5/4/15 MINOR LEAGUE TFINAL: Sims settles down

[rico43]

MONDAY GAMES
ALL TIMES EST

CLASS AAA

Gwinnett (10-13), idle.

CLASS AA

Mississippi 3, Montgomery 2

SP: Mateo 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K.
WP: Ross (2-1) 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K.
Kelly (Save, 6) 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K.
Kang 2-3, 2B, R, RBI; Lipka 2-4, RBI (.368); Ruiz 1-4, 2B, RBI.

ADVANCED CLASS A

Carolina 6, Frederick 5

SP: Sims 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
WP: Peterson (1-0) 2.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
T. Jones (Save, 5) 0.2 IP, 0 H. (0.00)
Meneses 3-3, 2 R, RBI; Odom 1-3, 2B, R, 2 RBI; D. Peterson 2-4, R.

CLASS A

Rome 10, Kannapolis 7

4-run 9th for Braves.
SP: Cordero 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K.
WP: Dirks (1-2) 2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K.
Curcio 3-4, 2 R, RBI (.386); Krietemeier 3-5, R, 2 RBI; Daris 4-5, 2 R, 2 RBI; Edgerton 2-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI; Davidson 0-3, R, 2 BB.

NOTES: Adonis Garcia, a 30-year-old Cuban free agent, is 4th in the IL with a .378 average. He hit .319 as SWB last year and owns a career .294 average. And he can't help some MLB team off then bench???
Eury Perez leads the IL with 12 stolen bases; Peraza is tied for 3rd with 7.
Daniel Castro's .373 is 4th in the SL.
Kyle Wren is hitting .211 for Biloxi with one RBI in 21 games.
Kyle Kubitza is hitting .311 for Salt Lake City with one homer (11 RBI) in 21 games.
Dustin Peterson (.269) is officially Carolina's leading hitter because Jacob Schrader (.360) has only 50 ABs. Schrader with 3 HRs, 9 XBH in 14 games and somehow had an 0-for-14 slump in the middle of all that.
Keith Curcio (.369) is 3rd in the SAL in hitting.
Braxton Davidson is 2nd in the SAL in walks received (15 in 21 games to go with 23 Ks). Hitting .215.
Jordan Edgerton is 5th in the SAL in RBIs (17 in 21 games) despite no homers.
Pitching notes Tuesday.

[jpx7]

I had the opportunity to see Wren play for the Shuckers a little over a week ago, against the Blue Wahoos in Pensacola; he looked good in the field, but didn't do much to impress at the plate.

Funny story re the Shuckers: their new stadium in Biloxi wasn't ready to start the season, so they've had to play "home" games their first month-plus in Huntsville, the town they just deserted this offseason.

[50PoundHead]

I see they have Garcia logging time at 3B. He hasn't played much 3B since coming stateside, so I'm curious to see if this works. Looks like he can hit some, so he could be useful.

I was never that high on Kyle Wren, but he could be a 5th OF (4th in the right situation) for somebody at some point.

Nice to see Dustin Peterson off to a solid start.

[Braves1976]

Smith is out again today for Mississippi, he had three hits yesterday including a bunt single. He still had a limp while running due to his foot injury, so turns out he's not all the way back yet. It was the foot injury that caused him to miss time and before yesterday likely cost him at the plate too. It's hard for him to do what he does without being at full speed. That's also why he's been stuck on six stolen bases for over a week now too.

That said, Smith foot seems to be improving as he did beat out a bunt hit yesterday. And he bunts a lot so hopefully his foot will be better soon. When it is we should see him stealing bases like before again.

[Braves1976]

I see they have Garcia logging time at 3B. He hasn't played much 3B since coming stateside, so I'm curious to see if this works. Looks like he can hit some, so he could be useful.

He's played 5 games there so far and his only two errors were at third in 15 chances. He also has played LF and looked fine out there from what I saw, no errors and made all the routine plays in the games I watched. Further, Garcia is hitting a ton of late--.444 in his last ten games. So yea it seems he can really hit so I'd call him up soon if this continues.

