MINORS FINAL: Thursday, 4/9/15; no offense? no-hitter!

[rico43]

ALL TIMES EDT
CLASS AAA

Durham 1, Gwinnett 0

LP: Foltynewicz (0-1) 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, HR.
Marimon 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.
Kohn 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
Hunter 1-3; E. Perez 1-4, CS, Peraza 1-4; Cunningham 0-4, K.

CLASS AA

Tennessee 7, Mississippi 2

LP: Hursh (0-1) 3 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 1 K.
Weber 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.
Thomas 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K.
M. Smith 1-3, BB, 2 PO; Ruiz 2-4, 2 2B, R, RBI; Rohm 1-4, RBI; Lipka 1-4; Castro 1-4, R.

ADVANCED CLASS A

Salem 2, Carolina 0 (7, rain)

Halted by rain with one out in 7th, combination no-hitter with Dahlstrand 6 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 4 K
LP: Gil (0-1) 4.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, HR.
Walters 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
No hits thru 6 innings.

CLASS A

Asheville 4, Rome 3

LP: Povse (0-1) 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, HR.
Salazar 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K.
Edgerton 1-3; Davidson 1-3, HR (1st), RBI, K, 2 E (RF); Curcio 1-4, 3B, RBI.


TRANSACTIONS: Signed RHP Tyler Jones (dropped by Twins); released , *RHP Matt Capps (resigned to minor league deal), RHP Danny Carela, RHP Abraham Espinosa, RHP Andry Ubiera, LHP Michael Flores, LHP Carlos Perez, LHP Leyson Septimo, LHP Dail Villanueva, C Blake Austin, C Yenier Bello, 1B Mike Dodig, 1B Edison Sanchez, 2B Luis Monasterio, 2B Mikey Reynolds, 2B Ross Wilson.
Among cuts were Cuban signee Bello, high draft pick but suspended Reynolds; long suffering LHP prospect Perez.

[clvclv]

A little surprised they cut bait on Ubiera this quickly personally.

[50PoundHead]

It's Friday already? I must have slept through Thursday.

[Tapate50]

GLAD TO SEE THIS BACK!

[dak]

Thanks for the updates Rico. Pretty solid start from Folty. Only 57 pitches in his 4 IP. That's more efficient than he was in any of his ST starts.

[50PoundHead]

Not much hitting thus far this evening.

[sturg33]

Not much hitting thus far this evening.

No offense is the new organizational philosophy

[Heyward]

No offense is the new organizational philosophy

you're just mad Heyward is gone

[50PoundHead]

B. Davidson goes deep.

[sturg33]

you're just mad Heyward is gone

I think you mean Babe

[sturg33]

B. Davidson goes deep.


I got some high hopes for this kid

[Julio3000]

B. Davidson goes deep.

Good to see him hitting for power. I'm hoping to see him in action a couple of times this year. Based on the tape that we saw after the draft, I like his swing.

[chop2chip]

B. Davidson goes deep.The most important player in the system this year.

[Heyward]

The most important player in the system this year.

Yep, need one of the hitters, Ruiz or Davidson to develop offensively as a long-term option.

Ideally both.

[Braves1976]

Nice start for Davidson with the bat, also good to see Mallex Smith starting well. So far he's 1-1 with 2 BB's leading off for Mississippi. Hunter started fine too, 1-3, I hope Hunter gets off to a strong start and gets back to the Majors sometime this year.

I also noted Ruiz had a double.

[Tapate50]

Povse with a nice line. He did great work last year as well .

[MadduxFanII]

Regardless of my opinions on the re-build, it is nice to have a few guys at every level to keep track of.

[thethe]

The most important player in the system this year.

I think its between him and Mallex Smith. I understand the Carolina league is a crazy hitters league but to have that type of leadoff hitter would be incredible. Imagine what a 350+ OBP 50+ steal guy could mean to the team that has doubles power and doesn't strike out a crazy amount? Yum

[thethe]

Also, Mallex Smith has 2 PO's at first. Is he supposed to have a big arm?

[50PoundHead]

Also, Mallex Smith has 2 PO's at first. Is he supposed to have a big arm?

