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Who's Hot?
Ernesto Mejia, 1B, Gwinnett Braves: 13-28, 4 2B, 3B, HR, 7 R, 7 RBI. Ernesto Mejia was on fire this week, recording at least one hit in all 7 of Gwinnett's games. His .464 batting average was the best in the International League this past week, and he also posted a 1.250 OPS. This led to Mejia being named the International League's Player of the Week. On the year, Mejia is hitting a cool .306 with 6 homers and 31 RBI.
Stefan Gartrell, RF, Gwinnett Braves: 9-26, 4 2B, 4 HR, 7 R, 7 RBI, SB. Stefan Gartrell broke out the boomstick this week, smacking 8 extra base hits on the week out of 9 hits total. Gartrell's 4 homers and 4 doubles led to him putting up an insane .961 slugging percentage on the week. Gartrell's .346/.433/.961 was arguably better than his teammate Mejia's, and the two sluggers played a huge part in all of Gwinnett's games this week. Gartrell even stole a base too, for good measure.
Todd Redmond, SP, Gwinnett Braves: 2-0, 13 IP, 12 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K, 0.69 ERA. For the first time in Gwinnett Braves' history, the G-Braves won the International League Player and Pitcher of the Week in the same week. Todd Redmond was the benificiary of the latter, winning both his starts this week while allowing only 1 run in 13 innings pitched. Redmond only allowed 12 hits and 1 walk while whiffing 7. On the week, he posted a 0.69 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. That sterling line was good for Redmond's 4th career IL Pitcher of the Week award.
Keenan Wiley, RF, Mississippi Braves: 9-24, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 3 R, 1 SB. Wiley hit so well for Mississippi this week that he was bumped into the leadoff slot, where he promptly registered a 4 hit game. On the week, Wiley hit .375/.423/.458, tops among all Mississippi hitters. On the season Wiley's line is a blistering .349/.446/.508, and it will be interesting to see if he can keep succeeding at around this level for the whole year.
Gus Schlosser, SP, Lynchburg Hillcats: 2-0, 14 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 13 K, 0.64 ERA. Schlosser put up the best line of any Braves' farmhand this week, tossing 14 innings of 7 hit ball with 3 walks and 13 strikeouts. That translates to a marvelous 0.71 WHIP. Schlosser's two starts shaved a full run off his ERA, bringing it from over 5 down to 3.95. Hopefully Schlosser can build on his good work and keep rolling after getting rocked in the beginning of the year.
Tommy La Stella, 2B, Lynchburg Hillcats: 9-26, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R, SB. Lynchburg's second baseman did a bit of everything this week, posting a .346/.414/.577 line to go along with 3 runs, 3 RBI, and a steal. He'd almost certainly have had more runs and RBIs with those numbers, but most of Lynchburg's offense was anemic this week. La Stella had 3 walks and only 1 strikeout this week, and on the year his K/BB numbers sit at a mind-boggling 6/18. With the sale of Drew Sutton to the Pirates, I wonder if we'll see La Stella get a bump up at some point this year.
John Cornely, RP, Rome Braves: 3.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 10 K, 0.00 ERA. I know that 3.1 innings in a week is not a bunch, but when all 10 of your outs are strikeouts, that gets you noticed. What a week for Cornely, whose ERA now sits at 3.86 on the year. He has struck out 27 men in 16.1 innings pitched so far this year, and if he can continue to cut down on walks, he'll be an interesting guy to follow moving forward.
Honorable Mention: Gwinnett Braves - Cory Gearrin, Adam Russell, Anthony Varvaro. Mississippi Braves - Zeke Spruill, Mark Lamm, Christian Bethancourt, David Hale, Todd Cunningham, Ryan Buchter. Lynchburg Hillcats - Aaron Northcraft, J.R. Graham. Rome Braves - David Filak, Navery Moore, William Beckwith, Fernando De Los Santos.
See who's not hot after the jump...
Who's Not?
Jose Constanza, LF, Gwinnett Braves: 1-15, 3B, 2 RBI. Everyone's favorite AAAA whipping boy had an off week, posting a 1-15 line with Gwinnett. Constanza made his hit count though, stroking a 2 RBI triple on Saturday. Constanza's weekly slash line of .067/.176/.200 was a far cry from his season line of .305/.390/.407, so expect him to make adjustments and turn it around soon.
Jair Jurrjens, SP, Gwinnett Braves: 4.2 IP, 12 H, 10 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 21.43 ERA. There's not to much left to say about JJ's terrible start this week that hasn't already been dissected ad nauseum, so I'll keep it brief. Jurrjens was rocked hard, posting a 21.43 ERA and a 3.33 WHIP this week. His previous starts had all been quality starts, and though the strikeouts still haven't shown up, there's reason to think he could recover from this shelling. However, it seems to me that if Jurrjens can't recover his lost velocity or movement, he'll have a tough time getting back to Atlanta.
Mycal Jones, CF, Lynchburg Hillcats: 2-20, 2 RBI, CS. It's been a rough couple of weeks for Myke Jones. After scuffling at Mississippi for most of the year, he was dropped out of the leadoff spot then eventually demoted to Lynchburg. Unfortunately, his struggles seem to have followed him down, as he went 2 for 20 this week on the way to putting up a .100/.182/.100 line for the week. He was also caught stealing and for the year (spanning both levels) Jones has been caught 7 times to only 7 steals. Quite a rough year so far for the Braves' 4th round draft choice.
Matt Lipka, CF, Lynchburg Hillcats: 2-26, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB. Both of Lynchburg's outfield speedsters had rough weeks, as Matt Lipka posted a .077/.142/.077 line across 28 plate appearances. Lipka has struggled mightily since the Braves chose him as the top pick of their 2010 draft. On the year, Lipka is .243 with a .307 OBP and .313 slugging. He does have 10 steals and is taking a good number of walks, but his hit tool will have to improve.
Dishonorable Mention: Gwinnett Braves - Julio Teheran, Felix Pie, Yohan Flade. Mississippi Braves - Evan Gattis, Sean Gilmartin. Lynchburg Hillcats - Nick Ahmed, Kyle Rose. Rome Braves - Rafael Briceno, Kyle Kubitza.