Well, I'm glad my note about Adam Wainwright's recent struggles got his attention. He lost his 4th in a row, but only because the G-Braves' offense couldn't get things going. Wainwright (5-5, 3.56 ERA) struck out 7 and gave up just 4 hits and 2 earned runs in 6 innings. Greenville lost 2-1, their 8th-straight defeat.

 
See what happens when I go on vacation? While I was gone, Jason Marquis was sent back to AAA; Richmond, Greenville, Myrtle Beach and Rome combined to go 4-11; and Strom Thurmond, who married 20-somethings when he was in his 40s and 60s, passed away. None of this would have happened if I had been around...

I'm glad Marquis was sent back to Richmond. If Bobby Cox can't figure out how to use him, then he's much better off in AAA. Cox decided that Marquis should be the "blowout closer" (trademark pending) for the Braves. Marquis recorded the final outs in a 10-2 win, a 9-3 loss and an 8-1 loss. Those were his only appearances for Atlanta in 2 weeks with Atlanta. This after not even being used for 11 days.

From the time Marquis was promoted until this Saturday, Shane Reynolds made 4 starts for Atlanta and put up a 7.85 ERA.

Haven't we seen this before? Bobby Cox sticking with a veteran player for no other reason than he prefers to use players with lots of experience, no matter what they do on the field? Shane Reynolds is this year's Keith Lockhart.

Oh well, Jason is much better off getting regular starts for Pat Kelly (1 ER and 5 K in 5 IP yesterday), than being at the mercy of Cox's obsession with crappy players.

Greenville has lost 7 straight games, scoring just 7 runs in those contests. And they were shut out three times in four games. And they hit just .178/.268/.235. Eek. I guess the good news is that all the offensive tribulation came against just one team, the Tennessee Smokies, and the G-Braves play them just four more times this year.

Also in Greenville news, Adam Wainwright has hit a bit of a skid. After starting the year by going 5-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 12 games, he's lost his last three and posted an ugly 8.36 ERA. He's also just totaled 3 strikeouts in his last two starts.

As bad as things have been offensively for Greenville, it's been just the opposite for the mighty Pelicans of Myrtle Beach. They're not scoring a ton of runs, but check out these lines from the last 2-3 weeks:

Blanco (last 10 G): .359/.432/.590
Marte (last 12 G): .326/.412/.558
Duran (last 13 G): .326/.385/.522
Herr (last 17 G): .338/.358/.431
Miller (last 18 G): .303/.361/.364

Peters (last 7 G): .074/.107/.185

Ok, so not everyone is doing well.

Dan Meyer made his Myrtle Beach debut yesterday by striking out 8 batters in 6 innings and allowing just 1 unearned run.

I'm sure the Rome Braves are glad to have Onil Joseph back in the lineup after spending over 3 weeks on the DL. Well, maybe not. Since his return, he's singled once in 19 ABs and walked once. Usually when your leadoff man struggles like that, you're not going to score many runs. But Rome's 2, 3 and 4 hitters have more than made up for his struggles. Wes Timmons, Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann have combined to hit .404/.466/.615 in the four games since Joseph returned.

And Jon Schuerholz, who really should consider changing his last name, has hit .321/.364/.429 in his current 7-game hitting streak.

Danville and Orlando proved to be the flukes while I was gone. The D-Braves won all 4 of their games, including yesterday's game where they hit 6 doubles. While their offense has picked up of late, it's the pitching that's carried them to their 10-4 record. The team is 2nd in the league in ERA (3.16), led by Chuck James (0.00 ERA in 3 starts), reliever Ryan Basner (0.73 in 4 appearances) and Danny Collins (1.64 ERA in 3 starts). Those three are ranked #1, #2 and #4 in the league in ERA. They've also combined for 45 K and just 6 BB between them.

Orlando pushed their record to 7-2 and have won 5 in a row. Steve Doetsch (.371/.436/.600) is tied for the league-lead in hits, is 4th in SLG and 2nd in extra-base hits. Carlos Moreta (.324/.368/.618) leads in RBI, doubles, extra-base hits and is 3rd in SLG.

 
Lerew...Meyer...what's the difference? Well, Dan Meyer is the one headed to Myrtle Beach. The Rome News-Tribune corrected the story today. Efigenio Peralta and Paul Weichard, a converted OF, have been promoted to Rome from Danville. And they also activated Onil Joseph from the DL and sent Josh Burrus back to Danville.

Hopefully that's all the roster movement for a few days. I'm headed out of town for a wedding today, but I'll be back on Sunday...

 
Baseball Prospectus turned back the clock to take a look at Myrtle Beach's vaunted pitching staff from 2000. I've already gently chastised them for a few errors. The most notable? Forgetting that Horacio Ramirez was still alive, let alone being a member of the Atlanta rotation.

As I wrote them, 4 of the 12 pitchers that they highlighted from that staff (Ramirez, Jung Bong, John Foster and Tim Spooneybarger) are now pitching in the majors and have a good chance of sticking for a few years. That's not too shabby of a rate for a bunch of hi-A pitchers. Injuries took a toll of two of the biggest names, Christian Parra and Matt McClendon, but of course, that's sadly typical. Which is why no one should be forecasting a Coenen-McBride-Lerew-Miner-Merricks rotation for Atlanta in 2006. As if you didn't know that. Heck, Mike Hampton will still be in the rotation then, or at least he'll still be getting paid...

 
The Braves' 1st pick of the '03 draft finally made a start for Orlando last night. Luis Atilano pitched 2 shutout innings and allowed 3 hits in his professional debut. Jo Jo Reyes, Paul Bacot, Matt Harrison and Asher Demme have still not appeared. But because of the typical rainouts, Orlando has only played 4 games. And they've been lucky. The GCL Phillies finally played their 1st game of the season yesterday.

