MINORS FINAL 7/27: Struggling Starters get Another Chance

[rico43]

Aaron Northcraft has done nothing so far to justify his midseason promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett. JR Graham has done nothing to justify his being allowed to keep his uniform.

But Northcraft isn't quite demoted and Graham isn't quite released/shelved with his ongoing arm problems. But today's start could easily be their last for their current team.

UPDATE: Northcraft did not pitch badly in loss, but G-Braves offense is nonexistent.
Graham goes to perfect innings; he and Greg Ross combine to retire 16 straight to start game against horrid Pensacola.

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SUNDAY BOXES LINK

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CLASS AAA

Syracuse 6, Gwinnett 2

LP: Northcraft (0-5) 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K.
Avilan 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K. (8.10)
Constanza 2-4, RBI.
Salcedo 1-3 2B. (.206)
E. Reyes 1-4, R.

CLASS AA

Mississippi 6, Pensacola 2

SP: Graham 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. 23 Ps.
WP: Ross (4-1) 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.
Hunter 2-3, 2 R, 2B, 2 SB.
Peraza 1-4, SB.
Castro 2-4, 3B, R, 2 RBIs.
Poythress 1-4, 2B, R, 2 RBIs.
M. Jones 1-3, 2B, 2 RBIs, SB.

ADVANCED CLASS A

Lynchburg 8, Frederick 3

SP: Scarpetta 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K.
WP: Peterson (1-0) 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K.
Nick 2-5, 2 R, HR 5th), RBI.
Bloxom 1-5, R, 2 RBIs.
Ahrens 1-4. 2B. 3 RBIs.
Odom 2-3, 2 R, RBI.

CLASS A

West Virginia 5, Rome 4

SP: Brosius 5.1 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.
LP: P. Perez (0-4) 2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K.
Lien 4-5, 2B, 2 R, 2 SB. (moved from 9th to leadoff!)
Schrader 3-4, 2B, R, RBI.
Godfrey 1-4, R, RBI.

SHORT-SEASON

Danville 2, Bluefield 1 (12)

SP: Grosser 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER(1R), 0 BB, 3 K.
WP: Emmons (1-0) 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K.
Salazar 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K.
Albies 3-5, 3B.
Grullon 2-6.
Piloto 2-5.
Nevarez 2-5, 2 RBIs, SB.
Edgerton 0-5.

GCL, DSL idle.

 

[Tapate50]

Graham shipped out? Hmmm

 

[rico43]

Graham shipped out? Hmmm

More likely to be shut down than to be released, but there has been no improvement from his May outings.

 

[50PoundHead]

Big day for Connor Lien. Not much power this season, but looks like he has improved in just about every other offensive category. Toolsy kid, so if he gets to a place he can consistently apply the tools, he may end up being somebody.

 

[thethe]

Big day for Connor Lien. Not much power this season, but looks like he has improved in just about every other offensive category. Toolsy kid, so if he gets to a place he can consistently apply the tools, he may end up being somebody.

This year has been shaping up to be a year for the hitters on the farm while the pitching has taken a step back.

 

[thethe]

Ablies is 2 for 3 with a triple today.

 

[nsacpi]

Wonder who on Gwinnett the Red Sox were scouting

 

[MadduxFanII]

Wonder who on Gwinnett the Red Sox were scouting

Seems like there are a surprisingly large number of intriguing players at AAA for us this year. Figure the Sox could be looking at:

Avilan (reclamation project, replacement for Miller)
Buchter
Jaime
Northcraft
Bethancourt
Pastornicky
Terdoslavich

I'm not saying we'd give up Bethancourt for Miller and spare parts (Mike Carp has asked for a trade), but the Sox will certainly ask a lot for Miller.

 

[rico43]

Big day for Connor Lien. Not much power this season, but looks like he has improved in just about every other offensive category. Toolsy kid, so if he gets to a place he can consistently apply the tools, he may end up being somebody.

Felt that way last year when he started so well as the youngest guy on the Rome roster. He tailed off, but this year has been the exact opposite of 2013 -- which is waht you want to see, obviously.

 

[Jay212033]

Rico I told you not to give up on Carlos Salazar. He's been pitching very well since being sent down to Danville. The Braves rushed the kid imo.

 

[KB21]

Big day for Connor Lien. Not much power this season, but looks like he has improved in just about every other offensive category. Toolsy kid, so if he gets to a place he can consistently apply the tools, he may end up being somebody.

Lien's numbers since the SAL AS game have been impressive. It will be interesting to see if he develops the power. It is good to see Fernelys Sanchez hitting the ball well also. I think between Lien, Sanchez, Tanner Murphy, Braxton Davidson, Ozhaino Albies, and Luke Dykstra, we have some solid hitters developing in the system.

 

[50PoundHead]

Rico I told you not to give up on Carlos Salazar. He's been pitching very well since being sent down to Danville. The Braves rushed the kid imo.

He's still walking a lot of guys, but I like what the Braves are doing with him in having him pitch an inning or two and then removing him. I think they are working on making sure his mechanics are repeatable and then extended his time on the mound. He has a huge fastball (so huge it make Laird look like a dwarf) so you want to give this kid every chance to succeed. It's important to remember that Kimbrel had issues finding the strike zone consistently early on and he was a two-year JC player before he started his pro career. Salazar is just 19.

 

[Jay212033]

He's still walking a lot of guys, but I like what the Braves are doing with him in having him pitch an inning or two and then removing him. I think they are working on making sure his mechanics are repeatable and then extended his time on the mound. He has a huge fastball (so huge it make Laird look like a dwarf) so you want to give this kid every chance to succeed. It's important to remember that Kimbrel had issues finding the strike zone consistently early on and he was a two-year JC player before he started his pro career. Salazar is just 19.

Exactly! This is what I kept telling Rico. He may have control issues now but he's very young and has a BIG FB, plenty of time to figure it out.

 

[KB21]

Exactly! This is what I kept telling Rico. He may have control issues now but he's very young and has a BIG FB, plenty of time to figure it out.

Despite their relatively good success in getting college players recently, I still feel the Braves need to get back to their philosophy under Paul Snyder and Roy Clark, which was to take high upside high school players. I know signability is an issue with some with the new slot rules, but I think the reason this team does not currently have the wealth of high level minor league talent that it used to have is because of the change in this philosophy. Many of these college players become solid players but top out as system guys. While the high school guys may have a higher bust rate, the star player upside is there.