Baseball a road to riches for Dominicans
You stop counting at 50, although the number is at least twice that. None of them are pretty; few are even lined, although vague ruts can be seen when the sun hits just right, well-worn footpaths to a better life.
No American kid would be caught dead playing baseball on any of the endless stream of baseball fields off the road between Punta Cana and Santa Domingo in the Dominican...
Braves spring training postcard: Day 5
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. Here's a postcard to commemorate Day 5 of FOXSportsSouth.com's embedded coverage from Braves camp, a day that started with an honor for Chipper Jones and ended with some pitcher-fueled clarity for the first five exhibition games.
Four Workout Observations
1. Catching prospect Christian Bethancourt might have the most raw power of any Braves hitter...
Braves spring training postcard: Day 5
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. Here's a postcard to commemorate Day 5 of FOXSportsSouth.com's embedded coverage from Braves camp, a day that started with an honor for Chipper Jones and ended with some pitcher-fueled clarity for the first five exhibition games.
Four Workout Observations
1. Catching prospect Christian Bethancourt might have the most raw power of any Braves hitter...
Braves spring training: Day 2
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. To ring in FOXSportsSouth.com's first day of embedded Braves coverage at the Walt Disney World sports complex, here's an all-encompassing postcard from Day 2 of full-squad workouts:
Four Workout Observations
1. The infield practice portion was an exercise in casual precision. At some point during drill work, the shortstops fielded five consecutive...
Braves spring training: Day 2
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. To ring in FOXSportsSouth.com's first day of embedded Braves coverage at the Walt Disney World sports complex, here's an all-encompassing postcard from Day 2 of full-squad workouts:
Four Workout Observations
1. The infield practice portion was an exercise in casual precision. At some point during drill work, the shortstops fielded five consecutive...
Christian Bethancourt Suffers from Goldilocks Syndrome
Bill Baer coined the term “Goldilocks Syndrome” to describe when we, as fans, get discouraged with a player or prospect because he isn’t perfect or what we hoped he would be, and Christian Bethancourt isn’t “just right”. Signed out of Panama in 2008, Bethancourt had elite potential behind the plate with good athleticism and an incredibly strong arm. The concern, however...
Jorge Alfaro: Surprise Top-100 Prospect
When MLB.com released its top-100 prospect list, I was excited to see shortstop Luis Sardinas included at number 84. As my eyes scrolled from left-to-right across the page, a second Hickory Crawdads player ranked 88th. His name? Jorge Alfaro. The 19-year old ranked fifth on my list of best catchers scouted in 2012 behind a quartet of current and former top-100 players.
Video after...
Atlanta Braves Top 15 Prospects (2012-13)
The Braves system is not as deep as it once was and the majority of the talent is found in the lower levels of the system. With that said, there are some intriguing pitching and up-the-middle infield prospects. The outfield depth is very thin.
#1 Julio Teheran (P)
Age
G
GS
IP
K/9
BB/9
GB%
ERA
FIP
WAR
21
2
1
6.1
7.11
1.42
22.2 %
5.68
1.99
0.2
It was an off year for Teheran...
Burning questions facing Braves catchers
The Braves have enjoyed a fortuitous run of primarily keeping Javy Lpez or Brian McCann on the active roster every season since 1994 -- with the notable exception of 2004, when Johnny Estrada had a career year with Atlanta (nine HRs, 76 RBI, .314 batting).
Few MLB clubs can match Atlanta's 20-season stability at catcher. And that'll be the case ... for at least one more...
Burning questions facing Braves catchers
The Braves have enjoyed a fortuitous run of primarily keeping Javy Lpez or Brian McCann on the active roster every season since 1994 -- with the notable exception of 2004, when Johnny Estrada had a career year with Atlanta (nine HRs, 76 RBI, .314 batting).
Few MLB clubs can match Atlanta's 20-season stability at catcher. And that'll be the case ... for at least one more...
FISTS FLY
Brawl breaks out in minor league game
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In last night's game between the Mississippi Braves and Mobile Baybears, we had a benches clearing brawl in the ninth inning. Mississippi led the game 7-2 in the ninth inning, and Braves pitcher Michael Tarsi threw a wild pitch to Mobile hitter Ryan Strieby. Tarsi ran home to cover the plate, and Rossmel Perez of the Baybears slid into...
FanGraphs Prospect Stock Watch – 06/28/12
Christian Bethancourt, C, Atlanta Braves
Current Level: AA
2012 Top 15 Prospects Ranking: 7th
Current Value: Down
This past off-season I spoke with a front office person who had very glowing things to say about Bethancourt – especially on defense. The backstop is continuing to impress observers with his play in the field in 2012 but his offense has been MIA at the double-A level...
