Sunday, April 23rd

Norfolk 1, Richmond 0; W-Lima, L-O'Connor

• Jose Lima threw six shutout innings. Brian O'Connor pitched very well giving up only 2 hits and 1 run in 5 innings.
• Macay McBride pitched the sixth inning in another successful rehab appearance.
• The lone run was driven in by top Mets prospect, Lastings Milledge.

Richmond 4, Norfolk 1; W-Smith, L-Wylie

• In the second game of a double-header, Travis Smith continued his domination of AAA by going 6 innings, striking out 7, and giving up 1 run.
• The offense came from Smith as well as he had 2 hits, scored a run, and drove in a run.
• Luis Hernandez and Wes Timmons also had RBI's.

Montgomery 3, Mississippi 1; W-Magrane, L-Bueno

• Francisco Bueno, who I admit I've never heard of, struck out 10 batters in 6 innings of pretty good work, although he was tagged with the loss.
• Will Startup finished the game off with 2 strikeouts in a scoreless ninth.
• Old man, Eddie Perez, had 3 hits and drove in the only run of the game for Mississippi.

Rome 7, Augusta 6 (10); W-Hernandez, L-Foltin

• Tyler Bullock pitched decent with 5 innings, 6 hits, and 2 runs. Jeff Lyman got hit pretty hard in his 2.1 innings of work. Moises Hernandez walked 3 and gave up 3 hits but limited Augusta to just 1 run to get the win.
• Eric Campbell drove in 2 runs and stole his 5th base of the season. Ovandy Suero also swiped 2 bags. Quentin Davis had 2 more hits yesterday and is leading the team with a .365 average.
  

Saturday, April 22nd

Richmond's game against Norfolk was postponed. They will play a double-header today.

Montgomery 5, Mississippi 4 (10); W-Salas, L-Digby

• Mississippi tied the game with 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth thanks to 3 errors by Montgomery's defense.
• Montgomery won it in the top of the 10th.

Montgomery 6, Mississippi 4; W-Peguero, L-White

• Matt Esquivel drove in 2 runs with 2 hits.
• Paul Bush pitched 2 hitless innings in relief, lowering his ERA to 2.08.
• Sean White took the loss by allowing 6 runs, 3 earned, in 6 innings.

Myrtle Beach 5, Kinston 4; W-Villa, L-Burton

• Brandon Jones went 1-4 with a triple and 2 RBI's. He drove in the winning run in the tenth inning by drawing a walk.
• Jose Asciano allowed 3 runs in the first inning but pitched 5 scoreless innings after that.
• Scott Schade's homer in the second inning gave the Pelicans a 4-3 lead.

Augusta 7, Rome-3; W-Ray, L-Watkins

• Rome lost their first home game of the season.
• Beau Jones struggled through 4 innings giving up 9 hits and 3 runs but only 1 of those runs was earned.
• Eric Campbell extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
• Quentin Davis raised his average to .354 with 2 hits and also stole two bases.
  

Friday, April 21st; Handful of moves

Buffalo 7, Richmond 0; W-Dittler, L-Lerew

• Lerew lasted only 4 innings and took the loss.
• Richmond has been outscored 59-19 this year and has 4 home runs which is last in the International League.
• Jose Lima starts against us tomorrow.

Montgomery 4, Mississippi 2; Bot. 8th, suspended

• The game was suspended in the bottom of the 8th because of rain and will be concluded Saturday night.
• Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Yunel both made erros to allow Montgomery the lead.
• Gregor Blanco stayed hot with 2 doubles.

Kinston 8, Myrtle Beach 2; W-Ness, L-Stevens

• Jake Stevens struggles continue as he gave up 5 runs in 4 innings.
• Myrlte Beach is 0-6 on the road and 7-3 at home.
• Brandon Jones went 1-3 with a double and 2 RBI's.

