Gwinnett 4, Charlotte 1
Jonny Venters put together a nice start for Gwinnett when they really needed it. Durham and Gwinnett are tied atop the division and Durham looks like they are going to win tonight. Barbaro Canizares has fallen off a bit since the middle of the season, which is on par with what happened last year and his stats are pretty similar across the board to what he did last season.
West Tenn 4, Mississippi 5
Brandon Hicks hit a walk off sac fly in the bottom of the 9th inning to win the game for Mississippi. Matt Young remains my hero in all things. Craig Kimbrel remains nasty above all else.
Myrtle Beach 2, Frederick 7
Gerrardo Rodriguez has been a pretty solid hitter for the Pelicans since he came up, and was the heart of the R-Braves lineup when he was there as well. He doesn't walk much at all, and his strike outs are pretty attrocious, but he has managed to hit 21 homers this season between two levels.
Rome 5, Savannah 2
Julio Teheran appeared to struggle a bit with his comman on this night as added a wild pitch and a hit batter to go along with those 4 walks. I am pretty impressed that he only gave up 2 runs. The nice thing is that he was starting to settle down in his last inning, which was the only 1-2-3 inning he had.
Bluefield 1, Danville 5
Another excellent start from Brett Oberholtzer. He has a 2.01 ERA on the season and only 6 walks allowed in 67IP. Osman Marval is another guy that been killing the ball in August, posting an .834 OPS for the month. He has played catcher for the most part but he is actually listed as a DH on MILB.com. I don't know what that says for his abilities.David Hale was also excellent in 3 innings of work.
GCL Phillies 1, GCL Braves 3
The GCL team is only 25-33 on the season so far and were in the midst of a 1-7 run. I reall wish I had more to say about these guys.
0 recs | 15 comments
Venters
Another solid start for Venters. I would really like to see him get a September call up because he has put together a solid year. I have been something of a Venters’ fan because of his persistence in the face of many injuries. I think that he has a chance to be a #5 or maybe even a #4, but more likely is that he will provide some depth to a major league bullpen.
Venters is still only 24, so it would nice to see him get a cup of coffee in September to get him ready for 2010….
Stephen in the UAE - August 29, 2009
Johnny really hasn’t been consistent or good enough to deserve a September callup. And he’d be the first one to tell you that. And, if the Braves were going to call up a lefty other than JoJo Reyes, Mariano Gomez has been outstanding for Gwinnett. Even John Halama has been a good bit more effective than Venters, plus he’s got a ton of ML experience.
I’m a huge fan of Johnny, especially since he’s a truly great person, but he’s just not ready. The important thing was the he was able to pitch a full, injury free season. A lot of times guys aren’t really all the way back from surgery until 2 years after, so next year should be a great indication of what he can really do.
cbwilk - August 29, 2009
It's hard to get as excited for these recaps
Now that there’s no Freeman or Heyward.
This time next year, who do you guys think our top prospects will be?
Scott Coleman - August 29, 2009 via mobile
Freddie Freeman, because I think he’ll still be in the minors. But, after him, Julio Teheran.
cbwilk - August 29, 2009
Don't forget Hicks ;-)
Yakker - August 29, 2009
I do think he’s a good prospect, but he was rushed. He didn’t play that great at MB last year and probably could have used another half season there. But, he’ll repeat AA next year and hopefully figure it out.
I’m personally not a fan of having him to go the AFL because what a guy like that really needs is time away from the game. What worries me is that he might go out there and hit a ton of homers, aided by the Arizona air, and mess up his swing even worse.
cbwilk - August 29, 2009
Interesting. Great perspective.
We have our differences when it comes to stat analysis, especially on defense, but I always value your insights.
Yakker - August 29, 2009
I don’t know what any of the metrics say, but Hicks is a very solid defender at SS. If he could develop power he’d be a well above average 3B, maybe like a more slight Ryan Zimmerman.
cbwilk - August 29, 2009
Ryan Zimmerann is an awfully tough projection. I mean that’s probably the second best third baseman in the game right now behind Longoria, Hicks just doesn’t make contact like Zim.
McCann's the Man - August 29, 2009
That’s a very good point. I think I got too caught up in the defensive aspect of that comparison.
cbwilk - August 30, 2009
our preliminary top 10 for next year
1. Freeman
2. Kimbrel
3. Teheran
4. Randall Delgado
5. Devall
6. Hoover
7. Riaan Spanjer-Furstenburg (who i think is gonna be the steal of the 2009 draft)
8. Rohrbough (if he can put it together)
9. Hicks
10. Luis Sumoza
but what do i know?
apoxonbothyourhouses - August 29, 2009
Few guys you have forgotten...
…Adam Milligan is going to be one of the top five if he keeps pace with what he is doing next year. Cody will remain one of the top ten if he can keep hitting homeruns in AA. I think Zeke will also be one of the top ten by next year. I am expecting a big year for Rasmus next year, hopefully things will work out for him. I am also keeping my eyes on Jacob Thompson.
I expected big thing from Campbell and Rohrbough this year, but one has been released and one is a completely lost…at least we got rid of Locke before his stock dropped any further!
kstchiu - August 29, 2009
Venters
I am sure that Venters would welcome the call up.. Sure, it would be nice if Venters had been more consistent, but getting a chance to have some innings in Atlanta might well keep his development going. A call up can be a reward for a great season, but to my mind the real benefit is exposing a developing player to a higher level of play. Giving Venters some innings in Atlanta might be a good investment. For one thing, it would signify that the organization sees him as a prospect—for another he might well benefit from the experience and become a better pitcher. Gomez will be 27 in September and he is currently on the DL…I hope that Jo Jo and a number of others get called up, but I don’t think his future is in Atlanta. I would rather see a young player than Halama.
All of that said, I am glad to know that Venters is a great person and that others have been watching him as he had not gotten much attention.
With respect to the AFL, I take the point about Hicks, but the player I thought the Braves might send to Arizona is Gustafson…
Stephen in the UAE - August 29, 2009
conversely
if he gets called up and he isn’t ready you shatter his confidence. also just because you make some ‘feel’ like a prospect doesn’t mean they become one. venters has been pretty bad in aaa and he isn’t on the 40 man roster currently and there is no need to add him when there are other people more deserving than he.
also john halama has less than a 0% chance of being called up, barring a series of fluke injuries . he is considered organizational roster filler .
yondaime4 - August 29, 2009 via mobile
1B is solved...
Canizares for the 1st half, LaRoche for the second. Voila!
Mr. Sanchez - August 29, 2009
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