4/29 FRIDAY MINORS FINAL .. Weber's woe continue

[rico43]

FRIDAY'S MINOR LEAGUE SCOREBOARD

CLASS AAA

Columbus 4 Gwinnett 1

SP: C. Kelley 7 IP, 1 H 0 ER(1R), 6 BB, 6 K
LP: Weber (0-1) 2 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

Brignac 3-4, 2 2B, R, 2 E
Tuiososopo 1-3, 2B, RBI

CLASS AA

Mississippi 5, Jacksonville 4

WP: Ellis (3-0) 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K
Kent 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K
Roney (Save, 1) 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K

Astudillo 1-3, 2B, 3 RBI, STRIKEOUT!
Albies 1-3, R, 2 BB

ADVANCED CLASS A

Carolina 4, Lynchburg 3

WP: E. Franco (2-1) 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Bird 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Salazar 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
McLaughlin (Save, 1) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Swanson 1-3, 2B, R, BB, SB
Davidson 1-3, R, RBI, BB
Meneses 2-4

CLASS A

Hagerstown 3, Rome 1

SP: Soroka 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER(1R), 0 BB, 6 K (1.33)
LP: Custred 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K

Dykstra 2-3, R
Riley 0-4, RBI

[clvclv]

The fact that Michael John Graydon Soroka may not have a win before the month of May starts has to qualify as the most shocking story in Braves circles so far this year.

[bravesfanMatt]

it kills me that Soroka is 0 -2!!..


Ozzie is hitting .370/.433/.519/.952 and the last 7 days.. .474/.500/.789/1.289

Swanson seems to be struggling the few days.. but when you look at his OBP the last 7 days, it is clear, they are just not pitching to him. he has a .500 OBP the last 7 days.. and .438 overall..

[50PoundHead]

Soroka's stat line thus far this season is nothing short of amazing: 7.7/1 K:BB, 1.00 WHIP, and 3.11/1 GO/AO. When you consider he has more Ks than IP, it all spells d-e-a-l-i-n-g. Add to all of this he's only 18 and we might have something.

[yeezus]

it kills me that Soroka is 0 -2!!..


Ozzie is hitting .370/.433/.519/.952 and the last 7 days.. .474/.500/.789/1.289

Swanson seems to be struggling the few days.. but when you look at his OBP the last 7 days, it is clear, they are just not pitching to him. he has a .500 OBP the last 7 days.. and .438 overall..

I feel like you can't be considered struggling when you have a .500 OBP.

[nsacpi]

Soroka's stat line thus far this season is nothing short of amazing: 7.7/1 K:BB, 1.00 WHIP, and 3.11/1 GO/AO. When you consider he has more Ks than IP, it all spells d-e-a-l-i-n-g. Add to all of this he's only 18 and we might have something.

The two big jumps in the minors are AA and full-season. I think it is a very big deal to see Albies doing what he is in AA and Soroka and Acuna doing so well in their first full-season league at age 18.

[bravesfanMatt]

I feel like you can't be considered struggling when you have a .500 OBP.

that is what I am saying. his average has dipped and he is not making much of an impact this last week.. but he has been walked 5 times in 4 games. I think generally they are just pitching around him and he might be pressing to hit the ball, so he is swinging at garbage.

[50PoundHead]

The two big jumps in the minors are AA and full-season. I think it is a very big deal to see Albies doing what he is in AA and Soroka and Acuna doing so well in their first full-season league at age 18.

I wonder if there will be temptation to bump Soroka up to Carolina. I don't think I would if I were in charge, but given the fans are becoming increasingly impatient with the whole rebuild thing, it wouldn't surprise me if promotion policy became more aggressive. Of course, it's still early so we don't know if Soroka's performance is going to stay at it current level. I would hold off until the last couple weeks of the season to give him a couple of High A starts provided everything stays on its current course.

[bravesfanMatt]

I wonder if there will be temptation to bump Soroka up to Carolina. I don't think I would if I were in charge, but given the fans are becoming increasingly impatient with the whole rebuild thing, it wouldn't surprise me if promotion policy became more aggressive. Of course, it's still early so we don't know if Soroka's performance is going to stay at it current level. I would hold off until the last couple weeks of the season to give him a couple of High A starts provided everything stays on its current course.



I wouldn't move too many guys until at least July. no need to over react to a small sample size. Ozzie is about the only guy that is becoming more and more clear he needs to move soon. and even then, I might just let him continue to crush AA for a bit.

[smootness]

it kills me that Soroka is 0 -2!!..


Ozzie is hitting .370/.433/.519/.952 and the last 7 days.. .474/.500/.789/1.289

Swanson seems to be struggling the few days.. but when you look at his OBP the last 7 days, it is clear, they are just not pitching to him. he has a .500 OBP the last 7 days.. and .438 overall..

He needs to go ahead and be promoted. There is no benefit to him seeing A+ pitchers.

[bravesfanMatt]

He needs to go ahead and be promoted. There is no benefit to him seeing A+ pitchers.