Here's how the lineups have looked in Orlando's 4 games:

Prado               Prado               Prado               Prado
Hernandez           Hernandez           Hernandez           Hernandez
Ja. Saltalamaccia   Ja. Saltalamaccia   Ja. Saltalamaccia   Ja. Saltalamaccia
Moreta              Moreta              Moreta              Moreta
Ponce               Ponce               Doetsch             Doetsch
Doetsch             Doetsch             Loadenthal          Loadenthal
Loadenthal          Loadenthal          Ju. Saltalamaccia   Ju. Saltalamaccia
Guerra              Cruz                Guerra              Stoecklein
Ortega              Ortega              Stoecklein          Ortega

Those are much more stable than I would've guessed. Only Keith Eichas, Jaime Romak and Roberto Santana have yet to play.

For Danville, Danny Collins followed his first scoreless start, with a 4-hit, 1-run, 4-inning performance on Tuesday.

The D-Braves seem to have a established a regular rotation of Peralta, James, Russell, Collins and Morton.

Is there anything cooler than an ambidextrous pitcher? 27th-rounder Brandon Berdoll is one and has the six-fingered glove to prove it. He plans on returning to Temple College (where the Braves plucked Keith Eichas just 10 round earlier) and signing with the Braves in May.

 
A starter jumped aboard the Merry-Go-Round. Anthony Lerew earned a promotion to Myrtle Beach with a 2.23 ERA, good for 7th-best in the South Atlantic League. Closer Brad David (2.09 ERA and 28/5 K/BB ratio) also made the jump.

Myrtle Beach promoted both Dan Curtis and William Collazo (despite what the transaction wire shows) to Greenville. Both opened the season with the G-Braves. Curtis made just 3 appearances there before posting a 4.04 ERA as a Pelican starter. Collazo had been with Myrtle Beach for a little over a month and put up a 3.07 ERA in 11 relief appearances.

To make room, 28-year-old Kazuhiro Takeoka (6.00 ERA, .305 OppBA) was released.

Rome's contingent made a big difference in the SAL All-Star Game last night.

Tony Pena was named the MVP in the California vs. Carolina League All-Star Game. Andy Marte drove in the first run of the game with a double and later scored. Macay McBride allowed 1 earned run.

 
I was extremely surprised to read about Jesse Garcia's bat-throwing episode on Saturday night. For those who haven't heard, Garcia was thrown out at home on a close play in the 1st inning. He obviously disagreed with the call, because once he got back to the dugout, he proceeded to chuck a bat at the home plate umpire. He's now been suspended indefinitely by the league.

Now I'm not surprised that the shortstop has a bit of a temper. After all, he was a Golden Gloves boxing champion in his youth and had a 53-2 record before giving up the 'sport' for baseball. But I am shocked that Garcia, with his .179 major-league batting average, would consider a baseball bat an offensive weapon...

 
The Reliever Merry-Go-Round could start up any second now. Joe Winklesas has been placed on the DL complaining of a stiff neck and sore upper back. Not good. As I understand it, he had a herniated or bulging disk in his neck last year and had surgery to remove the part of the disc that was pressing on a nerve. After going on the DL in June, he missed the rest of the season. He's having an MRI today, but doctors have already told him that tissue damage is most likely causing the current problem. The esteemed Will Carroll wrote to say that "tissue damage" could be a number of things (muscular, neural, etc.) with damage to the actual nerve being the worst of them.

Winklesas has been Greenville's best reliever (and at age 29, he should be), posting a 2.93 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. He held opponents scoreless in 19 of his first 20 games but has allowed runs in his last 3 appearances - a sure sign that something was wrong.

 
So what's happened to Bo Porter? Here's a comparison between last year at Richmond and a pro-rated 2003:

Year   AVG   OBP   SLG   K   BB  MjEQA
2002  .296  .374  .434  113  50  .368
2003  .235  .304  .380  125  38  .220

He turns 31 in a couple of weeks, so is this just a case of age catching up with a player? I thought he was a possibility for the 4th OF role in Atlanta out of spring training. I wonder if he expected it as well, and this turn-around is as much mental as physical.

He still might be better than Bragg.

21-year-old Chuck James struck out 8 batters in 4 innings yesterday for Danville and leads the Appy League with 15 Ks. He's also allowed a total of just 2 hits in his first 2 starts. Pretty good for a professional debut.

Maybe no one benefited from Rome's recent string of rainouts than Brian McCann. The rains came as McCann was enduring a 15 at-bat hitless streak. Since they resumed play on Friday, the 19-year-old has gone 6-for-12 with 2 HRs.

Maybe things are finally kicking in for Carlos Duran. After starting the year hitting .207/.232/.293, he's now hit .290/.313/.516 in the past 2 weeks. And before you ask, he's actually been worse away from Coastal Federal Field (.213/.213/.320) than at it (.224/.283/.327).

Jason Fitzgerald had his 8-game hitting streak snapped last week, but that's ok. He's already started another streak. In the 16 games since he was sent back from Richmond, he's been held hitless just 3 times and is batting .375/.431/.589. Which sounds great and all until you remember that he turns 28 in September. At that age, dominating AA is nice, but hitting .214/.233/.238 at AAA is not.

Rome and Myrtle Beach are both off until Thursday because of their leagues' All-Star Games tomorrow night.

 
Adam LaRoche and Andy Marte were named to the rosters of the 2003 Futures Game which will be played on Sunday, July 13. Merkin Valdez, who was traded to San Francisco along with Damien Moss for Russ Ortiz, will also appear.

Past Braves' participants include Rafael Furcal and Bruce Chen in 1999, Marcus Giles and Travis Wilson in 2000, Wilson Betemit and Billy Sylvester in 2001, and Adam Wainwright and Brett Evert in 2002.

 
Since all of the teams are past their halfway point in the season, I present my 2003 Organizational All-Star Team.

