MONDAY MINORS FINAL 6/25/18: Pitching poor Monday

MONDAY'S MINORS RESULTS
All Times Eastern

CLASS AAA

Game One
Norfolk 4, Gwinnett 1 (7)

SP: Gohara 2.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
LP: Socolovich (1-3) 1.1 IP, 2 H, 0 ER(1R), 1 BB, 3 K
Brothers 1.1 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
Webb 0.2 IP, zeroes

Acuna 1-3, RBI, BB
Franco 1-1, 3 BB
T. Smith 1-3, 2B, R

Game Two
Norfolk 7, Gwinnett 4 (7)

LP: Santiago (2-3) 5 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 5 K
Brantly (catcher) 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

Avery 2-3, R, BB
Salazar 1-3, 2B, R (AAA debut)
T. Smith 1-2, 2 RBI

CLASS AA

Jacksonville 7, Mississippi 2

LP: Franco (2-5) 5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 10 K
Pfeifer 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER(1R), 2 BB, 1 K
Vasquez 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K

Marte 4-4, R
Valenzuela 1-1, 2B, 2 RBI (PH)
Jackson 2-4, R

ADVANCED CLASS A

Florida, idle

CLASS A

Greenville 8, Rome 3

LP: Javier (2-4) 3 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 K
Watson 3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
B.S. White 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
D.Hernandez 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Delgado 3-4, 2 R (.323)
Encarnacion 3-5, 3B, 2 RBI
Cruz 1-4, 2B

SHORT-SEASON

GCL Braves 11, GCL Blue Jays 5

WP: Jerez (2-0) 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
Rodriguez 1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Woods 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Cavalieri 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K
Polanco 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K

J.Fernandez 2-4, 3B, HR (1st), 3 RBI
R.Hernandez 2-4, HR (1st), 2 RBI
B.Vasquez 2-4, 2 R, HR (1st), 2 RBI
Alexander 1-4, R, 3B, RBI
Harris 1-4, 2 R, RBI, SB

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Burlington 11, Danville 10

SP: Rowland 2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Allison 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K
LP: Belinda (0-1) 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Lawson 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K

Moritz 1-5, 2 R, HR (1st), 2 RBI
Jenista 2-5, 2 R, HR (2nd), 2 RBI
Cullen 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Venter 2-6, 2B, R, 2 RBI

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DSL Braves 7, DSL Dodgers 1

SP: Nunez 3.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
WP: Ciriaco (2-0) 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Diaz (Save, 1) 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K

Lara 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI
Bautista 1-5, HR (3rd), RBI

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MOVES

GWINNETT: Evan Phillips to ATL; Alejandro Salazar from Mississippi; Connor Johnstone to Florida; Jon Kennedy from Florida
MISSISSIPPI: Ricardo Sanchez sent to rehab at Danville;
DANVILLE: Bradey Welsh assigned to Danville. Free agent RHP signs June 20 from Arkansas State.

Video of Touki from the AA All-Star game: https://twitter.com/2080adam/status/1011280571983638528

Said he was 96-97 in a one-inning relief appearance.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CJ9

Video of Touki from the AA All-Star game: https://twitter.com/2080adam/status/1011280571983638528

Said he was 96-97 in a one-inning relief appearance.

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Damn, had no idea he got that much movement on his fastball.

I'd be pretty tempted to let Touki try his hand at relief in the majors once he gets towards a reasonable innings number in AA.

You can stretch him back out next year if you want.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Southcack77

I'd be pretty tempted to let Touki try his hand at relief in the majors once he gets towards a reasonable innings number in AA.

You can stretch him back out next year if you want.

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No room. Bullpen stacked

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Southcack77

I'd be pretty tempted to let Touki try his hand at relief in the majors once he gets towards a reasonable innings number in AA.

You can stretch him back out next year if you want.

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but the pen needs a lefty

Touki's walk rate looks like it will eventually settle in the 3.5 range, maybe below if it keeps refining.

Curious how his control plays out of the pen.

Seems like his fastball goes from serviceable to a weapon when he's out of the pen.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nsacpi

but the pen needs a lefty

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They currently have Moylan, Lucas Sims, and Luke Jackson on the 25 man roster. I think they need some righty help also.

