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Braun extended his system lead for total strikeouts this season For the first time this season we are down to just two, with only Gwinnett and Mississippi in action in the Atlanta Braves system. Great pitching marked both games, with Bryce Elder and Lucas Braun each succeeding in their own ways, but only one team gave their starter run support.
(69-73) Gwinnett Stripers 1, (66-74) Buffalo Bisons 3
Box Score
Statcast
Nacho Alvarez Jr, 3B: 1-3, BB, .305/.409/.491
Drake Baldwin, C: 0-3, BB, .296/.407/.490
Bryce Elder, SP: 6.1 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 3.55 ERA
Hayden Harris, RP: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 7.65 ERA
Bryce Elder and James Kaprelian were cooking in this one, but Elder and the Stripers pitching staff would falter in the late innings and the offense never got enough of a rally going to do real damage. Elder had an interesting day on the mound, as he wasn’t quite at his best with locating his slider but pounded the bottom of the zone with the sinker and got great results on his batted balls. Elder had nine ground ball outs in the game, so while the Bisons were hitting Elder relatively hard they weren’t able to lift the ball at all and it wasn’t until the sixth and seventh innings that hits really started to fall against Elder. In this stage of the game Elder started to elevate his pitches, which is obviously not a recipe for success, and the Bisons managed to have some luck switch their way as well. A little 80 mph slice single into left field got the rally started, and the hits did not stop coming as the Bisons fed line drives into any gap the ball could to manufacture a run. Elder was brought out to try to redeem himself in the seventh inning, but a lengthy at bat ended in another base hit and after striking out the next batter Elder was pulled for Jackson Stephens. It was of course the right decision not to let Elder face the top of the lineup again, but Steward Berroa and Bo Bichette crushed Stephens in the next two at bats to score two runs and put Buffalo up 3-0.
Nacho Alvarez had a solid day at the plate with two hard hit balls, both of those coming on inside fastballs. To be a bit negative Alvarez did have some pretty bad takes on fastballs pretty much right down the middle, but the ones he did go after he hit hard. On a sinker on the inner third he was able to line a 104 mph in left center field, and later in the game on a fastball on the inside corner he sliced a 98 mph line drive into center field that the defender made a sliding play on. For Alvarez we’ve seen more and more of this lately. Yes he isn’t really hitting these fastballs on the pull side, but rather than shooting inside fastballs into right field and hoping they fall he is on time enough to hit them hard into center field and make it harder for pitchers to exploit that part of the zone. He won’t be able to get away with taking on middle-middle fastballs for very long without ending up in far too many bad counts, but if he can force pitchers to come at him with breaking balls or try to get him out by hitting fastballs hard then he will put himself in a position to succeed.
Drake Baldwin was pitched well in this game, as Kaprelian got a couple of pitches underneath his hands in the first inning and was able to strike him out swinging. In their second matchup Kaprelian started Baldwin off with a fastball, and despite it being a hittable one that Baldwin would tend to hit hard he rolled over it to the left side for a ground out. Kaprelian again went down and in to get a swing and miss the third time through, but after getting up 0-2 could not get another pitch into that zone and Baldwin was not biting off of the plate. After a ten pitch battle Baldwin was able to lay off of a low slider and work a walk for the only time he would get on base in the game. Baldwin finally got the pitch he wanted in the eight inning when reliever Andrew Brash left a slider right in the heart of the plate, but he just missed it and flew out into the left center field gap. Neither Baldwin nor Alvarez had anything to do with Gwinnett finally getting on the board in the ninth inning as that was all a result of the bottom of the order. Andrew Velazquez led off with a single and Luke Waddell walked, bringing the tying run to the plate for Gwinnett with no outs in the inning. Gwinnett couldn’t come through to extend the rally, with a couple of fly balls leading to a run on a sacrifice fly but with the Stripers never putting the tying run on base.
Swing and Misses
Bryce Elder - 11
Hayden Harris - 2
(63-72) Mississippi Braves 7, (65-68) Biloxi Shuckers 0
Box Score
Cody Milligan, CF: 1-3, 2 BB, .239/.303/.353
David McCabe, DH: 1-3, HR, 2 BB, RBI, .127/.273/.200
Lucas Braun, SP: 5.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 10 K, 2.38 ERA
Mississippi finally snapped their eight game losing streak, riding the success that Lucas Braun found in spite of less than optimal command in the game. Braun has been struggling a bit over the past month with commanding his fastball consistently, showing a bit of regression in comparison to his mid-summer dominance. Still, his pitch mix has been able to confound Double-A hitters and miss bats frequently, and ranks highly in the Southern League in terms of strikeout rate (5th), K-BB% (6th) and FIP (3rd). Through his first few starts in Double-A Braun’s curveball was relegated to a clear third option, with the Braves having him focus primarily on his fastball and slider, but his dominance in this game was marked by the success of that curveball as he struggled to locate the other two pitches that are his typical go-to’s. Braun scattered his fastball and slider throughout his start, but his curveball and later in the game his changeup he located well. The problem with both of those is they are not typically pitches he throws in the zone, rather ones he tunnels off of his fastball and/or slider, and as the Shuckers figured out that Braun wasn’t really throwing many strikes they were able to work deeper counts and force walks the second and third times through the order. Braun was able to blow his fastball by a handful of batters when he was able to elevate the pitchand worked underneath the zone with his curveball, then when hitters (especially left-handed) started to jump on the fastballs he dropped in a handful of changeups that elicited whiffs or foul balls.
