Tag Archives: Braves

09 May

quick study

Time for a new challenge — already — for Ronald Acuna, one of the top prospects in Atlanta’s loaded minor league system. The 19-year-old Venezuelan is expected to debut for the Double-A Mississippi Braves tonight at Trustmark Park. A 6-foot, 180-pound center fielder, Acuna was batting .287 with three homers, 19 RBIs, five triples and 14 steals through 28 games at high Class A Florida. He played at low A Rome in 2016, batting .311 with four homers and 14 steals in 40 games. He is a consensus top 10 prospect in Atlanta’s system and is rated No. 92 overall by MLB Pipeline. Acuna’s “ceiling is as high as anyone’s in the (Braves) system,” MLB Pipeline writes.

05 May

scatter shots

Through 40 major league games with San Diego, Hunter Renfroe has nine home runs. Extrapolated over a full season, that’s roughly 36 bombs, a good number. The other numbers aren’t so good for the Mississippi State product from Crystal Springs. His batting average is .281, but it’s just .212 in 29 games this season and .146 over the last 10. He has struck out 32 times and walked twice this season. He has three “hat tricks” in the last six games. The Padres are 12-18 and going nowhere this season, so one would think Renfroe will be allowed these growing pains. … Ex-Ole Miss star Lance Lynn, who has won three straight starts and yielded just two runs in that span, goes to the bump at SunTrust Park tonight when St. Louis visits Atlanta. Lynn didn’t pitch in the big leagues in 2016 while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He has shown no ill effects in 2017: 3-1, 2.45, 25 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings. In case you were wondering, Mississippi Braves alum Freddie Freeman is 1-for-8 with three punchouts vs. Lynn. … Richton High product JaCoby Jones is 4-for-17 through five games on his rehab assignment at Triple-A Toledo. Jones, who opened the season as Detroit’s center fielder, was hit in the mouth by a pitch on April 22 and went on the disabled list the next day. He was batting just .150 with a homer and four RBIs in 16 MLB games but was leading the club in Defensive Runs Saved at the time he was hurt. A converted infielder, Jones has excellent speed and a good arm. … The change of scene this season doesn’t appear to have rejuvenated former Ole Miss star Alex Yarbrough. Drafted out of the Los Angeles Angels’ system by Miami last December, Yarbrough is batting .254 with seven RBIs through 23 games for Double-A Jacksonville in the Southern League. After reaching Triple-A in 2015, Yarbrough fell back to Double-A last season and hit .267 (with a bunch of strikeouts) at Arkansas. The switch-hitting infielder is 25 and in his sixth pro season. … Austin Riley, the ex-DeSoto Central standout and highly rated Atlanta prospect, is showing signs of settling in at high Class A Florida. He is at .259 with five homers and 19 RBIs, .282 with three homers in his last 10 games. A supplemental first-round pick in 2015, third baseman Riley just turned 20 on April 2.

27 Apr

power hungry

Some power hitters — former Mississippi Braves stars Ernesto Mejia, Evan Gattis and Matt Esquivel come to mind — have fared just fine at Trustmark Park. Many more have not. (See Josh Burrus, Cody Johnson, Eric Campbell … .) The spacious TeePee gives up bombs very grudgingly. That in mind, it’ll be interesting to see how Travis Demeritte and Adam Brett Walker, sluggers of some renown, handle it over the course of this season. Walker, 25, recently sent down from Triple-A Gwinnett, has played five games for the M-Braves and hit two homers, both at Montgomery. The M-Braves start a five-game homestand tonight against Tennessee. Walker, 6 feet 5, 225 pounds, entered this season with 124 homers in five pro years, including 31 for Chattanooga in the Southern League in 2015. Atlanta acquired Walker, originally a Minnesota draftee, on a waiver claim from Baltimore in January. Demeritte, only 22, is a top 10 prospect making his Double-A debut this season. Listed at 6 feet, 180, Demeritte’s got impressive thump. Acquired from Texas in a trade last summer, he belted a total of 28 home runs, along with 29 doubles and nine triples, in A-ball in 2016. He had a 25-homer campaign in 2014. Demeritte has hit only one home run through 18 games for the M-Braves, though he did get that one at the TeePee, back on April 10. At the moment, the long ball isn’t the biggest concern for Demeritte or Walker. Both are just looking for hits of any kind. Demeritte is batting .212. Walker’s only two hits in his 20 at-bats are the two bombs; he was batting .128 at Gwinnett. P.S. Former Southern Miss star Bradley Roney is back with the M-Braves, moving up from a brief assignment at Class A Florida. Roney began 2016 in Pearl, posting a 2.82 ERA and two saves in 17 games before earning a promotion to Gwinnett. He was on the disabled list there to start 2017.

