Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap: 8/16

by yondaime4 on Aug 16, 2009 10:32 PM EDT in Braves Minor League Recaps

Thanks to KC Ryan for doing last nights recap.

Pawtucket 1, Gwinnett 2

D. Hernandez 1-3 RBI, BB
J. Venters 6IP 3H 1R 3BB 3K

Gwinnett keeps up their torrid streak in August behind the solid pitching of Jonny Venters. Jonny was pretty darn good when he was in Mississippi but has tailed off quite a bit since his promotion to Gwinnett even though his peripherals are nearly exactly the same except for hits allowed. I don't know if that is just a little unluck combined with good luck at Mississippi to make the numbers at the two locations look wider than they should, but that would be my guess.

Mississippi @ Montgomery - RAIN

The RAIN MAKER strikes again.

Myrtle Beach 0, Lynchburg 3

D. Linares 2-4
B. Johnson 1-3 2B, 2K

This team is so bad.

Rome 6, Lake County 11

S. Moody 3-4 HR(1), BB, SB(8)
A. Milligan 1-5 2B, 2K
C. Fuller 4-5 2 2B, RBI

And interesting note is Chais Fuller, who has been consistenly horrible for most of this season is hitting .381 in 9 August games. This is why I like the second half in the minors. Sometimes you get to see guys who haven't had a clue all season start to figure some things out and salvage a year in a just a month or two. I'm not saying that is what Chais is doing, but he has brough his AVG up over .200 for the first time this season.

Danville 5, Elizabethton 4

C. Harrilchak 2-3 2BB, SB(16)
RSF 2-4 2 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K
C. Bethancourt 1-4 2B, 2 RBI, K
C. Rasmus 5IP 0H 2R 4BB 3K

A couple of things to note here. Rasmus didn't allow any hits in this game either, meaning that is 12 straight innings he has gone without giving up a hit. The other thing to note is tonight is Christian Bethancourt's first game above the GCL. The kid is only 17 years old and is already playing with guys a couple years older than him. He could move fast if his bat can keep up.

GCL Braves - Off

0 recs | 17 comments

Comments

Venters

actually had pretty bad peripherals in Mississippi, except for a really low HR rate that was probably unsustainable. He’s definitely improved at AAA though, especially his walk rate. His BABIP’s pretty high though, so yes, he’s been unlucky. I still don’t really like his K rate though.

blindsided789 - August 16, 2009 reply

his walk rate has been nearly the same….

yondaime4 - August 16, 2009 reply

no

4.82 per 9 at AA compared to 3.96 at AAA. Not really the same.

blindsided789 - August 16, 2009 reply

it has only been a 4 walk difference though. sample size man.

yondaime4 - August 16, 2009 reply

very true

It is too small of a sample size to say anything conclusive, my bad, I just looked at the rates and saw an improvement. His walk rate sucks whichever way you want to look at it. Like I said, his strikeout rate isn’t too impressive either. But he has been pretty unlucky at AAA.

blindsided789 - August 16, 2009 reply

reply fail

blindsided789 - August 16, 2009 reply

yeah, its like i was saying, I think he was getting lucky in AA and decidedly unlucky in AAA so there is a happy median in there somewhere but probably closer to his AAA numbers than AA. Mississippi is probably more of a pitchers park as well, helping out some.

yondaime4 - August 16, 2009 reply

Harrilchak

The dude’s stats are very impressive this year. Anybody know anything about him? Just looking at his stats so far he looks like he could be a great leadoff hitter in the future. Is he a legitimate prospect or just someone who should be playing at a different level?

chopc - August 16, 2009 reply

He is a grinder-type. I think he can probably sustain a .300 AVG as he moves up, but he doesn’t have much pop. Honestly though if he maintains the AVG he could be a better version of Gregor Blanco.

yondaime4 - August 16, 2009 reply