Mike Minor keeps bumping his head against his low ceiling.
Gwinnett 0, Indianapolis 4
The G-Braves couldn't do much in this one, mustering just 6 hits off of the Inianapolis pitchers, led by former first round pick Brad Lincoln and former Braves Wil Ledezma. Joe Thurston did collect a few hits and he's been on a bit of a roll lately, with a .333 average and .967 OPS in his last 10 games. It's nice to see Cory Gearrin put up a good performance; his last outing was his worst of the season, givng up 4 runs in 2 innings, but tonight he didn't allow a baserunner in 2.2 innings.
Mississippi 0, Montgomery 3
Mike Minor was at it again, fanning 11 of the 28 batters he faced. He's been much, much better this season than anyone could have expected. Unfortunately, he didn't get enough support to earn a win, as Mississippi managed just 5 hits tonight. Willie Cabrera had 2 of those hits, continuing what's been a more than impressive return to AA. He's definitely deserving of a promotion to Gwinnett, so hopefully he'll be moving up at or before the midpoint of the season.
Myrtle Beach 8, Salem 3
Ironically, the Pelicans were the affiliate busting out the hits tonight, as they pounded the Red Sox. Samuel Sime's average continues to rise, and he even threw a few walks into the mix. It's nice to see Ryan Barba get a few hits, he's had a rough Braves career, hitting just .178 in 490 at bats since joining the organization last season. I don't know why, but JJ Hoovers continued resurgence just makes me really happy. In his last 5 starts he has a 1.07 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP.
Rome 3, Augusta 4
Brett DeVall gave up a lot of hits, but he didn't walk anyone, so things sort of evened out. His defense let him down a little, leading ot a pair of unearned runs that were the difference in the game. When the Braves picked Braeden Schlehuber in the 4th round in 2008 he seemed like catcher with promise, but 166 games into his career he's hit just .209 with a .570 OPS and has been passed on the depth chart by Matt Kennelly, Jesus Sucre, and Christian Bethancourt, who has taken the bulk of Rome's at bats at catcher.
DSL Braves, postponed, rain
The few TCers who were really excited about the start of the DSL season must be really bummed out by all these rainouts and days off.
0 recs | 40 comments
Unrelated (apologies)
Jason Alias Heyward (born August 9, 1989 in Ridgewood, New Jersey) is a Major League Baseball outfielder currently playing for the Atlanta Braves. He throws and bats left-handed.
His middle name is Alias???
kbertling353 - June 4, 2010
it gets better
for the longest time, everybody thought his middle name was “Adenolith,” which is an anagram for “Death Lion.”
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2010/04/20/jason-a-heyward-the-a-is-for-alias/
atl192485 - June 4, 2010
Does DeVall still project as a TOR starter?
drumzalicious - June 4, 2010
Does TOR starter mean top of rotation starter?
chopc - June 4, 2010
Did he ever?...
Seems like soft tosser, and he wasn’t bad, but not overly impressive either.
Mr. Sanchez - June 4, 2010
I dont think so I thought he was projected as a solid 3rd starter
cooper37 - June 4, 2010
The main thing I remember about DeVall is the word “pitchability”…
I doubt he ever profiled as a TOR starter, but I remember seeing mock drafts with him being the first high school pitcher selected that year. He is a big lefty that throws with excellent command and consistency. Supposively, he has the mental part of pitching down pact too, and would have been a quick mover had he been able to avoid injuries..
My predicition is that he does pretty well throughout our system, but will ultimately be traded as Minor is a superior lefty and our future rotation looks packed..
bwellnjonesco - June 4, 2010
This all sounds about right to me. I’d guess that this year is really going to be a wash for him, just trying to get his arm right again, and that we won’t know his true ability until next year.
cbwilk - June 4, 2010
Better get something good if we deal him though...
he and Marek are the last possible chance to salvage something from that horrible, awful BorasBot debacle.
Mr. Sanchez - June 4, 2010
Marek is gonna become the greatest relief pitcher ever and Texas fans will be pissed that they didn’t trade Tex to the Angels instead…
bwellnjonesco - June 4, 2010
Did Jordan Schafer play for Gwinnett? Was he benched or did he have an unspectacular game?
Erich Vowell - June 4, 2010
he hasn’t played in the last three games for whatever reason.
mdhenshaw - June 4, 2010
The nightly churn on the mound is getting to be pretty incredible...
I honestly don’t know where we are going to send some of these guys to capitalize on them as assets…
Come 2012 there will be decisions to make, and justifications for those decisions will have to be well thought out.
I am very pleased to see Hoover up his game with the likes of Teheran and Delgado going right after him…this weekend shapes up real nicely with the two of them going.
Just wish we had some higher ceiling bats…Freeman, and um….a whole lot of speculation…hopefully the draft bears us a couple this week.
flyers13 - June 4, 2010
What would the Vegas odds be...
On one of two things happening at a Rome game?
1) Kyle Rose gets caught stealing 2 to 1
2) Myke Jones makes an error…. 2 to 1
3) Rome gets shut out… 3 to 1
Any 1 of the 3: 1 to 2
Any two: 5 to 1
All three: 10 to 1
flyers13 - June 4, 2010
yeah but....
