Braves Minor League Recap 4/10

Starting pitching throughout the organization was on another level on Thursday night.

(5-6) Gwinnett Stripers 6, (5-7) Norfolk Tides 1

• Spencer Strider, SP: 5.1IP 3H 1ER 2BB 13K, 1.32 ERA
• Dylan Dodd, RP: 1.2IP 1H 0R 0BB 4K, 14.54 ERA
• Jake Marisnick, CF: 1-for-3, HR, R, 2 RBI, .138/.242/.276
• Cody Milligan, RF: 2-for-3, BB, .333/.400/.429

Box Score

This game was brought to you by Spencer Strider who was making his, lets be real, final rehab start for the Gwinnett Stripers. The best way to describe what he did today is mastery. Spencer put on a pitching clinic, throttling his velocity and sitting 94-97, still effortlessly and spotting it to all parts of the strike zone. He combined that with a fantastic changeup that would just move so far horizontally. And then when that wasn’t enough, his darting slider was generating whiff after whiff. With those 90 pitches Spencer generated 25 whiffs and they were against all three of the pitches he utilized with a heavier than usage rate of his changeup. Here’s some video to back it up.

That rehab outing also made history for the Gwinnett Stripers.

Unfortunately for Dylan Dodd he had to follow that show and Dylan put on one of his own as he navigated 1.2 innings himself while striking out four – a much needed rebound after a rough previous outing.

Offensively, it was the bottom of the lineup getting it done for the Stripers as Williams-Marisnick-Capel-Milligan went a combined 7-for-14 with a double (Milligan), and two homers (Marisnick, Capel). Conner Capel came into the game with zero hits but broke out going 3-for-4 with two RBI, and two runs scored.

(2-3) Columbus Clingstones 5, (1-5) Biloxi Shuckers 2

• Carlos D. Rodriguez, CF: 2-for-3, 2BB, .409/.480/.409
• Ethan Workinger, RF: 2-for-4, HR (GS), 4 RBI, .190/.261/.381
• David McCabe, 3B: 1-for-3, BB, R, .400/.565/.667
• Drue Hackenberg, SP: 6IP 3H 1ER 2BB 3K, 5.63 ERA

Box Score

Drue Hackenberg bounced back after a rough first start with a very solid outing. The whiffs weren’t necessarily there but he was around the zone and never really ran into much trouble. After a very strong 2024 season, a lot of eyes are on Drue this season and being able to come back from a really rough first outing and rebounding to this was a very positive sign. He was trading zeroes with the Shuckers for five innings until Columbus right fielder Ethan Workinger did this:

Drue would give up a run in the bottom half of the inning but would limit it to just one before being removed from the game. Blane Abeyta (1), Hayden Harris, and Rolddy Muñoz would limit the Shuckers the rest of the night to just one more run in the Clingstones second victory of the season.

(3-3) Rome Emperors 9, (3-3) Bowling Green Hot Rods 2

• Ambioris Tavarez, 2B: 4-for-5, 2R, .364/.462/.591
• Justin Janas, DH: 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI, 2R, .444/.500/.778
• Will Verdung, 3B: 3-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI, R, SB, .273/.360/.318
• Bryson Horne, 1B: 2-for-4, 2 RBI, R, SB, .267/.294/.467
• Stephen Paolini, CF: 2-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, R, .286/.353/.500
• JR Ritchie, SP: 5.2IP 3H 0ER 3BB 4K, 1.86 ERA

Box Score

Another one of the powerful arms in the organization is JR Ritchie who pitched 5.2 innings of quality baseball. I’m going to be honest, the camera angle for this game was awful so it was quite difficult to decipher pitch types, however he did a good job of keeping hitters at bay and inducing weak contact throughout his outing. He got the lead in the second inning when Justin Janas hit his first homer of the season giving the Emperors a 1-0 lead. They would tack on three more runs via a Bryson Horne RBI single and Stephen Paolini’s first homer of the season.

Tyler LaPorte would come on in relief for JR Ritchie and surrender a pair of runs to make the game a tad bit closer at 4-2. But the Emperors offense would not silenced as they tack on another five runs to give the Emperors an easy 9-2 victory.

(3-3) Augusta GreenJackets 4, (4-2) Hickory Crawdads 2

• Colby Jones, SS: 2-for-5, SB, .273/.360/.364
• Nick Montgomery, C: 2-for-4, RBI, BB, R, .167/.259/.208
• Isaiah Drake, CF: 1-for-3, BB, RBI, R, .385/.529/.385
• Owen Hackman, SP: 5.1IP 2H 1R 0ER 1BB 7K, 4.50 ERA

Box Score

Continuing on our tour of outstanding starting pitching performance we now come to Augusta where Owen Hackman rebounded from a rough first start with an absolutely dazzling outing of his own. Hackman sat in the mid-90s and kept hitters flailing at his strong curveball.

With the game tied 0-0 after some strong pitching from the Crawdad’s Caden Scarborough, Luis Sanchez ended the scoreless tie with a bases loaded double – giving the GreenJackets the 2-0 lead. They would add on another pair of runs thanks to back-to-back RBI singles by Nick Montgomery and Isaiah Drake to push the Augusta lead to 4-0. The Crawdads would respond with a run of their own off of Owen Hackman but it was the result of a passed ball earlier in the inning making it unearned. He would be relieved by Trent Buchanan who would strike out four and give up one earned run over 2.1 innings of work. Eventually Jackson Dannelley would enter the game and pitch the final 1.1 innings – giving the GreenJackets the win, and the Braves farm system a sweep.