Braves in Arizona Fall League

50PoundHead

50PoundHead

Hessmania Forever
Here is a list of the Braves' minor leaguers who will be on the Scottsdale Scorpions roster in the Arizona Fall League.

OF/1B Grayson Jenista (will be playing 1B in the AFL, but no longterm position change envisioned)
OF Justin Dean
OF Trey Harris
RHP Daysbel Hernandez
RHP Bradley Roney
RHP Brandon White
RHP Connor Johnstone
OF Garrison Schwartz
 
I'm pretty optimistic about Dean... I think he could be more than just a bench piece eventually although he's still far away. I also like Harris, but he's a tough one to project.
 
JohnAdcox said:
I suspect my reaction was similar to that of most Braves fans:

Who?
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Rachel: This is a list of players that I want to invite to Spring Training this year.
Board Member #1: I've never heard of half of these guys and the ones I do know are way past their prime.
Charlie: Most of these guys never had a prime.
Board Member #2: This guy here is dead.
Rachel: Cross him off then!
 
Buzzworm said:
Rachel: This is a list of players that I want to invite to Spring Training this year.
Board Member #1: I've never heard of half of these guys and the ones I do know are way past their prime.
Charlie: Most of these guys never had a prime.
Board Member #2: This guy here is dead.
Rachel: Cross him off then!
Click to expand...

Kill me now. So great
 
I must say, the contributions from @50PoundHead while our beloved Rico is on the Illinois List, have been unprecedented.

We're talking about the combined clutch contributions from Duvall, Ortega, Hechevarria, Cervelli, and Hamilton over the last month into one giant monster.
 
It's small, but I think Jenista has a chance to be a good player. He had a really nice looking line drive swing in Rome last year. My understanding is that they're tinkering with it to try to add loft. If he figures that out he may turn into something.
 
zbhargrove said:
I'm pretty optimistic about Dean... I think he could be more than just a bench piece eventually although he's still far away. I also like Harris, but he's a tough one to project.
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Dean is so fast and his defense is good enough in CF that he only needs to hit a little bit to have value.
 
Given where everyone is in the Braves' system right now, this is a reasonable list of guys to send to Arizona.

Like Jaw, I think Jensita has a chance. I have been disappointed in his K-rate this year mostly because there has been little power to justify it. He needs swings and he'll get them in Arizona. Good to see him log some time at first base as well.

The Dean/Harris combo that started the season in Rome will be re-united. Of all the prospects in the Braves' system, Trey Harris really put it together this year. Curious to find out what his ceiling is. Good contract rate and walk rate has fallen as he's moved up (which is understandable). I was a bit surprised that Dean didn't get moved to Florida late in the regular season. K-rate issues for him given it looks as speed is his calling card.

Schwartz missed a lot of time this year, so it's understandable he's getting extra swings as well.

As far as the pitchers go, I think the guy to watch is Bradley Roney. Missed a considerable amount of time in 2017 and all of 2018, but has bounced back nicely in 2019. Awesome K-rate throughout his career with an abominable BB-rate that appears to have improved a bit this year. Roney was a 3B/Closer at Southern Mississippi and the 8th round pick in 2014. He was similar to a lot of picks from the DeMacio era and I think the hope was that if he turned to pitching full-time, he might blossom quickly. Control problems and injuries have derailed that somewhat, but given his eye-popping K-rate, he deserves a look. He'll be 27 on Sunday.

Daysbel Hernandez has had a great season in Florida. He is an under-the-radar Cuban signee who was rumored to have signed as an OF. Probably a typo. Like Roney, Hernandez has a pretty high BB-rate to go along with a strong K-rate. He'll be 23 in mid-September.

Connor Johnstone has kind of been the Swiss Army knife of the Braves' minor league pitching staffs as he's moved up and down making spot starts at various locations throughout his three-year career. 21st round pick out of Wake Forest in 2017. He's 24 and probably viewed as having a limited ceiling, but that's why they send these guys to Arizona to try and figure out where the ceiling is.

Brandon "12th Round" White (as opposed to the released Brandon "11th Round" White) has been kicking around A-Ball for most of his four-year career. Of all the guys sent to Arizona, he is the one I am having the most trouble figuring. But as I am wont to say, the player development staff knows what they are looking for and they must see something in White.

Arizona Fall League has changed a lot since its establishment. It was originally viewed as a sort of finishing school for prospects, but it has become more of a rehab/ceiling determination league (at least in my view). Good luck to all of these guys.
 
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