance. Nolan Kingham spun a gem for the Mississippi Braves while Shea Langeliers had another big day at the plate. Down in Rome, we had a doubleheader featuring Spencer Strider on the mound and Michael Harris returning to the lineup.
(18-17) Gwinnett Stripers 1, (14-21) Memphis Redbirds 6
- Cristian Pache, PH: BB, .330/.360/.708
- Orlando Arcia, SS: 2-4, .324/.386/.577
- Johan Camargo, RF: 2-4, 2B, .313/.424/.506
- Jasseel De La Cruz, SP: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 4.97 ERA
- Jesse Chavez, RP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA
Gwinnett had a pretty quiet day all around, with neither Pache or Waters starting the game and Jasseel De La Cruz having his worst start of the season. The offense struggled quite a bit throughout the game with Orlando Arcia’s two hits and Johan Camargo’s two hits being the bulk of the performance on that front. There was only one other Gwinnett hit in the game, this from Sean Kazmar. Arcia and Camargo strung together consecutive singles in the top of the sixth inning for Gwinnett, then Cristian Pache made a pinch hit appearance and drew a seven pitch walk to load the bases. Phillip Ervin grounded out to shortstop to score a run but that was the only one of the day for the Stripers.
Jasseel De La Cruz has been extremely effective, especially early in games for Gwinnett, but today he could not get his control under wraps and struggled to make it through innings. He faced five batters in the first, threw 25 pitches, walked a batter and allowed a run with no strikeouts. His second inning was better as he allowed only one hit and struck out the final batter of the inning, then after a walk to lead off the third he forced a double play and finished that inning in only seven pitches. Unfortunately, the start came crashing down in the fourth inning when after a leadoff strikeout he allowed a walk. Two hits later Memphis had added a run and were threatening for more before De La Cruz walked another batter to load the bases. De La Cruz fell behind 3-0 to the next batter, but rallied back to get the strikeout and set himself up to end the inning, but he couldn’t get out of it and a two-run single ended his day. Ty Tice pitched 1 1/3 innings and the only damage against him came on a solo home run in the fifth inning. Victor Arano’s struggles continued as he allowed a run on three hits. Jesse Chavez has had a nice start to the season and pitched the most effectively of any Striper with two perfect innings and four strikeouts.
Next Game: 6/13 @ (12-20) Memphis Redbirds @ 3:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
GWN: TBD
MEM: Bernardo Flores Jr. (2-2, 5.48 ERA)
(19-16) Mississippi Braves 3, (13-22) Biloxi Shuckers 0
- Justin Dean, CF: 1-4, .211/.348/.358
- Trey Harris, RF: 1-4, .221/.307/.283
- Shea Langeliers, C: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI, .269/.387/.613
- Nolan Kingham, SP: 8.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, 3.02 ERA
Nolan Kingham was the show for Mississippi, and all the offense had to do was put up a few runs to support him as he mowed through the Biloxi lineup. It wasn’t so clear early if Mississippi was going to get a run as the first ten batters of the game went down in order before a Riley Unroe single. That was the only baserunner they had through four innings and they had already struck out seven times. Trey Harris led off in the fifth with a single, but he was erased on a double play that kept the game scoreless. Finally the seventh inning came, and Shea Langeliers led off with a single. After a walk to move Langeliers to second, Jefrey Ramos came up with the big hit to put Mississippi on top and that was all they would need in the game. Langeliers added on insurance with a monster home run in the eighth to make it 3-0.
Shea Langeliers with the absolute TANK SHOT.
— Gaurav (@gvedak) June 13, 2021
2-for-4 HR (9) 2 RBI, 2 R pic.twitter.com/rTRbrInZy3
Nolan Kingham isn’t the sexiest arm in the system but he’s capable of putting together some really good starts on a sporadic basis and this was an example of that. Kingham scattered hits through the game, with individual hits in the first, fourth, and seventh that came of no consequence. Mississippi got him his run in the seventh and he locked down the Shuckers before reaching his pitch count limit with two down in the ninth. Kurt Hoekstra finished off a shutout victory. Kingham was at 91 pitches through his 8 2⁄3 innings and had a shot at a Maddux, but it seemed like those 90 were the limit he was allowed to go. He didn’t walk or hit a batter and struck out five, pretty evenly spreading the batted balls between fly outs and ground outs. He threw 68 of those 91 pitches for strikes.
Man, Nolan Kingham is absolutely dealing tonight.
— Gaurav (@gvedak) June 13, 2021
8 IP 3H 0R 0BB 5K
82 pitches (61 strikes)
27 batters faced pic.twitter.com/cG7ubsis7e
Next Game: 6/13 @ (13-22) Biloxi Shuckers @ 2:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
MIS: Hayden Deal (1-2, 4.05 ERA)
BLX: Noah Zavolas (2-2, 6.18 ERA)
(18-16) Rome Braves 6, (14-19) Asheville Tourists 2 Game 1
- Logan Brown, CF: 0-3, RBI, .220/.346/.399
- Bryce Ball, 1B: 1-3, RBI, .207/.342/.370
- Jesse Franklin, RF: 1-3, HR, RBI, .243/.288/.437
- Spencer Strider, SP: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. 3.12 ERA
- Kasey Kalich, RP: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1.62 ERA
Rome stayed hot with a sweep of Asheville over the double header. The teams traded zeroes through the first two innings but in the bottom of the third, Rome broke through by scoring on a double steal and never looked back. Jesse Franklin added to the lead in the fourth inning by crushing his fifth home run of the season in his last nine games. Asheville fought back to tie the game in the fifth inning before Rome put the pedal down. They loaded the bases on singles with one out and Rome Braves legend Kevin Josephina came through with a two-run double that put Rome up for good. Bryce Ball added an RBI single up the middle and Josephina came in to score the fourth run on a ground out by Logan Brown.
