A tight-knit affair came down to the last inning, when a one-out double spoiled the Clingstones chance at history
Saturday was a whirlwind for the Atlanta Braves system, with the Futures Game, two pitcher promotions, and two games that went deep into no-hit bids. Samuel Mejia and Adam Maier led the way for those two no-hitters, but both Columbus and Rome ultimately fell short. Down in the Dominican Summer League Diego Tornes had a great day but left late with an injury.
(37-55) Gwinnett Stripers 1, (54-37) Indianapolis Indians 6
- Eddys Leonard, 2B: 1-2, HR, .223/.288/.406
- Luke Waddell, 2B: 1-3, BB, .289/.417/.342
- Brett Sears, SP: 3.2 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 14.73 ERA
- Jackson Stephens, RP: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 2.68 ERA
It’s been a whirlwind of a season for Brett Sears, who started all the way down in Single-A and is already making his Triple-A debut three months later. This push has strained some of Sears’s peripherals and his first Triple-A start was arguably his worst as a professional as it’s the first time since his first of the season he failed to complete four innings and is the second most runs he has allowed in a game. Sears is starting to run into hitters where his fastball velocity (average 89.3 in this outing) is an issue and in this particular start he allowed five 100+ mph batted balls including two home runs to Indianapolis left fielder Billy Cook. Sears has a solid movement profile and throws his slider harder than you would expect – average 82.9 mph – so the secondaries and command are in place if he can survive with his velocity. The trick up his sleeve in that regard is one we’ve seen from others in the system — he has elite extension at 6.8 feet and a 4.87 foot release height, giving his fastball a flat plane that combined with his average movement can help the pitch play up in the top of the strike zone. Sears commanded the fastball relatively well, but still got hit hard and his slider got hit even harder. He was not burying that pitch the way he tended to do at the lower levels, and hitters were able to get good wood on it when he left it over the plate.
With Sears letting up six runs in the first four innings the Stripers offense had a tall hill to climb, and for this squad that is Sisyphean. The Stripers, who score nearly one run a game less than the second-worst offense in the league, had only four hits in this game. It was a bonanza of soft contact, and they stayed shut out until the eighth inning when Eddys Leonard finally delivered them from complete ineptitude. Leonard was locked in this at bat, crushing a missile foul before barely sneaking the next swing inside the foul pole for a home run. Was it the best contact at 93.5 mph off of the bat? Not really. but we have to let them have something sometimes.
Swing and Misses
Jackson Stephens – 9
Brett Sears – 8
(35-58) Columbus Clingstones 2, (44-41) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 1
- Ethan Workinger, RF: 2-4, .232/.306/.424
- David McCabe, 3B: 0-2, 2 BB, .268/.366/.393
- Samuel Mejia, SP: 5 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 0.00 ERA
Yet another pitching debut was needed on Saturday in Columbus, and Samuel Mejia certainly had a more fun night than Sears and the Stripers. Mejia didn’t miss a ton of bats, but his dynamite splitter was key to his success as he got whiffs in some keys spots while forcing loads of very soft contact throughout his five innings. The only trouble came in the fourth inning, and it was started with an awkward error from Mejia. With two outs in the inning Mejia was tasked with chasing down a pop up thanks to the infield being shifted away from the area, and he had trouble playing the spin and ending up dropping the ball. After that he walked consecutive batters, but escaped on the first pitch to the sixth hitter of the inning as he popped up a high fastball that Cal Conley was able to track down in foul territory. In the end Mejia and his brilliant splitter covered five innings and didn’t allow a hit. The veteran bullpen helped keep that streak going, with Amos Willingham throwing two innings of hitless relief to hand it over to Zach Thompson in the eighth inning in a tie game with a chance at a no-hitter. Thompson struck out the first hitter, but the second of the inning was able to get solid contact and send one to the warning track. Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. was on it easily though, tracking it down for the second out, and Thompson was able to get the final hitter to send it to the bottom of the eighth still at 0-0.