Despite some of the signs of his later walk troubles peeking through Braun was able to dominate in the early innings of the game, striking out seven batters through the first three innings as Biloxi struggled to recognize the curveball in comparison to his slider. However the lack of success with locating that slider was ultimately what led to his struggles later in the game, as he lately he has tended to pitch with that slider on the forefront and work off of that. Braun never had an inning where it all fell apart though, and showed some impressive ability to adjust by featuring the changeup more often and being able to lean more on a vertical-oriented fastball/curveball approach deeper into the game. One of the important things for young pitchers to learn is how to succeed when they don’t have their best stuff on any given day, and Braun’s ability to strike out ten batters and go 5 1⁄3 scoreless without his keystone slider is a fine mark of his development this season.
Behind the success of Braun the offense finally decided to wake up and get moving, though the first time through the order Biloxi starter Nate Peterson was similarly dominant as Braun. Both matched zeroes and Peterson didn’t give up a baserunner through three innings, but his command wasn’t crisp the second time through and Mississippi took advantage of it. While a debatable caught stealing of Cody Milligan (he was safe) prevented a bigger fourth inning, David McCabe still made sure the Braves gave Braun a lead to work with. McCabe got a 3-2 fastball on the inner third of the plate and did a great job getting his hands inside of it and showing off his easy power by pulling a solo home run over the billboard in left center field. In the sixth inning Mississippi broke the game wide open, with Brandon Parker’s second home run in as many days sparking a four-run rally. a bunt single and then three straight walks ended Petertson’s day, and the back of the Missisissippi lineup brought in three runs to score to extend the lead to 5-0. The bullpen had a bit of trouble, especially in the seventh inning, but managed to go 3 2⁄3 innings without allowing a run to score to close out what ended up being an easy win.
Swing and Misses
Lucas Braun - 15
Ryan Bourassa - 5
Brooks Wilson - 4
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Photo by Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images
Braun extended his system lead for total strikeouts this season For the first time this season we are down to just two, with only Gwinnett and Mississippi in action in the Atlanta Braves system. Great pitching marked both games, with Bryce Elder and Lucas Braun each succeeding in their own ways, but only one team gave their starter run support.
(69-73) Gwinnett Stripers 1, (66-74) Buffalo Bisons 3
Box Score
Statcast
Nacho Alvarez Jr, 3B: 1-3, BB, .305/.409/.491
Drake Baldwin, C: 0-3, BB, .296/.407/.490
Bryce Elder, SP: 6.1 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, 3.55 ERA
Hayden Harris, RP: 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 7.65 ERA
Bryce Elder and James Kaprelian were cooking in this one, but Elder and the Stripers pitching staff would falter in the late innings and the offense never got enough of a rally going to do real damage. Elder had an interesting day on the mound, as he wasn’t quite at his best with locating his slider but pounded the bottom of the zone with the sinker and got great results on his batted balls. Elder had nine ground ball outs in the game, so while the Bisons were hitting Elder relatively hard they weren’t able to lift the ball at all and it wasn’t until the sixth and seventh innings that hits really started to fall against Elder. In this stage of the game Elder started to elevate his pitches, which is obviously not a recipe for success, and the Bisons managed to have some luck switch their way as well. A little 80 mph slice single into left field got the rally started, and the hits did not stop coming as the Bisons fed line drives into any gap the ball could to manufacture a run. Elder was brought out to try to redeem himself in the seventh inning, but a lengthy at bat ended in another base hit and after striking out the next batter Elder was pulled for Jackson Stephens. It was of course the right decision not to let Elder face the top of the lineup again, but Steward Berroa and Bo Bichette crushed Stephens in the next two at bats to score two runs and put Buffalo up 3-0.
Nacho Alvarez had a solid day at the plate with two hard hit balls, both of those coming on inside fastballs. To be a bit negative Alvarez did have some pretty bad takes on fastballs pretty much right down the middle, but the ones he did go after he hit hard. On a sinker on the inner third he was able to line a 104 mph in left center field, and later in the game on a fastball on the inside corner he sliced a 98 mph line drive into center field that the defender made a sliding play on. For Alvarez we’ve seen more and more of this lately. Yes he isn’t really hitting these fastballs on the pull side, but rather than shooting inside fastballs into right field and hoping they fall he is on time enough to hit them hard into center field and make it harder for pitchers to exploit that part of the zone. He won’t be able to get away with taking on middle-middle fastballs for very long without ending up in far too many bad counts, but if he can force pitchers to come at him with breaking balls or try to get him out by hitting fastballs hard then he will put himself in a position to succeed.