Game Day Pictures: Braves vs Futures 4-3-12
Braves vs Future Braves
I know y'all don't really read my text, so this is going to be an image-heavy post with stories in the captions. ;) The game seemed to be a huge success -- it was a packed house even during batting practice and in spite of the rain and the lightning storm that ended the game, it was a wonderful time! (I can hear you asking now, "When does Lauren...
Braves scout talks Delgado & Bethancourt
Bill Shanks visits with Luis Ortiz, the scout that signed Randall Delgado and Christian Bethancourt.
Grading future Braves talent (part-2): Infield
By Jim Pratt
Editor’s note: In part-1 of his evaluation of future Atlanta Braves talent, BravesWire’s Jim Pratt took a look at the Braves’ young pitching talent. You can see part-1 here.
The strength of the infield is unevenly weighted on one side of the diamond. As you can see below, only one out of the top 10 infield prospects in the system is on the right side of shortstop...
2012 Top 20 Prospects – Atlanta Braves
It’s prospect season again. I’ve had my rankings listed on team pages, but have been horrible about keeping those up to date. As I mentioned on the pages, I’m looking at other rankings when I make mine (along with scouting reports and my own opinion). The Atlanta Braves are next.
For the top 20, I’ve listed them according to my ranking. I’ve also listed the rankings of...
Braves like their organizational catching depth
Christian Bethancourt has earned the attention he has garnered from multiple media outlets including MLB.com, which ranks him as the game's seventh-best catching prospect.
The Tools of Magnificence
For a catcher, the “tools of ignorance” is an endearing term used to sum up the challenges of the position in a neat and tidy phrase. Over the past three seasons, scouting well over 100 games and a few hundred prospects has led me to develop my own “tools of magnificence” as a handful of players have displayed 80-grade tools which are now seared into my scouting conscious...
Top 15 Prospects: Atlanta Braves
While playing competitive baseball the summer before I started high school I had a teammate named “Rusty” who always wore an Atlanta Braves baseball cap. Although he was the best hitter on the team he was constantly bombarded with ridicule because of his choice of chapeau. Atlanta was the bottom feeder in the National League and was coming off a 65-97 season, which saw them finish...
Glimpse of the Future: A Look at Braves 2014 Lineup
By Jim Pratt
Major League Baseball is in that early-February lull that comes each offseason between the whirlwind of trade activity, but prior to pitchers/catchers reporting. With the current roster basically set heading into Spring Training, this would be a good time to fill that seasonal void by discussing what the future holds for the Atlanta Braves.
The front office has made...
Braves invite top prospects to Spring Training
Injured reliever Peter Moylan and four of the Braves' top prospects are among the 21 non-roster players who have invited to spring training this month.
Moylan, who had back and shoulder surgery in 2011, is expected to return to the team sometime this summer.
Top catching prospect Christian Bethancourt and shortstop Andrelton Simmons are among the players not on the 40-man...
Top 30 Braves Prospects: #10-6
10. Zeke SpruillInjury issues. Maturity questions. There was a lot of turbulation surrounding Spruill going into 2011. What he did was nothing short of outstanding. As a 21 year-old, Spruill spent about 2/3 of his year with Lynchburg, and 1/3 with Mississippi. While a Hillcat, Spruill threw 130 innings in 22 starts, struck out 92 and walked 23. He threw a minor league-leading six...
2012 Player Preview: Christian Bethancourt
20 year-old catcher Christian Bethancourt is a tough nut to crack. He's fallen from grace on many prospect lists (dropping to ninth on this year's BA top ten), because he hasn't found consistency hitting, despite playing the 2011 season as a 19 year-old in full season ball. He started the year in Rome, and after a cold spell to start the year, caught fire and finished...
Braves land five prospects on Top 100 list
The Braves have placed five players on MLB.com's Top 100 Prospects list for the upcoming season. Julio Teheran leads this group as he ranks fourth on the overall list. Arodys Vizcaino (36), Randall Delgado (42), Andrelton Simmons (65) and Christian Bethancourt (91) were the other prospects to appear on the list.
Plenty of talent on horizon in Braves' system
The Braves may have fallen short of the postseason, but all one has to do is take a look at the club's list of top prospects at season's end to know there should be more good times coming. Catcher Christian Bethancourt is among those on the rise.
THE BRAVES HOT 25
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