C  Johnny Estrada (.337/.406/.515)

   Brian McCann (.263/.308/.473)

1B Adam LaRoche (.271/.368/.490)

   Yaron Peters (.294/.349/.471)

2B Aaron Herr (.288/.325/.461)

   Isaac Iorg (.299/.353/.416)

SS Kelly Johnson (.282/.344/.444)

   Jesse Garcia (.316/.343/.372)

3B Andy Marte (.291/.366/.477)

   James Jurries (.284/.372/.422)

OF Bill McCarthy (.279/.377/.475)

   Ryan Langerhans (.282/.362/.455)

   Damon Hollins (.275/.327/.467)

   Jeff Francoeur (.281/.305/.445)

   Donzell McDonald (.280/.374/.366)



SP Anthony Lerew (4-3, 2.33 ERA)

   Dan Meyer (4-4, 2.87 ERA)

   Kyle Davies (6-3, 3.01 ERA)

   Macay McBride (5-4, 2.88 ERA)

   Matt Merricks (5-8, 2.86 ERA)

RP Marcel Vianna (1.88 ERA)

   Brad David (2.90 ERA)

   Jaime Emiliano (2.28 ERA)

   Barry Mabry (2.49 ERA)

   Ralph Roberts (2.73 ERA)

Obviously, if I were constructing a real 25-man roster, it probably wouldn't look like that. But hey, it's an exhibition game, and an imaginary one at that, so I can do what I want.

And now that I think about it, no matter what Fox keeps telling us, an imaginary exhibition game has just about as much meaning as a real exhibition game. For those of you who tend to avoid Fox and Bud Selig (congratulations on both of those endeavors), the winning league of this year's All-Star Game gets home-field advantage in the World Series. Fox even has commercials pointing to the last 2 WS Game 7s as "proof" of the fact that playing at home - and thus this year's All-Star Game - mean something. To which I say, "Whoop-de-do."

What Fox doesn't tell you, is that historically there's not really any such thing as a home-field advantage in the World Series. Since 1922, the home team in the Fall Classic has gone 237-231 for a not-so-whopping .506 winning percentage. In deciding games, the percentage goes up a bit to .525. Overall, home teams generally a do a bit better than that. For 2000-2002, home teams in the regular season won at a .536 rate. So the so-called home-field advantage means even less when you have two quality teams and as many off-days as the World Series provides.

Don't believe the hype. I still expecting that Fox will convince Bud to forego the World Series for a MLB-based reality show. "Watch Roger Clemens sing, dance and be chased through the jungle by an angry mob of Red Sox fans!"

 
Orlando kicked off the season yesterday with a loss, and Jose Capellan, who went on the DL in May, made the start. It was not a good one. Four hits, 2 walks and an error (by Capellan) led to a 5-run 1st inning. Jake Stevens also had a rough outing in the 8th, allowing 1 hit, 3 walks and 4 runs.

Things were moderately better on the offensive side. Three of the team's 5 hits were for extra bases: Angel Ponce hit a HR; Steve Doetsch tripled, and Carlos Moreta doubled. Carl Loedenthal had 2 singles.

Here's the lineup from Game 1:

2B Prado
3B Hernandez
C Saltalamacchia
1B Moreta
LF Ponce
CF Doetsch
RF Loedenthal
DH Guerra
SS Ortega

And the pitchers:

SP Capellan
RP Ascanio
RP Jimenez
RP Stevens
RP Dewar

Danville had to play 13 innings before winning 5-3. Every position player got an AB --- except for Mr. Armstrong. Hemingway, Esquivel, Donato and Hanson all had 2 hits each.

The D-Braves also used 6 pitchers. Danny Collins started and struck out 5 in 4 scoreless innings. Ryan Basner picked up the win in relief, working a near-perfect 10th, 11th and 12th. Glenn Tucker got the save. D-Braves' manager Kevin McMullen should be very familar with Tucker's potential since McMullen coached him at East Carolina University through Tucker's junior year.

In typical rookie-league fashion, none of the runs given up by Danville's pitchers was earned, and there were 11 total errors in the game - 3 by SS Dean White.

Matt Merricks made his Myrtle Beach debut: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 5 K and the loss.

It turns out that Richmond's odd lineup yesterday was the work of manager Pat Kelly's 13-year-old son. Trying to shake things up, the elder directed Casey Kelly to draw the lineup out of a hat. Ah, those wacky minor leagues.

Adam Wainwright (who pitches tonight) was named "Prospect of the Week" by Kevin Wheeler of The Sporting News. As the intelligentsia on the ESPN Board pointed out this morning, it's not like there's any room for him on Atlanta's 2004 staff anyway (even assuming he is ready) with all the retreads being trotted out there.

Speaking of retreads, Chuck Smith is scheduled to make his second start with Greenville on Sunday.

 
Ok, I promise this will be the last breakdown of Danville's roster - at least for a week or so. But don't worry. Orlando kicked off action today, so we'll get a whole new case study to look at...

Here's how the lineups have looked for the first three games:

D. White    W. James    W. James
Partridge   Partridge   Hanson
Esquivel    Thomas      Partridge
Schade      Esquivel    Esquivel
Thomas      Donato      Donato
Donato      Hemingway   Hemingway
Hemingway   Foskey      Schade
Barden      Pyzik       Barden
Hanson      D. White    D. White

I think the patterns there pretty much conform to what I wrote yesterday. Cole Armstrong is still MIA.

A couple of position notes: Schade moved over to 3B, and Donato worked at 1B. Also, Thomas got into the game as a pinch-runner after Barden doubled for the second time.

As expected, Steve Russell made his first start. Cory Blackmon and Chad Redfern made their debuts, while Blakeney and White became the first relievers with multiple appearances. We should be seeing Danny Collins and Ryan Basner in a boxscore any second now.

From today's games:

Richmond lost 8-7 despite 3 hits apiece from Johnny Estrada and Adam LaRoche. Estrada actually batted leadoff!!! So Schuerholz not only traded for the catcher of the future, but he got a leadoff hitter as well. And we thought that Millwood deal was lopsided...

Rome's 'tripleheader' was rained out today. It was actually the completion of last night's doubleheader which was rained out. That doubleheader was to complete Tuesday's game --- which was rained out. So by my math, that's 6 games that Mother Nature has messed with. (Why doesn't Mother Nature ever get kudos on a beautiful day? It's a perfect example of mythical mysogeny...)

Also, Orlando (who I predict will be rained out at least a dozen times this year) lost 10-4. 13 hits allowed. Welcome to the pros, kids!

 
Former prospect Terrell Wade returns to Macon - 10 years later...

 
Asher Demme's draft-day experience and subsequent negotiations with the Braves are chronicled in Thursday's Washington Post.