I think Swanson will be once Luis V. is off the Disabled list. that way Luis can slot into SS and Dansby will move up to AA to replace Ozzie who would move up to AAA..

Gwinnett might be pretty good if Mallex gets sent back down in May and Ozzie is promoted.. then they have Sims/Ellis/Jenkins pitching (yes, I think Ellis moves up when Folty is promoted)

[nsacpi]

Braves history has been to let their younger prospects stay in low A the wole season. With pitchers there also tends to be a multi year plan for gradually building up how many innings they pitch. My guess is Soroka spends the year in Rome.
I wonder if there will be temptation to bump Soroka up to Carolina. I don't think I would if I were in charge, but given the fans are becoming increasingly impatient with the whole rebuild thing, it wouldn't surprise me if promotion policy became more aggressive. Of course, it's still early so we don't know if Soroka's performance is going to stay at it current level. I would hold off until the last couple weeks of the season to give him a couple of High A starts provided everything stays on its current course.

[50PoundHead]

Braves history has been to let their younger prospects stay in low A the wole season. With pitchers there also tends to be a multi year plan for gradually building up how many innings they pitch. My guess is Soroka spends the year in Rome.

I sincerely hope that is how they handle Soroka. And Acuna for that matter. They are on schedule to be in AA before a 40-man decision looms, so unless either of them goes off the charts, I hope they get to keep their feet under them in Rome. It is important to note that the both Andruw and Chipper Jones spent their first full season entirely in Low A. The Braves pushed Klesko more aggressively for some reason (he actually played more games in Low A than the Rookie League the year he was drafted). I realize it's a different time and different guys, but I just don't like force-feeding guys. It may be different with Albies, but I don't want to get ahead of myself with him either.

[smootness]

I think we should keep Albies in AA when Swanson is promoted. Let them alternate between SS and 2B and see which combination works best. The decision will likely come down to who plays 2B, not who plays SS best...because they seem to play SS equally well.

[bravescountry]

Everybody is doing well in our system who is highly rated.
Sims has the most K's in the minors,
Soroka is dominating A ball hitters (think he should be promoted mid-season to be challenged)
Chris Ellis is pitching better than expected
Newcomb is pitching well, but he still needs to fix his control issues
Swanson is doing Swanson
Albies is raking- 3rd youngest in AA and has the 3rd highest batting average
Touki has struggled but his outing yesterday was encouraging
Acuna is playing well
Blair pitched well today (in mlb though)
Riley has been hitting well for the past couple days
Fried is showing exciting stuff
Ruiz is crushing in AAA
Sanchez is pitching well
and the list continues...

[Braves1976]

Astudillo finally struck out, but it came on a foul tip held onto by the catcher. So even when he K's he makes contact, lol.

[ramadon101]

Astudillo finally struck out, but it came on a foul tip held onto by the catcher. So even when he K's he makes contact, lol.

we should target the pitcher who actually struck Astudillo out. He must have some pretty amazing movement on his pitches or changing speeds (probably both). Who knows if he has any sense of control but by golly his stuff must be off the charts.

[Braves1976]

we should target the pitcher who actually struck Astudillo out. He must have some pretty amazing movement on his pitches or changing speeds (probably both). Who knows if he has any sense of control but by golly his stuff must be off the charts.

He also struck out the side that inning after striking out Astudillo. Jarlin Garcia is his name, has a 2.89 ERA so far this year.

[chop2chip]

Everybody is doing well in our system who is highly rated.
Sims has the most K's in the minors,
Soroka is dominating A ball hitters (think he should be promoted mid-season to be challenged)
Chris Ellis is pitching better than expected
Newcomb is pitching well, but he still needs to fix his control issues
Swanson is doing Swanson
Albies is raking- 3rd youngest in AA and has the 3rd highest batting average
Touki has struggled but his outing yesterday was encouraging
Acuna is playing well
Blair pitched well today (in mlb though)
Riley has been hitting well for the past couple days
Fried is showing exciting stuff
Ruiz is crushing in AAA
Sanchez is pitching well
and the list continues...

I've been pretty disappointed in Riley. It's April 29th and he's still super young, so I'm not worried, but I was hoping he would coming out kicking butt.

Very very minor complaint overall.

[Braves1976]

Hahaha, Astudillo says no body strikes me out and lives. He comes up his second AB with two outs and bases loaded and boom first pitch double in the gap scoring all three runners easy. 4-3 Braves just like that.

Note, Garcia seems to be a pitcher that has control issues, he was effectively wild being in and out of strike zone early but this big inning capped by the two out 3-RBI double by Astudillo came about due to walks and also gave up a bunt hit to opposing pitcher Ellis (so Ellis helped his own cause there). He walked in a run walking Peterson on a close 3-2 pitch just before that Astudillo 3-RBI double.

Also, Ellis is pitching better than his line-score but he has had issues walking the speedy runners and they have run wild. Plus two runners scored on an infield hit early. I have been impressed with Ellis curveball as he's getting a number of called strikes and K's with it too.