The Clingstones had no trouble getting themselves in the hit column — Geraldo Quintero led off in the bottom of the first inning with a base hit but was thrown out trying to stretch it to two. Runs, however, were harder to come by. Columbus failed to come through with runners in scoring position. Take the fourth inning. Ethan Workinger and Adam Zebrowski had singles, and with one out Workinger was able to move to third on a wild pitch. With their biggest opportunity facing them Cal Conley and Cade Bunnell struck out, extending the shutout streak for both sides. The eighth inning served as their breakthrough. Drew Compton led off in the eighth, and he slashed one down the left field line just fair for a leadoff double. Pensacola walked David McCabe intentionally with one out, but couldn’t set up an inning-ending double play. Adam Zebrowski delivered the only hit of the game with runners in scoring position, chasing home Compton to give Columbus the lead. A wild pitch then brought in McCabe, and the game shifted to Columbus’s chance at a no-hitter. Thompson got the first out, but after a walk would have to face the rest of the inning just a pitch away from disaster. The next hitter smoked a hanging slider into the gap, a double that brought home the runner and put the tying run on second base. Thompson locked down though, getting an infield pop up and a strikeout to preserve the win.
Swing and Misses
Samuel Mejia – 7
Amos Willingham – 5
Zach Thompson – 2
(37-47) Rome Emperors 10, (43-42) Hub City Spartanburgers 0
- Lisandro Espinoza, SS: 3-5, 2B, 2 3B, 3 RBI, .206/.267/.358
- Patrick Clohisy, LF: 1-3, BB, 2 RBI, .246/.337/.330
- Adam Maier, SP: 6.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 5.33 ERA
It was low-scoring across the farm system because all the runs were saved up for this Rome win. The Emperors piled it on and on and on in the second inning, chasing Hub City’s starter early and setting up for an easy win for Adam Maier. It was a slow spiral to a quick breakthrough. Ambioris Tavarez rolled over a slider, but placed it deep in the hole and when the shortstop had trouble transferring cleanly he had no chance at getting Tavarez at first. A walk with one out put two runners on, but with the bottom two spots in the order coming up the Emperors would need timely hits to come away with runs. Harry Owen had the first crack, and he laced a single into center field that scored the game’s first run. Jace Grady then drew a walk to set up the top of the order with one out and the bases loaded. Patrick Clohisy couldn’t keep the hit train rolling, but flew out deep enough to chase home Jake Steels and double the lead. That made way for Lizandro Espinoza, who stepped into the box looking to do damage. Damage was exactly what followed. He hit a deep fly ball to right field that chased the defender in circles, and it fell to clear the bases and allow Espinoza to cruise in with a triple. Espinoza had three extra base hits on the day, and Rome made use of each of them. Espinoza burned a double off of the wall in left field in the fourth to spark a two-run rally with two outs, then an inning later a gentle pop found real estate on the right field line and some High-A level defense and a high hop off of the turf allowed Espinoza to come away with an RBI triple.
With as rough as a season as Adam Maier has had it may not be overly wise to pick at too many nits here, but when you factor the three hit batters (the same hitter all three times) in with his three walks the 6 1⁄3 innings of scoreless ball looks even more suspect. Still, to an extent Maier’s success was not unearned. Maier held the Spartanburgers hitless for six innings, and it was a result of solid location on his pitches and them not making solid contact. Maier had one of his better games at not leaving the ball over the plate, but had a tendency to have pitches slip(?) out of his hand and miss badly. Unfortunately for Gleider Figueroa (or fortunately, depending on how much he really wanted to go to first base) three of the worst instances of that came with him at the plate. After 6 1⁄3 innings Maier finally stumbled, allowing two hits in a row that chased him out of the game. Even those two hits weren’t squared up in the least, and Maier’s ability to keep the ball off of the barrel played a huge role in his success this outing. It’s certainly a fascinating performance from him, but in the context of his season it served a solid example of his abilities even if he wasn’t able to miss bats or not hit Gleider Figueroa.
