Braves Minor League Recap: Ozzie Albies triples, Dylan Dodd strikes out seven

We only had a two game slate down in the Atlanta Braves’ minor league system on Wednesday with Rome having an off day during their playoff series and the Braves’ farm affiliates swept both games. Ozzie Albies had a big triple for the Stripers while on rehab assignment, Jared Shuster and Dylan Dodd both shined on the mound, and Arden Pabst came out of nowhere with a big night for Mississippi. Lets get into the games.

Gwinnett Stripers 7, Durham Bulls 2

Box Score

• Rylan Bannon, 3B: 3-4, RBI, 2 R, 2 SB, .793 OPS
• Ozzie Albies, 2B: 1-4, 3B, 2 RBI
• Jared Shuster, SP: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 3.96 ERA

Gwinnett dominated their game against Durham on Wednesday from start to finish as they rolled to a 7-2 win. Jared Shuster got the start for the Stripers and while he only went four innings (presumably to allow Freddy Tarnok to throw several innings later in the game), but it was one of his best outings of late. He was missing bats, throwing strikes, and limiting hard contact...all of which have been a challenge for him during his previous six starts or so. After a scoreless inning of relief from Victor Vodnik (who has looked good since his first appearance after an IL stint), Freddy Tarnok threw three uneven innings of one-run ball.

On the offensive side, the guy that kept the line moving most of the evening was Rylan Bannon who had three hits, scored a pair of runs, and stole two bases. Gwinnett jumped out to a big lead in the fourth inning which was capped by a two-run triple from Ozzie Albies. While Ozzie certainly benefitted from the fact that the fielding on that particular play wasn’t the greatest, it does appear that his activation from the injured list could be imminent. The rest of the offense was a team effort as Pat Valaika, Ryan Goins, and Hendrik Clementina all drove in runs for Gwinnett.

Mississippi Braves 4, Montgomery Biscuits 2

Box Score

• Arden Pabst, DH: 2-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
• Cade Bunnell, SS: 2-3, 2 2B, 2 R, BB, 1.053 OPS
• Dylan Dodd, SP: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 3.11 ERA

A big night at the plate from Arden Pabst and strong pitching throughout the game helped Mississippi secure a 4-2 win. Dylan Dodd was on the mound for Mississippi and he was just excellent. Dodd has been Mr. Consistency for Mississippi for a while now with six straight starts now where he has given up two earned runs or less, but Wednesday night’s outing was particularly impressive as he struck out seven over five innings of work. We have been harping on Dodd for a while, but I will again...do not sleep on the Braves’ third round pick from 2021. The Braves really, really like the lefty as does the rest of the league as he was a popular ask during the trade deadline this season. The rest of the bullpen held things down from there as they gave up just one earned run over the game’s final four innings.

Mississippi’s offense came largely from a player that had just been activated a couple days ago as Arden Pabst connected for a double and a homer while driving in three of Mississippi’s four runs. Pabst played the bulk of his time in with the Florida Coast League this season and has only played sparingly (presumably due to some sort of injury), so it is pretty neat to see him have a time to shine. Cade Bunnell continues to rake down in Double-A as he had a pair of doubles to bring his OPS at Mississippi up to 1.053 which seems pretty good.