Welcome to the last weekly report on the Atlanta Braves farm system before the mid-season prospect list is announced! Most of the MiLB teams are on to the second half of their seasons, while the big league club continues to fight closer and closer to a .500 record. The big news of the week features Mike Soroka and Ronald Acuna receiving some mid-season honors. Lucas Herbert is the player of the week, while Joey Wentz receives pitcher of the week honors. Also, the emergence of catcher Drew Lugbauer has increased Atlanta’s prospect depth at an already deep position. (Prospect rankings in parenthesis. All rankings taken from MLB.com’s Atlanta Braves Prospect Watch Top 30.)
Weekly Atlanta Braves Farm Report: Lucas Herbert Powers Rome
Gwinnett Braves (Triple-A)
The Gwinnett Braves completed a miserable week that saw the team post a record of 1-6. Gwinnett is now nine games back in their division and the wild card standings, and chances at postseason play getting slimmer and slimmer. The best start of the week came via Lucas Sims (18th). Sims went six innings with three earned runs allowed, but he struck out 11 while issuing just one walk. He now has a 4.00 ERA in 16 starts at Gwinnett this season. The impressive part of Sims’ season is his 96 strikeouts and 1.19 WHIP in 90 innings pitched. Unfortunately for Sims, Atlanta’s rotation has leveled off with the impressive debut of Sean Newcomb (fifth).
Second baseman and top prospect Ozzie Albies continued to be a steady presence for Gwinnett’s offense. Albies posted three multi-hit games, including two three-hit performances this week. He posted 10 hits this week to go with seven RBI, including a four-RBI performance in the only win of the week.
Mississippi Braves (Double-A)
The Mississippi Braves posted a 2-3 record that ended with a three-game losing streak. Mississippi’s talented pitching staff was on display this week with Luiz Gohara (ninth), Kolby Allard (third), and Soroka (fourth) all posting solid outings. Gohara had the best start of that group; he threw six innings of two-run ball, with five strikeouts and just a lone walk issued. It was also announced this week that Soroka and Acuna were named to the 2017 Futures Game, played during the MLB All-Star week. The two 19-year-old prospects have been fantastic this season and have positioned themselves for a potential debut to begin the 2018 season.
Acuna (seventh) continued his hot bat with three multi-hit games this week. He also added two home runs and four RBI. Infielder Travis Demeritte (10th) continued to battle inconsistency in Mississippi. Demeritte went 2-22 this week, with six strikeouts, and his season average is down to .225. Twenty-eight of Demeritte’s 63 hits this season have gone for extra-bases, but he also has 82 strikeouts in 75 games played. He will need to find a groove down the stretch to boost his stock.
Florida Fire Frogs (Advanced-A)
The Florida Fire Frogs posted a 2-4 record this week. The two wins were led by two solid starts from the Fire Frogs pitching staff. Enderson Franco (unranked) threw five shutout innings, with nine strikeouts, three walks, and two hits. Oriel Caicedo (unranked) followed that with a spot start of his own, in which he went four innings with two hits, no walks, and a lone earned run, while striking out four. Caicedo is mostly used as a reliever, but he has stepped up with a few strong starts when needed this season.
Unfortunately, the Fire Frogs dealt with slumps from two key players this week. Outfielder Anfernee Seymour (30th) had just four hits in seven games while going 4-24. Catcher Alex Jackson (23rd) is also still trying to find his groove after coming off of the DL. Jackson did have a multi-hit game with an RBI, but finished the week with a line of 3-21 and seven strikeouts. Hopefully, Jackson can end the season on a nice streak to build some confidence heading into 2018.
Rome Braves (Single-A)
The Rome Braves went 3-2, with a cancellation and a postponement due to rain. Rome missed out on the first-half division title and currently sits two and a half games back for the second-half title. It was a strong push in the second half last year that sent Rome into the playoffs, and they will look for more magic again this season. The young lefty Wentz (13th) posted the start of the week for Atlanta’s farm system. He went six shutout innings with one hit and one walk alongside nine strikeouts. Wentz now holds a 3.03 ERA with 80 strikeouts in 71.1 innings pitched for Rome. His performance earned him pitcher of the week honors.
Rome’s primary catcher, Herbert (28th), picked up right where Brett Cumberland (29th) left off. Herbert had a hit in every game this week, including three multi-hit games. His line for the week came in at 10-21, with a home run, five RBI, and three runs scored. His performance earned him player of the week honors for Atlanta’s farm system. Tyler Flowers continues to shine as Atlanta’s primary catcher, but Atlanta now has prospect depth at the backstop. Herbert, Cumberland, and Jackson are all in Atlanta’s top-30, and Kade Scivicque (unranked, currently at Double-A) is another intriguing prospect at the position.
Danville Braves (Rookie Level)
The Danville Braves posted a roaring week, with a record of 5-2! Danville’s hot stretch was due in part to two pitchers. Young lefty Jaret Hellinger (unranked) contributed two strong outings this week. Hellinger combined for eight innings pitched, with one earned run on five hits, two walks, and two strikeouts. Fellow lefty Kyle Muller (16th) picked up his first win of 2017, with five innings of two-hit shutout ball while notching three strikeouts.
Another prospect at catcher, Lugbauer (unranked), began to make some noise this week. Lugbauer launched four home runs this week, and contributed a three-hit, multi-homer game. He did record just six hits total on the week, but his hot week has put his name out there as a prospect to watch closely.
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