Swing and Misses
Samuel Strickland – 6
Adam Maier – 5
(43-41) Augusta GreenJackets 2, (34-50) Salem Red Sox 12
- Colby Jones, SS: 1-4, .218/.353/.271
- Owen Carey, LF: 1-3, BB, .252/.322/.334
- Cam Caminiti, SP: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 3.22 ERA
Augusta looked like they would get off to a hot start and take care of business, but those hopes were quickly waylaid and they were blown off of the field. Colby Jones and Owen Carey led off the bottom of the first with singles, but a foul pop out and a double play ended a promising scoring chance. However, they were far from done and after a catchers interference call put the leadoff hitter on base Elio Campos turned and snuck a home run over the left field wall to give Augusta a 2-0 lead. This was just the second home run in 174 career games for Campos, but it seemed like it would be a big one. Joe Olsavsky also had a single in the inning, and though once again a double play shut the book, four hits in two innings was an exciting prospect. Unfortunately Augusta trailed 9-2 by the time they got another hit when Douglas Glod singled in the seventh inning.
Cam Caminiti had a rougher day than we’re used to seeing from him, especially with regards to commanding his arsenal, but still it’s hard to say he was bad out there. Though Caminiti struggled to finish off hitters he still got his fair share of swing-and-misses, and though his command was off he was able to limit the Red Sox to only two walks and most of his damage came from a series of poor luck plays in the top of the third inning. To start, Olsavsky and Guanipa played plinko with a pop up down the right field line, but against all odds Guanipa made an incredible throw from his knees to gun down the runner trying to stretch that into two bases. A swinging bunt on a ball that probably would have rolled foul had Leiker Figueroa let it go accounted for the next hit, then a walk put Caminiti in some serious trouble. He got a fly ball for the second out, but a grounder that snuck fair down the third base line cleared those two runners off of the bases and tied the game. Caminiti did a great job of making due without his best stuff, though the Braves are still limiting him and pulled him after four innings and 72 pitches. That exposed the GreenJackets to their own bullpen, and it went poorly. Very poorly. A five run fifth inning started by Jackson Dannelley and finished by Seth Keller put Augusta in a hole they never even threatened to dig out of. Keller was awful in this one with five walks and a hit batter over 1 2⁄3 innings, finally getting relieved in the 7th inning after throwing 15 of his 41 pitches for strikes.
Swing and Misses
Adam Shoemaker – 13
Cam Caminiti – 12
Jackson Dannelley – 3
(16-33) FCL Braves 2, (25-24) FCL Rays 4
- Jose Perdomo, SS: 2-4, .211/.256/.265
- Carlos Monteverde, 1B: 1-4, RBI, .207/.324/.272
(16-34) FCL Braves 0, (26-24) FCL Rays 4
- Jose Perdomo, DH: 1-3, .211/.256/.265
- Juan Mateo, SS: 0-2, BB, .282/.360/.326
Now this is what we want to see from Jose Perdomo. Perdomo had three hits across the double header for the FCL Braves, just ignore the scores, and with that has a five game hitting streak that matches his season-best. He also has only struck out two times in these past five games. Manuel Dos Passos had a double and a walk in the first game of the series, and despite some inconsistency in his performance he has really been solid this season. The 18 year old leads the team with a 109 wRC+, ranks second with a .125 isolated power, and has maintained a strikeout rate of 21.4% while walking 13.5% of the time. Dos Passos is better than league average in all three of those categories, an impressive feat for a player who is 1.5 years below the league average age and is playing a premium defensive position.
(12-17) DSL Braves 5, (9-0) DSL Cubs Red 0
- Diego Tornes, CF: 1-2, BB, .280/.384/.383
- Johan Rodriguez, 1B: 3-4, .300/.348/.367
- Gensi Angeles, SP: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 2.12 ERA
The DSL Braves won, but at what cost? Diego Tornes had a solid day at the plate and was a key contributor to the offense once again, but left the game in the sixth inning after advancing to third base on a single. We are trying to get information on that, as of right now there is no word from the Braves and all I ask is that just once one of the high signing bonus hitters stays healthy. 17 year old Johan Rodriguez has had three games this season with three or more hits, and while it’s concerning to see a young player with only five walks in 66 plate appearances it is somewhat balanced by him also only having five strikeouts. Gensi Angeles continued his fantastic professional debut with six scoreless innings. Angeles has terrific command for a player his age and solid stuff as well, making him a player to watch next season when he presumably will be coming stateside.