Steve Kent, who pitched just 39.1 innings this season after missing all of 2009 recovering from Tommy John surgery, will make up for lost time by pitching in his native Australia.
Some of the players covered here are currently Minor League free agents, but until they sign with another team we're going to consider them members of the Atlanta Braves organization.
In the Arizona Fall League, Cory Harrilchak cooled off a bit for the Phoenix Desert Dogs, going just 3-15 this week, with 2 doubles, 4 RBI. Overall, his numbers are still fantastic, with a .344 average and 1.010 OPS in 61 at bats. Infielder Tyler Pastornicky went 3-12 with and RBI in 3 games. Righthanded sidearming reliever Cory Gearrin finally succumbed to the thin desert air, allowing 5 earned runs in 4 innings over 2 apperances. It's a testament to how good he started that his overall numbers, a 3.14 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP in 14.1 innings, are still solid. Fellow righty reliever Benino Pruneda also struggled in his lone outing, allowing 3 earned runs in 1.2 innings.
Outfielder Matt Young has continued to mash for Navojoa in the Mexican Winter League, going 9-20 with a homer, 3 RBI and a stolen base in 5 games. Over all he's hitting .380 with a .958 OPS in 92 at bats. Teammate Tim Gustafson continued to struggle, losing both of his starts, allowing 10 runs in 11.1 innnings. Overall the righthander has gone 0-4 with a 7.31 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP in 28.1 innings. Barbaro Canizares went 6-15 with 2 RBI in 5 games for Obregon.
Outfielder Wilkin Ramirez debuted with Este this week, going 2-15 with a homer and 2 RBI in 4 games. Teammate Mauro Gomez was 3-11 with a homer and 5 RBI in 4 games. Jairo Asencio, formerly Luis Valdez, was solid out of the bullpen for Este, allowing 1 run in 4 innings over 2 apprearances. In 7 games the righty has a 2.79 ERA, a 1.55 WHIP, and 3 saves over 9.2 innings. In 5 games for Escogido, infielder Diory Hernandez was just 2-17, striking out 6 times.
In the Venezuelan Winter League, lefthanded reliever Luis Avilan tossed 4 scoreless innings over 2 apperances for Lara, striking out 4 and walking none. Infielder Luis Bolivar was 4-14 with a double in 7 games for first place Zulia. Catcher JC Boscan was hitless in 3 at bats in his lone game with Margita.
In 2 games for Carolina in the Puerto Rican Winter League, catcher Orlando Mercado was 1-7 with a walk. In the Australian Winter League, which is operating for the first time in a decade, lefty Steve Kent made 1 start for Canberra, tossing 2 scoreless inning, striking out 2 and walking 1. Major League reliever Peter Moylan is on Melbourne's roster, but he has yet to appear in a game.
0 recs | 13 comments
Interesting
a veritable who’s-who of players who will likely never be given a shot on the major league squad!
YakuzaFro - November 11, 2010
That's quite short-sighted
Moylan, Hernandez, Ascensio, W Ramirez and Canizares already have MLB experience, and Gearrin, Harrilchak and Pastornicky have great chances of making it to MLB. Not to mention my favorite Minor Leaguer, Matt Young who should be getting a good look at ST in a few months.
bighop - November 11, 2010
Matt Young is carpet bombing his presumed ceiling.
fandave - November 11, 2010
If he's carpet bombing it...
then should it be his floor?
Mr. Sanchez - November 11, 2010
See: http://missivesfrommarx.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/carpet-bombing.jpg
fandave - November 11, 2010
Somebody is going to have a bad day.
bighop - November 11, 2010
If Fredi spent as much time watching the Braves minor leaguers as they say, I can’t help but think Matt has a chance to be a bench player before long. Matt is a really fun player to watch, slap hitters with speed can score a lot of runs.
bighop - November 11, 2010
I'm not saying
they don’t deserve a shot, but over the last 3-4 years the Braves don’t seem very inclined to take changes on unheralded position players who are playing well in the minor leagues (see Canizares, Barbaro). I don’t expect we see Matt Young this year, either, and instead go with Joe Mather. Junk from other systems is usually more highly regarded than those performing well in our own.
It’s almost as if there’s a set pecking list that will not be circumvented, performance be damned.
YakuzaFro - November 12, 2010
I mean, nevermind that guys like Tommy Hanson, Jason Heyward, Brandon Beachy, Freddie Freeman, Jonny Venters, and Craig Kimbrel, just to name a few, have been, and are being given chances.
cbwilk - November 12, 2010
I'll just repost what I said
“the Braves don’t seem very inclined to take changes on unheralded position players who are playing well in the minor leagues”
YakuzaFro - November 12, 2010
chances*
YakuzaFro - November 12, 2010
Again, just off the top of my head, Martin Prado, Kelly Johnson, Ryan Langerhans, Diory Hernandez, Brooks Conrad, Gregor Blanco, none of those guys were heralded prospects and they were all given pretty solid chances to contribute.
cbwilk - November 12, 2010
Free Matt Young.
Seriously…we let Gregor Blanco start an entire season in the OF. At the worst, Young is just as good as Blanco.
Scott Coleman - November 11, 2010 via mobile
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Talking Chop to post a comment.