[50PoundHead]

3-2 win for Mississippi. Game-winning RBI breaking a 2-2- tie in 7th inning for Lipka, who went 2-4.

[clvclv]

Not looking for Sims to find his "old self" any time soon (depending on whether anyone feels comfortable saying what that is), but really happy to see progress in any area from start to start. 55 strikes in 86 pitches is that if nothing else. As several others have pointed out, time's still on his side and finally falling out of everyone's Top 100 Prospects lists following this season may help relieve some of the self-imposed pressure.

Baby steps are good things.

[50PoundHead]

Some nice performances again last night. Big night for Joey Meneses in Carolina. 2-hit nights for Peterson, Franco, and Godfrey in addition to Meneses 3-hit performance. And nice to see Sims put together a solid start.

Big comeback in Rome. 16 hits. 4 for Daris and 3-hit nights for Curcio and Kreitemeier. Albies and Edgerton enjoy two-hit nights. Edgerton now hitting .313 and Albies as .281. Curcio still third in the league batting race at .386.

[thethe]

Based on his age I would think Curcio is going to Carolina real soon.

[50PoundHead]

Based on his age I would think Curcio is going to Carolina real soon.

Yeah, it will be interesting. There's a bit of a logjam in Carolina now with four guys logging time in the OF (Peterson, Godfrey, Oliver, Lien). Of those four, I think Peterson is by far the best prospect, but they are going to want to gauge the other guys before moving anyone around. Oliver isn't hitting right now (and Lien isn't walking), so I could see them having Curcio and one of the Carolina guys swap zip codes if current trends continue. Godfrey is a bit of a question mark. If he were to hit, I could see them moving him to Mississippi, but there's a lot of guys there who are playing pretty well. Nice to see we at least have a few guys hitting the ball.

[thethe]

I'm just extremely encouraged with Curcio right now. He is billed as a plus athlete and is walking more than striking out. Those trends will inversely switch as he moves up but hopefully not that much. He is showing a bunch of XBH power.

Anyone know if defensively he can stick in CF?

[nsacpi]

Curcio is this year's Kyle Wren.

[thethe]

Curcio is this year's Kyle Wren.

Seems that Curcio has a bit more power and after his eventual promotion to Carolina this year he will be a year ahead.

But more importantly, is Curcio's father in the front office and can he be used as a scapegoat in the future?

[rico43]

I'm just extremely encouraged with Curcio right now. He is billed as a plus athlete and is walking more than striking out. Those trends will inversely switch as he moves up but hopefully not that much. He is showing a bunch of XBH power.

Anyone know if defensively he can stick in CF?

This is from a Florida SOuthern release on his signing:

Curcio, who was a first team All-SSC honoree in 2013 and was also named to this season's South Regional All-Tournament Team, did not commit an error in 128 fielding chances in the field and had 121 putouts and seven assists for the Mocs, who posted a 35-19 record and finished as the South Regional Runner-ups as they fell 3-0 to Tampa in the championship round of the NCAA D-II South Regional Tournament.

In his three seasons as a Moccasin, Curcio has recorded a career batting average of .326 and has had 171 hits, scored 108 runs, hit 23 doubles, 10 triples, has had seven home runs, 79 RBIs and is 58-for-65 in stolen bases. Additionally, he drew 58 career walks and struck out just 44 times in 525 career at-bats.

[thethe]

Thanks for that Rico.

I think its safe to say after 1 month that Curcio is the breakout performer down on the farm. Consideration should also be given to Dustin Peterson and maybe even Daniel Castro / Steve Janas.

Who else am I forgetting Rico?

[rico43]

Don't know what his daddy does, but he is apparently NOT related to Dr. Keith Curcio, who is a vet in Gwinnett County!

[rico43]

Thanks for that Rico.

I think its safe to say after 1 month that Curcio is the breakout performer down on the farm. Consideration should also be given to Dustin Peterson and maybe even Daniel Castro / Steve Janas.

Who else am I forgetting Rico?

Have to provide some props for Williams Perez. I think Edgerton is proving himself yet again as being a real run producer. Then there's Schrader.