He got picked off twice at first.

Another 2B for Ruiz.

[thethe]

He got picked off twice at first.

Another 2B for Ruiz.

Ah....read that wrong clearly. Not good.

[Deester11]

I was at the game (Rome) and sat in front of Braxton's dad... I got video of his first hr and I'll have a quick report tomorrow on Povse, Braxton, Ozzie Albies(wow defensively), Tanner Murphy and Bryan DeLarosa (meh)

[cajunrevenge]

Good to see Braxton get that first Homer out of the way after hitting none in rookie ball.

[sturg33]

He got picked off twice at first.

Another 2B for Ruiz.

This made me laugh so much

[CyYoung31]

I'm surprised Davidson hasn't been traded yet, considering he was a Wren guy.

[Tapate50]

I'm surprised Davidson hasn't been traded yet, considering he was a Wren guy.

Want to see what we have after that first TJ surgery.

[jimsnores]

B. Davidson goes deep.

Good sign. None last year. Maybe he will develop as hoped. Nice to see Folty not get lit up. Wonder if Hursh just had an anomylous start. Hope so.

Mallex Smith getting on base twice is also good. It'll be fun to keep up with some of the high end prospects, now that we have several. Anxious to see if Albies can carry over the awesomeness to another level.

[Russ2dollas]

Davidson is a big deal for us b/c he's a hitter and a first rounder. But I don't think he's close to most important. He's too far away.

Ruiz is the most important. Important that he hits and can play 3B. IF, big if, Ruiz wows this year he could be the opening day 3B (maybe 21 days in) next year. 2016 is an aggressive but not crazy ETA for him. That would be HUGE and would impact what we do with guys like Peterson and Paraza (play OF?).

Smith I don't really believe in, but hope to be wrong. Still feel like he's 2017 or 2018. And if Ruiz locks down 3rd, then maybe he's trade bait if Peraza is in CF.

[Deester11]

Ok, as promised, here is a little armchair scouting that I observed last night in Rome. I usually get in about 10 Rookie and 20 other Minor league games at higher levels. As mentioned, I sat in front of Braxton's dad so here are a few things of note:

Braxton - First of all, his dad said that he could hit bombs all day long, but that Braxton decided he wanted to be a higher average hitter. You can see it in his approach and he had a pretty good approach from what I saw: As a batter, he has a swing that is somewhat similar to Freddie's. Quick, short stroke, good approach to the ball. There was a high and outside pitch that he didn't catch up to, but the umpire was decidedly uneven calling him out on an inside fastball that was a foot inside. On the HR that he hit, it was an opposite field type that easily had the distance and after making two errors on one play, I said, here comes his first HR...it was nice! I even got it on film. As for his fielding, he moved from left to right after the first three innings and error(s) aside, he did ok. He's got a good enough arm, but after bobbling a hit, he threw a 5 hopper back to the infield that got away from everyone leading to his second error. I wouldn't say he's a butcher, but he's got work to do.

Max Povse - There was no radar gun from what I could see, but it "seemed" that he was sitting at around 90-93 occasionally ramping it up to mid-90's on a few batters. He was throwing some heat, but I was interested in his offspeed stuff. I thought his changeup was devastating when he set up the batters with his fastball. His curve was a little slurvy to me, but when he threw it again off of his fastball, he made a couple of hitters look foolish. Honestly, his only blemish was on a 93-ish MPH fastball that straightened out and Drew Weeks hit it to the moon. His defense let him down, but he was dealing. Tall pitcher, downward plane type of delivery and looks to be a workhorse type of pitcher. I could see a #3 pitcher on this night and he could add to an already impressive array of SP's in the system. I liked what I saw.

Ozzie Albies - Well.....at the plate, he seemed kinda unsure. I don't think he was intimidated at all, but he looked like the batboy during his first few at bats....his last at-bat that I saw he was overmatched. Now, that's the bad, I will say that he's got a great approach though. He takes what the pitcher is giving him and I can see why he did so well last year. He'll have to adjust, but I'm not worried about that sample size. THE FIELD: WOW! and then WOW some more. I was watching a shorter Andrelton at times. His arm is nowhere near as strong obviously, but it plays enough. He made one play behind second that was all quickness. The ball was hit up the middle and he fielded the ball behind the bag in the outfield, 360 spun and almost got the runner. He handled high hoppers, smoked line drives and easy plays flawlessly. Loved what I saw from that prospective. He has speed and quickness.