 
Welcome to Day 2 of Lineup Construction: A Case Study. Danville played their second game last night (and won 7-4), so we should be able to get more of an idea of how this lineup and pitching staff will be organized. Well, sort of. Danville and Orlando aren't run in exactly the same way as the more advanced teams in the organization. Most of this has to do with the low pitch counts that the Braves maintain for their first-year pitchers. And I have a theory that I will share later on why this year's rotation at Danville may be even more of a jumble than usual...

Here are the position changes from Game 1:
Willie James played 2B and Mike Hanson sat
Greg Donato shifted from DH to 1B taking over for Scott Schade
Will Foskey played as the DH
Steve Pyzik and Edwin Martinez split the game at C and Andy Barden sat

Ah, so this how you use 5 - not 4 as I orginally thought - catchers. Every position player has gotten ABs now except for the youngest first-year player on the roster, Cole Armstrong.

Here's what we know so far about the batting order, or at least what we think we know. Based on his good OBP (.408) and speediness (10 steals in 30 games) at Rome, Willie James becomes the de facto leadoff man when he's in the lineup. Dominique Partridge may stick in the #2 spot. A mass of slugger-types (Matt Esquivel, Ben Thomas, and Scott Schade) will probably be used in the 3, 4, or 5. Then Greg Donato, Jaime Hemingway, and the catcher du jour will precede either Mike Hanson or Dean White.

As for the pitchers, Chuck James started last night and lasted just 3.2 innings. He must've been removed because of the pitch count, since he didn't allow a baserunner and he struck out 7 of the 11 batters he faced. Brad Nelson, Dan Mead, Sean White and Glen Tucker finished the game, and all except Nelson allowed an earned run.

So that leaves Steve Russell, Cory Blackmon, Ryan Basner, Chad Redfern and Danny Collins as the only pitchers yet to appear. But with no off-days for two more weeks, they should get their respective turns very soon. It will be interesting to see how many true starters the team goes with.

Russell started six games for Orlando last year and also made 5 relief appearances. Basner was a starter in college, but from what I've read, he doesn't have a full assortment of pitches. Blackmon had more success (slightly) as a reliever at North Georgia College & State University this spring and only pitched past the 5th inning once. After being an OF in college, Redfern was converted into a reliever in the amateur Alaskan League last season.

I would put my money on Collins becoming a primary starter. Not only does the southpaw draft-and-follow have a recent JC no-hitter to look back on, but the Braves have a good deal of money tied up in him - relatively, at least. In May, he received a bonus worthy of a 6th-rounder after being selected in the 45th in the '02 draft.

I'll present my aforementioned rotation theory in tomorrow's installment...

Jason Marquis is still a member of the Atlanta Braves. I just wanted to remind everyone since he hasn't appeared in a game since he was "promoted" and hasn't pitched since June 8th.

 
Here's the lineup that the Danville's rookie manager, Kevin McMullan, kicked off the season with last night in their 2-0 loss:

SS White
RF Partridge
CF Esquivel
1B Schade
3B Thomas
DH Donato
LF Hemingway
C Barden
2B Hanson

Efigenio Peralta, who was primarily a reliever in Orlando last year, made the start. The most impressive performance was turned in by reliever Whitt Farr, a Danville native. Last year, Farr struck out 26% of the batters he faced in the GCL, and he carried that trait over into last night's outing: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 4 K.

Mike Hanson gets the offensive kudos. Not only did he have the only extra-base hit (a double) plus a walk, but he was the only D-Brave that didn't strike out. They should hold a press conference and name him team captain.

 
My DSL seems to be better than ever, but BellSouth has given me so much trouble in the past that I'm not expecting it to last. If that sounds a little glass-half-empty to you, then you've never dealt with them and their evilness.

So here's a recap of what happened today: Yaron Peters and Matt Merricks were promoted to Myrtle Beach; Miguel Bernard and Mike Grasso moved from Danville to Rome; Matt Wright was sent from Myrtle Beach to Rome; and Willie James from Rome to Danville.

To sum up, Rome got screwed.

Seriously though, losing Peters on top of the recent injuries to Onil Joseph and Ardley Jansen is only going to hurt their offense even more. They've scored just 5 runs in their last 6 games, and Peters has been their best offensive weapon.

Bernard is reputedly great while crouched behind the plate, but not standing next to it. In his 2 other stints in low-A, he's hit .202/.240/.282. And Bernard doesn't help himself with his craptastic walk rate - 40 in 726 career ABs.

I like to ignore a player's first half-season after being drafted - especially if they're just out of college. Grasso had a disappointing rookie year at Danville, but he had also just completed his senior season at the University of Albany. I'm willing to overlook his .201/.303/.213 line and start him on a clean slate.

James provided just about what I expected from him: a low average and no power, but a lot of steals and walks. Actually, the walks were a bit of a surprise (16 in 59 ABs), but as a history major, I know all about revisionism...

So the overall offensive formula would need to be: Bernard + Grasso = Peters + James. Not gonna happen.

On the pitching front, Rome swapped Merricks (2.82 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 60/19 K/BB) for Wright (6.38 ERA, 2.04 WHIP, 58/42 K/BB). Eeek! Wright did pitcher fairly well at Macon last year - despite the number of walks he issued - so maybe there's hope. Well, probably not, but at least Merricks - as good as he pitched - was still only the 3rd or 4th best pitcher on the team.

Rome needs their walking wounded (Joseph, Jansen, and Jose Capellan) to be full speed soon. But because of the split season in the South Atlantic League, at least they start Tuesday with a clean slate record-wise.

In more good news for Rome, they're on pace to meet the league's attendance estimate of 280,000.

This gem from the Sports Network which is sort of like the Associated Press except not:

[Shane] Reynolds... has been nothing short of spectacular for Atlanta since the Braves signed him following his release from Houston just prior to the season.

Someone should tell the Sports Network that a 5.14 ERA is only spectacular in your church softball league.

 
A Greenville pitcher had an impressive start today in their 5-0 win. Scratch that. The word 'impressive' should not be used for a 33-year-old getting AA batters out. But Chuck Smith did pitch well. He allowed just 2 hits in 5 innings while striking out 6 batters and walking none. He's moving up the prospect lists at a lightning pace.

I'll have more on today's bevy of roster moves later tonight...

