Guerra’s two home run game helped lead a stunning ninth-inning comeback
Sunday saw some exciting performances on the Atlanta Braves farm system, and the fantastic Augusta GreenJackets have started to get hot and taken over first place in the division. Then in Double-A Didier Fuentes may have had to leave his start early, but he also left us with a lasting impression as he finally turned in the performance we’ve been waiting for out of him since his promotion.
(21-29) Gwinnett Stripers 0, (23-26) Louisville Bats 6
- Jarred Kelenic, CF: 0-4, .261/.363/.398
- Eddys Leonard, 3B: 2-4, 2B, .228/.299/.490
- Jose Suarez, SP: 5 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 4.24 ERA
There was shockingly little to write home about in this game, as the Stripers trailed early, trailed throughout the game, and didn’t do much on the offensive end to inspire confidence in a comeback effort. In the third at bat of the game Eddys Leonard ripped a 108 mph single, giving a little bit of early excitement to the action. That would be the last hard-hit ball for the Stripers in the game. Leonard has been quite easily the best player on the Stripers roster over the past month, with his two hits in this game running his May OPS up to .881. His stark improvement this season in power production while also improving his contract rates has been impressive, but he’s been poor on the defensive end so it’s unfortunately hard to believe he could fit in anywhere in Atlanta right now.
Jose Suarez was himself a victim of Leonard’s glove this game, though he didn’t do himself a ton of favors in the game. Outside of the results of his changeup Suarez was struggling to miss bats, and it all came down to poor command of his pitches. While Suarez was mostly in the zone, he was living in the hear of the plate and especially could not keep his slider down. Fortunately the resulting contact was mostly weak through the first three innings, and he was able to hold Louisville to one run until a disastrous fourth inning. Suarez allowed three hits in the inning to chase home a couple of runs, though the contact quality still wasn’t impressive, and his tendency to live in the middle portions of the zone weren’t doing him favors. A bouncer over to Leonard should have ended the inning, but he was eaten up by the hop and couldn’t knock the ball down leading to another run and extending the inning. That would end up costing Suarez three runs when he left a slider center cut that David Wendzel was able to tattoo for a two-run home run.
Swing and Misses
Jose Suarez – 6
Davis Daniel – 2
(21-22) Columbus Clingstones 0, (22-22) Montgomery Biscuits 1
- Didier Fuentes, SP: 4 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K, 4.98 ERA
- Jake McSteen, RP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2.95 ERA
- Luis Vargas, RP: 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 4.05 ERA
Didier Fuentes finally had the breakout outing he needed in Double-A, though he unfortunately left the game early due to an issue with a blister. Fuentes has been due a game like this, and it finally felt like he was finishing at bats effectively as he racked up nine strikeouts across four innings. Despite his huge drop in strikeouts in the first four games he played at Double-A, Fuentes was getting whiffs at around 30%, slight better than his swing-and-miss numbers when he had a 32% strikeout rate in A-ball last year. It was only a matter of time before he finally put together a game to kick his numbers back up where we expect him to be, and he had complete command of this game despite allowing a couple of pitches to get away from him and hit batters. It’s amazing to see a guy who is still just 19 years old looking not only ready for but dominant at Double-A, and while his changeup is still a work-in-progress he’s going to start to create real conversations about moving him to Triple-A. He’s continued to get high whiff rates with his fastball and this was the best we have seen him this season spotting that fastball at the top of the zone and breaking the slider down off of it. Unfortunately for him that offense did absolutely nothing to help him out.
