Yes ladies and gentlemen the ultimate Slump-Buster is the rare Organizational Sweep. A phenomenon that occurs just a couple a times a season and very rarely after the all star break (when there are 6 minor league teams playing instead of just 4). Maybe with all 5 teams winning tonight it signals the beginning of something great. God I hope so.
Norfolk 1, Gwinnett 5
Freddie Freeman is now second on the team in OPS (behind Clevlen) and has found a groove here in the past couple of weeks and Gwinnett has won 6 of 9. Craig Kimbrel continues to dominate AAA as he threw just 9 pitches while earning his 5th save of the season in the wake of the news that Billy Wagner is retiring after this season.
Mississippi 5, Jacksonville 4
I have always wondered what guys like Eric Duncan think when they are dominating a level that they know they are too good for. Do they think "Man I wish I was in AAA!) or is more of the "Man I rock this league, I love putting up awesome numbers like this". Probably somewhere in between. I still don't know what to think of this Mike Minor 2.0 we have been seeing. For the year he has 25K in 20 innings but also 18 hits and 14 walks. I just don't think this increased velocity has led to him being a better pitcher yet. Key word there is yet. Brett Butts has 19K in 12.2 innings.
Frederick 4, Myrtle Beach 5
Brett Oberholtzer held his own in his first start in the Carolina League and the bullpen survived long enough to see him get the win as well. Gerardo Avila is hitting .429 in his last 8 games with 6 XBH. He strikes out a bunch but he also takes a few walks. He reminds me of Ernesto Mejia and Gerardo Rodriguez in his approach. He is old for the league but is a useful organizational bat and he makes this team better.
Rome 3, Greensboro 2
Cory Rasmus and Robinson Lopez combined to shutdown the poorly named Greenboro Grasshoppers. Both guys have been very impressive this year. Rasmus has 20K in just 15+ innings while allowing just 8 hits so far. Mycal Jones has had a rough time so far and I hope his homer tonight can get him going. Kyle Rose is 4th in the Sally in batting and 2nd in OBP. He also leads the league in caught stealing.
0 recs | 19 comments
Minor stats are updated
25 I.P. 23 hits 17 walks 36 strike outs
UMass12 - April 30, 2010
I’ll take a power lefty over a finesse lefty any day of the week. Unless you have Glavine-like control, it’s really hard for those soft tossing lefties to have long ML careers.
Scott Coleman - April 30, 2010 via mobile
Minor
It seems like he’s sacrificing his control for more velocity. Hopefully he’ll regain his control with his added velocity. Reports have him sitting 92-94 which is awesome but the walks not so much.
Jay212033 - May 1, 2010
I was in Gwinnett. The umpire behind home was terrible. Redmond’s pitched much better than his line. The one run he gave up shouldn’t have scored; Mitch Jones made a great throw from LF but for whatever reason JC Boscan backed off the contact and allowed the runner to score. Cory Gearrin also got victimized in his second inning when the strike zone went all over the place. Craig Kimbrel is crazy good. It’s scary. Freddie’s single was to the opposite field and it was a laser.
cbwilk - April 30, 2010
I’ll see you tomorrow night in Gwinnett. Actually, anyone else who wants to stop by, CB, Danny, and I will be there. CB will be there for the minor league baseball glory, Danny and I will be there for the Jason Heyward bobble head giveaway.
gondeee - May 1, 2010
I’m looking forward to this.
cbwilk - May 1, 2010
oh those bobble heads….. lol. We may come, depends on the weather…..and if y’all think we can get any cheap seats at the last minute. (whaddya think??)
rbravesfan - May 1, 2010
There's always
The $6 bern seating that’s always available, and hey, if the weather stinks the place will be deserted anyway, and you could probably find a place to sit anyway
royhobbs - May 1, 2010
Says you
Don’t be jealous, but cb and I are going to be doing double-duty going to both the Atlanta game and then hitting up Gwinnett, where I’ll probably not get my bobblehead given the timing. Hopefully the weather cooperates.
royhobbs - May 1, 2010
CB – How did Kimbrel look to you?
I’m thinking if he continues to roll, he will get a call up sooner than later.
So far, in 12.2 innings (10 games), he’s given up only 5 hits and 2 runs; has 17 K, 5 BB, 1.42 ERA and 0.79 WHIP.
I mean, WOW!
fandave - May 1, 2010
Kimbrel is straight nasty. I’ve seen him three times in the last two weeks and he’s so filthy. His ball goes fast and just moves all over. And his off speed pitches are tight with deceptive movement. He’s a very exciting player.
cbwilk - May 2, 2010
I don’t know if it’s been brought up before, but has anyone ever considered using Kimbrel as anything other than a closer?
Bravely going forward - May 1, 2010
You mean like as a starter? He’s very small, I doubt he’d have the durability for it.
cbwilk - May 2, 2010
gotcha
Bravely going forward - May 2, 2010
How does AAA translate to the Show?
Just wandering how Freeman would do in the Majors?
romone_braves91 - May 1, 2010
nothing
really will tell you how well a player will do in the Majors. A lot of players do amazing in AAA and terrible in the bigs.
drumzalicious - May 1, 2010
Freeman
Stoked to see how well he’s been hitting. He’s just continuing what he showed in ST.
Nothing better than the thought of a Heyward-Hanson-Freeman trio of homegrown talent being the core of future success.
ATLandUNC - May 1, 2010
Hmm are you suggesting Hanson hit between heyward and freeman? That would be interesting
yondaime4 - May 1, 2010 via mobile
With the way the offense has been
It might not be such a bad idea lol!
Jay212033 - May 1, 2010
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