MINORS FINAL; 4/26 WEDNESDAY: Tough Act to Follow

[rico43]

WEDNESDAY SCOREBOARD

CLASS AAA

Gwinnett 3, Rochester 2

SP: Luke Jackson 4 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
WP: Freeman (2-1) 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K
Hursh 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Petrerson (Save, 1) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K

Albies 2-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI, SB
Rojas 1-3, 2 RBI, SF
Freitas 2-3, 2B, R

LINK

CLASS AA

Montgomery 5, Mississippi 2

LP: Soroka (2-2) 4 IP, 8 H, 3 ER(5r), 3 BB, 2 K, 2 HR
Sobotka 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Phillips 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Lien 1-4, HR (4th), RBI
Franco 1-3, RBI
James 1-4, R
Demeritte 1-3, SB

LINK

ADVANCED CLASS A

Palm Beach 9, Florida 8

SP: Toussaint 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, HR
Lewis 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K
Cabrera 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K (rehab)
LP: Roney (0-2, BS) 0.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Watts 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K

Acuna 2-4, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI
A. Jackson 1-5, 2B, RBI (C) 1-1 CS
Neslony 1-4, RBI, BB
Riley 1-5, 3 K

LINK



CLASS A

Rome 3, Hickory 1

WP: Anderson (2-1) 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Davidson 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K
B.S. White (Save, 3) 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K

D. Cruz 1-4, R, RBI
Yepez 1-5, RBI
Ventura 2-3, 2B, R, 2 SB, BB (.394)
Cumberland 2-3, 2B, BB

LINK

All Times Eastern

[rico43]

Newcomb's Outing from MiLB:

By Michael Leboff / MiLB.com |

In his last start, Sean Newcomb was roughed up by Triple-A Rochester for five runs -- four earned -- in 4 2/3 innings. Going up against the Red Wings again on Tuesday, the fifth-ranked Braves prospect turned in his best start of the season. Newcomb allowed two hits and struck out six in five scoreless innings in Gwinnett's 5-4 loss to Rochester.

"I feel like most of the time that situation works in the hitters' favor, facing the same team so quickly," Newcomb said. "Last game, I had the one bad inning where I fell behind batters and made some non-quality pitches that came back to bite me."

Following consecutive strikeouts to open the game, Newcomb issued a walk to Matt Hague and gave up a single to Twins No. 14 prospect Daniel Palka. The 23-year-old southpaw escaped the early jam by getting Mitch Garver to ground out to third.

"Coming into the game, I was working on my tempo and on attacking hitters more and it felt better," Newcomb added. "In the first inning, I could kind of feel like I was letting up a little bit too much. It wasn't like they beat me too much, so I kept the same approach."

Things started to click for Newcomb in the second as the Massachusetts native needed just 10 pitches to retire the side in order. Newcomb kept the Red Wings at bay again in the third, working around a one-out walk to Ehire Adrianza and striking out two in the frame.

"I used a lot of fastballs, which is always my strength, so I rolled with that. But I also did a good job mixing things to keep them off of the ball," Newcomb explained.
o 2-0.

Newcomb was able to work around two more walks to Palka and Ben Paulsen in the fourth to keep his team ahead. Despite issuing free passes to 13 hitters in his first four outings at Triple-A, the University of Hartford product is trying not to worry about it at this point in the campaign.

"The walks don't concern me," Newcomb explained. "Sometimes I start trying to pinpoint the spot too much and that doesn't work out in my favor. Whenever I'm kind of flowing and aggressive, my pitches turn out to have more command behind them. I know that the walks will go down as I get more and more comfortable this season."

[rico43]

Acuna (youngest player in the FSL) leads romp

From MiLB:

By Michael Peng / MiLB.com

The youngest player in the Florida State State did some substantial damage at the plate Tuesday. Ronald Acuna, Atlanta's seventh-ranked prospect, drove in a career-best five runs as part of a 3-for-5 day in Class A Advanced Florida's 22-2 rout of Palm Beach at Osceola County Stadium on Tuesday. The 19-year-old outfielder was hit by a pitch in his first at-bat, but the Fire Frogs batted around and he cleared the bases by lining a triple to right field as part of a 10-run inning. From there, the Venezuelan native singled up the middle, reached on a fielding error by second baseman Darren Seferina and grounded out to the mound in his next three at-bats before capping his big night with a two-run homer to center in the eighth.

