Over the last 30 days, there has been a serious upgrade at second base in the Braves' pipeline.
Three different players, each with his own exceptional skill set, has made an impact and bodes well that Tommy La Stella isn't the last word at the position.
In order of closest to being ready to the longest shot, start with the month of August that former Top 25 prospect Elmer Reyes, still only 22, has put down. In 20 games this month, all he has done is hit .397 with 18 runs scored and 10 RBIs. He has lifted his season average to .292 with 28 doubles and 53 RBIs and only 67 strikeouts in 111 games.
After shifting back and forth between second and short his entire Braves career, he has actually settled in a shortstop over the last two years with marked improvement between 2012 (27 errors in 111 games) and 2013 (15 in 108) as he moved up from Rome to Lynchburg. But player development people still feel second base figures as his future. But his career had reached a point where his bat, not his glove, was figuring to dictate his future. With that, mark, 2013 as a big success.
The newcomer on the list is actually Reyes' new teammate at Lynchburg. The Braves brought Daniel Castro back from the Mexican League after 1 1/2 seasons because the 20 year-old was tearing his home country's league apart. The Prado of Saltillo, Castillo played six different positions among his 80 games played, after doing the same thing sensationallly in 2012 (one error total in 60 games over four different positions).
This year, he'd made seven errors at short in 48 games there, eight total. But his maturity as a hitter is what led the Braves to bring him back. In two years with the DSL as 17-year-old signee, he failed to top .200. But this year, average and power had become very much in evidence: eight homers and a .312 average at Saltillo. Since arriving in Lynchburg, he's played errorless defense (13 games) while hitting .300-plus. He doesn't turn 21 until November.sid
Also earning his first stateside action this month is Gerald Chin. A Panama native who was playing fot the Dominican Summer League team, Chin earned midseason all-star designation. Having just turned 20, he was hitting .280 with more walks (28) than strikeouts (24). Not the polished fielder the others seem to be, he still was on a brisk pace by turning 21 double players in just 36 games.
A lefty hitter, Chin debuted at age 19 with a very light .291 ave. This season, his productivity was way up (21 RBIs as opposed to three) while holding steady at .284. Chin last week was moved to rookie league Danville -- the only in-season move stateside off the DSL roster -- but has played only three games for the D-Braves so far.
Based on early information, Castro should likely be placed in my next top 30 list, while Reyes is moving up in a big way.
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THURSDAY'S SCORES
CLASS AAA
Columbus 11, Gwinnett (56-77) 4
SP: Flande 5.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 5 K.
LP: Russell (2-5) 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K.
Carrithers 1-2, 2B, 2 R, 2 SB; Gartrell 1-4, R, 2 RBI; Leonard 2-4, 2B, 2 RBI; Cunningham 1-4, R.
CLASS AA
Montgomery 10, Mississippi (70-59, 2 games back) 3
LP: Atkins (5-2) 4 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 1 K.
Simmons 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K.
Luna 1-3, HR (1st), RBI; Martinez 2-4, 2 R, 2B; Bethancourt 2-5; La Stella 0-3 (.331).
ADVANCED CLASS A
Carolina 8, Lynchburg (64-62) 2
LP: Hinson (3-3) 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 4 K.
Rivera 2.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K.
Castro 1-4 (.327); Rohm 2-4, R (.308); Weaver 3-4, RBI; Moses 1-4, RBI.
CLASS A
Rome (68-61) 7, Greenville 3
WP: Parsons (6-7) 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
Carroll 4-4, 2B, HR (1st), 4 RBI, SB (7); Peraza 1-5, R, SB (59); E. Garcia 2-4; Meneses 1-4, 2 R, 2 RBI; Franco 1-4, R, RBI.
SHORT-SEASON
DSL Tigers @ DSL Braves (26-40)
SP: TBA.
GCL Phillies 4, GCL Braves (22-32) 3
SP: Cordero 5 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K.
LP: Rodriguez (0-1) 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Chin 1-3, R; Murphy 4-4, R, SB; Hagenmiller 1-4, RBI; Morel 1-3, R, RBI.
Danville (25-32) 7, Greeneville 6 Schrader walk-off 3-run 3B
SP: Marksberry 3.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K.
WP: Dill (2-1) 1.1 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Livesay 3-5 (debut); V. Reyes 3-5, R (.328); Caratini 1-4, 2B, R, RBI; Lien 1-5, 2 R, HR (6th), 2 RBI; Moranda 2-3, 2 2B, RBI; Schrader 1-4, 3B, 3 RBI.
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Originally Posted by nsacpi
