Braves Minor League Recap: Cedric De Grandpre, Drew Lugbauer leave with injuries

The Atlanta Braves minor league organization had a rough day. They allowed 11 or more runs in three games and had two key contributors sustained injuries that forced them to be removed from their respective games. Despite the problems on the mound and on the injury front, the Braves minor league teams were able to win three games.

(32-31) Nashville Stripers 11, (29-35) Gwinnett Stripers 3

• Vaughn Grissom 1-3, 1 3B, 1 RBI,
• Braden Shewmake 1-4, 1 RBI, 1 K
• Nick Margevicius, SP, 2 IP, 8 R, 7 ER, 9 H

The Stripers got six hits enroute to a quiet overall offensive performance. They only struckout seven times, but picked up just one walk. Chadwick Tromp continued what’s been a down June picking up a hit in four at bats, “raising” his average on the month to .130. Like Tromp, Shewmake also picked up a hit but he’s stuck in a terrible stretch as he’s just 9 for 46 in the month of June.

The less said about the Stripers pitching the better. Margevicius allowed a leadoff homer to in the first to former big league Jesse Winker before a single later in the inning plated the second run of the frame. Then in second things got ugly. Seven of the first eight batters reached base with the only out in that span coming via a sac fly. The inning could’ve been even worse but Margevicius forced two fly outs to strand a runner on third. To start the third Danny Young came on in relief and pitched a scoreless inning before allowing a run in the fourth. Brian Moran succumbed to a similar fate in the fourth allowing a run before working his way out of it.

(27-30) Mississippi Braves 9, (36-22) Pensacola Blue Wahoos 12

• Cal Conley 0-5, 1 K
• Jesse Franklin V 1-4, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K
• Tanner Gordon, SP, 4 IP, 10 H, 9 ER, 2 BB, 3 K

Injury note - catcher Drew Lugbauer was removed in the second inning with an undisclosed injury immediately after hitting a double.

This game was all over the place. Despite losing arguably their best hitter in the second, the Braves were able to rally scoring nine runs, five of which came in the ninth. Tyler Tolve led the offense going 2-4 with a three run homer in the third and an RBI single in the ninth. He’s been solid this June with yesterday’s performance bringing his average on the month up to .296. On top of Tolve, Cade Bunnell had a big day, going 2-4 with three RBI’s and a homer. The two hit day was already his fourth multi hit performance of the month.

Like the prior game, there’s not a whole lot of positives that can be taken away from a pitching standpoint for the Braves. They gave up 12 runs across just eight innings whilst allowing 17 combined hits and walks. To make matters worse six of the 12 runs came with two outs, meaning if Braves pitchers were able to finish off innings they likely walk away with the victory. Alex Segal and Daysbel Hernandez were the two Braves pitchers who didn’t allow runs in this one but they combined to allow six base runners over just 2 ⅔ innings.

(28-30) Rome Braves 3, (33-25) Hudson Valley Renegades 1

• Ignacio Alvarez 0-4, 1 RBI
• David McCabe 1-3, 1 BB, 1 K
• Cedric De Grandpre, SP, ⅔ IP - Injured

Even though they only got four hits, the Braves were able to scratch across three runs which was enough for the victory. Geraldo Quintero was a third of the team’s offense as he hit a solo homer in the top of the second to give them a 2-0 lead. Besides him, Alvarez picked up an RBI on a sac fly in the first and Kadon Morton scored in the fifth on a failed pickoff. Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. continued his impressive plate discipline as he picked up three walks on the day bringing his season total up to 41. The five through nine hitters for the Braves combined to go 1-18 with 12 strikeouts.

Starting pitcher Cedric De Grandpre who had been off to a torrid start unfortunately took a line drive off the wrist which forced him to exit the game in the first. As a result the bullpen needed to cover nearly the entire game and did so brilliantly. Peyton Williams and Hayden Harris combined to go 5 ⅓ innings allowing just one run which came via Harris and the duo struck out eight combined batters. From there on Miguel Pena came on to pitch the seventh and eighth innings where he struck out four batters and didn’t allow a base runner. Rob Griswold made things interesting in the ninth as he allowed the winning run to come to the plate but he picked up the save by striking out the side.

(28-30) Augusta GreenJackets 4, (30-26) Carolina Mudcats 3

• Jeremy Celedonio 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI
• Ethan Workinger 2-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI,
• Jorge Bautista, SP, 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Somehow, the Braves won despite only picking up four hits with those four hits coming from two batters, both of whom went 2-4 with 2 solo homers. Besides Celedonio and Workinger, GreenJacket hitters combined to go 0-22 with nine strikeouts and just two walks.

After getting shelled last week to the tune of five earned runs, seven hits and two walks, Bautista twirled a gem. As the stat line shows above he was dominant. He generated seven swinging strikes and had four innings where he faced three batters. Darling Florentino relieved him starting the eighth and nearly immediately gave up two earned runs as he walked two and allowed two hits whilst recording just one out. From there on though Chad Bryant and Jason Franks were able to pitch a scoreless final 1 ⅔ innings with Franks getting the save.

(3-4) FCL Braves 7, (3-4) FCL Twins 3

Diego Benitez continued his slowish start to the season going 1-3 on the day which raised his average to .208. He struck out once which was his fifth of the season. Douglas Glod, another one of the team’s top 30 prospects, who’s now hitting .192 went 1-4. He struck out twice and he now has 13 punch outs on the season in just 26 at bats. Strikeouts were a concerning trend for him last season and have continued into this year.

(0-7) DSL Braves 8, (5-2) DSL Brewers 17

Luis Guanipa continued his solid start to the season going 3-5 with three RBI’s, a double and his third homer of the season. Besides Guanipa, Angel Nieblas also picked up a homer on the day raising his average to .400 on the season. Braves starting pitcher Luis Arestigueta threw two innings and allowed 4 runs, only one of which was earned.