not just good

The Mississippi Braves’ pitching for 2011 “looks good,” according to manager Rocket Wheeler. He might be understating things just a tad. The M-Braves’ opening day roster includes three starting pitchers listed among Atlanta’s top 10 prospects (as rated by Baseball America), another who is in the top 30 and — for the time being — a onetime major leaguer. Randall Delgado, a Panama native who just turned 21, is Atlanta’s No. 3 prospect. In eight games with the M-Braves last summer, the slender right-hander went 3-5 with a 4.74 ERA. His numbers will improve — bank on it. With a fastball that hits the mid-90s, Delgado has fanned 434 in 399 innings as a professional. Brett Oberholtzer, a left-hander, is Atlanta’s No. 9 prospect and will be making his Double-A debut. He was 6-6 with a 4.15 ERA in A-ball last season and has a 3.15 ERA over three pro years. J.J. Hoover, the No. 10 prospect, is a big righty who won 11 games in A-ball and then went 3-1 with a 3.48 ERA in four late-season starts for the M-Braves. Paul Clemens, a right-hander rated the Braves’ No. 26 prospect, may throw as hard as anyone in the organization (reportedly reaching 97 mph). He posted a 3.69 ERA working as a starter and reliever in A-ball last season. And then there’s Kenshin Kawakami, the fallen big leaguer whom the Braves signed out of Japan in 2009 and still owe $6.67 million for this year. Kawakami went 7-12 with a sub-4.00 ERA in ’09 before crashing to 1-10, 5.15 ERA last season. There are reports that other clubs, including some in Japan, are interested in acquiring Kawakami and taking on some of his salary. Stay tuned. If he does pitch for the M-Braves, it figures that he can get Double-A hitters out. As for the M-Braves’ bullpen, it should be solid, as well, with several returnees (Michael Broadway, Benido Pruneda, Jaye Chapman, Richard Sullivan) joined by promising young lefties Luis Avilan and Rowdy Hardy and big Billy Bullock, who had 13 saves in Double-A for Minnesota in 2010.