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Thread: 730 Minors Thread: Can Red-Hot La Stella Help In September?

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    Director of Minor League Reports rico43's Avatar
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    730 Minors Thread: Can Red-Hot La Stella Help In September?

    It's a reasonable question to ask: could Tommy La Stella help the Braves in September?

    The injury prone second baseman is indeed alive and well and owner of a 17-game hitting streak currently in Mississippi. He is hitting .347 for the month after having his .400-plus June cut short due to a lingering hamstring problem

    The onetime eighth round pick (2011) out of Coastal Carolina has done two things with remarkable consistency since the Braves signed him: getting hits and getting hurt. And not just aches and pains -- La Stella has already had to regoup after a serious beaning AND a broken leg!

    This year, it's been an inflammed elbow (more scary than serious), then a lingering hamstring concern. All told, he's played in 56 games, including seven in Lynchburg as he rehabbed the elbow and half-a-hundred with the M-Braves. He's hitting a collective .354 with 68 hits and only 17 strikeouts.

    Strictly a lefty hitter, the second baseman has only 11 doubles and a pair of homers, but his consistency at the plate is unmistakable. His final year at Coastal saw him hit .398, and his entire pro career looks like this: in 209 games, he's hit .322 (237 hits) with 46 doubles, 17 homers, 93 walks and only 70 strikeouts.

    Can a left-handed bat like that help off the bench in September. I believe the answer is, "Of course."
    ----------------------------
    Two pitching performances to file away. Lynchburg's Jarrett Miller: six innings, one hit, no runs, six strikeouts in the Hillcats' 3-1 win. Miller now has eight wins.

    So, too, does our Mexican of Mystery, Felix Falcon. His Tuesday start (six innings, three hits, no runs) raised his record to 8-0 for the DSL team. We demand a full accounting of this pitcher, whose bio is still incomplete on every Web site we can find.
    ----------------------------

    TUESDAY'S SCORES

    CLASS AAA

    Gwinnett (47-63), idle.

    CLASS AA

    Mississippi (19-16) 7, Montgomery 4


    WP: Atkins (3-1) 5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 4 K.
    Jaime 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K. Egan (Save, 1) 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R.
    Salcedo 3-4, R, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI; Marrero 1-3, HR (6th), RBI; La Stella 1-4, R, RBI, SB (.330); Hefflinger 1-4, R; Kleinknecht 1-4, HR (6th), RBI; M.Jones 1-3, 2 R, 2 SB.

    ADVANCED CLASS A

    Lynchburg (13-21) 3, Frederick 1


    WP: J. Miller (8-6) 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K. Cornely (Save, 3) 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R.
    Hyams 1-5, HR (2nd), RBI; Moses 2-4, 2B, R, RBI; E. Reyes 1-3, RBI; Kubitza 1-3, 2B. .

    CLASS A

    Augusta 2, Rome (16-21) 1


    SP: Parsons (3-6) 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K.
    Peraza 1-4, R; Sanchez 3-4, 2B, RBI; Marte 1-3; Tewell 0-4, 3 K.

    SHORT-SEASON

    DSL Braves (21-26) 4, DSL Blue Jays 0


    WP: Falcon (8-0) 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K. (1.70).
    Grullon 2-4, SB; Estevez 2-3, 2B, R, RBI, SB; Castro 1-4, RBI.

    GCL Braves (13-19) 3, GCL Tigers 1

    WP: Gonzalez (4-2) 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER(1R), 0 BB, 3 K.
    Vail (Save, 2) 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K.
    V. Reyes 2-4 (.361); Reed Harper 2-4, 2B, HR (1st), RBI; Sanchez 2-3, 2B, RBI; Sears 1-2, 2B, 2 R.

    Bluefield 5, Danville (19-17) 0

    LP: Waszak (1-3) 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. (1.01)
    Kimbrel 1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. 1 HR. (9.50)
    Camargo 2-4, 3B; Reynolds 1-3; Schrader 1-4. .
    Last edited by rico43; 07-30-2013 at 10:22 PM.