Kyle Rose is WAY faster than you’ll ever be, even when he gets caught
Myke Jones keeps cranking out homeruns,
and Rome beat the 1st place team 2x in the past 4 games.
(and it should’ve been 3x except for a bad call at home plate on Tuesday).
And don’t even get me started on the AWESOME pitchers we have……
Don’t be such a downer……THIS IS BRAVES COUNTRY!!!
rbravesfan - June 4, 2010
Mike Minor
seems like he needs to move up to AAA pretty soon. Maybe by the end of June?
Jacob Peterson - June 4, 2010
i know of another Lefty with above average stuff he could replace.
yondaime4 - June 4, 2010
JOJO REYES?!?!
ATLforlife - June 4, 2010
I'm still thinking...
Resop moves up in a week or so when the deadline in his deal hits, Minor replaces him in Gwinnett and Randall Delgado replaces Minor in Mississippi.
Mr. Sanchez - June 4, 2010
Where do we put the pitcher Resop replaces on the big league team? Eventually we might have to trade a pitcher or two, JJ will be back before long too, we are running out of places for them all to pitch.
bighop - June 4, 2010
I've said that for a little while now about a possible deal...
but if Saito goes on the DL that opens a spot. Perhaps he replaces Christian Martinez or Jesse Chavez, which would still leave Gwinnett in need of a starter.
Mr. Sanchez - June 4, 2010
Was thinking the same thing
The April / May split is pretty dramatic IMO:
April: 25 IP, 17BB, 36K, 1.0 GO/AO, .242 BA against
May: 30 IP, 9BB, 44K, 1.26 GO/AO, .192 BA against
The other thing is that he’s seen a few of the same teams twice, and he was for the most part better the second time around, so that would suggest he’s probably ready to move up. An All-Star break move up makes sense to me.
fphjr01 - June 4, 2010
Time to make a trade
If we move Minor up to AAA, demote Martinez for Resop’s June 15 contract clause, demote Chavez when Jurrjens comes back…..that’s 3 going to AAA and only 1 leaving AAA.
It’s time to trade a couple of our pitchers, we are running out of room for them. The shit is going to hit the fan within a month, starting with Resop and Jurrjens. If DelGado or Teheran get ready for AA and can’t go because of being overstocked, we’ve got a problem. A good problem, but a problem just the same.
bighop - June 4, 2010
The DSL thing...
it’s been about a week, and they’ve gotten 2 games in, with like 3 or 4 rain outs and another 2 off days.
Mr. Sanchez - June 4, 2010
The good news is that only like 3 of the guys on that roster will ever even make it as far as Rome, so it’s not that big of a deal.
cbwilk - June 4, 2010
I’ve heard that the DSL is basically equivalent to a Junior College league with slightly younger players. Is this true?
Scott Coleman - June 4, 2010
I have no idea. I’d imagine that JUCO kids could probably compete pretty well in that league, and that 4 year college kids might even be to dominate. But you have to wonder who said it, cause some folks think the SEC is the equivalent of High A, which is just 100% untrue.
cbwilk - June 4, 2010
How the hell do you compare a metal bat league to a wooden bat league? Come on now. Those SEC teams have what…maybe 3 or 4 players who’ll make it to AA.
And I heard it from my Uncle’s friend, who used to be a scout for a while. He was more of a HS kids going into college scout though.
Scott Coleman - June 4, 2010
But then,...
the college and even JUCO kids likely have gotten much better coaching throughout their careers, and are also older considering the majority of our roster seems to always max out at 20 with a bulk of them being 17, 18, or 19.
Mr. Sanchez - June 4, 2010
Yeah, honestly I think the DSL is comperable to a high level HS league. Like if you took the top HS players in the country and put them all in a league.
cbwilk - June 4, 2010
Sure, although this team might have a little more than normal with Salcedo...
plus the two 16 year olds in Espinosa and Maldanado, the Tenerife contingent, and a few 6 figure bonus guys that PWHJort listed. Still say why isn’t Yasser Gomez getting action until his visa is squared away. I’d assume at least he’s working out with the team at their facility (if they have one), and could probably be a nice veteran player to have around all those kids.
Mr. Sanchez - June 4, 2010
But still, the rate of attrition down there is even higher than it is in the rest of the minors, which is already insanely high.
cbwilk - June 4, 2010
True...
and why I said this team is probably different from normal, for both us and the league as a whole with Salcedo being down there likely just because of the visa issues, and the Tenerife kids that may or may not get a chance here next year (a couple probably won’t, but I’d assume 2 of the 4), and if I recall correctly PWH had about 6-8 guys on there who were 6 figure bonus types.
But even considering all that, while this team might have a higher than normal number get to Rome, if a handful make it to AA or above would be great. No one should be expecting 5-10 out of there to reach the bigs. But it would be nice to see how Salcedo, the Canary Islands crew, and others are playing.
