Wes Timmons deserves a cap tip after his perfect 4-4 day.
Gwinnett 4, Durham 6
Matt Young and Freddie Freeman are so hot that they caused the guy who hits between them, Wes Timmons, to get hot. The little third baseman had 4 hits and drove in 2 runs while Young, who's played mostly second base lately, rapped out his 21st and 22nd doubles of the season and Freeman extended his hitting streak to 10 games, clubbing out his 10th homer, his 4th in his last 7 games. Ryne Reynoso's up and down season continues, this time trending down.
Mississippi 8, West Tennessee 0
Jesus Sucre continues his hot hitting, while playing third base for just the second time in his career. Wilie Cabrera collects another pair of hits and hopefully he'll earn a promotion to AAA after the All-Star Break so Gwinnett doesn't have to rely on Willy Taveras. Erik Cordier has won his last 2 starts, allowing just 2 earned runs in 12 innings. Kyle Cofield returns after missing 2 months and is great in relief.
Myrtle Beach 4, Salem 10
Since joining the Pelicans, Myke Jones hasn't gone 2 game in a row without collecting a hit. After allowing 4 earned runs in his last 13 innings, covering 2 starts, Matt Crim allowed 9 earned in just 4.1 innings tonight. Zeke Spruill made a fantastic return from the disabled list, shutting out the Red Sox over 2 innings while striking out 4. Of course, the fact that his ERA still stands at 10.45 shows how poorly he started the season.
Rome 0, Savannah 1
If RSF hadn't broken his hand and missed 2 months of the season I have no doubt he'd be playing for Myrtle Beach right now. Edward Salcedo collects his first extra base hit in America. After allowing 8 earned runs in his last 7 innings, covering 2 starts, Robinson Lopez only allows 1 tonigh, but still takes the tough luck loss. After striking out 7 in 4 scoreless innings, over 2 appearances, for Danville, Matt Fouch was promoted to Rome and dished out more of the same. The lefty, who was selected in the 34th round this year, is already 22, so this early success is promising.
Danville 5, Johnson City 11
GCL Braves - Off
DSL Braves 6, DSL Angels 11
The pitchers really got knocked around in this one. Aris Alcantra has his second straight 3 hit game, going 6-8 with 3 doubles and a triple in that span. For the season the 20 year old first baseman is hitting .311 with a .887 OPS. 19 year old Gerardo Reyes is playing decently as the team's leadoff hitter, with a .270 average and a .697 OPS. He's stolen 11 bases and only been caught once.
0 recs | 20 comments
8 game XBH streak for Freddie.
yondaime4 - July 5, 2010
Also during that span:
12-32 .375 Avg 6 2B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 5 BB, 6K, 2 SB – Probably the most productive 8 game stretch any braves hitter has had this season. Could probably be the most productive 20 game stretch any of our hitters has had.
yondaime4 - July 5, 2010
suddenly 11th in the league with an .841 OPS and that number is on the rise. Not bad for 20 at AAA.
I guess it was KLaw that had Arodys ranked as a top 20 guy… I just think it’s funny, because I have him behind JT, Freddie, Randall Delgado, Salcedo, and Minor. So he’s like sixth in our system for me. Certainly speaks well for our depth, and I didn’t even mention that Craig Kimbrel character…
timmy3 - July 5, 2010
And now arodys is out with an elbow injury so that drops him down
yondaime4 - July 5, 2010 via mobile
Freeman posting some extreme R/L splits
.217/.262/.317 vs LHP, .299/.369/.528 against RHP on the season. The HR today, though, was against a LHP, I do believe, so that’s a great sign. Some of his problems against lefties are just luck-related.
Still, though, it’s clear that he can kill right hand pitching. He’s at the point now where he’s got more homers than he did all of last year, so we can definitely call this a “bounce back” for him, as much as a guy who is top 100 needed a “bounceback.” He may not reach 20 HRs this year, but the way he’s been hitting lately, he looks like he could hit 30.
Bronn - July 5, 2010
But somehow Jesus Montero is a consensus top 5 prospect...
while Freeman may or may not be in a top 50? Add which one is hitting better at the same age (20) in AAA, plus which one is clearaly the better defensively, and I’m confused by the lack of respect Freddie seems to get. Maybe if he can continue this hot streak for another month or more, he’ll get the respect he deserves from the rankers.
Mr. Sanchez - July 5, 2010
I don’t see where all the outrage is coming from, here. Montero is a couple of months younger than Freeman, and he easily handled AA last year while Freeman was struggling. Freeman wasn’t even having a stellar 2010 until just a couple of weeks ago. Additionally, Montero could potentially catch, while Freeman is a first baseman.
Bronn - July 5, 2010
Montero could be a poor C while Freeman a good 1B,...
even with position scarcity or what have you, I’ll take good over poor all day.
And Freeman’s AA struggles just may be injury induced from his wrist.
