Impressive Stat of the Night: DSL 1B, Aris Alcantara is hitting .412 (14-34) in his last 8 games with 4 2B, 2 3B, 9 RBI, 9 BB, and just 5K. He has 4 three hit games during that span.
Charlotte 8, Gwinnett 4
The Braves bullpen currently features three guys who have sub 1.10 ERAs in Michael Dunn, Craig Kimbrel and the oft forgotten Stephen Marek. In fact, for the year Marek has a 0.74 ERA split between AA and AAA. He pairs that with 44K in 37 innings though he has allowed his share of hits in Gwinnett he has still been very impressive after everyone had written him off last season.
Birmingham 5, Mississippi 11
I bet you guys can't guess who is going to be my top pick on the hot sheet on Monday? Any takers? Willie Cabrera now has the sole league lead in doubles (ahead of teammate Mauro Gomez) and is just 3 points behind Dave Sappelt for the lead league in batting average as well. He has 9 XBH in his last 10 games and if the season ended today he would have my vote for Braves minor league hitter of the year.
Myrtle Beach @ Wilmington - Postponed
Charleston 3, Rome 1
Brett DeVall had yet another solid, if unspectacular, start. His offense didn't give him a whole lot of help though RIaan Spanjer-Furstenburg continues to get on base and square balls up. I don't know if he is going to flash any power this season because of his hand injury but I have a feeling he might always hit for a high average. Christian Bethancourt is having what I would call a successful season even though his OPS is just above .600 this year (Braeden Schlehuber's was .591 coming into tonight). I have to keep reminding myself that he is just 18 years old, plays the toughest position on the field and has an incredibly impressive arm. I feel like it is still difficult to tell what form his bat will take but he did hit .305 in June and has cut his strike outs way down since a rough May.
Pulaski 1, Danville 7
Aaron Northcraft had an interesting. On top of what you see in his line he also hit three batters and had a wild pitch. He actually hit the first two batters of the 4th inning and then threw a wild pitch. The next batter popped to right which normally would score a run, but Danny Falcon got the ball in to Jakob Dalfonso at first who then tossed it to Andrelton Simmons who tagged the runner from second out when he was going to third. This play was scored as the very rare 9-3-6 double play.
GCL Phillies 7, GCL Baves 5 - 12 Innings
Edison Sanchez got the day off and my second love, William Beckwith, went 1-5 with 2K so I find it difficult to care about this game today. Matt Lipka has been hitting well lately. 20 year old Ramon De Los Santos has hit well in limited playing time so far.
DSL Indians 3, DSL Braves 6
11 year old Abraham Espinosa continues to impress in the DSL though he has been hit harder in the last 2 games, giving up 6 run vs just 3 in his first 5 games. He also has walked just one batter in 31.1 innings so far. Gerardo Reyes has been a fantastic leadoff hitter for the Braves as he has shown the ability to get on base and steal bases efficiently (12/14 so far). Aris Alcantara has been the best hitter for this team so far though at 20 years old I want to see him up a level or two before I make any assumptions on future production.
0 recs | 41 comments
"11 yeard old Abraham Espinosa"
WHAT? Haha, that would be damn impressive though.
kbertling353 - July 10, 2010
He's 17
We’ve got a couple of 17 year olds in DSL. I don’t know if they’re going to be any good, but it’s fascinating to follow guys who would still be in high school.
Bronn - July 10, 2010
And turned 17 a week or two into the season...
so he’d be a rising JR or SR in HS.
Mr. Sanchez - July 11, 2010
Besides
If he really were 11, we’d have to call him Rowengartner
Bronn - July 11, 2010
Best typo I’ve seen all year. I wish I had made it.
cbwilk - July 11, 2010
Oh it wasn’t a typo, I was just being facetious
yondaime4 - July 11, 2010
You’re face is tious!
cbwilk - July 11, 2010
Huh, so you wouldn't take Freeman for minor league hitter of the year.
It’s pretty close, I guess, but Freeman is doing his work at a higher level. Perhaps things will be clearer once we get down the stretch.
Bronn - July 10, 2010
Right now I’d give it to Willie. I know Freeman is young for the level but generally your hitter of the year award goes to the best performance overall and I would take Cabrera’s right now. But we have half a season left!
yondaime4 - July 11, 2010
No love for Richardson?
he has been doing work at the top of that Mississippi lineup since we signed him back up.
Mr. Sanchez - July 11, 2010
For player of the year? No.
cbwilk - July 11, 2010
No no no
wasn’t going that far. But for a hot sheet, while he probably isn’t a prospect, he has been doing damn well at the top of the Miss. order for much of the year. His July so far has been pretty strong. Real glad we got a second chance with him.
Hitter of the Year? I’m assuming it’s a full season guy, and Cabrera has had a good year but the HR total may be a bit low for an award without crazy steals. I could see Freddie with a strong second half. Matt Young has been solid, and has the steals to make up for low HR. Maybe RSF with a strong second half. Hell, at the mid way point, Cabrera actually does look like the best candidate. Wow we’ve had a weak first half at the plate power wise in the minors.
Mr. Sanchez - July 11, 2010
As far as the Hot Sheet goes (and yodaime14 has his own feelings on this I’m sure) I try to go for the prospects over anyone else. usually there are way more than 4 guys who are worth having on the list and if I’m choosing between an older guy and a prospect it’s an easy choice. A retread type guy would have to be nutso insane for a week for me to put him up there.
cbwilk - July 11, 2010
yeah I generally go for just prospects though if someone is especially good I might be convinced to bump them on.
yondaime4 - July 11, 2010
He’s certainly proving that he’s our #1 ML (almost) ready position player.