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    Tommy La Stella not only could help us in September, but hopefully will help us for many years to come.

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    Shift Leader thethe's Avatar
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    Victor Reyes just continues to hit. I hope he starts in Rome next year.
    Natural Immunity Croc

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    Connoisseur of Minors zitothebrave's Avatar
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    I think Tommy will be on this team next year. Either we may luck out and move Uggla, or we move Johnson and have La Stella taek over 3B. Or even better move both and get Headley and extend him
    Stockholm, more densely populated than NYC - sturg

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    I too think La Stella is our future 2B. I can see him as a Prado type producer for us, and as stated maybe as quickly as next season. And unlike most of our lineup, he doesn't strike out.

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    Tommy is exactly what this team needs, a guy who rarely strikes out and gets on base at a very high rate with little power. He would perfectly complement the rest of the lineup who are the antithesis of him.
    Last edited by skillet; 07-30-2013 at 07:39 PM.

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    Mississippi Braves ‏@MBraves 3m

    La Stella extends his hitting streak to 18 games with a RBI-single in the 1st. @MBraves record is 20 (Loadenthal, 2007) M-Braves lead 1-0.

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    Quote Originally Posted by zitothebrave View Post
    I think Tommy will be on this team next year. Either we may luck out and move Uggla, or we move Johnson and have La Stella taek over 3B. Or even better move both and get Headley and extend him
    Your Headley boner is showing again

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    La Stella is pretty much a beast...
    All you need is Hart and Cox.

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    La Stella reminds me some of Jason Kipnis.
    aka RHT10/Cokeman

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    Non-thread related, but I thought the comments fit best here because I went to a St. Paul Saints game last night and there are a few of ex-Braves' players/farmhands involved with the team. One of the Saints' top players is Willie Cabrera. He bats clean-up and is hitting about .330. Former Braves' minor leaguer Mickey Mehlich is in the Saints' bullpen and Kerry Ligtenberg is the pitching coach. C.J. Retherford, who played half a season in Mississippi for the Braves, was a member of the Fargo-Moorhead team.

    Independent League ball is fun. Standard minor league promotions between innings and the Saints (run by Mike Veeck) are always coming up with a new odd promotion. Not much to see on the field for the serious fan except that you really notice the athletic difference between these guys and big league players or top minor league prospects. Former Cub prospect Nic Jackson plays for Fargo-Moorhead and he is really fundamentally sound (he was a BA Top 100 prospect before the 2002 and 2003 seasons), but you can tell (and of course he's in his 30s now so there is the likely erosion of edge due to age) he's just not quite there athletically. Same goes for most of the guys on the field.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 50PoundHead View Post
    Non-thread related, but I thought the comments fit best here because I went to a St. Paul Saints game last night and there are a few of ex-Braves' players/farmhands involved with the team. One of the Saints' top players is Willie Cabrera. He bats clean-up and is hitting about .330. Former Braves' minor leaguer Mickey Mehlich is in the Saints' bullpen and Kerry Ligtenberg is the pitching coach. C.J. Retherford, who played half a season in Mississippi for the Braves, was a member of the Fargo-Moorhead team.