This is by far the worst stretch of the season for David McCabe, as he has struck out nine times with no walks over his past five games. Two of his today came against Ty Johnson, a guy who is a very tough assignment for any hitter, but the timing as of late has been a concern for McCabe. He is starting his hands a touch later in his swing than he was earlier this season, and he’s been consistently behind velocity and swinging over breaking balls for the past couple of weeks. His contact rates have taken a nose-dive, but it’s still important to zoom out and see a guy who has a 122 wRC+ this season and just happens to be going through a slump. Unfortunately the entire offense was slumping in this one, as Johnson had his fantastic fastball-slider combination working and was able to cut through the Columbus offense. Geraldo Quintero went hitless for the first time in what’s been an incredible series for him, though he drew a walk to move his on base streak to five games. Quintero’s aggression inside of the strike zone was at times a weakness for him over the past few seasons, but he has really done a much better job of picking when to jump on fastballs and drive them harder which has resulted in overall better numbers. The power and defense is still not MLB quality, but it’s been a remarkable showing for him at the plate this entire month.
Swing and Misses
Didier Fuentes – 17
Luis Vargas – 6
Jake McSteen – 3
(22-22) Rome Emperors 1, (24-20) Hub City Spartanburgers 2
- Patrick Clohisy, CF: 1-5, .252/.371/.368
- Ambioris Tavarez, SS: 1-4, BB, .248/.362/.336
- Garrett Baumann, SP: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 4.95 ERA
- Isaac Gallegos, RP: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 1.17 ERA
We’ll get to some offense in a bit, but you’re going to have to wait out some more brutal hitting days as the Emperors and Spartanburgers combined to go the first eleven innings of this game with zero runs scored. Rome was just not getting guys on base until there were two outs, like in the fifth when they went strikeout, strikeout, Joe Olsavsky triple, then another strikeout. The sixth inning was the breath of life they needed. Titus Dumitru drew a leadoff walk, the first Emperor to reach with less than two outs, and Ambioris Tavarez followed by cracking a single into left field to put two runners on base. It was not meant to be, however, when Will Verdung grounded the next pitch straight to shortstop for a double play and EJ Exposito’s sharp fly ball to right was tracked down for the final out. The roles flipped in the eighth inning with Dumitru getting a base knock and Tavarez working a walk, but with two outs Verdung’s ground out ended any excitement. The Emperors had their prime chance in the 10th inning when Mac Guscette immediately moved over to third on a passed ball, but a strikeout, infield pop, and strikeout stranded him. Two ground balls at third base kept the Emperors at bay in the 11th, until finally in the 12th inning they actually got hits to fall. EJ Exposito’s single led off the frame and Guscette broke the scoreless tie with a bloop single. Rome had their chance to make it multiple runs, but a foul pop out and a ground ended the inning.
It’s starting to really look like Garrett Baumann is turning the corner, as he’s beginning to command the ball better at his higher velocity and with the Spartanburgers deploying a lefty-heavy lineup his changeup was in full force on Saturday. Baumann has been missing bats better over his past few starts than ever before in his career, and it’s been that ability to land the fastball up in the strike zone with velocity that’s made much of the difference. Of course we know that changeup is terrific, but where he has really improved throughout the season is his slider quality. The Braves have been experimenting with different grips to try to find a breaking ball that works for him, and for the first time he seems to have one that he can throw with power below the zone and get swing-and-miss. It’s still his third-best pitch, but it’s the first time in his career he has shown flashes of a major-league quality slider which answers the biggest question mark about his profile. Over his past five outings he has struck out 29.3% of batters while maintaining a 6.3% walk rate, and were it not for a cheap few home runs in the very hitter-friendly Greensboro park we would talking about him having clearly the best statistical stretch of his career.
The Rome bullpen did amazing work across six scoreless innings, and Isaac Gallegos put up a zero again to lower his ERA to 1.17. While you would typically expect a pitcher’s ERA to regress towards his FIP (3.84), Gallegos is in a spot this season where despite having an overall whiff rate north of 30% he has seen his strikeout rate almost halved compared to 2024. Similar to Fuentes earlier, the underlying swing-and-miss is too good for that number to be that low and Gallegos is almost certain to start getting his strikeout rate around 30% moving forward. Gallegos has improved his command this season overall, and with a plus slider as his carrying pitch it’s worth overlooking those strikeout numbers and seeing him as a legit middle relief prospect. After 11 innings of shutout baseball Rome finally cracked behind LJ McDonough in the ninth inning after he walked the leadoff hitter. Following a sacrifice bunt McDonough allowed an intentional walk to load the bases, and then left one over the plate that Quincy Scott sent into center field for a walk-off two-run single.