The long ball was Acuna's second in eight games. He hit four of them through 40 games last season in the South Atlantic League. Apart from a brief rehab stint in the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, Acuna spent most of his time with Class A Rome in 2016, producing a .311/.387/.432 slash line with 18 RBIs. That performance earned him an invite to Braves Spring Training, where he opened some eyes.

"Everybody said, 'He reminds me of Andruw [Jones],'" Atlanta manager Brian Snitker told MiLB.com. "Andruw probably had more power, but there are a lot of similarities."

In 13 Grapefruit League games, Acuna went 8-for-27 (.296) with three extra-base hits.

"I'm very proud and honored that they gave me an invitation," he told MiLB.com through a translator. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting any of that. I was coming in with the expectation that I was going to the Minor League camp."

Despite the big game, Acuna still has to overcome some growing pains in the Florida State League, where he has struck out 25 times in 16 games. He didn't whiff at all Tuesday.

"His skill set is really good," Snitker said. "He's a talented kid and I really liked the way he made adjustments on the fly during counts this spring. His aptitude and feel for the game is really advanced for his age. He's good in the outfield and he can fly. He's got all five tools. Now he just needs to play."

The next two youngest players in the league, Braves No. 12 prospect Austin Riley and No. 19 Ricardo Sanchez -- both 20 years old -- also chipped in for Florida. Riley blasted a two-run homer and Sanchez (1-2) allowed two unearned runs on four hits and one walk while striking out five over six innings for the win.
Atlanta's No. 23 prospect Alex Jackson and Tyler Neslony also went yard for the Fire Frogs with Alay Lago adding four RBIs. It was Jackson's fourth homer in six games.

[The Chosen One]

Starter's Paradise today.

[zbhargrove]

Is Pache hurt? This is the second day in a row he's been out of the lineup

[bravesfanMatt]

Is Pache hurt? This is the second day in a row he's been out of the lineup

He played yesterday.

[rico43]

Is Pache hurt? This is the second day in a row he's been out of the lineup

How many times have people posted this (or something similar) already this year? The young guys will sit 20-30 times during the season, starters will be pulled due to workloads; it's nothing new or unusual.

[msstate7]

Cumberland 2-2, 2b

Hopefully he's about to start hitting

[bravesfanMatt]

Cumberland 2-2, 2b

Hopefully he's about to start hitting

Not as hopeful for him. His swing is so long.. I just don't see him ever hitting enough to make it..

[thethe]

Wonder if Anderson would seem like an overdraft if we redid the 16 draft now.

[bravesfanMatt]

Wonder if Anderson would seem like an overdraft if we redid the 16 draft now.

I questioned the pick, but I let it digest and tried to be patient to see if the FO knew more than the internet GMs and after watching him a few games and the results he is posting.. I would definitely say he would be a top 3 pick..

[bravesfanMatt]

Ventura is a fun prospect. dude is getting on base and then turning it into doubles and triples with stolen bases. Now at 11 after 2 more today.

[bravesfanMatt]

Rome's ERA as a team is 2.16... sick!!

[bravesfanMatt]

time to watch the G-Braves.

[IslandBrave]

I love Randy Ventura. All he does is hit and run.

[rico43]

Congrats to Lane Adams, making The Show for the first time since 2014.

[UNCBlue012]

2-RBI Double for Acuna and an RBI-double for Jackson!

[CJ9]

How many times have people posted this (or something similar) already this year? The young guys will sit 20-30 times during the season, starters will be pulled due to workloads; it's nothing new or unusual.

And it has been asked when players were actually hurt, too. No need to get on people for asking a question to see if anyone else has information.

[CJ9]

DOB wrote about Alex Jackson with some John Hart quotes: http://atlantabraves.blog.ajc.com/20...ct-in-jackson/

Hart said Jackson has the best grip strength in the organization by far.

[Enscheff]

DOB wrote about Alex Jackson with some John Hart quotes: http://atlantabraves.blog.ajc.com/20...ct-in-jackson/

Hart said Jackson has the best grip strength in the organization by far.

A 24% K rate is manageable for a guy with big power. He has previously shown the discipline to BB at a decent rate (8%), so his low walk rate right now might be due to the fact he is hitting so well.

I am still skeptical he will pan out as an MLB catcher. Definitely interesting though.