Rome 5, Augusta 4; W-Nix, L-Quinowski

• Rome erased a two run deficit late to win the game in the 10th innings on a bloop single by Brandon Monk.
• Rome has 5 come from behind wins already this year.
• Jo-Jo Reyes stuggled for the first time this year escaped some key james to keep the Braves in it.
• Devin Anderson pitched 4.1 scoreless innings of relief.
• The middle of Rome's lineup; Campbell, Ramirez, and Kaaihue went 4-10 and continue to carry this lineup.
• At 11-2, Rome has the best winning percentage in minor league baseball.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Braves make a handful of moves:

Martin Prado has been called up to Atlanta from Mississippi.

Eddie Perez has been assigned to Mississippi after returning from the DL.

Willie James has been demoted from Mississippi to Myrtle Beach.

Barbaro Canizares has been assigned to Mississippi from extended spring training.

Onil Joseph has been demoted from Mississippi to Myrtle Beach.

David Coggin has been placed on the DL.

Macay McBride has been promoted to Richmond to conclude his rehab.

Minor League Roundup: 4/21

Richmond:
This team is terrible. There is no way around it. They can't hit or pitch or do pretty much anything else for that matter. Their record reflects this at 4-11, which is good for last place in the international league. Another reason they must be terrible, their best pitcher thus far has been Travis Smith who has a 1.80 ERA in 3 starts. Kevin Barry has struggled since being put into the rotation and top pitching prospect, Anthony Lerew, has struggled all year as well. Wes Obermueller, who actually had a couple of good starts, has accepted a contract to pitch in Japan and is no longer with the team. Phil Stockman was called up from AA-Mississippi and has tossed 2.2 scoreless innings in relief.

The hitting is just about as bad. "Regulars" Cesar Crespo, Luis Hernandez, and Jonathan Schuerholz are hitting .167, .171, .091 respectively. James Jurries has yet to catch fire and his hitting .235. I would think that he would be the one called up if and when Brian Jordan goes down.

Mississippi:
It's still April and we've already had our first player called up to Atlanta straight from Mississippi. His name is Martin Prado. He is not a very well known prospect but has had some pretty good years. He is currently batting .302 for Mississippi and can play 2B or 3B which will really help Atlanta with the injures to Chipper, Edgar, and Giles.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia had his six game hitting streak come to an end last night.

Christ Waters pitched great for 8 innings last night and lowered his ERA to 1.89.

One of my personal favorite prospects, Will Startup, continued his stellar pitching last night. He has yet to give up a run in 9.2 innings so far between Rome and Mississippi. Startup is one of many talented lefties in the Braves organization. I don't know if the Braves have any intentions of letting him start but he is being used out of the bullpen right now and got his first save last night by striking out the side.

Another one of my favorite prospects is Paul Bush. He is also having a very solid year with 2 wins and a 2.45 ERA in 5 appearances.

Macay McBride has made four rehab appearances with Mississippi and should be on his way to Atlanta some time soon.

Myrtle Beach:
Brandon Jones returned to the lineup last night after spending some time with his ailing mother. He went 2-4 and drove in a run.

The biggest disappointment has to be Jake Stevens. There is still a lot of time left in the season but his first starts have been terrible. And coming off a bad season last year, Stevens is quickly losing his prospect status.

Keep an eye on three other starters; Luis Atilano, Matt Harrison, and Jose Aciano. Also, James Parr has not allowed a run in 9 innings.

Rome:
Jaime Trejo has been called up to Mississippi to take Martin Prado's place on their roster. Derrick Arnold has been added to Rome's roster. Arnold played last year with Danville.

This team is red hot. They are 10-2 and atop the South Atlantic League. Pitching has been a real strong spot. Recent draft picks Beau Jones and Jeff Lyman are adjusting extremely well to their first full season of baseball in the minors. Moises Hernandez has also pitched very well in his first season since being traded from Baltimore. Tyler Bullock, Jo-Jo Reyes, and Jairo Cuevas have also provided some good starts this season.