20 Apr

farm livin’

Power is the tool that will carry Bobby Bradley upward, and the ex-Harrison Central High star has tapped into it again at Double-A Akron with home runs in his last two games. One of Cleveland’s highest rated prospects, the 20-year-old Bradley now has three homers and 11 RBIs, five of those collected on Wednesday. The lefty-hitting first baseman is batting just .184 with 16 strikeouts in 38 at-bats – but he has walked 11 times and has a .360 on-base percentage. … Austin Riley, the former DeSoto Central standout and a top Atlanta prospect, had a four-hit game on Wednesday, perhaps a sign that he is finding a rhythm. Riley, playing third base at high Class A Florida, is hitting .250 with two home runs and 11 RBIs in 14 games. … Petal High product Anthony Alford, one of Toronto’s top prospects, is rocking along at .475 with nine hits in his last five games for Double-A New Hampshire. … Mississippi State product Brandon Woodruff, Milwaukee’s minor league pitcher of the year in 2016, is 3-0 with a 2.20 ERA in three starts at Triple-A Colorado Springs. … Jacob Robson isn’t highly rated on Detroit’s prospect charts – yet – but the former State standout is surely getting some attention with his hot start at low-A West Michigan. The lefty-hitting outfielder, drafted last June, went 3-for-4 Wednesday to boost his average to .348. … Dakota Hudson, the first Mississippian picked in the ’16 draft (34th overall out of MSU by St. Louis), is 1-0, 2.31 at Double-A Springfield. He has 11 strikeouts and five walks in 11 2/3 innings. He worked only 13 1/3 innings in the minors last summer. … Ex-Ole Miss star J.B. Woodman, the second Mississippian drafted last summer (second round, Toronto), is off to a .267 start at low-A Lansing. … Angel Rosa and Wade Wass are familiar names on the roster of the Mobile BayBears, the Los Angeles Angels affiliate currently appearing at Trustmark Park in Pearl. Rosa, an infielder, is an Alcorn State alum, Wass, a catcher, a Meridian Community College product. Both played in Wednesday’s matinee, a 5-1 loss to the Mississippi Braves.

17 Apr

m-pressive start

Ten games in, the Mississippi Braves’ young rotation looks like a team strength. And that’s a good strength to have. Each of the five starters has an ERA of 3.52 or better – four are under 2.50 – for a team that is off to a 6-4 start. The M-Braves begin a five-game homestand against Mobile tonight at Trustmark Park. Mike Soroka, 19 years old and Atlanta’s No. 4 prospect (by MLB Pipeline), is 2-0 with an 0.77 in his Double-A debut. Kolby Allard, also 19 and the No. 3 prospect, has a 1.80 in two starts. No. 15 prospect Patrick Weigel, 22 and the only starter with any Double-A experience before this year, has a 2.00; No. 8 prospect Max Fried is at 3.52; and Matt Withrow, 23 and in his first full pro season, has a 2.45. Weigel is slated to start tonight, followed by Allard, Withrow, Fried and Soroka. Akeel Morris, a grizzled vet at 24, has been perfect as a closer: no runs allowed, three saves in three appearances. The bullpen has let a couple of games get away – including blowing a 7-0, ninth-inning lead last Thursday at Tennessee – but the staff ERA of 3.07 is still pretty darn good. Kade Scivicque, Joey Meneses, Luis Valenzuela and Carlos Franco are batting .300-plus, and the team is second in the Southern League in runs (44) and homers (eight). Ten games in, it looks like a competitive club. … Biloxi, meanwhile, is 4-6 after a 1-4 homestand at MGM Park, hampered by an anemic offense that is last in the league in batting (.191) and ninth in runs (28). A 2.40 staff ERA has kept the Shuckers afloat.