 
A kind soul in Danville faxed me the roster for the D-Braves this morning. Other than having 4 catchers and no true 1B, the biggest surprises are the names that are absent. Brian Almeida, Francisco Arteaga and Mike Grasso are all Danville-alumni, so it's unlikely they've gone back to Orlando. There are three spots now open in Rome with the promotion of Yaron Peters and Matt Merricks and the demotion of Willie James, so maybe that's the answer. But what of Miguel Bernard and recent college draftees Carl Loedenthal, Brian Stoecklein, Steven Doetsch and Keith Eichas? Doetsch and Eichas were pulled out of junior colleges, so I guess Orlando is a possibility for them. All 4 are listed on the Orlando roster accoring to mlb.com, but I've never trusted the accuracy of that site - for very good reason.

Danville starts play tonight, while Orlando doesn't kick things off until Thursday.

 
My internet connection isn't behaving today, so I'll make this quick for now.

It's all cyclical, you know? You bring in some new draftees, so you have to boot a few older ones. Mike Reiss, Steven Reiss and Rick Aguilar - all selected in the 2002 draft - were released on Thursday. 2001 draftee, Dexter Cooper, was also shown the door.

Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus fame told me that Roberto Hernandez's oblique strain is being classified as a Grade I+/II which means he could be out of action for quite a while. Hernandez, himself, seems to think he could pitch in a week. This is the same injury that sidelined Woody Williams for more than a month last year, although Williams' strain was more severe.

Former Marlin Chuck Smith (remember him?) was activated from the DL and transferred to Greenville to take Sam McConnell's roster spot. Smith was signed by the Braves to a minor-league contract at the end of spring training after being released by the Brewers. This is the 33-year-old's 7th organization - and that doesn't even count his stints in the Northern and Taiwanese League.

 
Sam McConnell was promoted to Richmond to take the spot left vacant by Jason Marquis. He appeared in 4 games with the R-Braves before being sent to Greenville. At Greenville, he went 1-0 with a 4.11 ERA in 16 appearances. Joe Dawley will now move back to Richmond's starting rotation.

 
The Fresno Bee, of all papers, has a profile on Johnny Estrada. It's a good article, except that the author fell victim to the Braves' company line: "Atlanta traded Millwood, eligible for arbitration, to cut payroll." Well, they obviously failed in that objective since after Schuerholz's spending spree in December, the 2003 Opening Day payroll was higher than the 2002 version.

 
Here is a behind-the-scenes look at how the Braves attempted to get Keith Wieser in both the 5th and 14th rounds. He rejected both 'offers,' but the team went ahead and selected him in the 18th, knowing that Wieser would most likely honor his committment to Miami of Ohio.

 
The AJC confirms that Roberto Hernandez is headed to the DL with a strained oblique muscle, and Jason Marquis will join the team in Seattle. Hey, with Hampton ailing, maybe he'll even get to start! Marquis is coming off an impressive streak having allowed just 3 earned runs in his last 4 starts (0.87 ERA).

 
Bill Shanks has confirmed that Keith Weiser (18th round) and Mark Jurich (13th round) have turned down offers to sign with the Braves. The Braves will still hold Jurich's rights until a week before the 2004 draft. Knowing that Weiser is not going to sign, I'll stick with my June 6th assessment: this draft gets an A based on the quality drafted and quantity signed.

Also, Richmond radio is reportedly saying that Jason Marquis, aka The Banished One, has been called up to Atlanta. That probably means Roberto Hernandez has been placed on the DL. We'll know more soon...

 
I hope everyone's checking out Flo's Game Reports for your daily game recaps. He (she??) does a great job of summarizing the previous night's activities. Last night was an easy one, as Myrtle Beach was the only team to actually get a full game in.

Has Matt Wright turned the proverbial corner, or have his last 2 outings just been a tease? Through June 1, he posted an ugly 7.28 ERA with a 2.05 WHIP that would also get thrown out of most beauty pageants. But with last night's 5 innings of shutout ball, he's put up a 1.80 ERA in his last 2 starts. Sounds good, right? Well, since his WHIP in those games is still on the atrocious end (2.00), I would hold off on sending any congratulatory balloons his way for now.

Partially overlooked in Andy Marte's resurgence is the work of his teammate, Scott Thorman. Since May 10, Thorman has hit .320/.414/.510 after a very slow start. Myrtle Beach is just brutal for hitters, but both he and Marte seem to have adjusted fairly quickly. Wow, two 1B prospects! I'm giddy!

By the way, if you've never seen Thorman dancing to the Blues Brothers' "Gimme Some Lovin'," well, you've missed a treat...

 
A very large head clued me into a couple more non-drafted signings: Carl Loedenthal, a speedy OF from Rider, and Scott Schade, an IF from Auburn. (Side note: there's WAY too many Auburn grads in the system...)

Loedenthal played CF, hit .337/.419/.514 in 2003 and stole 35 bases in 37 attempts.

Schade is listed as a junior and batted .310/.351/.431.

Also of note, 17th-rounder Keith Eichas, a power-hitting 1B from a Texas JC, signed a deal.

Now, it's just getting ridiculous. Nineteen of the top 26 picks have been inked to deals. Add to that 2 draft-and-follows from last year's draft and 8 non-drafted free agents signed in the last month. And that's assuming I haven't missed anyone...

 
Mike Hanson has been found!!! I mentioned yesterday that he had signed a deal with the Braves last week, and faithful reader, Robin Spears, was kind enough to hunt Mr. Hanson down for me. A native of Atlanta, Hanson just graduated from Washington & Lee where he was named the Old Dominion Athletic Conference Player of the Year and a Third-Team All-American. A SS and leadoff hitter, he batted .371/.460/.601 in 2003.

 
Lee Evans was placed on the DL with an injured finger. J.C. Boscan gets the promotion to replace him on Greenville's roster. The 23-year-old Boscan is a defensive whiz but fails to carry a big stick. He was batting .207/.296/.287 for the Pelicans. Luckily, he won't have to fill any big offensive shoes at Greenville. Evans (.221/.317/.361 in 122 ABs) was the weak link in a powerful offense. Rather than bringing up another catcher from Rome, Myrtle Beach has borrowed David Watkins who was just activated from the DL last week. Which in turn makes room for Anthony Lerew to return from the DL.