Jeff Blauser is a rookie manager this year and has been doing an excellent job so far.

Weekend Box Scores

Sorry for the lack of posts on Friday and Saturday. It has been a very hectic weekend. I'll put up the box scores right now and post somes notes about the games either later tonight or tomorrow.

4/14/06- Rochester 10, Richmond 4; W-Munro, L-Moss
4/15/06- Rochester 6, Richmond 5 (10 innings); W-Kameron, L-Mullen
4/16/06- Rochester 12, Richmond 0; W-Bonser, L-Lerew
4/14/06- Mississippi 6, Mobile 2; W-Startup, L-Nelson
4/15/06- Mississippi 8, Mobile 1; W-Curtis, L-Basham
4/14/06- Myrtle Beach 3, Potomac 2; W-Smith, L-Strayhorn
4/15/06- Myrtle Beach 7, Potomac 1; W-Morton, L-Everts
4/16/06- Potomac 7, Myrtle Beach 2; W-Wilson, L-Stevens
4/14/06- Rome 4, Savannah 3; W-Russell, L-Henderson
4/15/06- Rome 10, Kannapolis 6; W-Watkins, L-Rote
4/16/06- Rome 8, Kannapolis 1; W-Bullock, L-Rodriguez

Like I said earlier, Notes are coming soon.

Thursday, April 13th

When will the losing end? Atlanta can't buy a win right now and the minor league teams have now lost 8 in a row.

Durham 11, Richmond 4; W-Hines, L-Nunez

• Travis Smith actually tosses a gem with 6 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, and 5 k's.
• Franklin Nunez is charged with the loss after giving up 7 runs in two innings.
• Joey Devine struggles in his AAA debut. He faced two batters giving up a hit and a walk.

Mobile 6, Mississippi 1; W-Oyervidez, L-Coggin

• McBride pitched the first inning, giving up 1 hit and recording 1 strikeout. Only two more rehab appearances before he joines Atlanta.
• The offense was terrible. Two hits is all Mississippi could muster and Gregor Blanco had both of them. Speaking of Gregor Blanco, he is not hitting .407.
• Salty needs a Jeff Francouer breakout night as he was held hitless to drop his average to .083.

Winston-Salem 6, Myrtle Beach 4; W-Whisler, L-Harrison

• Matt Harrison struggled giving up 8 hits, 2 walks, and 2 hr's in 4.2 innings.
• The offensive star was Clint Sammons with his 2 hits and 2 RBI's.

Savannah 2, Rome 0; W-Lannan, L-Payano

• Nelson Payano pitched 1 hit ball for 5.2 innings, but it wasn't enough as the Rome bats were silenced.
• Brandon Monk had 2 hits but was thrown out on the bases twice.
• Elvis Andurs had Rome's only extra base hit with a double. He also commited his third error of the year.

Wednesday, April 12th

Durham 3, Richmond 1; W-Jackson, L-Obermueller

• Obermueller didn't pitch bad at all but got tagged with his second loss. Opposing pitcher was Edwin Jackson who shut Richmond out for six innings. I could see him in Tampa Bay's rotation sometime this year.
• Brayan Pena had 3 hits to raise his batting average to .364.

Mobile 3, Mississippi 1; W-Wells, L-Basner

• Gregor Blanco had two more hits and is now batting .391.
• Other than Blanco, Martin Prado was the only other player who got a hit in this game.

Winston-Salem 4, Myrtle Beach 0; W-Egbert, L-Asciano

• Myrtle Beach outhit their opponent 9 to 7 but failed to score a run.
• Jose Asciano and Kevin Villa each pitched 4 innings and each gave up two runs.
• The offense at Myrtle Beach has been woeful so far this year.

Savannah 7, Rome-3; W-Shefka, L-Vines

• Moises Hernandez, Felix's older brother, struck out 4 in 3 innings but also gave up 2 runs.
• Michael Nix struck out the side in the 8th inning.
• Elvis Andrus had 2 hits and 2 RBI's and yes, he is still 17.