09 Apr

fields of dreams

You can imagine the conversation when a father takes his son – or a mother takes her daughter — to Trustmark Park in Pearl for the first time. “This is where Freddie Freeman used to play.” Or, “This is where Craig Kimbrel pitched before he made the major leagues.” Trustmark Park, in 12 seemingly short years, has established a tremendous legacy as the place where well over a hundred future big leaguers once starred in Double-A as Mississippi Braves. MGM Park in Biloxi, which opened in 2015, has only just begun to create a history as the Shuckers funnel players to Milwaukee. It has been 11 years since they played professional baseball at Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium, and none who called that park home are still playing in the major leagues. But the stadium still stands proudly out on Lakeland Drive, now used by Belhaven University as its home field. There are plenty of folks around who fondly recall the days of the Jackson Mets and Generals and the future MLB stars who played for them. “This is where Lance Berkman used to play.” But Mississippi’s minor league tradition goes back well beyond the opening of Smith-Wills in 1975. Nineteen different cities in the state have hosted minor league clubs since 1900, which makes you wonder: Whatever happened to the ballparks where those teams played? Jackson’s Legion Field, where a number of future major leaguers toiled, sat on what is now the Fairgrounds; it was destroyed by a tornado in 1953. In Gulfport, they had the Base Ball Grounds, where, according to baseball-reference.com, a team called the Tarpons played from 1926-28. Cleveland had Boyle Field. Meridian had Buckwalter Stadium. There was City Park in Vicksburg, Ginners Park in Clarksdale, Legion Field in Greenwood and Sportsman Park in Greenville. And there were others, in places like Tupelo and Hattiesburg and Brookhaven. Those ballparks certainly weren’t anything like the multi-million dollar stadiums in Pearl and Biloxi, but they were the fields of dreams in their time. Big league players passed through those old ballparks. … Makes you wish you had a time machine. And a scorecard. And some popcorn.

04 Apr

(very) young guns

The Atlanta Braves have chosen the fast track for three of their prized young pitchers. Kolby Allard, Mike Soroka and Max Fried are jumping the high Class A level to start 2017 with the Double-A Mississippi Braves, who released their official roster today. They are rated the Nos. 3, 4 and 8 prospects in the system by MLB Pipeline. Fried, whose career was slowed by injury, is 23 and has been in pro ball for six years. Allard and Soroka are just 19, very young for Double-A. “The good ones get there early and these are two really good ones,” Braves GM John Coppolella told Baseball America. Both were first-round picks in 2015 and are among the six first-rounders on the M-Braves’ roster. Soroka is a big right-hander, Allard a slender lefty. Soroka, featuring a hard sinker, went 9-9 with a 3.02 ERA for low-A Rome’s 2016 championship club. “He goes right after hitters, throws a ton of strikes and makes outstanding adjustments on the mound,” according to the MLB Pipeline scouting report. Allard, blessed with a superb breaking ball, was 8-3, 2.98 for Rome and threw 12 scoreless innings in the South Atlantic League playoffs. “His stuff plays up even more because of deception in his delivery and his outstanding command,” MLB Pipeline notes. Are the young guns ready for Double-A? M-Braves fans will have a front row seat as this question is answered. The opener is Thursday at Trustmark Park. P.S. Among several returnees from last year’s M-Braves team, which reached the Southern League finals, is Kade Scivicque, the former Southwest Mississippi Community College (and LSU) star. The 24-year-old catcher is a .273 hitter over two minor league seasons and had eight hits in four games in the SL postseason last year after coming to the Braves in a trade with Detroit.

23 Mar

prospecting

The sorting process likely isn’t completed in Atlanta’s minor league camp, home to a batch of prospects generally regarded as the best in baseball. When the rosters are set and the players break camp, don’t expect many of the Braves’ Top 10 to head to Mississippi. Most of the highest rated players are either past Double-A or a year or two away. Dansby Swanson, still classified as a rookie and rated Atlanta’s No. 1 by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, is already established in Atlanta. No. 2 prospect Ozzie Albies, who did two stints in Pearl in 2016, figures to start in Triple-A. Six of the seven pitchers in the top 12 (as rated by MLB Pipeline) pitched in low-A ball or rookie ball last season. No. 6 Sean Newcomb was an M-Braves mainstay (8-7, 3.86 ERA) in 2016 who probably will pitch at Gwinnett this season. Kolby Allard (No. 4), Mike Soroka (5), Max Fried (9) and Touki Toussaint (12) were on the Rome staff that won the South Atlantic League pennant. The standard progression puts them at high-A Florida. No. 3 Kevin Maitan is a 17-year-old shortstop just getting started, and No. 8 Ronald Acuna, a 19-year-old outfielder, played at Rome in an injury-interrupted season. Unlikely to open in Mississippi, he could make Double-A at some point this year. Infielder Travis Demeritte, acquired from Texas in midseason, is No. 10 on the Braves’ list and looks like the one sure thing in that bunch to be in Trustmark Park on April 6. He hit 28 homers at the high-A level in 2016. Former DeSoto Central High star Austin Riley, the No. 13 prospect, projects as the third baseman on the high-A club, at least to start the season. The M-Braves’ opening day roster won’t be thin on talent, however. Jacob Schrader, Carlos Franco, Joey Meneses, Connor Lien and Joe Odom were among the position players who helped last year’s club reach the Southern League Championship Series, and all could be back. Plus, top 30 prospects Braxton Davidson and Alex Jackson may land in Pearl next month. P.S. The M-Braves open on April 6, two weeks from today, at the TeePee against Jacksonville, a Miami affiliate that is now, unfortunately, nicknamed the Jumbo Shrimp.

