MINORS FINAL 5/8: New Brave David Nick rocks! M-Braves get shutout

[rico43]

David Nick, a free agent pickup by the Braves this week, is worthy of a little extra attention. A two-time all-star going through the Di-Banks' system, he was a former 4th-round pick who suddenly found himself without a job in 2014. He was about to go indy league when the Braves signed him and moved the second baseman to the outfield. He went 3-for-4 on Thursday.

Nick, 24, had a baseball scholarship to UCLA, and was a notably good drummer in a couple of rock bands as a teenager. He played (baseball) for team USA one summer, and had nine RBIs in his one AFL season. In fact, he had three RBIs in the Arizona Fall League title game.

"It had been my dream since I was 5 years old when I started playing tee ball that I wanted to play in the major leagues," he told the Mobile Press-Register. "Being drafted in the fourth round by the Diamondbacks, I saw the opportunity.

"It took a lot of prayer with my family, and I spent a lot of time thinking about it. I knew in my heart of hearts that it's what I wanted to do. Right out of high school, I wanted to start my pro career and get started on reaching my goal."






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CLASS AAA

Gwinnett 4, Buffalo 3

SP: Rodriguez 5 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K.
WP: Beato (1-0) 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2K.
Jaime (Save, 7) 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K.
Constanza 4-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI, 3 SB.
Bethancourt 2-4, R, RBI.
Cunningham 2-5, RBI, SB.
Kazmar 2-4, 2B, R.

CLASS AA

Mississippi 2, Mobile 0 (9th)

SP: W. Perez 7.2 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. ***13 ground balls from Perez!
WP: Berger (1-0) 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.
Hoyt (Save, 1) 1 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 K.
Loman 2-4, 2B, R.
E. Reyes 1-4.
Kleinknecht 2-4, RBI.
Schlehuber 1-3, RBI.

ADVANCED CLASS A

Lynchburg 9, Wilmington 2

WP: L. Batista (1-0) 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K.
Wilson (Save, 2) 3 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
Nick 3-4, 2B, 2 R.
Tewell 1-5, 3B, R, 3 RBIs.
Peraza 2-5, 2 R, RBI, SB.
Ahrens 2-4, R, RBI.

CLASS A

Charleston 6, Rome 2

LP: Buchanan (1-3) 3.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K.
Holmes 2.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K.
Oliver 2-4, R.
Schrader 1-4, RBI.
De la Rosa 0-3. (.120)
V. Reyes 1-3, RBI. (.378)
Brown 1-3, 2B, R.

[rico43]

La Stella in a 2-for-15 slump. Wonder if all the talk is starting to put pressure on him, too?

[50PoundHead]

Cunningham doing a lot better this year. Could be a bench option at some point.

[nsacpi]

Cunningham doing a lot better this year. Could be a bench option at some point.

La Stella's drop in ISO is similar to what Cunningham experienced last year. This year Cunningham is driving the ball a lot better. One of the better gauges of a prospect's quality is how quickly he adjusts to a new level. My guess is that La Stella won't need a full season the way Cunningham did.

[50PoundHead]

Good point. La Stella has consistently had better on-base numbers both in terms of BA and OBP, so he may be a bit ahead of the curve, at least offensively.

[devilsbballfan]

Kubitza has been hot the past week or so

[nsacpi]

Williams Perez--groundball machine

[50PoundHead]

Williams Perez--groundball machine

I don't know where he sits in the prospect universe. I have never seen him ranked in our top 30 on any site (and I think I've seen most of them). He's just chugged along, moving up a level at a time (spent a season-and-a-half in the Gulf Coast League, but has been moving up steadily since) until we see him where he is now. You're right. Ground ball machine.