Minor notes

• Tony Pena, Jr. was called up, as expected, to Atlanta to take the roster spot of Chipper Jones. The most Pena can contribute to the team right now is pinch running. Luis Hernandez will take his place at SS in Richmond for now.
• Mike Rosamond hit a game winning two-run homer last night in the bottom of the ninth for Mississippi.
• Michael Rozema's homer yesterday was Myrtle Beach's first home run this season as a team.
• David Kelton is 4 for his last 10 and drove in 4 runs last night.
• Macay McBride will make three more appearances in AA-Mississippi before joining Atlanta's bullpen, barring any setbacks.
  

Tuesday, April 11th

Richmond 7, Durham 6; W-Nunez, L-Miadich

Mississippi 5, Mobile 4; W-Bush, L-Abraham

Winston-Salem 5, Myrtle Beach 1; W-Harrell, L-Stevens

Rome 5, Savannah 1; W-Bullock, L-Stammen

• The best performance of the day came from to Mississippi pitchers. Will Startup and Paul Bush each tossed two scoreless innings. Startup was just called up from low-A Rome and pitched well, striking out two in his two innings. Paul Bush, a sleeper prospect, got his second win of the season with his two shutout innings.
• Rome is 5-0 now and has some of the brightest young players in the Braves organization. Elvis Andrus is 17 and more than holding his own in low-A. Eric Campbell and Max Ramirez are establishing themselves as top offensive prospects. Jordan Shafer is young, athletic, and ready to bust out.
• Jeff Lyman pitched very well, striking out three in three innings of work.
• Tyler Bullock had his second good looking start in a row.
• Jake Stevens continues to impress nobody. Today was his second bad start in as many tries this season. He needs to turn it around quickly.
  

Boyer on the DL and other moves

The Richmond Times-Dispatch is reporting that Blaine Boyer has gone on the DL. This is yet another setback in his return to Atlanta. He is apparently going to need some time to rest his arm. The good news is that with Ray and Villareal pitching so well, we may not need Boyer for a while.

A few other minor moves were made today. This report is courtesy of OurSports Central.

"The Mississippi Braves announce that LHP Brady Endl has been placed on the disabled list retroactive to April 9. INF Luis Hernandez has been promoted to AAA Richmond. LHP Will Startup has been promoted to AA Mississippi from High-A Myrtle Beach. INF Jaime Trejo has been promoted to AA Mississippi from Low-A Rome. Also, C/INF Dax Norris has changed his number to 63."

Roster moves

Joey Devine was sent down to Richmond to iron out his problems. Hopefully it won't take very long and I don't think it will. The surprising part is that they called up Peter Moylan. This is probably just until they can get either McBride or Boyer back. I don't expect Moylan to contribute much. Of course, not giving up seven runs in two outings will make him a positive contributor as a replacement for Devine.

Chipper was placed on the DL and his replacement on the 25 man roster has not been announced. It is widely suspected that Tony Pena, Jr. will be the one called up. He won't contribute much either. He's a bad hitter but he can play 2B, SS, or 3B.

Monday, April 10th

Durham 6, Richmond 3; W-Miller, L-Barry
Huntsville 12, Mississippi 5; W-Yeatman, L-Curtis
Winston-Salem 5, Myrtle Beach 1; W-Hernandez, L-Morton

• Macay McBride made a rehab appearance for Mississippi and tossed a scoreless inning with one hit and one strikeout. This is great news in his road back to the majors. I would love to see him in Atlanta's bullpen with Chuck James moving into the rotation.
• Salty got his first hit of the year and it was a, you guessed it, home run!
• Brian O'Connor and Kevin Barry combined to walk 10 batters today against Durham. O'Connor pitched around them pretty well while Barry struggled and was tagged with the loss.
• James Parr tossed five shutout innings.

Standings

I will attempt to post the standings of each league every Monday. It has been less than a week but since this is the first Monday I will go ahead and kick it off.