My guess is the organization has him evaluated as closer to ready than many here would likely agree, and that if he continues to rake and is consistent and injury-free in 2d half, he will have a real shot at winning the 1B job next spring.
fandave - July 11, 2010
Damn, Willie Cabrera. Have a year why don't you.
I like that Andrelton Simmons has been hitting well lately. His bat is supposed to be very raw so if he can just hold his own this year, good things could happen in time.
Also, who is this S. Sekiguchi on the GCL team? The name doesn’t ring a bell.
Jacob Peterson - July 10, 2010
Shohei Sekiguchi
Is a 21 year old 6’6" Japanese LH that the braves signed before the Japanese pro teams could get to him. Same with his teammate,Yoshinori Yamarin
J-Turn14 - July 10, 2010
Thanks!
Old for the league, then, but he sounds intriguing. 6’6" lefties don’t grow on trees. I’m curious to see how he does the rest of the year and if they move him up at some point.
Jacob Peterson - July 10, 2010
Willie Cabrera
here is a smallish, righty hitting corner outfielder (5’11" 185) who has proven that he can produce offensively in 181 AA games, although it seems he mostly has gap power and probably couldn’t be expected to ever hit more than 10-15 HR per season. he will be 24 years old in a few weeks.
has he moved up to legit ML prospect status and if so, don’t the Braves have to promote him to AAA for the 2d half? also, he’s mostly played LF – how good is he defensively?
fandave - July 11, 2010
He’s a solid defender, not spectacular, but good. He’s not overly fast and has a very average arm, but he makes all the right plays. I’ve seen him play all 3 OF spots and he definitely fits best in LF.
cbwilk - July 11, 2010
thanks,cb!
fandave - July 11, 2010
I see the Prado of the minors is at it again tonight lol! I really hope he keeps this up I would mind having him in LF AT ALL!
I’m also loving our 2010 draft! Those kids have come out playing really well and my #10 prospect Todd Cunningham is making me look good for putting him in my Top 10.
Jay212033 - July 11, 2010
What's the reason again Craig Kimbrel isn't in the majors?
SuperNewb - July 11, 2010
We’re trying to pretend we didn’t lose Rafael Soriano for nothing.
Bronn - July 11, 2010
because apparently closer's aren't worth much...
if I was a big league GM, I’d have been willing to offer a lot more than Jesse Chavez for him. Maybe not in terms of major league talent considering what I thought about his health, but I’d have given a good low level arm for him. The guy can damn sure pitch, especially in a contract year.
Mr. Sanchez - July 11, 2010
I think you nailed it, contract year. That’s become my impression of Soriano, he’s about the money and is only going to pitch well when that’s on the line.
cbwilk - July 11, 2010
I don't buy it
Soriano’s ranged from quite good to excellent in multiple non-contract years.
Sounds like sour grapes to me. Wren didn’t want to let Soriano’s 2010 salary linger on the team, so he accepted the first decent deal offered by a team not in direct competition with the Braves. And, in my opinion, it wasn’t a terrible deal (despite the fact that I was somewhat a fan of Soriano); I still think the Braves will end up deriving some middle-relief value from Chavez.
jpx7 - July 11, 2010 via mobile
total agreement. From what I’ve seen and observed, Soriano is bad ass and competes each and ever time he walks onto the field; and Chavez has got good stuff and needs to fine tune his command.
Bobby Cox likes Chavez and his stuff, which is the reason he’s been on the team all year. He’s periodically (including recently) looked pretty damn impressive to me.
fandave - July 11, 2010
+1
Chavez has been terrible but he isn’t used that often so I can see why they don’t want Kimbrel just sitting in the BP.
Jay212033 - July 11, 2010
Not so terrible lately. For example, on 6/22, he went 4.1 I with 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K.
fandave - July 11, 2010
Also, got the W against the Phils Tuesday with a scoreless 10th I.
fandave - July 11, 2010
Can we say sample size?!?!
He started out the season pitching well also so until he’s more consistent I’m still putting the terrible label on him.
Jay212033 - July 11, 2010
do whatever labeling you want. doesn’t make it fair, accurate, balanced, etc.
fandave - July 11, 2010
Didn’t we once say the same type of things about both Gonzo and Soriano?
justincredubil02 - July 11, 2010
Say what about Gonzo and Soriano?
Jay212033 - July 11, 2010
That they were terrible based on just a month or two of work.
justincredubil02 - July 11, 2010
There were some ridiculous assertions based on two consecutive rough outings that “This guy is worthless,” while they would still have good overall numbers. People would slap their heads and complain if Soriano came in and gave up a seeing-eye-single before getting three strikeouts. That’s completely different from Jesse Chavez, who had a full season under his belt of being nothing special last year, and has not been impressive at all this year.
Bronn - July 11, 2010
to say he hasn’t been impressive at all isn’t truly accurate in my opinion. He has had several outings this season where he has gone more than an inning (or two) and has been very impressive. Maybe we aren’t using him correctly? I would say he does have an impressive arm but he has been hurt by the home run ball but he was better in June and has seen his ERA decrease 2.5 runs since May 15
yondaime4 - July 11, 2010
Matt Young
Will rot in AAA forever. Whats a guy gotta do?
ATLandUNC - July 11, 2010
Angry HJ
yondaime4 - July 11, 2010
I see Matt Young’s ceiling as an Infante type utility man (4th or 5th OF, backup 2B) and pinchrunner in the ML. He’s totally blocked by Infante and Conrad and Diaz/Cabera/Henske/Blanco/Schafer and needs to go to a different organization to get a shot.
fandave - July 11, 2010
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Talking Chop to post a comment.