Lots of mid-season changes throughout the system. By now you should know that Scott Thorman is up and Chuck James is on the way, but there’s more happening lower in the system. Here’s the low-minors lowdown.Â
- Several Pelicans were sent down to low-A Rome. Leading the group is the once-promising Jake Stevens who is also being suspended for his actions on being pulled from his last start. Seems that when the manager came out to pull him from the game he just flipped the ball to him and walked off the field. Jake has reason to be frustrated, he’s 1-6 with a 6.41 ERA.
- Moving into the Myrtle Beach rotation will be Jo-Jo Reyes, who has gone 8-1 with a 2.99 ERA in Rome.
- Also moving up, from Myrtle Beach to Mississippi, is lefty Matt Harrison. The 20 year-old Harrison will be the youngest pitcher on the M-Braves staff, and is one of the real bright spots of the system.
- Rumor also has it that one of the cleared Myrtle Beach roster spots will go to Joey Devine. Joey is expected to join the team on Wednesday, pending medical approval.
- Congratulations to the Rome Braves, winners of the SAL Southern Division title. The title means a playoff appearance for Rome for the first time since 2003. The Rome squad will have 5 players at the all-star game: Isaiah Ka’aihue, Eric Campbell, Max Ramirez, Elvis Andrus, and Jo-Jo Reyes.Â
- There should be more movement upcoming as the Braves slot 2006 draftees into the system, and big-league trades can also affect things. Stay tuned.
Thanks for the update Jay! I’ll look forward to seeing Harrison in Mississippi… I’ve been to about 12 games this season! lol… gotten addicted to it! I knew they moved Daniel Curtis up the other day to Richmond so I’d been wondering who they’d pull up in his place and I had not heard anything so Thank You!
If I’m not mistaken… the other night when I was there and Matt Wright pitched… that was his 7th win of the season (5th in a row I believe) and it lowered his ERA to 1.40. He seems to be doing very well!
Yeah, Wright is on a roll. 5 wins in a row is a Mississippi record. I like his strikeout and walk numbers, too. 62K in 61 IP with only 24 walks. I think he may be headed to Richmond soon.
Well they have only been in Mississippi for like two years
how about “a Braves AA affiliate record”.
ha ha ha, ok. Anyone down there worth dealing for a big league guy who can strike people out?
I like Kaia Ka’aihue. I saw him smack a couple of monster shots in a game against Greenville earlier this year. That made the fact that Greenville won less stingy.
DON’T trade Ka’aihue! The dude can flat out hit, and he’s very good over at first. I’d love to see him move up through the system and take over at first in a couple of years when Bobby finally realizes LaRoche just isn’t going to cut it….
Also, Jay, you may know already…Devin Anderson was called up to Myrtle Beach from Rome yesterday….
Any news on draft pick signings? Has Cody Johnson signed?
I think he signed the day after the draft
Yes, Johnson has signed. And so has Cory Rasmus. Notables that remain unsigned include Locke and Rogers.
thanks second bass. I noticed but didn’t mention Anderson although I probably should have. he’s been playing well. let’s hope it continues in MB.
Link for info about 2006 draftees. Bold names have been signed.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/draftdb/2006team.php?team=ATL
Just out of curiosity, why is Ka’aihue still in high-A ball? He beat the crap out of the ball in High Desert last year, even after adjusting for the ease of hitting there. Why isn’t he moving up?
Ka’aihue is still in Rome, which is actually low-A. I don’t know why he hasn’t moved up yet, unless they just want to keep that core of players together (Ka’aihue, Campbell, Ramirez, Andrus). That logic doesn’t make any sense, though, so the bottom line is….I don’t know! Selfishly, I hope he stays…..he’s a nice guy and my daughter’s favorite this year in Rome. We got a Hawaiian Punch t-shirt off e-bay and put ‘Ka’aihue’ on the back of it for my daughter to wear to the games. His parents happened to be there that day and got a kick out of it.
I do love Rome….
second bass,
great stuff. i think “hawaiian punch” would be a great nickname for Ka’aihue. he’s just really jumped onto my radar this year, but looking back at what he did last year in danville his numbers are great. i don’t know why he hasn’t been promoted yet, but i suspect it’s just his age. he’s not particularly young for A ball, but there’s little reason to rush him. that said, I think he’ll be moving to MB soon.
since you’ve seen him play in person do you have any observations about him? i know his numbers are great, but what does he look like as a player? how’s his defense?
I tell you….he reminds me of Andres Galaragga at first, both in appearance and ability. It seems like he gets a hit every game, and they’re mostly for extra bases (or so it seems). He’s really good defensively….he gets in front of the ball, and when he does that, nothing gets past him. He is a big, stocky guy, but he legs out doubles a good bit, and even a triple now and then. His home runs are CRUSHED. He’s a monster hitter, and a lot of fun to watch play.
I must admit, I can’t take credit for the Hawaiian Punch thing. The scoreboard people at Rome play a snippet of the commercial from the 70’s (80’s, whatever) when he comes to bat. Punchy asks, “How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?”, and he knocks the guy over. Thus the shirt. His teammates and fans call him “KK” for a nickname, but I like Hawaiian Punch myself!
New question for you, Jay (or whoever). Since Brandon Jones has been called to Mississippi, who becomes the 4th outfielder in Myrtle Beach? Rome has 5 outfielders on the roster, one of whom is Jon Mark Owings who is currently on the DL and not scheduled to come off until July last I heard. Aside from that, none of Rome’s outfielders are doing that well….Schafer is young and learning (but has a GREAT arm), Romak isn’t hitting for squat (although he, too, is a very nice guy, but that doesn’t pay the bills), Suero is fast as all get out, but he’s very inconsistent. That leaves the best hitter of the 4 active, Quentin Davis, but even his numbers don’t seem to suggest a promotion is in order. So what gives?
PS
some people know me here and know that I’ll talk Braves minor leagues (especially Rome) all day long, so ignore if you must…I’ll get the hint!
KA’AIHUE NEWS!!!!!
From the Rome News-Tribune this morning (Wednesday, June 21):
“Ka’aihue, the Hawaiian-born first baseman, is being promoted to high-A Myrtle Beach today. He batted .333 and drove in 49 runs while helping Rome win the Southern Division first-half title. ”
Also moving up is Jo Jo Reyes, and Brandon Monk is being sent down to Danville.
Thanks for the updates, second bass. i haven’t been ignoring you, just away from my computer for about 24 hours (and starting to go into withdrawls). I’m sorry for you and Rome to be losing KK, but he’s gotta move up. i’m exited to see what he does in High-A. I expect him to have a good transition, and I don’t think the the park in MB will suppress his numbers much (especially if his homers go as far as has been described).
as for the MB outfield, there’s just three there now. Doetsch, Loadenthal and Young. With Ka’aihue moving up there’s now three first basemen also. one possibility is that one of the extra infielders will move to the outfield. as for who, i don’t know. and, as you say, it doesn’t look like any of the guys in rome are ready to move up.
i expect more system changes are in the near future, then the rosters may settle down a bit.
One other note: Ka’aihue and Max Ramirez had 2 of the 3 team hits in the SAL All-Star game last night. Jo-Jo pitched 2 innings and struck out 4.