[Oklahomabrave]

Sororal threw 40 pitches-36 for strikes over 7 innings?! Is that accurate?

[Braves1976]

Whoa, I was joking with my previous post but Astudillo just almost took Garcia head off with a lightning bolt right at his head. The announcers and me were surprised and thankful he got his glove up in time. He held on for the out.

[Braves1976]

Sororal threw 40 pitches-36 for strikes over 7 innings?! Is that accurate?

Boxscore I see says 73 pitches. Which is very good. I couldn't say as game was not on MILB.tv tonight. Great game for him again.

[Braves1976]

Ellis has turned it on since being given a lead, plus he is helping his own cause too scoring two runs. He has 5 K's now and some impressive pitching since given the lead, it looks like he was fired up by the comeback and said okay time to turn it up a notch.

[Braves1976]

Camargo shows off his impressive arm at second, ground ball hit down the first base line under Braves first baseman glove and Riddle didn't settle for a double goes for three and Camargo's great throw nailed him at third and was pretty Simmons like. Now Ellis gets through six as Albies-Camargo turn a nice DP.

I really like Camargo's arm as do scouts.

Braves just PH for Ellis so he goes 6 innings, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB and 5 K's. He had retired 10 straight entering the 6th before the lead-off hit and had a quality start after giving up three runs early.

[50PoundHead]

If Carlos Salazar and Bradley Roney ever harness their stuff and improve their control, they might turn out to be something. Both guys are just racking up the Ks.

[Braves1976]

If Carlos Salazar and Bradley Roney ever harness their stuff and improve their control, they might turn out to be something. Both guys are just racking up the Ks.

I've hoped since we drafted him that Roney might turn into another Kimbrel or similar, I know his fastball isn't as good as Kimbrel's that is usually 97-99 mph but he has a very good curveball and his fastball is usually 95-97 mph range and he has hit 99 mph in the past occasionally. So as you say, if he can keep the walks down he could turn into a very good reliever. Probably not Kimbrel or even Viz level, but maybe more like Shae Simmons before he got hurt.

[The Chosen One]

Shae was hitting 96-98 before injury IIRC

[Braves1976]

Shae was hitting 96-98 before injury IIRC

Simmons sat mostly 95 mph but would top out at 98 mph sometimes with his low usually 94 mph.

MLBTR noted when he had TJS that his average velocity in MLB was 94.9 mph: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/02/shae-simmons-undergoes-tommy-john-surgery.html.

So basically he averaged 95 mph but I do recall him topping out at 98 mph sometimes.

[bravescountry]

I've been pretty disappointed in Riley. It's April 29th and he's still super young, so I'm not worried, but I was hoping he would coming out kicking butt.

Very very minor complaint overall.

I've been kind of dissapointed too, but he's still really young like you mentioned and is still on track to hit 12-15 homeruns in a full season. He still has time to mature, so I wouldn't be discouraged :)

[cajunrevenge]

Holy **** Mike Soroka. 7 innings in 73 pitches is unheard of at that level. So far he is at 1 walk per 9 innings with over 1k per inning. Over 7/1 k/bb ratio. Good thing we took him when we did instead of waiting because he wasn't mlb.com rankings said he should be available later in the draft.

[striker42]

Soroka might be the most overlooked prospect in our system. 18 years old, excellent control, and misses lots of bats. How long before the national guys get on board?

[dak]

There are some reports on Twitter that Albies has been promoted to AAA. Nothing from a reliable source yet.

[pfiggy]

Swanson to AA also per Bowman

[dak]

This makes me nervous.

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[striker42]

This makes me nervous.

726383459459993600

Not me. Both guys earned their promotions. If the keep it up they'll earn another. Neither one seemed challenged by the level they were at so keep moving them up until they are.

[dak]

Not me. Both guys earned their promotions. If the keep it up they'll earn another. Neither one seemed challenged by the level they were at so keep moving them up until they are.

I'm not as worried about the current promotions . . . it's more a concern of the FO having a pre-destined plan of when these guys will arrive in the big leagues when they have accumulated < 100 ABs in AA combined. Would also like to see them have a window of time before MLB to play together up the middle. I've been under the assumption that Swanson will end up at SS and Albies at 2B just based on arm strength. We'll see.

[striker42]

I'm not as worried about the current promotions . . . it's more a concern of the FO having a pre-destined plan of when these guys will arrive in the big leagues when they have accumulated < 100 ABs in AA combined. Would also like to see them have a window of time before MLB to play together up the middle. I've been under the assumption that Swanson will end up at SS and Albies at 2B just based on arm strength. We'll see.

I don't think there's a pre-planned time for them to arrive in Atlanta. However the brass got a good look at both guys this spring and so probably have a decent idea of when they'll be ready. There's a difference between hoping they'll be ready by midseason and making a premature decision.

Both guys showed they were ready for a call up. If they keep it up they'll end up in Atlanta quickly. If they struggle the Braves will know they're being challenged and have more growing to do.