Drake Baldwin was pitched well in this game, as Kaprelian got a couple of pitches underneath his hands in the first inning and was able to strike him out swinging. In their second matchup Kaprelian started Baldwin off with a fastball, and despite it being a hittable one that Baldwin would tend to hit hard he rolled over it to the left side for a ground out. Kaprelian again went down and in to get a swing and miss the third time through, but after getting up 0-2 could not get another pitch into that zone and Baldwin was not biting off of the plate. After a ten pitch battle Baldwin was able to lay off of a low slider and work a walk for the only time he would get on base in the game. Baldwin finally got the pitch he wanted in the eight inning when reliever Andrew Brash left a slider right in the heart of the plate, but he just missed it and flew out into the left center field gap. Neither Baldwin nor Alvarez had anything to do with Gwinnett finally getting on the board in the ninth inning as that was all a result of the bottom of the order. Andrew Velazquez led off with a single and Luke Waddell walked, bringing the tying run to the plate for Gwinnett with no outs in the inning. Gwinnett couldn’t come through to extend the rally, with a couple of fly balls leading to a run on a sacrifice fly but with the Stripers never putting the tying run on base.
Swing and Misses
Bryce Elder - 11
Hayden Harris - 2
(63-72) Mississippi Braves 7, (65-68) Biloxi Shuckers 0
Box Score
Cody Milligan, CF: 1-3, 2 BB, .239/.303/.353
David McCabe, DH: 1-3, HR, 2 BB, RBI, .127/.273/.200
Lucas Braun, SP: 5.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 10 K, 2.38 ERA
Mississippi finally snapped their eight game losing streak, riding the success that Lucas Braun found in spite of less than optimal command in the game. Braun has been struggling a bit over the past month with commanding his fastball consistently, showing a bit of regression in comparison to his mid-summer dominance. Still, his pitch mix has been able to confound Double-A hitters and miss bats frequently, and ranks highly in the Southern League in terms of strikeout rate (5th), K-BB% (6th) and FIP (3rd). Through his first few starts in Double-A Braun’s curveball was relegated to a clear third option, with the Braves having him focus primarily on his fastball and slider, but his dominance in this game was marked by the success of that curveball as he struggled to locate the other two pitches that are his typical go-to’s. Braun scattered his fastball and slider throughout his start, but his curveball and later in the game his changeup he located well. The problem with both of those is they are not typically pitches he throws in the zone, rather ones he tunnels off of his fastball and/or slider, and as the Shuckers figured out that Braun wasn’t really throwing many strikes they were able to work deeper counts and force walks the second and third times through the order. Braun was able to blow his fastball by a handful of batters when he was able to elevate the pitchand worked underneath the zone with his curveball, then when hitters (especially left-handed) started to jump on the fastballs he dropped in a handful of changeups that elicited whiffs or foul balls.
Despite some of the signs of his later walk troubles peeking through Braun was able to dominate in the early innings of the game, striking out seven batters through the first three innings as Biloxi struggled to recognize the curveball in comparison to his slider. However the lack of success with locating that slider was ultimately what led to his struggles later in the game, as he lately he has tended to pitch with that slider on the forefront and work off of that. Braun never had an inning where it all fell apart though, and showed some impressive ability to adjust by featuring the changeup more often and being able to lean more on a vertical-oriented fastball/curveball approach deeper into the game. One of the important things for young pitchers to learn is how to succeed when they don’t have their best stuff on any given day, and Braun’s ability to strike out ten batters and go 5 1⁄3 scoreless without his keystone slider is a fine mark of his development this season.
Behind the success of Braun the offense finally decided to wake up and get moving, though the first time through the order Biloxi starter Nate Peterson was similarly dominant as Braun. Both matched zeroes and Peterson didn’t give up a baserunner through three innings, but his command wasn’t crisp the second time through and Mississippi took advantage of it. While a debatable caught stealing of Cody Milligan (he was safe) prevented a bigger fourth inning, David McCabe still made sure the Braves gave Braun a lead to work with. McCabe got a 3-2 fastball on the inner third of the plate and did a great job getting his hands inside of it and showing off his easy power by pulling a solo home run over the billboard in left center field. In the sixth inning Mississippi broke the game wide open, with Brandon Parker’s second home run in as many days sparking a four-run rally. a bunt single and then three straight walks ended Petertson’s day, and the back of the Missisissippi lineup brought in three runs to score to extend the lead to 5-0. The bullpen had a bit of trouble, especially in the seventh inning, but managed to go 3 2⁄3 innings without allowing a run to score to close out what ended up being an easy win.
Swing and Misses
Lucas Braun - 15
Ryan Bourassa - 5
Brooks Wilson - 4
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