Swing and Misses
Garrett Baumann – 14
Isaac Gallegos – 5
Ryan Bourassa – 5
(24-19) Augusta GreenJackets 6, (19-25) Charleston RiverDogs 5
- John Gil, SS: 2-4, 2B, RBI, .243/.327/.318
- Isaiah Drake, CF: 1-3, BB, RBI, .275/.354/.394
- Mason Guerra, 1B: 2-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, .244/.341/.538
- Rayven Antonio, SP: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 2.81 ERA
So we finally have proof that Braves prospects are allowed to score runs. It naturally helps when you have Mason Guerra on the squad on an insane heater. Guerra added two more home runs to his season total this year, extending his team lead to seven after just 24 games. Even more insane, though he is a part-time player with 14 games this month he leads the entire Carolina League with six home runs in the month of May. Of course early on in this one it wasn’t looking too pretty, and Augusta entered the ninth inning trailing 5-2 and needing magic from the top of the lineup to try to piece together a comeback. John Gil has been red hot at the plate, as he is finally dialing in the swing and getting the barrel on pitches in the upper half of the zone. Earlier in the third inning he turned on a high cutter, roping one into the left field corner for a double, his fifth extra base hit of the month. One pitch into the ninth inning and he stood on first base after sending a 96 mph fastball right back up the middle for a single to start a rally. Owen Carey followed him up by turning on a fastball for a line shot single, and quickly the GreenJackets had the tying run up to bat with Isaiah Drake. Drake hit a hard grounder as well, but this one found the glove of the first baseman for what should have been an easy out. That is, whenever the hitter doesn’t have Isaiah Drake’s speed. He beat the pitcher down the line to get an RBI single, and in an instant all of the pressure was on the back of the RiverDogs. Then the worst case scenario, Colby Jones grounded one straight at second base for a potentially back-breaking double play to give Charleston their first two outs of the inning. But Augusta wasn’t done. Douglas Glod came up and drew a walk, and Guerra had one last chance to add to his third inning home run and win the game for Augusta. He did just that. Guerra got an 0-1 slider hung in his power zone, and he demolished it to left for a no-doubt walk-off home run.
It’s been a breakout year for Rayven Antonio, but Saturday was his biggest hiccup since the opening game of the season. Like the two previously mentioned pitchers, much of Antonio’s ascension has been him finally getting the strikeout numbers that his whiff rates indicate he should be getting. The rest has been the progress of his command, but this was one of the days where the young arm just couldn’t find the mitt. Whether walking guys or giving up a couple of home runs, Antonio struggled especially the second time through the order when the RiverDogs took the time to wait him more than they did when he had a couple of successful innings to open. Despite having far from his best stuff Antonio managed to battled to keep the game reasonable and nearly got through five innings. The bullpen was marvelous and kept the game within striking distance for Augusta, three of those innings coming from Reibyn Corona. Corona had not pitched more than two innings this season, but covered ten outs while allowing only one run to set the stage for that late inning comeback.
Swing and Misses
Rayven Antonio – 8
Reibyn Corona – 7
Trent Buchanan – 4
(6-9) FCL Braves 0, (10-5) FCL Rays 3
- Juan Mateo, SS: 1-4, .259/.306/.310
- Jose Perdomo, DH: 1-3, BB, .293/.348/.362
- Kendy Richard, SP: 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 5.40 ERA
Well, we are back to shutouts. The FCL Braves only had four hits in this game, but it’s nice to see two of them coming from the guys we really want to see hitting. Jose Perdomo had one of those and drew a walk, and Perdomo is now working on a five-game hitting streak. Juan Mateo also had a hit to extend his streak to six games, but also added in a couple of strikeouts.