    Independent League ball is fun. Standard minor league promotions between innings and the Saints (run by Mike Veeck) are always coming up with a new odd promotion. Not much to see on the field for the serious fan except that you really notice the athletic difference between these guys and big league players or top minor league prospects. Former Cub prospect Nic Jackson plays for Fargo-Moorhead and he is really fundamentally sound (he was a BA Top 100 prospect before the 2002 and 2003 seasons), but you can tell (and of course he's in his 30s now so there is the likely erosion of edge due to age) he's just not quite there athletically. Same goes for most of the guys on the field.
    Thanks, 50. I've never had a chance to go to an indy league game, but I'd like to.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Julio3000 View Post
    Thanks, 50. I've never had a chance to go to an indy league game, but I'd like to.
    The rosters are full of guys who topped out in AA and most everyone at least some minor league experience.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 50PoundHead View Post
    The rosters are full of guys who topped out in AA and most everyone at least some minor league experience.
    These days, I mostly see low-minors action. Lots of raw, underdeveloped guys, and some poor fundamentals on display which make the players with at least one advanced skill really stand out. I bet it would be an interesting contrast.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Julio3000 View Post
    These days, I mostly see low-minors action. Lots of raw, underdeveloped guys, and some poor fundamentals on display which make the players with at least one advanced skill really stand out. I bet it would be an interesting contrast.
    That is the exact contrast. For lack of a better term, Independent League action is what I call "white man's baseball" even though there are Latin and African-American players on the field. A lot of station-to-station baserunning. Good bat control. A lot of ball-in-play guys. One big difference I forgot to mention is that although the scoreboard "gun" was saying the guys were throwing low-90s, I think it was reading about 5 mph faster than what was coming out of the pitcher's hand. Pitchers are mostly control guys. Defensively, the guys are solid, but limited physically.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 50PoundHead View Post
    Non-thread related, but I thought the comments fit best here because I went to a St. Paul Saints game last night and there are a few of ex-Braves' players/farmhands involved with the team. One of the Saints' top players is Willie Cabrera. He bats clean-up and is hitting about .330. Former Braves' minor leaguer Mickey Mehlich is in the Saints' bullpen and Kerry Ligtenberg is the pitching coach. C.J. Retherford, who played half a season in Mississippi for the Braves, was a member of the Fargo-Moorhead team.

    Independent League ball is fun. Standard minor league promotions between innings and the Saints (run by Mike Veeck) are always coming up with a new odd promotion. Not much to see on the field for the serious fan except that you really notice the athletic difference between these guys and big league players or top minor league prospects. Former Cub prospect Nic Jackson plays for Fargo-Moorhead and he is really fundamentally sound (he was a BA Top 100 prospect before the 2002 and 2003 seasons), but you can tell (and of course he's in his 30s now so there is the likely erosion of edge due to age) he's just not quite there athletically. Same goes for most of the guys on the field.
    50, is the Mike Veeck you refer to related to Bill Veeck of St Louis Brown fame? I still recall listening to the Tigers/Browns game when Veeck ran the small person out to pinch hit. Wish now I had payed more attention. The Tigers announcers were ridiculing the move. But the next days Free Press went even further about Veeck making a mockery of baseball.

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    Quote Originally Posted by PawPawMaxwell View Post
    50, is the Mike Veeck you refer to related to Bill Veeck of St Louis Brown fame? I still recall listening to the Tigers/Browns game when Veeck ran the small person out to pinch hit. Wish now I had payed more attention. The Tigers announcers were ridiculing the move. But the next days Free Press went even further about Veeck making a mockery of baseball.
    Mike is Bill's son. Mike was one of the brains behind "Disco Demolition Night" in Chicago years ago. Mike is involved with a number of minor league teams and not so much with the Saints anymore (at least on a day-to-day basis).

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    Quote Originally Posted by 50PoundHead View Post
    Non-thread related, but I thought the comments fit best here because I went to a St. Paul Saints game last night and there are a few of ex-Braves' players/farmhands involved with the team. One of the Saints' top players is Willie Cabrera. He bats clean-up and is hitting about .330. Former Braves' minor leaguer Mickey Mehlich is in the Saints' bullpen and Kerry Ligtenberg is the pitching coach. C.J. Retherford, who played half a season in Mississippi for the Braves, was a member of the Fargo-Moorhead team.

    Independent League ball is fun. Standard minor league promotions between innings and the Saints (run by Mike Veeck) are always coming up with a new odd promotion. Not much to see on the field for the serious fan except that you really notice the athletic difference between these guys and big league players or top minor league prospects. Former Cub prospect Nic Jackson plays for Fargo-Moorhead and he is really fundamentally sound (he was a BA Top 100 prospect before the 2002 and 2003 seasons), but you can tell (and of course he's in his 30s now so there is the likely erosion of edge due to age) he's just not quite there athletically. Same goes for most of the guys on the field.
    I love the Saints. I try to grab a game and some curds whenever I swing through the Twin Cities.
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