Talking Chop

Playoff Hunt

Myrtle Beach -The Pelicans won their game, but so did Kinston, meaning Myrtle Beach is eliminated from the playoffs.

Gwinnett 7, Durham 6

Dan Nelson had a great AAA debut, knocking out a three run homer. That's 2 great nights in a row for him, as he walked reached base all 6 times he came up for Mississippi last night, walking 5 times. Matt Young seemed like a prime candidate to be selected in the Rule 5 Draft last offseason, and after the year he's put up in AAA I'd find it hard to believe that a team couldn't use him on their bench next year. If the Braves don't protect him on the 40 man roster in the offseason, and it seems likely that they won't, there's a very good chance he's in the Majors with another team in 2011. The wild version of Todd Redmond showed up tonight, and while he's seemed more inconsistent this season than last year, he's actually had a considerably better year and he's another guy who seems like he could find a place in the Majors with a different team next year. As infrequently as Cristhian Martinez has been used this year, he's thrown 72.1 innings between AAA and the Majors this year compared to 130.1 between AA and the Majors last year, he's had a great season, with a combined 3.11 ERA and 1.00 WHIP. He's been masterful at keeping the walks down, with a 1.4 BB/9 rate in AAA and an outstanding 0.4 BB/9 rate in the Majors.

Mississippi 2, West Tennessee 4

Myke Jones homered for the second night. The athletic shortstop has had a fine season, playing for Rome, Myrtle Beach, and now Mississippi, he's combined to hit .264 with a .748 OPS, rapping out 31 doubles, 15 homers, driving in 61 runs, and stealing 21 bases. The only real knock on his season is that he's made 43 errors in 121 games, a huge number, but a lot of the errors come from being athletic enough to get to balls that other shortstops simply can't reach. Really, he profiles best as a second baseman, a move that would immediately help his defense, and he could turn out to be an Orlando Hudson type Major Leaguer. Cole Miles made his AA debut, hitting a triple. Jake Thompson continues to impress here at the end of the season. He hasn't allowed a walk in his last 2 starts, covering 13 innings.

Myrtle Beach 5, Wilmington 4

Braeden Schlehuber hit a 2 run homer in the 7th, breaking his 0-21 slump, and Cody Johnson followed with his own 2 run homer in the 8th to lead the Pelicans to victory. Chris Curley made his Pelicans debut and rapped out 2 hits, including a double, and walked. the 23 year old non drafted free agent has played for Danville, Rome, and Myrtle Beach this year, combining to hit .221 with a .604 OPS in 217 at bats while playing all around the infield. Zeke Spruill rebounded from a rough stretch to put up a quality start tonight.

Rome 0, West Virginia 3

The R-Braves collected just 3 hits tonight, one of them being Joey Terdoslavich's triple. Dan Jurik only allowed 1 earned run over 5 innings and he's put up a 3.15 ERA and a 1.03 WHIP in 68.2 innings between the GCL, Danville, and Rome. After posting a 4.31 ERA and a 1.79 WHIP in 39.2 innings for Myrtle Beach, David Francis was demoted to Rome and instead of puting he went to work, putting up good numbers in relief, a 2.60 eRA and a 1.08 WHIP in 27.2 innings for Rome.