*I think you maybe have been a little tongue in cheek.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Southcack77

I'd be pretty tempted to let Touki try his hand at relief in the majors once he gets towards a reasonable innings number in AA.

You can stretch him back out next year if you want.

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I’d definitely be against this agenda if the plan is to leave him in relief (perhaps implied by your “if you want” qualifier); but I think it’s a fine, innings-managing option for 2018, with added benefits to the MLB pen and Toussaint’s development.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Southcack77

They currently have Moylan, Lucas Sims, and Luke Jackson on the 25 man roster. I think they need some righty help also.

*I think you maybe have been a little tongue in cheek.

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Nope. Our pen has done poorly against lefty hitters. We need a situational lefty.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nsacpi

Nope. Our pen has done poorly against lefty hitters. We need a situational lefty.

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Provided Snitker can learn to use such an arm purely situationally ...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jpx7

I’d definitely be against this agenda if the plan is to leave him in relief (perhaps implied by your “if you want” qualifier); but I think it’s a fine, innings-managing option for 2018, with added benefits to the MLB pen and Toussaint’s development.

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Guys like Touki and Gohara (if he isn't in the major league rotation by then) could be useful late season additions to the pen. But I would get a solid situational lefty like Claudio or Avilan first.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jpx7

Provided Snitker can learn to use such an arm purely situationally ...

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I think he does ok. Maybe once a month he does something baffling with the pen.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nsacpi

Guys like Touki and Gohara (if he isn't in the major league rotation by then) could be useful late season additions to the pen. But I would get a solid situational lefty like Claudio or Avilan first.

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Yea, I don’t think such a plan obviates the need for outside acquisitions. It’d be more of a two-birds, tail-end strategy to bolster staff depth, while managing Toussaint’s innings, while continuing to challenge him in his development.

First two GCL starts for Miguel Jerez: 10 IP, 8 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 K.

He's 20 until October and had a 1.31 ERA and 45 K/11 BB ratio across 48 innings between DSL/GCL last year. I know absolutely nothing about him other than the stat sheet, but he might be an interesting one to follow. He threw 39 innings in the GCL last year, so he might move to Danville fast.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nsacpi

I think he does ok. Maybe once a month he does something baffling with the pen.

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According to a recent TC post, 60% of the Braves’ high-leverage LHP relief innings this year have been pitched without the platoon advantage. I’d like to see that number come down a bit, Biddle’s reverse splits and Minter’s solid numbers against RH bats notwithstanding.

More from TC (or maybe it is the same article you referenced) on the pen's platoon issues (note that Sam Freeman in addition to Biddle has reverse splits).

https://www.talkingchop.com/2018/6/2...platoon-splits

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nsacpi

More from TC (or maybe it is the same article you referenced) on the pen's platoon issues (note that Sam Freeman in addition to Biddle has reverse splits).

https://www.talkingchop.com/2018/6/2...platoon-splits

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Same article. I just wasn’t banking on that trend to continue for Freeman, given his expected numbers show traditional split.

However, even relative to expected numbers, his performance in 2018 vs RHB has been better than Minter’s; the main difference is Minter’s been way better vs LHB. So really, ideally, both Freeman and Minter (along with the hypothetical new situational LHP) are good candidates to see a reduction in high-leverage PAs against RHB.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jpx7

Same article. I just wasn’t banking on that trend to continue for Freeman, given his expected numbers show traditional split.

However, even relative to expected numbers, his performance in 2018 vs RHB has been better than Minter’s; the main difference is Minter’s been way better vs LHB. So, really, both Freeman and Minter (along with the hypothetical new situational LHP) are good candidates to see a reduction in high-leverage PAs against RHB.

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Freeman's reverse split is pretty much just the HR/FB rate. It's high this year against lefties. Last year it was low.

Truth is probably in the middle.

My theory is that Freeman is probably a decent middle reliever who is getting too many leverage innings or maybe just too many innings in general. Maybe the stuff would play up a bit more with more rest and fewer uses.

Adding a left specialist certainly might help some in game management, particularly in a playoff series, but the Braves would probably do better overall by just giving a good portion of his appearances to a better reliever.

Touki now batting .391/.416/.522 at AA.