Wednesday, August 11, 2021

-Clint Manry

For the next week or so I’ll be in Tucson, AZ for work, and I just arrived yesterday evening, so I’m a bit behind on today’s recap. However, I did get to catch the final few innings of the Braves/Reds game last night, in which the Atlanta bullpen finally came through. A quartet of relievers – Luke Jackson, Richard Rodriguez, Tyler Matzek and Will Smith – came in with the Braves up by one, and all four combined to toss three scoreless innings while striking out three. Tuesday’s victory was huge for Atlanta as they now find themselves just one game behind Philadelphia for first-place in the NL East. Remember… the Phillies are in the midst of a tough series with the Dodgers, so the Braves have a nice shot to take over the no. 1 spot.

Also of note from yesterday: Shea Langeliers homered twice… again… as he and Lugbauer powered the M-Braves to a win. Langeliers’ 19 home runs this season is tied for the most in Double-A’s South League, and the star catcher is now hitting .270 to go along with a 139 wRC+ — the latter of which ranks fourth in the league. Coming out of nowhere in 2021, and now on my latest Braves Top 30, Lugbauer is hitting a cool .251 with 14 homers of his own (134 wRC+). This Mississippi club is incredible and is probably the single most talented minor league team in all of full-season baseball.

Mississppi’s Freddy Tarnok, Rome’s Jared Shuster and Augusta’s Tanner Gordon both continued their strong 2021 campaigns on Tuesday. Tarnok is now averaging 14.9 strikeouts per nine in Double-A, while sporting a 2.08 ERA. Shuster is at 11.75 K/9 and a 3.71 ERA at High-A. And Gordon is sitting at 10.1 / 3.43 at the Single-A level. All three of these guys are featured on my latest Top 30, with Gordon cracking the list at no. 26 now that he’s found his groove with the GreenJackets. This is a trio of prospect starting pitchers to keep an eye on.

Hopefully I’ll have more time to write, but below I’ve added scores and key stats from Tuesday’s Braves and minor league action…

(58-55) ATLANTA BRAVES

W, 3-2 vs. Braves

SP, D. Smyly – (W), 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, HR

LF, A. Duvall – 1 for 4, HR, 2 RBI

RF, J. Soler – 2 for 3, 2B, BB

(46-38) GWINNETT STRIPERS

PPD vs. Durham

(49-36) MISSISSIPPI BRAVES

W, 8-2 vs. Biloxi

SP, F. Tarnok – (W), 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, BB, 9 K, HR

C, S. Langeliers – 4 for 4, 2 HR, 4 RBI

DH, D. Lugbauer – 2 for 3, 2 HR, 3 RBI, BB

SS, B. Shewmake – 1 for 4, 2B, R

3B, C. Alexander – 1 for 4, HR, RBI

(37-48) ROME BRAVES

L, 8-7 vs. Hickory

SP, J. Shuster – 4 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 5 K

CF, J. Franklin – 4 for 5, 2 HR, 2B, 4 RBI

2B, B. Philip – 4 for 4, HR, 2 RBI, SB

1B, B. Langhorne – 2 for 4, 2B, R

3B, L. Waddell – 1 for 4, 2 R, BB

(bold = 2021 draftee)

(35-50) AUGUSTA GREENJACKETS

W, 5-1 vs. Kannapolis

SP, T. Gordon – (W), 7 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 10 K, HR

CF, S. Paolini – 1 for 3, 2B, R

SS, V. Grissom – 2 for 4, RBI, R, SB

1B, L. Stephens – 1 for 3, 2 RBI

RP, R. Munoz – 2 IP, H, 4 K

(13-14) FCL BRAVES

W, 3-2 (F/10) vs. Twins

SP, R. Corona – 4 IP, H, 2 R, ER, 3 BB, 7 K

C, A. Zebrowski – 1 for 2, 2B, RBI

2B, F. Floyd – 1 for 2, RBI

(Bold = 2021 draftee)