A-: 2011 Rome Braves Discussion

[sdp]

All generalized discussion regarding the Rome Braves should go here.

[Middle Man]

Well, someone has to post something in the Rome thread. How about a nice little article about Minor? He seems like a great guy. Someone remind me, what does his fastball top out at?

Minor article (http://www.ajc.com/sports/atlanta-braves/braves-first-round-pick-impressive-in-debut-120523.html)

"...Minor was a clean slate entering his debut for the Rome Braves on Thursday.

“Stud or dud,” Minor said Wednesday, having a little fun with the buildup for his first start, which came from two months of waiting to sign, two weeks of building arm strength, and two million dollars.

He had two innings or 30 pitches to introduce himself. The result? Stud.

Minor pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts against the Charleston Riverdogs. His showed the control he was drafted for, throwing first-pitch strikes to each of the six hitters he faced, despite not pitching since the NCAA regionals on June 1. Of his 24 pitches, 16 were strikes...."

[Hillbilly]

91 yesterday, from what I read. Carroll Rogers posted it in lastnight's blog comments.

[Middle Man]

91 lastnight, from what I'm reading.

Ah ha. Yes, Rogers had that in her blog, which I just read.


91 MPH (http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2009/08/21/we-got-marlins-we-got-smoltz-we-got-minor/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_braves_blog)

"...He hit 91 mph on the gun with his fastball, about what he was touted to have, and threw first-pitch strikes to each of the six hitters when he hadn’t pitched in a game since June 1. We’d also heard about that control.

He’s a smart kid and seems to take pitching very seriously, from all accounts. He’s been getting pitching lessons since he was 12, his dad told me, and seems to have a good understanding of how to attack hitters, that it’s not all about blowing fastballs by people, that it’s about upsetting timing and being able to locate pitches within the strike zone...."

[Andy G.]

Rome's season opener was postponed last night due to rain. They played a double header today.

Julio Teheran, probably the Braves' best pitching prospect, threw six scoreless innings allowing just two hits and walking one. He struck out seven.

Chris Masters, who I went to high school with (he graduated the year before I did) threw a scoreless inning with one walk and three strikeouts in the opener as well.

[Andy G.]

Chris Masters had a great start last night. He threw six innings with two hits, zero earned runs (two unearned), one walk and ten strikeouts. He's old for the Sally (22), so if he keeps this up he should get promoted rather quickly.

Another interesting prospect, Robinson Lopez, made his second appearance of the season last night. Lopez is a 19 year old out of the Dominican Republic. He pitched very well in the Gulf Coast League last year. In two appearances so far, he's pitched four innings. He's allowed four hits and one run to go with one walk and four strikeouts.

Julio Teheran is on the mound right now for Rome, while both Mike Minor and Randall Delgado are pitching for Mississippi and Myrtle Beach respectively.

[Andy G.]

Teheran pitched 3.2 innings tonight. He allowed one run on one hit (it was a homerun) and three walks and five strikeouts.

Also, one of the Braves' top prospects, eighteen year old catcher Christian Bethancourt, went 2-4 and raised his average to .526.

[Dreamscape]

Teheran pitched 3.2 innings tonight. He allowed one run on one hit (it was a homerun) and three walks and five strikeouts.

Also, one of the Braves' top prospects, eighteen year old catcher Christian Bethancourt, went 2-4 and raised his average to .526.
On one hand, I'd love for Bethancourt to force a callup so I can possibly see him this year when the Pelicans come for a visit, but on the other hand...I'd much rather the Braves go slow with him. But I am very excited about his progression. Not so much to replace or move McCann, but to become a very usable trading piece himself.

[Andy G.]

Lopez pitched 4.1 innings last night. He allowed only one hit but walked three and stuck out four. That brings his season stats to 8.1 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 8 SO.

I feel bad, because it seems like I might have jinxed Bethancourt. Since I mentioned him a few days ago he's gone 0-11 and his average has dropped to .333.

[Andy G.]

Teheran pitched well again. 5.1 innings, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K.

For the season he's pitched 15 innings witih 7 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, and 15 K. That gives him an ERA of 1.20 and a WHIP of 0.73.

[Hillbilly]

Arodys Vizcaino was named Sally League pitcher of the week:

Link (http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100524&content_id=10392098&vkey=news_t432&fext=.jsp&sid=t432)

"During that span Vizcaino was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA. In two games started, he pitched 15.2 innings giving up just 8 hits while striking out 14. Overall Vizcaino is 6-3 with a 3.16 ERA in nine starts."


He pitched 7.2 innings yesterday giving up only 1 unearned run. This coming after pitching 8 innings of shutout ball on Tuesday.

Another name that keeps showing up here and there is lefty Chris Masters. He's carrying a 1.34 ERA, 48 Ks, 12 BB, and a .164 opponents AVG in 47 innings.

[Andy G.]

I went to high school with Masters. I'm not sure why he's still in Rome. He's 22 years old. Those numbers are misleading, for sure.

[Dreamscape]

Masters, as a player who went to college before signing, to be simply at Rome at this stage of his career does concern me. It might be numbers at Myrtle Beach, but at some point, the Braves have to let Masters get his lumps in with people who are closer to his age.

Unless, they see something in them they do not like and hope he can continue to post impressive stats for trade bait. I know the Braves are very slow with their pitcher promotions, but typically, when they are college players, they get pushed a bit quicker.

[Hillbilly]

Edward Salcedo is finally back in the States. He is set to join the Rome Braves in the next couple of days.

[Andy G.]

Edward Salcedo is off to a good start this year. He's got a great on-base percentage at .380, while he's hitting .287. He's not hitting for much power yet (.402 SLG), so his OPS is only .782, but that's not bad. When he starts driving the ball, and he will, he might rocket through the farm system.

Matt Lipka, our first round pick last year, is also a short stop. He's hitting .272 with a .341 OBP and hasn't hit a single extra-base hit this season. This isn't cause for too much concern. He's 19 and should develope some pop. He's also stolen 10 bases and been caught 3 times.

Carlos Perez, the very talented and left-handed pitcher out the Dominican Republic, is off to a peculiar start. In 5 starts and 25 innings, he's allowed 34 hits and walked 6. This indicates that his pitches are around the plate often, and while it's leading to a lot of hits, it's a good thing for a 19 year old prospect be around the plate.

What's peculiar is that while he's giving up all those hits, he also has 30 strike outs in 25 innings. He's got some developing to do, but it's encouraging that he can miss so many bats while staying around the strike zone as often as he is.