 
The Braves signed another non-drafted infielder this week - Brian Stoecklein from California University of Pennsylvania, a Division-II school. The SS/3B led the mighty Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference in hitting (.409) and slugging (.702) and ranked 3rd in Div-II in doubles-per-game (.56)

 
I can't decide which is the bigger news: Adam LaRoche getting promoted to AAA, or Ramon Castro being once again banished from Richmond. Ok, I guess it's LaRoche since this pretty much paves the way for him to take over the 1B job in Atlanta in 2004. He hit a robust .283/.381/.511 in 61 games at Greenville which is even better than the .289/.363/.410 that he hit there in 45 games last year. The one knock against him has been his lack of power, but he's already hit 12 HRs this year - 4th in the league and one away from his previous career high. Greenville's a fairly healthy hitter's park, but LaRoche has done even better on the road:

Home - .284/.357/.495 with 6 HRs
Away - .282/.403/.527 with 6 HRs

Castro's the other side of the coin. Three times now he's been demoted from Richmond after putting up less than spectacular numbers. He's always done well at AA: .307/.383/.487 in 2001 and .324/.446/.495 last year. But, despite the fact that's he's just 23, he's already being labeled as a guy that just can't cut it in AAA. We might know if he ever got a reasonable number of ABs there. This year, and especially recently, he's been relegated to a bench player. In the last month, he's had 3 or more ABs in a game just 6 times. Jesse Garcia, the 29-year-old utility player, has been used instead.

I'm all for seeing the minor-league teams win, but if the choice is between playing a struggling 23-year-old who's shown patience and power and dominated the previous level or a 29-year-old who known for his AAA defense, then I would have to go with the former. But I guess that's why I do this instead of running a team.

 
There were a few more random signings last week that I never got around to mentioning. I'm now a pro at typing "Saltalamacchia," and that's a very good thing seeing as we now have 2 of them in the system. Justin Saltalamacchia, Jarrod's older brother, signed with the Braves last week. He was a senior at UNC-Greensboro and played in every one of their games - both in the infield and outfield, but I think mostly at 2B.

Steve Pyzik is a 22-year-old catcher from Clemson who also signed with the Braves last week. He's primarily known for his defensive work, although he did hit a career-high .305/.394/.421 as a senior in 2003.

The Braves also signed an infielder named Mike Hanson. They should really try and only sign guys with distinctive names. I haven't figured out who Hanson is just yet...

 
In all the excitement of the draft, I missed the fact that Anthony Lerew (4-2, 2.08 ERA) was placed on the DL last Wednesday. Reliever David Watkins, who I think had been on the DL since the Reagan administration, took his spot on Rome's roster. Also Mike Mueller (0-0, 6.29 ERA) is now injured (elbow tendonitis), and Ryan Ewin has been called up from Orlando.

For those of you who haven't noticed, the rosters on Braves Report are still being kept updated.

 
Jacob Blakeney, the Braves' 22nd-round choice, signed a contract yesterday and has been assigned to Danville. Used primarily as a reliever at Mississippi State, Blakeney posted a 4.50 ERA and had 33 Ks in 30 IP.

Here's a update on the signings (in bold) and rejections (striked through) so far:
updated 6/12
1s Luis Atilano, RHP
1s Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
2 Jo Jo Reyes, LHP
2 Paul Bacot, RHP
3 Jacob Stevens, LHP
3 Matt Harrison, LHP
4 Jaime Romak, 3B
5 Chris Vines, RHP
6 Asher Demme, RHP
7 Ryan Basner, RHP
8 Sean White, RHP
9 Adam Stanley, LHP
10 Brad Nelson, RHP
11 Glenn Tucker, RHP
12 Casey Spanish, OF
13 Mark Jurich, OF
14 Steve Doetsch, OF
15 Ben Thomas, 3B
16 Cole Armstrong, C
17 Keith Eichas, 1B
18 Keith Weiser, LHP
19 Andy Barden, C
20 Kyle Bakker, LHP
21 Brooks Brown, OF
22 Jacob Blakeney, RHP
23 Jaime Hemingway, OF

 
Andy Marte, Tony Pena (!!!), Macay McBride and Matt Coenen were all named to the Carolina League All-Star Team which takes place on June 18th in Wilmington, DE. There are good stories on all 4 participants.

After starting the year by hitting.178/.291/.247 in his first 20 games, Marte has... well, rebounded is not exactly the word. SInce April 28th (38 games), he's hit a phenomonal .353/.415/.583.

Pena's in his 4th season with the Braves, and while he has put up better numbers each year, I don't think anyone expected this kind of jump:

2000: .214/.231/.270
2001: .246/.278/.307
2002: .249/.282/.311
2003: .274/.314/.366

Of course, his walk rate is still atrocious...

McBride (4-2. 2.38 ERA) is 5th in the league in ERA and leads the Carolina League in strikeouts (72 in 68 IP).

The Braves orgainzation deserves a lot of credit for bringing Coenen in. They traded away a reliever that was about to be given back to Pittsburgh for virtually nothing (Rule 5 pick, Chris Spurling), and turned him into a an excellent LHP. He has a 3.68 ERA in 12 starts for the Pelicans, and it's only that high because of his 2 most recent outings. Through June 1, it stood at 2.16.

 
You can get your first look at Jarrod Saltalamacchia on Monday night as he plays in the All-American Baseball Game, a collection of the "nation's top 30 high school seniors." C.J. Bressoud (26th round) is also on the roster. The game will be broadcast on Fox Sports Net at 7:00 pm (EST). Well, supposedly anyway. My listings show "Totally NASCAR" on Fox Sports South at that time, but I'll trust the website.

