Atlanta Braves Minor League Recap 6/21: Greyson Jenista Gets His First Hit and Matt Rowland Makes His Debut

Gwinnett Stripers 3, Toledo Mud Hens 5

Box Score

Michael Reed, RF: 1-3, 2-BB

Dustin Peterson, LF: 1-5, 2B, RBI

Luiz Gohara, SP: 3.1IN, 5H, 2ER (3R), 1BB, 7K

Jacob Webb, RP: 2IP, 1H, 1ER, 0BB, 4K (HR)

The game started out on the wrong foot as Rio Ruiz made a fielding error on the first play of the game, and that runner ended up coming around to score. Gohara didn’t have the best start, but he calmed down after the first 4 batters reached striking out 3 of next 4 batters. Over the next 2.1 innings Gohara only gave up a walk and a single while striking out 4. Jason Hursh then came in and walked 3 batters in 2 innings, however, Jacob Webb pitched the final 2 innings while striking out 4 and giving up a solo home run. Jacob Webb has pitched pretty well since being called up and is proving to be another solid reliever along with Evan Phillips.

Michael Reed got on base 3 times. Reed’s not only hitting .407, but he has an insane .533 OBP. He’s an older prospect with 15 games at the MLB level, but the way he’s been playing, I wouldn’t mind if he got a call-up at some point. He is sporting a really high BABIP, but sometimes you gotta play the hand while it’s hot. Along with Ruiz’s error, he also went 0-5 with 2 strikeouts so not the best game for him. Dustin Peterson wasn’t great, but did pick up an extra base hit.

Florida Fire Frogs 0, Jupiter Hammerheads 2

Box Score

Garrison Schwartz, RF: 2-3, K

Braxton Davidson, 1B: 1-4, 3K

Ian Anderson, SP: 6IP, 7H, 2ER, 1BB, 8K

Ian Anderson was the lone bright spot in this turd of a game. A 62 game score, but he was actually better than his end results. 5 of his base runners came in the 5th and 6th inning including both runs he gave up. Troy Bacon and Thomas Burrows pitched well out of the pen.

The Hammerhead’s Jordan Yamamoto was untouchable. He only gave up 2 hits over 7 innings while striking out 13. In all the Fire Frogs struck out 16 times on the day. Garrison Schwartz did get a multi hit game, so about the only bright spot there.

Danville Braves 6, Pulaski Yankees 5

Box Score

Greyson Jenista, DH: 2-4, BB, 2R

Henry Quintero, LF: 1-5, 3B, RBI, K, 2R, SB

Brett Langhorne, 3B: 2-5, 3B, 2RBI

Marcos Almonte, 2B: 2-4, RBI, K, CS

Andrew Moriz, RF: 1-4, RBI, BB, K

Matt Rowland, SP: 4IP, 2H, 2ER, 0BB, 2K

Tanner Allison, RP: 3IP, 3H, 0ER, 1BB, 5K

Luis Mejia, RP: 1IP, 1H, 0ER, 1BB, 2K

Carlos Baerga, Jr, OF/RP: 2IP, 1H, 0ER (1R), 0BB, 2K

This was an interesting game as it went to extra innings in which the Braves scored in both to come away with the win. The interesting part is two fold. First, Matt Rowland got the start. Many of you may not remember him, but he hid that he was injured and ended up missing 2 seasons because of it. He got off to a rough start but then settled down quite nicely. Overall, it was a strong showing for someone that hasn’t pitched professionally in 2 years. Hopefully he can stay healthy and build upon this. Rowland has a plus fastball and his slider was supposed to be something special too. He’s going to be one to watch.

The second interesting thing was that when the Braves went to extra innings they elected to have a positional player pitch the final 2 innings versus a well rested bullpen. Our own Matt Powers weighed in too.

A quick note on Tanner Allison. He was actually demoted from Rome where he put up a 2.50 WHIP and a 13.13 ERA. While he was really good, I wanted to make sure there was a little context. Maybe when he gets called back up to Rome he’ll pitch better.

Greyson Jenista collected his first 2 hits on the season. He’s hit the ball hard a few other times, but right at people. The Braves 10th round pick in Brett Langhorne had a nice game with 2 hits, including a triple and drove in a couple of runs.

GCL Braves 1, GCL Tigers West 11

Box Score

CJ Alexander, 3B: 2-4

Logan Brown, C: 1-2, K

Jeremy Fernandez, CF: 1-4, R, K

Albinson Volquez, SP: 5IP, 4H, 2ER, 0BB, 5K

Can I talk about the game the day before instead of this one? This one started out ok as Albinson Volquez pitched a very good game. But then comes in Yoeli Lopez and William Woods who combined to give up 9 runs in 2.1 innings with no strikeouts.

On the flip side the offense was completely shut down, with the only run scoring on a passed ball when a runner was on 3rd base. The big man on campus, Christian Zamora, struck out 3 times in 4 ABs. A pretty forgettable game.

The other thing of note was that the Braves signed 4 JUCO players and 3 of them played in this game. Not important to know, but thought it was cool nonetheless.

DSL Braves 6, DSL Marlins 4