Jesse Franklin hit his fifth home run for Rome. He's hitting .245/.304/.441. He has a six game hitting streak and in his last 15 games he is hitting .300/.364/.660 with 5 home runs and 3 doubles pic.twitter.com/afZDwVCG72
— Atlanta Braves Farm System Updates (@BravesMILB) June 12, 2021
Spencer Strider allowed two runs. I’ll allow you time to pick your jaw up off the ground before we continue. Strider was not as sharp as we’ve seen him in past games, in fact this is the only game he’s had a strikeout rate less than 9 K/9, more than three hits, and more than one run allowed. All that to say, two runs in 4 2⁄3 innings is his absolute worst this season which is fairly impressive. Strider had to contend with baserunners in each inning, and for the first four, he was able to scatter those around and work around them to get through innings. In the fifth those started to string together a bit and he allowed both of his runs that inning on three hits before being removed with two outs. Zach Daniels pitched 1 1⁄3 innings of relief and walked two batters. Kasey Kalich finished off the game with a scoreless inning despite allowing two hits.
There is so much to like about @SpencerSTRIDer pic.twitter.com/pR3UYQ39iF
— Gaurav (@gvedak) June 12, 2021
(19-16) Rome Braves 5, (14-20) Asheville Tourists 2 Game 2
- Michael Harris, CF: 1-2, 2B, BB, .350/.374/.496
- Brett Langhorne, 1B: 2-3, 2B, 3 RBI, .208/.333/.302
- Alan Rangel, SP: 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K. 6.20 ERA
- Marrick Crouse, RP: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
Michael Harris returned to the lineup after being removed in Thursday’s game for what we believed to be precaution following what was clearly a very minor injury considering he’s already back playing. So of course he did as he does and drew a walk and had a double in the game. That walk came as part of a huge rally in the fifth inning, and it loaded the bases for Rusber Estrada. Estrada drew a walk of his own, and then Brett Langhorne cleared the bases with a double to put Rome on top 4-2. A single from Garrett Saunders brought home Langhorne for the fifth Rome run of the evening.
Michael Harris (@MoneyyyMikeee) 1-for-2 2B (8), BB.
— Gaurav (@gvedak) June 13, 2021
Up to an .870 OPS on the season now. pic.twitter.com/A9KMwYisjK
Alan Rangel got off to a horrible start in this game and before he had recorded his second out he had already allowed two runs. Then he just shut the Tourists down. He finished off the first inning with two strikeouts as part of a string of nine consecutive batters retired with seven of those being strikeouts. He got through five innings with a season high eight strikeouts and Rome gave him the lead in the bottom of the inning. Marrick Crouse held the rest of the game together with two scoreless innings and he struck out two batters with no walks. Crouse has major control problems, but when he can make competitive pitches he absolutely has some nasty stuff that can get hitters out.
Marrick Crouse (@MarrickC) just did this man dirty. pic.twitter.com/UNrVMI72WU
— Gaurav (@gvedak) June 13, 2021
Next Game: 6/12 vs (14-20) Asheville Tourists @ 2:00 PM ET
Probable Starters
ROM: Bryce Elder (1-0, 2.65 ERA)
ASH: Juan Lopez (1-2, 8.02 ERA)
(16-19) Augusta GreenJackets 1, (17-17) Myrtle Beach Pelicans 8
- Javier Valdes, C: 2-3, 2B, RBI, .263/.359/.329
- Willie Carter, RF: 0-4, .327/.430/.430
- Vaughn Grissom, SS: 1-4, .290/.390/.370
- Jared Johnson, SP: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 10.13 ERA
- Chad Bryant, RP: 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 4.50 ERA
Augusta kind of got destroyed in this game but Jared Johnson made his season debut so I’m happy either way. Augusta got down 2-0 in the second inning but that changed when Willie Carter reached on an error that was originally called a triple but changed. He came in to score on a Javier Valdes single and Augusta was off and rolling. Nah just kidding they didn’t come close to scoring again. Vaughn Grissom had another hit at the plate, and it’s notable as well that he is getting more time over at shortstop while they shift Cam Shepherd to second base.
Johnson went 1-2-3 in the first inning with two strikeouts. This comes against Yohendrick Pinango, who has the sixth lowest K rate in the league pic.twitter.com/ql3qVmcTiv
— Atlanta Braves Farm System Updates (@BravesMILB) June 12, 2021
Jared Johnson, the Braves 14th rounder in 2019 and a very raw but hard throwing right handed pitcher, made his debut for Augusta the we’ve been waiting quite awhile for. Johnson came out firing with his high 90’s fastball, but his start was overall not the best on paper. Myrtle Beach hit the ball fairly hard, especially as Johnson got tired, but his slider got a bunch of swings and misses and the fastball comes out of his hand with some juice. Location is a problem but the stuff is there for Johnson, and overall he was kind of exactly where I thought he would be. He is a bit of a project, but one with an immense amount of potential if it pans out. The rest of the relief crew didn’t have much luck themselves, with Chad Bryant allowing a run over 1 2⁄3 innings. Lisandro Santos had four strikeouts in 2 1⁄3 innings, but also allowed a home run and two runs. Gabriel Rodriguez allowed three walks and two unearned runs in his 1 1⁄3 innings on the mound, and Kenny Wells finished off with the best outing of the day striking out three batters in a scoreless inning.
Next Game: 6/13 vs (17-17) Myrtle Beach Pelicans @ 2:05 PM ET
Probable Starters
AUG: TBD
MB: TBD