Hell, go back and check the last two years…
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=40136
http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/team.cgi?id=41616
And you’ve got Bethancourt and Linares on 08. Ronan Pacheco has been in Rome’s bullpen, but isn’t exactly a notable prospect. Same with Wilson Estevez. And you’ve got a few more who fit that description of making a stateside roster but not really warranting much attention like Alberto Odreman, Elys Blanco, Daniel Falcon, and Danilo Alvarez. Edison Sanchez and Andy Otero haven’t made their full season debuts yet, among others possible. Rafael Soriano is listed with 08, but that had to be an injury rehab or visa issue. Judging from that list, and the signing bonuses of the guys there now, I’d say you’re low on your prediction of 3, but not off by that much, especially if you change it from Rome to Myrtle or AA.
Mr. Sanchez - June 4, 2010
And even the cases of guys like Linares and Salcedo are special and have more to do with their visa issues than their talent. If all things were equal they never would have played in that league.
cbwilk - June 4, 2010
Looking at the 06 roster, which is far enough back to be a good judge of things, they had Osman Marval (made it to Rome this year), Samuel Sime and Jesus Sucre (Myrtle Beach this year), and Luis Avilan (MB). So that’s 4 guys that made it to Rome, 3 who’ve actually moved past Rome, but none who are solid prospects.
From 07 you’ve got Yoel Campusano (MB), Marval, Odreman (Rome), Avilan, Dimasther and Randall Delgado (Rome, MB), and Julio Surinach (Rome). So 3 guys past Rome, 7 guys to Rome, 1 big time prospect and another who could be if he comes back healthy.
So still, I’m saying at the end of the day paying too much attention to the DSL isn’t worth it. And giving too much credence to a league that no one’s ever seen shouldn’t happen either.
cbwilk - June 4, 2010
So like I said (in a condensed version)...
you are low on your estimate, but right on in your assessment.
Mr. Sanchez - June 4, 2010
Brett DeVall
You know I really wonder how many of you all who respond to this blog really know anything about baseball other than the stats you read or what you hear?
I attend many MILB games and I assure you I do KNOW a little about this game.
Now that I’ve said that let me tell you some facts about Brett and the team he is playing on right now. They’ve committed more errors than any other team in the Sally. They are one of the weakest hitting teams in the Sally. When a player misjudges a fly ball or an infielder doesn’t get to a ball he should, it is not called an error. so therefore it is a hit and sometimes for extra bases.
Now to Brett. He is my son and I am very honest about his performances. If you don’t believe me, ask him. Brett had elbow surgery about 5 1/2 months ago and still is only about 85nto 90%. He is not a soft tosser as some as you all say. You probably NEVER seen him throw. Brett, when healthy, is in the 89 to 92 mph range with great command. Pitchability, yes he can throw strikes on the corners with 3 different pitches. He was not taken in the 1st round because he was a soft tosser. He is very mature young man and knows this game very well other than be a pitcher as you will see in the very near future.
All I’m saying is that if are going to make comments about someone or something know what you are talking about. I’m very tired of a bunch of pencil necks who have never ever played this game or any other sport acting like you know what you are talking about i.e. ESPN and other so-called announcers
PANHANDLEDAD - June 4, 2010
Well, first, I just want to point out that I’ve never said a bad word about Brett. That was some other folks, who, yes, possibly don’t know what they’re talking about. Second, you did a fantastic job raising your son. Brett is one of the best young kids I’ve met in the 15 or so years I’ve been hanging around the Minor Leagues. He’s nice, he’s smart, and he treats everyone with respect. And third, I think he’s an incredibly talented pitcher who is going to wow some folks when he gets far enough removed from his surgery to have fully recovered.
And finally, I completely understand your frustration and I wish there was something I could do to help you with it, but, unfortunately, it’s just something that’s not going to change. The internet is full of folks who take second, third, and fourth hand information and pass it off as irrefutable truth. I’m guilty of this as well, even though I try my best to see everyone first hand and know what I’m talking about directly. I think Brett is going to be around the game for a long while and I can guarantee that there will be many things written about him that will be worse than the things written here. My best advice to you would be to either ignore it, or write if off as foolish. Worrying about it is only going to upset you and make you unhappy, and I’m guessing that, just from knowing Brett’s demeanor, that you’re not an unhappy person.
cbwilk - June 5, 2010
I said he was a soft tosser...
and I have actually played the game, and other sports, and saw your son when he pitched in Augusta a week or so ago. Maybe his recent surgery is holding back some velocity, but he wasn’t exactly lighting it up as I saw with Hale, Lopez, and other teammates.
Mr. Sanchez - June 5, 2010
Welcome to the Internet. Warning, all players are criticized.
Coming here and disrespecting your son’s fans is not the best way to get your point across. I assure you, sir, that many TC’ers KNOW a little about this game. Even the guys without playing experience or that haven’t been to MiLB games, have crazy amounts of statistical data readily available to post reasonable judgement on players.
and trust me, the “soft tosser” label is attributed to most every left-handed starter we have in our system that doesn’t pitch 95…you can thank Chuck James, the king of soft tossers, for that.
bwellnjonesco - June 6, 2010
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