The Braves made a few more minor league moves on Thursday, this time impacting two talented middle-infielders — shortstop Luke Waddell and shortstop/third baseman Vaughn Grissom.
Waddell — the Braves’ fifth-round pick in this year’s MLB Draft — has certainly enjoyed his first taste of pro ball. The 23-year-old, former Georgia Tech star, has hit .304 with six home runs and 13 RBI in just his first 21 games with High-A Rome — good enough for a well above average 148 wRC+. If you recall, I recently wrote about the kid following a stint earlier this week in which he slugged six homers in just six games for the R-Braves. I didn’t rank Waddell in my Midseason Braves Top 30, but at this rate he’s definitely on his way to making the next list. Either way, with prospect Braden Shewmake holding down shortstop for the M-Braves all this season, it’ll be interesting to see how the Mississippi roster is setup with Waddell in the mix. The lefty-hitter has experience at other positions in the infield as he also played both third and second base in college.
For Grissom (currently ranked 13th on my Top 30), the High-A assignment is sort of a long time coming. The 20-year-old has been one of the better Single-A hitters in 2021, and when healthy, he’s no doubt led the Augusta lineup. Grissom entered Thursday with a .311/.402/.446 slash-line, to go with 24 XBH and 13 stolen bases in 75 games with the GreenJackets. And it didn’t take long for the former 11th-round pick to make an impact for the R-Braves, either, as he finished his first High-A game last night 1 for 2 with a run, two walks and a stolen base. The sky is the limit for Grissom, who I think could easily become a top 5 prospect in the Braves system once he starts developing a bit more power with his bat. We have to remember, though, this kid is only 20.
Congrats to both players, and hopefully each of Waddell and Grissom can put a nice bow on what’s already been impressive seasons for the two.
Recap
The Braves got back on track, overcoming thin air to scrape by with a 6-5 win. Once again, the trade deadline acquisitions shined as Jorge Soler when 2-5 with a HR and 2 runs scored, Adam Duvall went 1-4 with a 2-run HR, Eddie Rosario went 0-3 with 2 walks and a run scored, and Richard Rodriguez pitched a clean 7th inning. It can’t be understated how big of an impact the deadline acquisitions has made on this team.
Austin Riley continues his reign of terror going 2-3 with 1 run scored and 2 RBI. I’ve studied Riley since his MiLB debut and he’s a man of adjustment. I think it’s now pretty safe to say he’s adjusted. On April 17th, he had looked lost and was carrying an OPS of .456. He now carries a .911 OPS and it’s been .968 since his bottoming out.
HR Records?
I’d love to know this answer and I can’t believe it’s happened very often in MLB, but the Braves have the following players with 20+ HRs.
- Adam Duvall- 29
- Freddie Freeman– 28
- Austin Riley- 28
- Dansby Swanson– 26
- Ronald Acuña- 24
- Ozzie Albies– 23
- Jorge Soler- 21
While there’d be an asterisk beside Soler and Dvuall, when’s the last time 7 players hit 20 or more HRs on one team? Joc Pederson also has an outside chance of getting to 20 as he’s sitting at 16 on the year.
The Braves try to get back to 10 games above .500 tonight and Huascar Ynoa will take the mound.
The 2019 Houston Astros had 7 players hit 20+ HRs this year. More impressively, they all played the entire year with the Astros. They had an advantage because they had a DH.
The 2003 Braves team had 6 players with 20 HRs, the most prolific power-hitting team the Braves have had, I think:
Lopez: 43
Sheffield: 39
Andruw: 36
Chipper: 27
Castilla: 22
Giles: 21
LA, Toronto, Cincy, and San Fran will all likely have 6 players with 20+ HRs. They also have more players who all hit their home runs with that team. But Atlanta looks like the only team that will end up with 7 guys. If Pederson ends up with 20 HRs, then it’s not really “fair” since 4 of the 7 are outfielders, and it would be really difficult to find enough PAs for 4 outfielders to hit that many home runs if they all played on the same team for a full season. Those 4 outfielders have accumulated 1,725 PAs this season, and in the 133 games we’ve played this year, 3 outfielders all getting 4 PAs per game would only accumulate 1,596 PAs. It could work if we were an AL team and we had the DH.
I’ve got some time now so I can answer the 20+ homer question. Meet your 2019 Minnesota Twins, with 8 https://stathead.com/tiny/VOsHg I already knew that the 1965 Braves set an NL record with 6 players with 20 (that was one of the big facts they told us when they got to town) but that record is long-gone.
As to damage to my house… yeah, we got the Ida-remnant up here and I have some damage to the house… but it’s not life-altering. Some new wallpaper, a refinished hardwood floor, five new rugs and we’ll be good to go. A lot of people here in my town had it a lot worse. And I need a new set of quads, but that what you get for being a fat lazy slob and spending a day moving waterlogged rugs and furniture around.
I don’t know how I forgot that the 2019 Twins won 101 games and had a historically prolific offense. They’d have gone all the way if they had some pitching.
Good to hear the damage wasn’t so severe. But you had a good workout; take the rest of the month off.