 
Rome had 6 players named to the Sally League All-Star Team. From the Rome News-Tribune:

Kyle Davies, the ace of the Rome rotation, is 6-1 with a 2.48 ERA, and is fifth in the league with 57 strikeouts.
Brad David, the Braves’ closer, is 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA and ranks second in the league with 13 saves.
Dan Meyer, another cornerstone of the Rome rotation, is 3-3 with a 2.97 ERA, and is third in the league with 72 strikeouts. He also leads the Braves in innings pitched with 63 2/3.
Jeff Francoeur, the Rome center fielder, is batting .283 with seven homers and 28 RBI. The Atlanta Braves’ No. 1 draft pick in 2002, he leads the Rome club with 68 hits, which ranks fourth in the league.
Brian McCann, a Braves’ catcher, is batting .281 and has cranked a team-leading eight homers. He has driven in 23 runs.
Onil Joseph, who is currently on the disabled list, is leading the league in stolen bases with 22. The outfielder is batting .295 and has banged out 65 hits this season.

The game will be played in Lexington, KY on June 24.

 
Bill Shanks remains a busy man. Not only does he have an excellent post-draft interview with Roy Clark, but he's reporting that 3 more draftees have signed today:

RHP Brad Nelson (10th round)
C Cole Armstrong (16th round)
OF Jaime Hemingway (23rd round)

I know it's faint praise but Bill Shanks is easily the best thing about BravesCenter.

 
Mark Bowman reports that Billy Sylvester has been removed from the 40-man roster. Finally. Sylvester was once a promising closer prospect after posting a 0.79 ERA at Myrtle Beach in 2000. But as with a lot of young pitchers (and some older ones that I'll refrain from mentioning right now...), control was his main problem. He routinely struck out more than a batter an inning. Of course he had more chances to strike guys out since he was issuing more than 5 walks per 9 innings. And this season it's been even worse, as he's walked every 6th batter he's faced. He's bounced between Greenville and Richmond for the last 3 years. His cumulative ERAs at each:

Greenville - 2.80
Richmond - 4.57

So why the move to create room on the 40-man roster? A reliever call-up makes the most sense. I suggest Bobby M. Jones or Buddy Hernandez. I have a feeling that of the two Bobby M's veteran-ness will appeal to Bobby C.

 
Jamey Newberg, creator of the Rangers-focused Newberg Report, is reporting that former Brave Ben Kozlowski had Tommy John surgery today and is out for the rest of the 2003 season. Kozlowski was 14-19 with a 2.99 ERA in 3+ seasons with the Braves. He was traded to Texas last April for fellow lefty Andy Pratt in a deal that vexed many fans. As Koz progressed the Ranger system quickly with a sub-2.00 ERA, Pratt struggled through his first few games at Greenville. But even before the recent injury to Kozlowski, this trade was never as lopsided as many experts and fans believed. It just goes to show that there's no way to judge a deal between minor-leaguers after only a few months.

 
Meet RHP Glenn Tucker, the Braves' 11th-round selection.

 
12th-rounder Casey Spanish has decided not to sign with the Braves.

 
Bill Shanks is reporting that the Braves have come to terms with 4 more draftees: Jake Stevens (3rd), Asher Demme (6th), Ryan Basner (7th) and Andy Barden (19th). That leaves 5th-rounder Chris Vines as the top unsigned pick, and it means the Braves have signed 11 of their top 12 picks - a remarkable number.

It's one thing to draft a set of great players which the Braves certainly did. But a whole new (and often overlooked) game then starts where you have to sign those players to contracts. And it's even harder for the Braves since their drafts consist of mostly high-schoolers who have the built-in negotiation factor of attending college. Roy Clark and his group saw this first-hand last year when Tyler Greene (2nd round), Kris Harvey (5th round), Pat Clayton (7th round) and Nick Starnes (9th round) all chose the college route. But this year, they've signed not just 11 of their top 12 overall picks, but 9 of their top 10 high-schoolers. Think about that.

Based on these signings, I'm ready to give this draft an A grade. I honestly don't know much about Reyes, mostly because of where he played. And there's the weight issue, although I seriously doubt the Braves would take him this high if it was still a problem. But I do that know that Atilano, Bacot, Stevens, Harrison and Demme are all studs, and Saltalamacchia was hands-down the best high-school catcher in the draft. I know some folks were probably hoping for more position players, but I'm all for letting the Braves work off of their strengths which is clearly developing pitchers. And if they manage to sign 18th-rounder Keith Wieser (rated the 25th-best LHP but taken with the 547th pick), I'll upgrade it to an A+.

As a side note, this draft should put to rest any rumors of budget cuts within the scouting and development budget. BA and the like have been saying that obviously AOL's financial problems would result in more college picks and more players left unsigned. That's all just conjecture on their part though. Dayton Moore, the director of player personnel, told me a few months ago (if I'm paraphrasing correctly) that his budget has increased every year, that it's completely independent from the parent club's payroll (which increased this year, by the way), and he has no worries that it's going to be affected by any problems that AOL has.

 
Dan Curtis struck out the last 8 batters he faced tonight and gave up just 2 hits in a 7-inning shutout. It's no surprise that he did this at pitcher-friendly Coastal Federal Field. Without doing the research tonight, I'll go out on a limb and say he's got the biggest home/road split in the system this year.

----    ERA   WHIP   H/9    BB/9
Home   1.88   1.26   10.0   1.26
Road   6.75   2.14   13.5   5.79

At least most of the difference is centered on the large number of walks he's issuing on the road. His K-rate is about the same, and he's not giving up that many more hits (although neither of those H/9 numbers looks very good). Curtis has never really had a problem with the bases-on-balls before (his career BB/9 is 2.16). so it should be easy (relatively) to fix, right?

 
Here's an interview with 12th-rounder Casey Spanish.

 
Looks like Daniel Rios, the SS from Mt. Whitney HS (CA) who was drafted in the 35th round, is anxious to sign with the Braves.

 
Signings update: As reported earlier, scouting director Roy Clark has been very busy today. Here are the 9 players who have already been inked to deals (round taken in parentheses):
Atilano (1s)
Saltalamacchia (1s)
Reyes (2)
Bacot (2)
Harrison (3)
Romak (4)
White (8)
Stanley (9)
Tucker (11)

Last year, the Braves were only able to sign 7 of their first 11 picks, so to have this much progess after just 24 hours is encouraging, indeed. Kudos for everyone!