International League Standings

	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Ottawa	3	0	1.000	-	3-0	0-0	3-0	W3
	Rochester	2	1	.667	1.0	1-1	1-0	2-1	W1
	Buffalo	2	2	.500	1.5	0-0	2-2	2-2	L1
	Pawtucket	2	2	.500	1.5	2-2	0-0	2-2	L1
	Syracuse	1	2	.333	2.0	0-1	1-1	1-2	L1
	Scranton/WB	1	3	.250	2.5	0-0	1-3	1-3	L1

	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Durham	4	0	1.000	-	0-0	4-0	4-0	W4
	Charlotte	3	1	.750	1.0	0-0	3-1	3-1	W2
	Richmond	2	2	.500	2.0	2-2	0-0	2-2	W1
	Norfolk	0	4	.000	4.0	0-4	0-0	0-4	L4

	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Columbus	3	1	.750	-	3-1	0-0	3-1	W1
	Indianapolis	2	2	.500	1.0	0-0	2-2	2-2	W1
	Toledo	1	3	.250	2.0	1-3	0-0	1-3	L2
	Louisville	0	3	.000	2.5	0-0	0-3	0-3	L3

Southern League Standings

	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Chattanooga	3	1	.750	-	0-0	3-1	3-1	W3
	West Tenn	3	1	.750	-	0-0	3-1	3-1	W1
	Carolina	2	2	.500	1.0	0-0	2-2	2-2	W2
	Huntsville	2	2	.500	1.0	0-0	2-2	2-2	L2
	Tennessee	1	3	.250	2.0	0-0	1-3	1-3	L3

	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Montgomery	3	1	.750	-	3-1	0-0	3-1	W3
	Mississippi	2	2	.500	1.0	2-2	0-0	2-2	W2
	Mobile	2	2	.500	1.0	2-2	0-0	2-2	L2
	Birmingham	1	3	.250	2.0	1-3	0-0	1-3	L1
	Jacksonville	1	3	.250	2.0	1-3	0-0	1-3	L3

Carolina League Standings

	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Wilmington	2	2	.500	-	0-0	2-2	2-2	W1
	Frederick	1	1	.500	-	1-1	0-0	1-1	W1
	Lynchburg	1	2	.333	0.5	0-1	1-1	1-2	L2
	Potomac	1	3	.250	1.0	0-0	1-3	1-3	W1

	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Salem	3	0	1.000	-	3-0	0-0	3-0	W3
	Kinston	2	1	.667	1.0	0-0	2-1	2-1	W2
	Myrtle Beach	2	2	.500	1.5	2-2	0-0	2-2	L1
	Winston-Salem	1	2	.333	2.0	1-2	0-0	1-2	L2

South Atlantic League Standings

	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Greensboro	4	0	1.000	-	4-0	0-0	4-0	W4
	Lexington	4	0	1.000	-	4-0	0-0	4-0	W4
	Delmarva	3	1	.750	1.0	0-0	3-1	3-1	W3
	Lake County	3	1	.750	1.0	0-0	3-1	3-1	L1
	Hickory	1	3	.250	3.0	1-3	0-0	1-3	W1
	West Virginia	1	3	.250	3.0	1-3	0-0	1-3	L3
	Hagerstown	0	4	.000	4.0	0-0	0-4	0-4	L4
	Lakewood	0	4	.000	4.0	0-0	0-4	0-4	L4

	Club	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Away	L 10	Streak
	Rome	4	0	1.000	-	4-0	0-0	4-0	W4
	Asheville	2	2	.500	2.0	2-2	0-0	2-2	L2
	Augusta	2	2	.500	2.0	0-0	2-2	2-2	L2
	Charleston	2	2	.500	2.0	2-2	0-0	2-2	W2
	Columbus	2	2	.500	2.0	0-0	2-2	2-2	W2
	Greenville	2	2	.500	2.0	2-2	0-0	2-2	L2
	Savannah	2	2	.500	2.0	0-0	2-2	2-2	W2
	Kannapolis	0	4	.000	4.0	0-0	0-4	0-4	L4

Sunday, April 9th

Richmond 3, Buffalo 0; W-Moss, L-Stanford
Mississippi 3, Huntsville 1; W- Bush, L- Housman
Wilmington 10, Myrtle Beach 1; W-Dobies, L-Atilano
Rome 8, Kannapolis 2; W-Demme, L-Rote

Yunel Esobar stays hot and Damian Moss debuts with a gem.

