Tonight marks the first night of the minor league season, but unfortunately only 3 of the 4 Braves affiliates got their games in as Rome was rained out (and I was particularly looking forward to seeing how Teheran competed). But with the return of minor league baseball comes the return of the minor league recaps. Enjoy!
Charlotte 6, Gwinnett 8
Gwinnett gets their season started the right way with a bit of offense from everyone. I can't believe I am saying it but I think Freddie Freeman is going to surprise people this year. He has caught a lot of flack this offseason for simply being in Jason Heyward's shadow and yet here he is, the youngest player in AAA at the start of the season. Cory Gearrin and Craig Kimbrel might be the best 8th & 9th innings guys anywhere in the minors.
Tennessee 4, Mississippi 3
Andrew Cashner struck out 10 Braves hitters in 4.1 innings and only surrendered the homer to Johnson to give up runs. Cody Johnson picked up right where he left off last season by bashing a baseball and striking out. Mike Minor got roughed up a little but I believe he will settle into AA fine. The surprise of the night for me was Donell Linares striking out 3 times in the game after only 41 in 505 AB last season. Also Cody Johnson was batting 7th.
Wilmington 1, Myrtle Beach 4
This would have been a great pitching matchup to see with Mike Montgomery, the Royals top prospect, square off against Randall Delgado. Neither pitcher was involved in the decision but they combined for 10IP 4H 2R 1BB and 11K. Delgado will be in the same company as Teheran and Vizcaino at seasons end and the Braves could feasibly have 3 ace caliber Latin American pitchers waiting in the wings. I am glad to see Adam Milligan start strong as he is one of my favorite players and Gerry Rodriguez couldn't let Cody Johnson 1-up him on opening day.
Rome @ Kannapolis - Postponed
P.S. !!!
Don't forget about out minor league previews which can be found by clicking on the names below!
0 recs | 21 comments
Ah yes
Missed these. Though they’re not going to be quite as fun without Heyward this year.
But we’ll definitely be keeping an eye on Rome-sorry to see them postponed today.
Bronn - April 9, 2010
I think this year there is actually someone on each team I want to watch. The pitchers in Rome, Milligan and Delgado and Spruill in MB, Minor and CJ in Mississippi, and Freeman in Gwinnett. Last year I would look at Miss and Gwinnett the first half of the season and just not care.
yondaime4 - April 9, 2010
Good point. Miss and Gwinn were just depressing sometimes last season.
bwellnjonesco - April 9, 2010
THIS
and it goes deeper than that considering the # of prospects we got starting
Mr. Sanchez - April 9, 2010
Yessssss
I missed these as well. Great to see these recaps up on TC again.
Scott Coleman - April 9, 2010 via mobile
THIS.
minor league recaps ROCK.
fandave - April 9, 2010
2-4 HR(1), 3 RBI, 2K...
that’s a Cody Johnson stat line if I’ve ever seen one
jeg - April 9, 2010
haha
Smoltz's Beard - April 9, 2010
The sad thing is, he could do that ever night for the whole season, throw up a final stat line of a .500 average, 1.750 OPS, 144 HR, 432 RBI, and some idiots would still complain that he struck out 288 times…
cbwilk - April 9, 2010
He struck out 288 times?!?
RABBLE!
soup du jour - April 9, 2010
cheers to you sir for the minor league recaps.
i love these.
get swoll yunel - April 9, 2010
Love the Minor League recaps!
This is going to be a fun year watching all the great pitching prospects and when Salcedo hit the scene it going to be even bette. Also can’t wait til the draft to see who we pick up as well. Here’s to a great minor league season and our youngsters progressing through the system.
Jay212033 - April 9, 2010
A pretty good start to the year despite the rainout.
Great to see Cody Johnson up to his old tricks in AA. Hopefully he can just keep on being himself right up to the big leagues.
Jacob Peterson - April 9, 2010
Great to see good starts to the year from Milligan and Delgado. Can anyone provide a little more info on how Minor’s outing was?
Smoltz's Beard - April 9, 2010
Gearrin
Was right behind homeplate at the G-Braves game and Cory Gearrin has a nasty Peter Moylan like slider. That thing moves so much horizontally. Hence why he struck out 3 batters. He should be good.
palioc33 - April 9, 2010
I don’t so much have a man crush on Cory as we have a bromance with each other.
cbwilk - April 9, 2010
royhobbs - April 9, 2010
Gwinnett game's notes
Freeman’s definitely showing doubles power. Since it’s expected that he’ll get stronger with age, it’s only a matter of time, and maybe some warmer air, and the opposite field moonshots he was hitting will start going out. But showed great poise and made a few good defensive stops last night.
Gearrin was straight up filthy last night, and I’m really looking forward to a tandem of he and Kimbrel moving forward.
royhobbs - April 9, 2010
It's Gearrin, Kimbrel, and Proctor that give us...
plenty of hope for a strong bullpen even if a few of the expected names struggle or get injured. I’m starting to buy into the cb thinking that our safest prospect in terms of most likely to have a decade plus long successful career is Gearrin.
Mr. Sanchez - April 9, 2010
Wanted to say thanks yondaime...
the minor league recap is what got me hooked over here. Nice to have my fix again.
Mr. Sanchez - April 9, 2010
Braves Bullpens
Agree Gearrin and Kimbrel are good, but the AA team of Hyde and Butts are solid too! All 4 are different types of pitchers and it will be very interesting when they all arrive in Gwinnett this year. Now that might be the best bullpen in all of the minor leagues!
Ballyard - April 10, 2010
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