06 Mar

future’s so bright …

Former DeSoto Central High standout Austin Riley got to rub elbows with the Atlanta big leaguers over the weekend and apparently did not look out of place. Riley, 19, a supplemental first-round pick by the Braves in 2015, went 2-for-2 in a Grapefruit League game on Saturday and 0-for-2 with a walk on Sunday. Braves manager Brian Snitker was impressed. “I’ve heard a lot about him, seen him in Instructional League. He’s a man. I mean, that’s real-deal right there,” Snitker, the former Mississippi Braves manager, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Riley, 6 feet 3, 220 pounds, is rated the No. 8 third base prospect in the minors by MLB Pipeline and is a consensus top 15 in the Braves’ stacked system, which is rated No. 1 overall by MLB Pipeline and Baseball America. Riley played at the low Class A level in 2016, batting .271 with 20 homers in his first full year in Atlanta’s system, and he has 32 homers in 189 pro games. He figures to start 2017 with the high-A Florida Fire Frogs in the Florida State League and arrive at Double-A Mississippi next season, though that timetable can certainly change. As highly regarded as he is, Riley isn’t one of the seven Braves players ranked among the top 100 prospects by MLB Pipeline. That list does include 2016 M-Braves Dansby Swanson, Ozzie Albies and Sean Newcomb. “It’s pretty neat what the future’s going to look like here,” Snitker told the AJC. P.S. Tyler Moore is making a strong bid to stick with Miami. The Mississippi State product from Brandon smacked his third homer of the spring on Sunday and is batting .462. Limited by injuries in 2016, the right-handed hitting first baseman hit three homers in 25 games for Triple-A Gwinnett in the Braves’ organization. He signed a minor league deal with the Marlins in the off-season. Moore has 24 MLB homers spread over four seasons, all with Washington.

26 Feb

one fine day

On the first full day of spring training games, the names of Mississippians were all over Saturday’s box scores. Ex-Mississippi State star Tyler Moore, trying to make the Miami club as a non-roster invitee, hit what proved to be the game-winning home run for the Marlins against St. Louis. The blast came in the seventh inning against former Mississippi Braves pitcher John Gant and it made a winner of Southern Miss alum Scott Copeland, who had yielded the tying run in the top of the inning. Appearing in center field in that game for the Cardinals was ex-M-Braves standout Jordan Schafer, who is getting a look as both an outfielder and pitcher. … Southwest Mississippi Community College alum Jarrod Dyson, in his first game with Seattle, played left field, batted leadoff and went 1-for-2 with a run and a stolen base. Former State star Hunter Renfroe, batting cleanup and playing right field, had an RBI double in that game for San Diego. … Ex-Richton High standout JaCoby Jones went 2-for-2 with a run and Ole Miss product Alex Presley 1-for-1 with an RBI and a run for Detroit. Both are in the mix for the Tigers’ center field job, though Presley is in camp on a minor league contract. … MSU alum Adam Frazier hit leadoff and played shortstop for Pittsburgh, going 2-for-3 with a run. Frazier is likely to be the Pirates’ super-utility player this season. … Jonathan Holder, the ex-State standout, pitched a perfect inning for the New York Yankees, fanning two. … Ole Miss product Bobby Wahl, now on Oakland’s 40-man roster, struck out two in a scoreless inning of work for the A’s. … East Central CC alum Tim Anderson went 1-for-3 for the Chicago White Sox, batting leadoff and playing shortstop. … Ex-Itawamba CC star Desmond Jennings, trying to stick as a non-roster invitee with Cincinnati, started in right field and went 1-for-2. … Former State standout Mitch Moreland picked up his first official RBI for Boston; he hit a three-run homer on Thursday in an exhibition against a college team. … Petal High product Anthony Alford, batting fifth and playing right field for Toronto, was 1-for-3 with an RBI double against Atlanta. Seven former M-Braves played for the Braves; Dustin Peterson went 2-for-3 with a run and Johan Camargo 1-for-2 with two runs.