Saturday, April 8th

Mississippi 6, Huntsville 2; W-Digby, L-Myers
Myrtle Beach 1, Wilmington 0; W-Santos, L-Schroyer
Rome 7, Kannapolis 1; W-Reyes, L-Brooks

• Richmond was postponed due to rain as were many other games in both the minor and major leagues.
• After a lot of losses the first two days, all teams won yesterday.
• Good pitching from Brady Endl, Matt Harrison, and Jo Jo Reyes although Reyes is the only one who got a win.
  

April 7th box scores

Buffalo 10, Richmond 1
W- Sowers, L- Obermueller

Huntsville 4, Mississippi 2
W- Dillard, L- Coggin

Myrtle Beach 5, Wilmington 4
W- Startup, L- James

Rome 5, Kannapolis 3
W- Payano, L- Rodriguez

• Former Braves Andy Marte and Rob Bell each contributed to the pounding of Richmond.
• As a Nashvillian, I have to mention that Vanderbilt alum, Jeremy Sowers, was the winning pitcher for Buffalo. That guy is going to be good.
• Top prospects Yunel Escobar and Eric Campbell are off to hot starts although it is way too early. Also, Salty has started 0-8.
  

Season Openers

Richmond 5, Buffalo 4
W- Barry, L- Dittler

Huntsville 4, Mississippi 2
W- Villanueva, L- Bush

Wilmington 8, Myrtle Beach 2
W- Mendoza, L- Stevens

Rome 6, Kannapolis 5
W- Russell, L- Santeliz

Richmond Braves

Richmond, Atlanta's AAA club, went 56-88 last year. The Braves have shown a tendency to promote players straight from AA which means not many top prospects stay very long, if at all, in Richmond.

• The most notable player on Richmond's roster was Joey Devine but since he was called up today and is currently warming up in Atlanta's bullpen, I guess he won't play much for Richmond this year.
• James Jurries is another guy that could get called up soon. He will be the first player up once Brian Jordan gets hurt.
• Scott Thorman is an intriguing power prospect. He has some inefficiencies in his game but he does have a lot of power potential.
• Anthony Lerew will be the No. 1 starter for Richmond. He is right behind Davies and James as one of the Braves prize pitching prospects.
• Kevin Barry and Brayan Pena are two guys who should probably be in the majors but are currently blocked. Barry is not really blocked but Atlanta doesn't seem to have any intentions of bringing him up.
• Buddy Hernandez will start the season on the DL. Last year he was in the same shoes as Kevin Barry is in now. It will be interesting to see how he comes back from his injury.
• Eddie Perez starts on the DL as well. I don't know why he is playing. He needs to go ahead and start his coaching career.
• Damian Moss is once again in Atlanta's organization. Of course with his confidence being completely shot and with Leo in Baltimore now, I don't expect him to make any strides this season.
• John Schuerholz's son, Jonathan, will compete with Cesar Crespo for the starting 2B job.
  

Mississippi Braves

Last year was the inaugural season for Mississippi as the Braves AA affiliate and boy was it a memorable one. They finished under .500 at 64-68 but had such talent come through as Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, Anthony Lerew, Chuck James, Roman Colon, Macay McBride, and Joey Devine. Every single one of these guys except for maybe Lerew and Colon (traded to DET) are expected to make a major contribution in Atlanta this year. Let's take a closer look at this year's roster. Of course, don't expect 5 or 6 of these guys to get the call this year.