@2
Jonathan…Good to hear your updated news, that all is not lost , that you are rebounding strongly.
Which leaves me free to confess to a wicked idea I was developing yesterday along the lines of your new predicament which I started to post then thought the better of it being the sensitive soul that you know I am.
But, not to entirely waste its beautiful simplicity and relevance to you and your waterborne battles here’s the gist of it. I searched the heavens for somebody famous, whose name is still a household word, who had a unique way with numbers – to the point of obsession even. That in itself was difficult, took several hours, but I was making real progress until I came to the last piece of the puzzle, water.
Did such a person ever exist, I was beginning to despair. And how to combine the wet side of his life with the mathematical dexterity and sheer bloody mindedness that comes with those numbers. Living with them, sleeping with them. . The tenacity, to work something through till the end. To dazzle his audience as was his wont. And then, still, the water.
Could such a person possibly have existed, combining all these manifold skills with such determination and somehow have his life rudely upturned by water? Finally, yes, there was just one.
Noah. (Please, at this juncture, not Ynoah. Do not get confused with their separate skills). Once that name had struck it all seemed so obvious, so easy. Water, water everywhere, plenty to drink. But as he soon discovered, under attack from a swordfish, the skin of the Ark would be punctured and pour in. Mayhem, just like 2 nights ago for you.
What then you may ask could possibly have been his erudite skills as an Economist, a Mathematician of sublime intensity? Surely none? You would be wrong. Maths soon proved to him the one at a time entry by the animals was not working. Chaos reigned within. One could not find the other. What to do?
You know the brilliant answer he came up with now, don’t you? Two by two, no more one by one – the world was never the same. Procreation established each species. Turned out two monkeys could even fix the swordfish leaks where one could not. What a mind.
Just like yours. Cheers.
Good news, JF. The world needs more fat lazy slobs like you.
By the way, the mathematician most associated with water is Archimedes, followed by a naked streak through Syracuse. (The story is almost surely apocryphal, for which we can blame Vitruvius.) Eureka. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fact-or-fiction-archimede/
That’s good news, JonathanF, but keep checking for mold. Good luck!
I cannot fathom why anyone would want to streak through Syracuse, but I imagine that almost anything is possible with enough Gennessee.
I’m really interested to see how Ynoa does tonight. Coors is really the place where curves go to die. I think Touki and Fried and Smyly (and probably Newk, too) are particularly bad choices for Coors. But someone with mostly hard stuff like Ynoa or someone who relies on speed differences like Anderson may do well at Coors. Might be applicable to Matzek, Minter, Jackson, etc…
Also, I see Ozzie is back at the top. I thought Rosario did a darn good job at the top last night and was hoping they might roll with it and slot in Ozzie at 5 or 6.
Yeah, I liked Rosario at the top, he seems to take more pitches, at least from what I
saw before nighty night.
I like Ozzie batting leadoff.
Ozzie is alright!!
Shut my mouth.
A triple and a sac fly is not ABC baseball. It only has two parts. (It’s the B that’s missing.)
Ynoa is lacking control tonight. First time in coors field, so not exactly surprising.
Shew…..lucky there
He was safe….but…..
MLB umpiring from the field to New York is a complete embarrassment.
Replay almost never gets it right. The camera had a better view than the ump and Riley could obviously feel the base before the tag.
Ynoa has done a darn good job of pitching tonight.
Just awful …….should have been an easy overturn
Why does MLB even have the instant replay if they’re going to completely f it up?
Man we throw some God awful 0-2 pitches.
Wow that was stupid
replay is a huge joke but MLB administration is a joke.
These umps are brutal.
Love Francoeur not holding back about instant replay. It really is garbage. It used to be useful when it first came out.
MLB umpires and administrators are always afraid to step on toes. It’s horrible
Snitker should have gotten himself thrown out over this. Replay is a joke and anyone who thinks it’s working well is as high as a Georgia pine.
Replay review IS garbage. I agree with those who say that NY should not be given the original call. They are too reluctant to overturn
Charlie Sheen in the game, huh?
Hardly hit a ball hard the last 8 innings. Consistent early swings and weak contact. Not our night but at least the Phillies lost
Get active umpires out of the replay-review room and you’ll see improvement. This is actually simple. But MLB and the umpires association, as ever, complicate the simple so failures like Joe West and CB Bucknor and their ilk can keep cashing checks.
Rosario made a boneheaded baserunning play whether he was safe or not.
@32 You’re correct.
sorry, this game sucked in the end clearly, but i’m drunk from friends so i did not watch
” It might be. It could be.”
Former Brave voice John Sterling, 83, in the news himself Wednesday night. Driving back to his NJ home after calling the Yankee game earlier his Cadillac was brought to a stop in a desolate flooded street and he saw he could not get out without help. Called his fellow commentator who arrived shortly and pulled him out.
Anyone remember any other of his calls? I think he was the originator of ‘Dominique is Magnifique’ which will live for ever if you heard/saw those early broadcasts.
Recapped
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2021/09/04/rockies-clip-braves-4-3/