(7-4) Gwinnett Stripers 5, (5-5) Nashville Sounds 0
Gwinnett rode an excellent start from Didier Fuentes to a shutout victory on Wednesday, as the Stripers moved to 7-4 on the young season.
In six innings of work, Fuentes scattered just two hits while striking out eight in the process. The only blemish for the young righty, is that he issued four walks during the process.
Regardless, Fuentes’ stuff was still incredible despite the shaky command. His fastball topped out at 99.8 MPH on the night while averaging 96.9 MPH. As for his breaking stuff, Fuentes’ only threw two changeups on the night while relying heavily on his sweeper, which was somewhat inconsistent, especially on the inner third of the plate for RHH.
Overall, Fuentes was as solid as ever, getting a team-high 13 swings and misses during the process on the night as well, while only five of his 86 pitches were hit “hard” into fair territory, per Baseball Savant.
At the plate, it was sort of an “all-hands-on-deck approach for Gwinnett, as Jim Jarvis went 1-3 with an RBI, while DeShawn Kiersey Jr. laced an RBI-triple in the process as well.
On another note, relatively new farmhand Victor Mederos was spectacular in his organization debut.
Across two innings pitched, Mederos dominated as he struck out three in those two frames. What was more impressive is his two-seam fastball averaged 96 MPH with more than 16’ of horizontal break and 7’ of vertical break. In addition to his fastball, Mederos threw a cutter and slider, both of which he used 19% of the time in his outing.
If he can keep up numbers like that from out of the pen, the Braves may have another interesting bullpen piece to add to the big league roster eventually.
(1-4) Columbus Clingstones 7, (3-1) Montgomery Biscuits 2
Keeping with what has been a trend for Atlanta’s minor league affiliates so far this season, pitching was the key to the game for Columbus as they picked up their first win of the year on Wednesday.
Herick Hernandez got the start and struck out seven across 4.2 innings of work while getting 14 swings and misses — good for fourth-best in all of double-A on Wednesday. While he did scatter three hits and issue three walks, the lefty limited the damage and managed to keep Montgomery off the scoreboard while he was on the mound.
The star of the show at the plate was Lizandro Espinoza, as the 23-year-old utility player went 2-4 with a homer and a double to go along with a pair of RBI, a pair of runs scored and a walk in the process.
Ambioris Tavarez finally notched his first homer of the season, as he took a 2-1 fastball on the inner third of the plate and pulled it over the left field wall for a two-run homer. The shot registered at 104 MPH off the bat, which is a good sign for Tavarez who has struggled mightily at the plate over the course of his pro career.
With Wednesday’s performance, Tavarez has seen his OPS jump to 1.025 across eight games, which is admittedly a small sample size, but it’s encouraging for the 22-year-0ld nonetheless.
(3-2) Rome Emperors 5, (3-2) Bowling Green Hot Rods 6
As the only minor league affiliate to come up short in terms of a win on Wednesday, Rome still had several individual performances to stand out.
Starter Jeremey Reyes didn’t have his best stuff on Wednesday, but still showed flashes of his above-average stuff. In 5.2 innings of work, Reyes was tagged for four runs on three hits while striking out five. The largest detriment to his performance were walks, as he issued three of them.
While it may not have been the outcome he wanted, his fastball did touch 98 MPH and his breaking stuff looked sharp at times as well.
Getting the start at DH, Eric Hartman put the barrel on the ball tremendously last night. Hartman laced a 101 MPH double off the bat in the second inning and also crushed a 103 MPH solo homer in the top of the first — not to mention hitting it off a LHP — to get the scoring started for Rome on the night.
Owen Carey was excellent as well, as he went 2-4 with an RBI and a rocket of a double that checked in at 104 MPH and just narrowly missed leaving the yard in the third frame.
(2-3) Augusta GreenJackets 11, (1-4) Delmarva Shorebirds 1
The GreenJackets absolutely dominated Delmarva, winning by a final of 11-1.
Augusta got standout performances from both the usual and unusual suspects in the process, as Tate Southisene launched his first career homer — a 431 blast that registered at 108 MPH off the bate — while driving in three runs and scoring two in the process to lead the charge.
As for the unusual suspects, Caden Merritt was excellent on Wednesday night, as he went 2-3 with a double and three RBI as well. Through 16 at-bats, the undrafted free agent out of Gainesville, Virginia is batting .313 with an OPS of .825 to start the season.
Starter Derek Vartanian was solid in his first career minor league start as the Campbell University product has dealt with a plethora of injuries over the course of his career.
In 4.2 innings of work, Vartanian gave up six hits, but limited the damage to just one earned run while striking out a whopping seven batters in the process.
Hopefully the 22-year-old righty can stay healthy to give the Braves a longer look, because the talent and stuff is absolutely there.
