4/26/15 MINORS FINAL: Grim news from Rome

[rico43]

I have a long history of overreacting to news about guys going on the DL, but what has already happened in Rome hits my gut like it is nothing short of disastrous.
The R-Braves have already had to put Max Povse and Chad Sobotka on the DL, Sobotka with the dreaded "strained right forearm" diagnosis. If you checked, many ultimate Tommy John patients were originally given that same preliminary diagnosis. Povse, the team's Opening Day starter, was DL'd for as-yet unknown reasons. Hopefully, one of our Rome partisans can update this.
Got my fingers crossed for both.


SUNDAY GAMES
ALL TIMES EDT

CLASS AAA

Game One
Durham 4, Gwinnett 2 (7)

LP: Foltynewicz (0-3) 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K.
Jaime 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 0 K.
A. Garcia 1-3, 2B, RBI; Cunningham 2-3, R; Kleinknecht 1-3, 2B, RBI.

Game Two
Gwinnett 3, Durham 1 (7)

SP: Marimon 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.
WP: Veal (2-0) 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.
Kurcz (Save, 4 ) 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, K.
Kennally 1-3, R, 2 RBI; Cunningham 1-2, 2B, R, BB, SB.

CLASS AA

Mobile 5, Mississippi 4 (10)

Walk-off win (HR)
SP: Jenkins 6 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
LP: Robinson (1-1) 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, HR.
Loman 2-4, HR (1st), RBI; Ahrens 2-5, R; Mx. Smith 2-4, R; O'Dowd 1-4, HR (2nd), RBI.

ADVANCED CLASS A

Game One
Salem 2, Carolina 1 (7)

LP: Brosius (1-1) 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
Camargo 1-2, RBI; Odom 1-2, 2B, R.

Game Two
Salem 4, Carolina 1 (7)

LP: Gil (0-4) 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K.
E. Garcia 1-2, 2B, R. (ONLY HIT)

CLASS A

Game One
Rome 5, Augusta 2 (7)

WP: Furney (2-1) 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. (Complete game!)
Curcio 2-2, 2B, R, 2 RBI; Harper 1-3, 2B, R, RBI; Albies 0-2, R, BB, SB.

Game Two
Augusta 8, Rome 1 (7)

LP: Beech (0-1) 4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K.
Davidson 1-2, HR (2nd), RBI; Curcio 2-3 (.350); Albies 1-4 (.270)..

[rico43]

Fifth round pick Diaz has never been right and 2nd rounder Fulenchek was awful last year and is still in short season. Unless and if Braxton gets over .200, the 2014 draft is looking more and more like Chernobyl.

[keithlaw]

Sobotka with the dreaded "strained right forearm" diagnosis.

I know minor leaguers don't make much money, but he really should have rested over the offseason instead of unloading all that cargo.

[devilsbballfan]

Fifth round pick Diaz has never been right and 2nd rounder Fulenchek was awful last year and is still in short season. Unless and if Braxton gets over .200, the 2014 draft is looking more and more like Chernobyl.

Fulenchek is still only 18, way too early to write him off or be down on him because he isn't in Rome. Should be interesting to see how he looks after a year with instructs and extended spring training.

[rico43]

Fulenchek is still only 18, way too early to write him off or be down on him because he isn't in Rome. Should be interesting to see how he looks after a year with instructs and extended spring training.

Which is why I didn't project or predict. But I don't think it's too much to ask to see him dominant in whichever short-season league he's dropped in this summer.

[rico43]

Braves have moved up Caleb Beech from extended spring training to start second game for Rome today. His entire pro career consists of four games for GCL Braves (0-0, 14.40). Was 13th round pick last year from Shelton State, Ala.

[smootness]

Yeah, it's obviously way too early to deem 2014 a successful draft, but it's also far too early to deem it a failure, either. The jury will be out on it for at least another year.

Davidson hit another HR today in the 2nd game...now up to .227/.370/.409. The average needs to come up, but the plate discipline and walks are there, and the ISO is good as well. I think he'll be fine.

Albies is also now up to .279 and OBPing at .343. He's hitting very well recently, along with Peraza. Mallex Smith is having a great start. And Folty, Wisler, and Jenkins have all had pretty good starts to the year as well. Our system has started the year off solidly well. We need Ruiz to start hitting.

[thethe]

I think its clear the farm system is going to be a strength moving forward. The key is going to be if 2-3 of the 5 out of Peraza/Smith/Albies/Davidson/Ruiz are above average players and then if 2 of the 4 of Perez/Garcia(under the radar potential solid player)/Castro/Lipka can be replacement level players who are under team control then the 2017 Braves are going to be very good.