Tanner Murphy - I know a lot of people are high on him. Small sample size, I was OK with him, but not necessarily wowed. Defensively, Povse didn't help him and a guy stole third, but on one attempted base stealer, he double clutched. I think it was a scout next to me or something that said he's got to catch and throw. Well that's the name of the game for a catcher. I think he'll be ok. I was more looking at the offensive potential they talk about. He wasn't lost, but didn't look comfortable in the box to me. The last time up, he did and I think hit it to the second baseman. I'm hoping he'll turn it up a notch. Looks solid if nothing else.

Bryan De La Rosa - We drafted him high on hit potential. He DH'd so I don't think I saw him catch. In any case, he didn't wow me at all with his bat. He did hit one shot that the 3B had time to make a sandwich and use miracle whip and slice tomatoes and he still threw him out. But again, this was small size so I didn't take much away from what I saw. Stocky....squat..body of a catcher, runs like a catcher with a refrigerator on his back. LOL

Ok, that's a little bit of what I saw. Or rather the prospects that I paid the most attention to. Zach Quintana came on to pitch and I will only say that he was ok. I didn't discern that he would be a top 25 prospect for us in the future. He was short, quick to the plate, but nothing extraordinary.

Hope you enjoy.

[JohnAdcox]

Thanks for that, mate. An awesome read, and much appreciated. Makes me want to make the Rome drive a lot this year.

[Deester11]

Thanks John. It was pretty cool talking to Braxton's dad. I think he named every HR he hit in tournaments leading up to the draft. Great atmosphere too. I'll take in quite a few this year I think.

[gilesfan]

I'm surprised Davidson hasn't been traded yet, considering he was a Wren guy.

That and he goes against the organizational philosophy of not hitting homers.

[JohnAdcox]

Thanks John. It was pretty cool talking to Braxton's dad. I think he named every HR he hit in tournaments leading up to the draft. Great atmosphere too. I'll take in quite a few this year I think.

If I run into you, a cool beer is on me. Meaning I will buy you one, not … never mind.

[Russ2dollas]

That and he goes against the organizational philosophy of not hitting homers.

according to his dad via deester he's already changing his approach to be less HR and more avg.......Message received.

For those that have seen him, does he have big opportunities to clean up his body? Hard to tell with baseball uniforms but he looked like he could lean up some. If so that could help with his mobility in the field. He's going to have to hit a ton b/c I still think he's 1B/LF/DH. Hope I'm wrong.

[50PoundHead]

Why would we want Davidson swinging from the heels trying to hit 450 foot bombs at this stage of his career. He's a big kid and the power will be there. Look at hitters like Don Mattingly and George Brett. They worked on contact/batsmanship first and then starting concentrating on driving the ball to a greater extent. Every hitter is different and I'm not suggesting that Davidson will end up becoming Mattingly or Brett, but if he stays selective (which he showed last year), works on contact, and then builds that up to delivering power, he could really be something.

[zbhargrove]

For once, I just want to see one of our prospects go ape and hit like 30-40 homers in a minor league season with a high average. I can't remember the last big time complete power prospect.

[50PoundHead]

For once, I just want to see one of our prospects go ape and hit like 30-40 homers in a minor league season with a high average. I can't remember the last big time complete power prospect.

I think Andruw was the last guy we had like that.

[yeezus]

For once, I just want to see one of our prospects go ape and hit like 30-40 homers in a minor league season with a high average. I can't remember the last big time complete power prospect.

those guys are few and far between, and even when they do it, plenty of them don't end up as productive major leaguers.

would definitely be fun though.

[smootness]

I'm pretty sure when Davidson was drafted, the highest praise he received was in regard to his swing and approach at the plate. He has power potential, but I'm pretty sure he's always been considered more of a good overall hitter, not a masher.

Similar to Ruiz in that respect.