• The top player on this team is without a doubt Jarrod Saltalamacchia. He is one of the top 20 overall prospects in baseball and easily the first or second best catching prospect. He looked special this spring and could make it to Atlanta this year.
• Yunel Escobar has made a quick rise through the system so far. Of course he is expected to rise quickly considering he didn't defect from Cuba until he was 24.
• Paul Bush has pitched extremely well so far in his minor league career and hopefully will take another step forward this year.
• Brady Endl is another pitcher that I really like. Plus, he is left handed.
• After hoping to land the closer job, Brad Baker is starting at AA. Not that surprising since he impressed nobody this spring.
• Esquivel and Prado are nice players but other than that I can't say much else about the offense.
• For some reason Josh Burrus has not been on any of the team's minor league rosters that have been released. I don't know why this is but I know he is with the team and I assume he will start at AA. He was promoted to AA last year and struggled a bit before a cup of coffee in AAA.
  

Devine up; Boyer down

Richmond Game Notes

That's right. Richmond hasn't played a game yet and the roster has already been changed. Well, the whole "let Devine get some more experience" thing lasted about a week. It should have never happened in my opinion.

Horacio Ramirez has been placed on the DL with a hamstring injury suffered running out a bunt single in yesterday's game. Blaine Boyer is going to AAA to get his strength back. Joey Devine and Ken Ray are the two pitchers who get the call to the majors. Devine should be a major contributor right away and eventually should nail down the closer job.

Many have questioned why call up Ken Ray and not Kevin Barry. Barry doesn't have anything left to prove in the minors and is just waiting for his chance, while Ray seems to be a journeyman at best. I speculate that it might have something to do with the fact that the Braves want Barry to work as a starter. They switched him from reliever to starter in the middle of last year so they probably want him to continue to get regular starting work.

Richmond and Mississippi Rosters

Here are the opening day rosters for Richmond and Mississippi. Keep in mind that these lineups are most likely not completely accurate. But it is the best guess that I can make given current information.


Richmond Braves:
C- Brayan Pena
1B- Scott Thorman
2B- Jonathan Schuerholz
SS- Tony Pena
3B- James Jurries
OF- Bill McCarthy
OF- Carlos Duran
OF- David Kelton
BN- Carlos Mendez
BN- Wes Timmons
BN- Cesar Crespo
BN- Michael Ryan

SP- Anthony Lerew
SP- Wes Obermueller
SP- Travis Smith
SP- Damian Moss
SP- Ken Ray
P- Brian O'Connor
P- Chad Paronto
P- Kevin Barry
P- Peter Moylan
P- Scott Mullen
P- Franklin Nunez
P- Eric Schmitt
P- Joey Devine

DL- Eddie Perez
DL- Andy Barkett
DL- Buddy Hernandez
DL- Carlos Almanzar

Mississippi Braves:
C- Jarrod Saltalamacchia
1B- Michael Rosamond
2b- Martin Prado
SS- Yunel Escobar
3B- Josh Arteaga
OF- Josh Burrus
OF- Gregor Blanco
OF- Matt Esquivel
BN- Ray Serrano
BN- Dax Norris
BN- Luis Hernandez
BN- Carl Loadenthal
BN- Onil Joseph

SP- Sean White
SP- Dan Curtis
SP- Brady Endl
SP- Paul Bush
SP- Chris Waters
P- Ryan Basner
P- Glenn Tucker
P- Brad Baker
P- Phil Stockman
P- Manny Acosta
P- David Coggin
P- Bryan Digby

Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Myrtle Beach is Atlanta's high A club. Standouts such as Salty and Chuck James started here last year. It should be noted that Myrtle Beach is a great pitchers park, so pitching stats should be looked at with slight skepticism and guys who still have great offensive numbers, like Salty, should be praised.