The pitching pipeline is there and we will be able to trade for a big bat with that as currency.

[atl717]

Jenkins not getting the K's. It is a concern.

[smootness]

Jenkins not getting the K's. It is a concern.

True, though still a small sample. We also have to remember that he hasn't pitched all that much in his career still and this is his first action in AA.

I don't think he'll ever be a big K guy, though.

I look at Folty and maybe Sanchez as the true potential aces in the system, with the rest (Jenkins, Wisler, Banuelos) being potentially very good but without the elite stuff of Folty. I also think Fried has a very high ceiling, probably higher than the latter three.

[sturg33]

I'm not too confident in Jenkins moving forward. Hope I'm wrong

[smootness]

He's a bit of a wild card. Has talent but hasn't had as much time as most guys his age and could certainly bust.

But that's the reason you hoard this many arms. You don't need them all to hit, just need 2-3.

[Deester11]

I'm not too confident in Jenkins moving forward. Hope I'm wrong

I'm hoping you are too. Relative to pitching he has not been healthy. IF he stays healthy and learns to PITCH, I could care less how many strikeouts he gets in the interim. A knockout pitch will help. He has a good arm. I'd like more arms because you never know who will/won't pan out.

[Oklahomabrave]

Did anyone see Folty pitch? After that blurb from his last outing about him trying to improve his slider speed I've been very curious. He says he previously wasn't ever able to get it faster than 81 or 82. The article didn't seem that clear but I couldn't tell if he was throwing it 85-87 or that it is just the hope. I couldn't find any pitcher fx data for minors.

[thethe]

Jenkins is still so early in his development and he is still getting guys out in AA. Guy just needs to have a full healthy season though before we can think he is part of the future.

[50PoundHead]

Fulenchek is still only 18, way too early to write him off or be down on him because he isn't in Rome. Should be interesting to see how he looks after a year with instructs and extended spring training.

What I read on Fulenchek before last year's draft is that he is really raw. Played at a relatively small high school in Texas and was kind of off the radar until late. Big kid with a lot of growth potential.

I'm a bit surprised the Braves started Jenkins in AA. I thought he would begin the year in Carolina given his injuries and the fact that he only pitched in 13 games last season in the Florida State League. He's 2.5 years younger than the average player in the Southern League and some folks here seem to be disappointed that he's not Ferguson Jenkins.

[thethe]

What I read on Fulenchek before last year's draft is that he is really raw. Played at a relatively small high school in Texas and was kind of off the radar until late. Big kid with a lot of growth potential.

I'm a bit surprised the Braves started Jenkins in AA. I thought he would begin the year in Carolina given his injuries and the fact that he only pitched in 13 games last season in the Florida State League. He's 2.5 years younger than the average player in the Southern League and some folks here seem to be disappointed that he's not Ferguson Jenkins.

Come on 50...you know why people are already disappointed in Jenkins.

[Deester11]

What I read on Fulenchek before last year's draft is that he is really raw. Played at a relatively small high school in Texas and was kind of off the radar until late. Big kid with a lot of growth potential.

I'm a bit surprised the Braves started Jenkins in AA. I thought he would begin the year in Carolina given his injuries and the fact that he only pitched in 13 games last season in the Florida State League. He's 2.5 years younger than the average player in the Southern League and some folks here seem to be disappointed that he's not Ferguson Jenkins.

Shhh...don't confuse us. That is absolutely correct 50. I'm as excited about his potential as I am about many of the others. It may take time, but he's got talent.

[sturg33]

Come on 50...you know why people are already disappointed in Jenkins.

Sigh

[JohnAdcox]

The pitching pipeline is there and we will be able to trade for a big bat with that as currency.

I think that last bit might be a little overly optimistic, even by your standards, and I say that as one who agrees with you most of the time (including the rest of the post). I’m totally with you on the strength of the farm, but…

1. We’re going to need AT LEAST two of those arms in the rotation by next year at the latest. Presumably, the best two. I hope so, anyway.
2.) We’re going to see some bullpen arms.
3.) Ideally, we want some arms for depth and price protection.

That doesn’t leave many for an impact bat, which seems to be a rarer commodity (and yes, I agree that this is an arguable position at best) than our fourth or fifth best stockpiled arms. I honestly feel that we are more likely to get production out of Dian Toscano in left than by trading pitching. I hope to be wrong.

Now, in the ideal world, we can sign an outfielder and an ace, and fill in the rest. I have a hard time picturing that.