The two have had a similar progression 17 in the Gulf, 18 in the Sally, 19 split between A+ and AA, with this year in AAA. Again, one projects as an above average 1B defensively. The other may be a below average C, more likely a backup 1B/DH. Freddie had a few more games in the Gulf and A+, but otherwise they are about similar. Montero has shown more power (similar 2B and HR totals in about 100 fewer ABs), and a good bit better career ops (.815 to .854), but this year Freeman has performed much better. I’m not saying Montero shouldn’t be a top 5 guy, but I don’t think there should be near the disparity between the two players. Similar age, similar hitting numbers (Montero better overall, Freeman better at the highest level), same levels played at on the way up, but one is clearly more valuable defensively (or at least better if you want to claim a bad C is worth more than a good 1B somehow). That’s what I’m saying. It’s not outrage, just confusion on how one can be a consensus top 5-10, while the other more in the 25-75 range depending on the ranker. Does a short stint in AA where one was healthy and the other wasn’t really mean anything?
Mr. Sanchez - July 5, 2010
And what's an "above-average 1B?"
Is that like being a mediocre C or a bad SS?
MichaelProcton - July 6, 2010
You are not that stupid
Mr. Sanchez - July 6, 2010
And you know it's not a very hard position to be ok at.
MichaelProcton - July 6, 2010
So because it's easy to be "ok" there...
you can’t understand what a good, or above average defensive 1B is? As said below, even with position scarcity/importance or what have you, I’ll take Tex over Piazza, even though I wouldn’t say one is a better hitter than the other. Being a good 1B is more valuable than a bad C, with the bats being equal.
Mr. Sanchez - July 6, 2010
Also, the idea of the last few weeks being a difference is erroneous...
monthly ops of both in AAA this year, if you want to judge them strictly on ops at the plate.
April (.696 to .790)
May (.635 to .719)
June (.829 to .923)
Freeman has outdone Montero every month so far this season (in less than 5 July games, it’s .729 to 1.176), and in two of those months the difference was near .100.
He’s been the better hitter at AAA so far in the entire time for both, plus he’s an above average defender at his position, while Montero is said to be very unlikely to stick at his. Again, not outrage, just confusion (if you take out the team affiliated with) for ranking one consistently that much higher than the other.
Mr. Sanchez - July 5, 2010
Well
I’ve attempted to clear up some of the confusion. No one is going to make as big a deal about the numbers from this year until it’s very nearly the end of the year. Last year was a larger sample than what we’ve seen this year, and last year you saw Montero put up a .956 OPS (with 17 HRs) across two levels, while at the same two levels, Freddie Freeman had a .766 OPS across the same two levels, with 8 HRs, while getting more ABs.
That nearly 200 point is a pretty big gap, and evaluators can’t be sure how much the wrist was bothering Freeman. Injuries, justly, do dent prospect value-maybe they don’t recover as well as expected, or maybe they’re injury prone. The numbers that both put up this season will obviously play a part, but it won’t be as significant until the end of the season, when you get a larger sample. You’re looking at three months and lending extra significance to that, but you need to consider the previous two years-they were nearly identical in 2008, and last year, Montero was like Heyward-light.
Wait until the end of the year and see where they end up relative to each other; if things continue at this rate, I don’t think there will be much separating them. Montero will probably be higher because he could still possibly develop into a catcher with reasonable defense, which is extremely valuable with his bat. Mike Napoli, for example, isn’t a great defensive catcher, but he’s been worth more according to Fangraphs WAR than Troy Glaus, and he’s done that with much less playing time.
Bronn - July 5, 2010
You are assuming what I'm taking into consideration...
I’ll take a good defender over a poor defender, regardless over position. Say you can have a career of Piazza or a career of Texiera, both are great hitters, but even though Piazza can play C, I’ll take Tex. Tex is a strong 1B and helps make teammates better, Piazza is a liability your opponents exploit. Montero sounds like he’d be often exploited as a C, while Freeman would play a solid 1B and help others corralling bad throws with scoops and a long frame on stretches.
Then there’s the bat. As you say, prior to last year, there wasn’t much difference. Both did great in A+, although Montero was admittedly better, but the huge difference is AA where Freeman was hurt in a way that severely limits hitting. Now at the same level this year, Freeman is healthy and outperforming Montero. Maybe he gets hot and the numbers are closer at the end of the year, but then I’d still take the good defender over the bad. We’ll see if this is just a hot streak or more adjusting to the higher level at a very young age, but if it’s more him getting acclimated to the higher level at a young age, I’m going FF over Montero.
Mr. Sanchez - July 5, 2010
Well
Freeman has impressed me =]
JasonHeywardisGod - July 5, 2010
Glad we got a second chance at Richardson...
he’s done well.
Mr. Sanchez - July 5, 2010
I’m fascinated by the young DSL guys.
Aris A. Alcantara is another of our many Dominican born players. He’s listed as a 6’2" 170 lb first baseman. Signed by the Braves in 2/08, this is his 3d season in the DSL.
Looks like he may have some legit power potential and will take a walk – w/ combined totals of 29 XBH and 44 BB in 99 G as a professional.
fandave - July 5, 2010
RSF
When I saw the R-Braves play last week, he looked pretty awesome at the plate. He has a powerfully built lower body and extra broad shoulders, generates extreme bat speed, and the ball absolutely explodes off his bat. He hit 2 absolute rocket shot line drives into the outfield.
fandave - July 5, 2010
RSF
Good to see him back on the field, and and picking up right where he left off last year. Hopefully the power will show up this week as he gets more comfy after the long lay off.
littlethingss - July 5, 2010
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