• Jose Ascanio got a look in spring training this year and is one of the best arms in the Braves system.
• Luis Atilano, Jake Stevens, and Kelvin Villa are guys with good potential but have yet to live up to it yet.
• Keep an eye on Matt Harrison and James Parr as they could rise through the system quickly.
• Clint Sammons is a relatively good catching prospect. The problem is that he is in the same organization as McCann, Pena, Salty, and Max Ramirez. Defense is Sammon's best attribute so I think he will make a good backup someday.
• Steven Doetsch surprised people with a good year last year and hopes to prove that it was not a fluke.
• Brandon Jones is possibly the best athlete in the system. If he can turn his athleticism into production he will become a top prospect.
• Finally, I don't know much about Ardley Jansen but I think I should note that he played with Andruw Jones for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic in March.
  

New Template

I am having trouble with the links but I think this new template has solved the problem. Look forward to many more links now that I have it working now.

A look at Rome

I'll start by looking at the Rome Braves. Rome is Atlanta's low A team. It is the first place where players will play a full minor league season. Three of the most prominent members of the team are Eric Campbell, Elvis Andrus, and Max Ramirez. Eric and Max were co-MVP's in Danville last year and look to continue their success this year in Rome.

Eric Campbell posted some monster numbers last year and is easily the best third base prospect in the system with the subtraction of Marte.

Elvis Andrus won't even be 18 until August. He dominated much older competition last year in the rookie leagues. He has incredible upside but he is still a few years away.

Max Ramirez doesn't get the attention that Campbell or Salty gets, but he put together a great offensive season as a catcher last year.

Jairo Cuevas is a big time sleeper according to John Sickels. I look forward to see what he can do this year. He had some pretty good numbers last year with 69K/35H in 55 innings.

Moises Hernandez is Felix's older brother so it will be interesting to see if he can even be half as good as his younger brother.

Pitchers Chris Vines, Beau Jones, and Jeff Lyman are also guys that I like this year.

Rome and Myrtle Beach

Rome:
C- Max Ramirez
1B-
2B-
SS- Elvis Andrus
3B - Eric Campbell
OF- Quentin Davis
OF- Jamie Romak
OF- Ovandy Suero
BN- Jamie Trejo
BN- Jordan Shafer
BN- Robert Marcial
BN- Junior Guerra
BN- Cody Clark
BN- Kala Ka'aihue
BN- Brandon Monk

SP- Chris Vines
SP- Jairo Cuevas
SP- Beau Jones
SP- Jeff Lyman
SP- Moises Hernandez

P- Devin Anderson
P- Tyler Bullock
P- Asher Demme
P- Michael Nix
P- Nelson Payano
P- Jo Jo Reyes
P- Steve Russell

Myrtle Beach:
C- Clint Sammons
1B- Scott Shade
2B- Willie James
SS- Diory Hernandez
3B- Van Pope
OF- Ardley Jansen
OF- Brandon Jones
OF- Steve Doetsch
BN- JC Holt
BN- Steve Pyzik
BN- Matt Young
BN- Greg Creek
BN- Michael Rozema

SP- Matt Harrison
SP- James Parr
SP- Luis Atilano
SP- Jake Stevens
SP- Jose Ascanio

P- Kevin Villa
P- Will Startup
P- Wes Latson
P- Charlie Morton
P- Dan Smith
P- Arthur Santos
P- Zach Schreiber

DL- Ralph Roberts
DL- Xan Barksdale

Most minor league rosters set

Minor league rosters have been set for Mississippi, Myrtle Beach, and Rome. Richmond has yet to post their roster. I plan on posting the rosters tomorrow and then looking more closely at each one of them before the minor league season starts on April 6th.

Richmond starts Thursday at home versus Buffalo.
Mississippi starts Thursday at home versus Huntsville.
Myrtle Beach starts Thursday at home versus Wilmington.
Rome starts Thursday at home versus Kannapolis.

All four full season minor league teams starting at home. Guess that makes up for Atlanta starting on the west coast.