Atlanta Braves Arizona Fall League: Pitching Arms Heat Up A Scoreless Week

Daysbel Hernandez

Weekly Stats: 1 G, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Season Stats: 4 G, 1 SV, 4.1 IP, 8.31 ERA, 6 BB, 3 K, .143 BAA

Daysbel Hernandez was limited to one inning that came in a Sunday win for the Scorpions, with him pitching a scoreless sixth inning in relief. Daysbel kept his trend going of limited hard contact by forcing a 1-2-3 frame, including a pop out from Tyler Stephenson that led off the inning. Daysbel has not allowed a hit in three of his four outings this fall.

Connor Johnstone

Weekly Stats: 1 G, 1 GS, 1-0, 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

Season Stats: 3 G, 2-1, 11 IP, 3.27 ERA, 3 BB, 5 K, .333 BAA

Connor Johnstone repeated his performance from last week with another shutout performance, this time pitching a new season high with five innings in taking Sunday’s win. Johnston opened up the game by retiring eight consecutive batters, including his lone strikeout, before a two out base hit in the third inning finally snuck through into the outfield. Johnstone got out of that quickly with a fly out, but his final two innings were messier and he had to tip toe around trouble to hold on to a 3-0 Scorpions lead. After two quick ground outs in the fourth Johnstone allowed a double and then hit a batter, but a line out found the glove of his left fielder for the final out. A leadoff single put Johnstone back into trouble in the fifth, but Joey Bart threw out the runner trying to steal and this proved valuable. A couple of walks and a base hit loaded the bases with still one out before Johnston got a line drive out and then a ground out to close out his start.

Bradley Roney

Weekly Stats: 1 G, 1 SV, 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Season Stats: 4 G, 1-0, 1 SV, 5.2 IP, 3.18 ERA, 3 BB, 8 K, .167 BA

Bradley Roney had begun to lock in on the mound for the Scorpions, getting the save in their 6-5 extra inning win on Thursday with a dominant performance. Roney opened up by falling behind 2-0 to the leadoff batter, but two called strikes ran the count in his favor and he quickly finished off the first batter with a swinging strikeout. Again he fell behind, this time 1-0, to the second of the inning, but a foul tip and a couple of whiffs notched his second strikeout of the inning. The final batter of the inning was the only one to really get a bat on the ball with a couple of foul offs, but two more swinging strikes were enough to finish him and Roney struck out the side to earn the save.

Brandon White

Weekly Stats: 1 G, 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K

Season Stats: 3 G, 4.2 IP, 3.86 ERA, 5 BB, 4 K, .278 BAA

Brandon White was the final piece in a scoreless week for the Braves pitching prospects, as he was part of the group that held on as the Scorpions made a comeback in the Thursday game. White entered in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and the Scorpions trailing by a run, and he immediately walked in two runs while only throwing one strike. He stuck to it and got a line out to end the inning, then went through the seventh 1-2-3. The Scorpions tied the game up in the eighth inning and then went on to win in extra innings.

Greyson Jenista

Weekly Stats: 3 G, 1-10, 2 BB, 5 K

Season Stats: 9 G, .188/.297/.219, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 SB

The Braves hitting prospects struggled mightily over the past week, and Jenista was the poster for that adding five more strikeouts to his total in ten at bats. Jenista opened with an 0-2 performance and one strikeout, but he did have a hard hit ball in his first plate appearance. In his last he drew a walk and was part of the group that loaded the bases with no outs as the Scorpions trailed 5-1 in the eighth and then managed only one run. His next game was his worst of the fall as he finished 0-4 with three strikeouts, and he didn’t see action in a game again until the final game of the week on Sunday. Jenista was a lot better in that one, and contributed a hit and a walk to an eleven hit performance for the Scorpions, though neither of his times on base contributed to the final score.

Justin Dean

Weekly Stats: 2 G, 1-8, 1 BB, 3 K, 1 RBI

Season Stats: 6 G, .174/.333/.174, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB

Justin Dean’s fall saw his worst game on Tuesday, as for the first time this fall he failed to reach base in the game. He struck out twice in two at bats to snap his streak, but came back in Sunday’s win with a better performance. Scottsdale took a lead in the second inning and Dean contributed to it, knocking a base hit into left field to score Garrison Schwartz and run the score to 2-0. Dean drew a walk in the sixth inning and then came in to score on a double that ran the game out to 5-0. Dean’s final at bat was another strikeout, this time on three straight swings and misses.

Trey Harris

Weekly Stats: 3 G, 1-9, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 SB

Season Stats: 9 G, .300/.389/.533, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 1 SB

Trey Harris had his roughest week at the plate and only eked out one hit on the week, and though he continued to get on base but could not contribute any runs. For just the second time this fall Harris failed to reach base in the opening game of the week, going 0-4 with a strikeout. Harris then ended his week without a strikeout in his last eleven plate appearances, and though he only had one hit he did reach base with three walks. Trey singled in the top of the first inning in the Wednesday game for the Scorpions, and the bases ended up being loaded but he and the other two runners were stranded on base. Harris grounded into a double play in the third inning and then was stranded on base after drawing a walk in the sixth. Two of the walks came in the Saturday loss to the Mayos de Navojoa, and the Scorpions made themselves the only AFL team to lose a game to a Mexican Pacific League opponent thus far this fall.

Garrison Schwartz

Weekly Stats: 2 G, 0-5, 2 K, 3 BB, 2 R

Season Stats: 4 G, .091/.333/.091, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 SB

Schwartz got two games of playing time for the first time last week, and he took advantage somewhat by reaching base three times in eight trips to the plate. In the first game he walked twice, getting stranded on third base the first time up but in the seventh inning he scored the tying run on a two run double. Schwartz struck out for the second out in the ninth inning as Scottsdale went on to lose. In the final game Schwartz drew a two out walk to put multiple runners on base, then scored the second run of the game as Justin Dean singled to bring him around.