waiting game

Atlanta, as expected, drafted a bunch of college/junior college position players early in this week’s draft. The system needed hitters, to be sure, and the Braves appear to have landed a nice haul. Of course, it’s unlikely we’ll see any of these players in Pearl before 2012. But their presence in the lower minors might enable the Braves to push some of last year’s draftees at a brisker pace. Among those who could make the Double-A Mississippi Braves by next year are shortstop Mycal Jones (fourth round), outfielder Robert Hefflinger (seventh), outfielder Cory Harrilchak (14th) and first baseman Riann Spanjer-Furstenburg (16th). Harrilchak already has reached high Class A Myrtle Beach; he’s a speed player, not a power guy. Jones, a potential third baseman of the future, is hitting .261 with six homers at low-A Rome, and Hefflinger, who goes 6 feet 5, 225 pounds, is at .264 with two homers and 30 RBIs there. Spanjer-Furstenburg, a South African, has played only five games at Rome, having broken his hand in April. The wealth of pitching talent in the Braves’ system will be in Pearl soon enough: Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado and Zeke Spruill, all top 10-rated prospects, are now at Myrtle Beach, and Arodys Vizcaino, acquired in the Javier Vazquez trade with the New York Yankees, is 9-3 with a 2.34 ERA at Rome.
P.S. Former Hillcrest Christian star Justin Reed, whose once-promising career seemed to have hit a ceiling in A-ball this season (see previous post), may be done in affiliated ball after a second positive drug test and 50-game suspension was announced today by Major League Baseball. What a shame.