MVN - Most Valuable Network

5/19 Recap

First Innings’ Daily Organizational Report

Only Rome and Mississippi had games last night with both teams coming away losers.  However, there was good news as Cole Rohrbough made his season debut last night with Rome and didn’t show any signs of rust.  He pitched 4 shutout relief innings, allowed 3 hits and struck out 6 while walking none.  Jason Heyward added 2 hits in 5 at-bats for Rome, raising his average to .329.

Draft Notes; Hot Sheet

For those of you who like to have an idea of who the Braves might be taking with their first pick in June’s draft, John Sickels has a post highlighting the top high school pitchers available in the draft. And with the Braves’ drafting history, they are mentioned a few times. They don’t pick until #40 because they signed Tom Glavine so they aren’t mentioned when it comes to the top high school arms but some of these guys could fall there.

Dan Webb, RHP, Kentucky HS: Great arm, hits 94-96 MPH. 6-3, 205, good athlete. Secondary pitches and control are below average and he’s somewhat raw overall. Seems like the kind of moldable pitcher with upside that would interest someone like the Braves or Dodgers. I don’t see him lasting long enough to get to Atlanta, but what about the Dodgers at 15?

Zeke Spruill, RHP, Georgia HS: 6-4, 190, projectable, already works in the low 90s and has some promise with his curve and changeup. Like most of these guys he’s fairly raw, but would fit late in the first round or the supplemental round. Seems like a logical fit for the Braves. The Braves don’t pick until 40 however…will Spruill still be there? If not, another high school Georgia pitcher named Michael Palazzone has a very good arm and would slot in well for Atlanta there.

So there’s three guys right there that are already being mentioned for Atlanta with their first pick. High school pitchers from Georgia are always a good bet to be selected by Atlanta. However, it will be interesting to see if they stick with pitching, given their wealth of pitching already in the low minors. My guess is they probably will given the fact that they picked position players Jason Heyward, Jon Gilmore, and Freddie Freeman early last year so they are due to take some young, projectable pitchers.

Baseball America came out with this week’s hotsheet and Heyward has worked his way from the hotlist two weeks ago, to the not-hot list last week, and back to the hot list this week. His power is showing up too as he slugged .700 last week.

His teamate, however, joined the not-hot list thanks in part to his 65 strikeouts in 39 games. I am talking about Cody Johnson. I think Jeff Francouer could actually teach this guy a thing or two about being patient. His talent is obvious but his holes are already being exposed and he’s not even to high-A yet.

5/13 Recap; Hanson’s AA Debut

First Innings’ Daily Organizational Report

Tommy Hanson got the call up to AA Mississippi and made it a memorable one as he allowed only 1 run in 6.1 innings to get the win 2-1. He struck out 7 and walked 4 (including 2 in the 7th before being pulled) while allowing 5 hits in his 6.1 innings. Basically, he picked up right where he left off in Myrtle Beach. It’s particularly impressive given the fact that the jump from A+ to AA is probably the most significant jump a player will make, not the mention that fact that Myrtle Beach is such a pitchers haven. Of course it’s just one game but there was a lot to like in that one game from Hanson.

• Not to be outdone, Deunte Heath was one strike away from a complete game no-hitter (only 7 innings because of a double-header) before allowing a single. That was the only hit he would allow as the Pelicans cruised 6-1.

• Charlie Morton got into the pitching action today as well with 7 more strong innings for Richmond. He struck out 7 and walked 2 while allowing 1 run lowering his ERA to 1.69. Personally I think Thursday would be a good time for his major league debut with Chuck James scheduled to start in Philly. Fly ball pitchers don’t work well at that ballpark. But if that doesn’t happen, it should happen soon enough because he doesn’t have a lot left to prove in AAA.

• Brandon Jones went 4-5 with a home run and raised his batting average to .280.

• Kala Ka’aihue was 1-3 with a run and an RBI. He’s been hitting noticeably better and has his average up to .212 now.

Weekend Recap

Richmond (AAA):
Francisley Bueno started the weekend off with 6 shutout inning on Friday to lead Richmond to a 2-0 victory thanks to a Barbaro Canizares home run. Saturday saw a lot of offense as Brandon Jones broke out with 3 hits and a home run while Brent Lillibridge had 3 hits as well. But it wasn’t enough though as they fell 10-7. Sunday’s game was rained out.

Mississippi (AA):
Mississippi went 1-2 this weekend but the good news is that Kala Ka’aihue continued to show some progress. He went 3-11 with another homer and drew 3 walks. His average has now creeped up to .196. The bad news is stud relief prospects Kris Medlen and Sung Ki Jung got lit up on Saturday. Medlen gave up 3 hits and 3 runs in an inning of work while Jung was only able to record 2 outs while allowing 5 runs (3 earned). Jason Perry once again lead the offense with 5 hits and 5 RBI including his 8th home run of the season.

Myrtle Beach (A+):
The Pelican continued their winning ways with a weekend sweep thanks to some excellent pitching. Ryne Reynoso had another succesfful start on Friday despite being limited to 4 innings. Chris Vines continued his good work as well this year with 4.1 solid innings yesterday. Kevin Gunderson finished both games on Friday and Saturday while Nick Fellman stepped in for the save on Sunday. Bret Butts recorded the win yesterday with 3.2 shutout innings in relief of Vines.

Rome (A-):
Rome split 1-1 this weekend with Chad Rodgers taking another loss on Friday and Jose Ortegano getting his first win this year on Saturday. Ortegano went 7 and allowed only 1 run while striking out 4. Cory Gearrin loaded the bases in the 9th but Benny Pruneda bailed him out by coming in and striking out the side to preserve the 6-1 win. Freddie Freeman stayed hot with 4 hits including 2 doubles and a homer to lead the offense.

Jason Heyward Watch: 4-7, 3 R, 2 2B’s, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB’s, .319 BA