 
Ardley Jansen is going to be out of Rome's lineup for 3 to 6 weeks after being by a pitch and breaking a bone in his wrist on Sunday. He was batting .270//.319/.345 as Rome's LF. And since bad news arrives in bunches, Onil Joseph will miss 10 days after injuring his hamstring on Monday. The leadoff hitter was batting .295/.333/.405 with 22 steals. Josh Burrus has been called up from extended spring training and will be used in Joseph's spot. The injuries also mean more playing time for Carlos Guzman who has played in just 44 of Rome's 68 games.

Dan Meyer lowered his ERA to 2.97 in tonight's 2-1 win over Charleston. Rome is now 2 games behind division-leading Hickory with 12 games to play in the 1st half.

 
According to Joe Simpson on the Braves' radio broadcast, the team has signed 9 of their first 14 draft picks, including Atilano, Saltalamacchia, Reyes and Bacot. Using my superb logic skills, Tucker should be one of the others. We should know the names of the 5 stragglers soon. Best guess: Stevens, Harrison, White, Stanley and Nelson.

 
Steve Doetsch (14th round) has reportedly already signed a six-figure deal. "I heard that I might go higher, but this was the best thing that could have happened to me," Doetsch said. "The Braves are a great organization, and I'm really excited to play for them." He was one of the top HS outfielders in the draft last year, but fell to the Phillies in the 8th round. Negotiations with them soured immediately, and Baseball America rated him as the best junior college position player in the '03 draft.

It looks as though annoucements will come very soon on the first 2 picks, Luis Alitano and Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

If you believe anonymous message board posters, Paul Bacot has already signed.

Chris Vines (6th round) may be next: In this article, he says, "It would be great to be in the Atlanta Braves organization."

Matt Harrison (4th round) says it will come down to money. Luckily in another report, he says he expects to sign with the Braves, his favorite team.

More good news: Jake Stevens (3rd round) reportedly told scouts that would sign if selected by the 3rd.

 
Rounds 41-50:
41. John Ray, C, Monarch HS (CO) - 6'1" 200 lbs.
42. Marcus Covington, RHP, East Rutherford HS - 6'0" 185 lbs
43. Zech Zinicola, RHP, Arlington HS - 6'1" 220 lbs...also one of the 3B in the country
44. Anthony Portugal, RHP, Northeast HS - 6'2" 210 lbs...throws in the low-90s
45. David Crook, LHP, Monte Vista HS - 6'2" 200 lbs
46. Lyall Foran, C, Delta Secondary School (CAN) - 6'0" 205 lbs
47. Joseph Northrup, RHP, West Covina HS (CA) - 6'4" 185 lbs
48. Todd Harris, LHP - Surrey Community College (NC) - 6'2" 170 lbs
49. Kyle Price, 2B, Green Valley HS (NV) - 6'2" 175 lbs.
50. And number 1480 overall, John Scaglione, SS, Palm Beach Gardens HS (FL) - 5'9" 170 lbs

 
Rounds 36-40:
36. Justin Phillips, SS, Louisburg College (NC) - 6'2" 180 lbs
37. Cody Pyle, 3B, Smithson Valley HS (TX) - 6'1" 195 lbs....committed to University of Texas-Arlington, also played TE on football team, same HS as Jason LaRue
38. Eric Chown, RHP, University of Massachusetts-Amherst - 6'6" 190 lbs....junior
39. Eugene Edwards, 1B, Mayfair HS (CA) - 6'6" 215 lbs....bats left, played OF for Long Beach Breakers club team
40. Joey Doan, RHP, Baker HS (AL)

 
Rounds 31-35:
31. Jon Schaus, RHP, East Lake HS (FL) - 6'2" 210 lbs
32. Larry Williams, 1B, Hawthorne HS (CA) - 6'1" 180 lbs
33. Daniel Stange, RHP, Elsinore HS (CA) - 6'3" 185 lbs
34. Michael Gibbs, RHP, Chipola JC (FL) - 6'5", 215 lbs....freshman
35. Daniel Rios, 1B, Mount Whitney HS (CA) - 6'1" 184 lbs

 
Rounds 26-30:
26. C.J. Bressoud, C, North Cobb HS (GA) - 6'1" 185 lbs....committed to Alabama, most likely headed there now with this low of a pick
27. Brandon Berdoll, LHP, Temple College - 6'3" 190 lbs....freshman, switch-hitter, also played 1B
28. Kyle Perry, RHP, Ball HS (TX) - 6'2" 170 lbs....not-so-affectionately nicknamed "Dumbface," also played 3B
29. Drew Shetrone, RHP, Apopka HS (FL) - 6'2" 184 lbs....went 9-0 with a 0.91 ERA and 91 Ks in 69 IP, signed with University of Tampa and will most likely attend
30. Johnny Venters, LHP, Lake Brantley HS (FL) - 6'3" 165 lbs....a plus runner with a good arm, also option QB and OF

 
Rounds 21-25:
21. Brooks Brown, RHP, Portal HS (GA) - 6'3" 190 lbs...also top 3B, committed to Georgia
22. Jacob Blakeney, RHP, Miss State - 6'1" 198 lbs...senior, used mostly as a reliever, 33 K in 30 IP
23. Jaime Hemingway, OF, UNC-Wilmington - 6'3" 215 lbs...senior, hit .363/.427/.603, led team in most offensive categories
24. Brandon Jones, OF, Tallahassee Community College - 6'2" 190 lbs....freshman, former two-sport star, bats left, previously drafted by KC in 6th round (2002)
25. Quentin Berry, OF, Samuel Morris HS (CA)

Other notables: Jeff Watchko (Rockies, 24th round), Matt Harrington (Reds, 24th round), Landon Powell (Cubs, 25th round)

 
Braves' drafts are always easy to predict, right? You might not be able to guess the exact names, but if you concentrate on the biggest given - high-school pitchers from Georgia - then you should be able to come close to guessing what they're going to do. Surely last year's selections (5 pitchers in the 1st 12 picks, only 1 from Georgia, and a college player with their 2nd pick) were just a fluke and not an indicator of a change in the organization's philosophy. Guess again.

They still love their high-school hurlers, and they got a bounty of them this year since a lot of teams were focusing on college players. And if you're going to go the prep route, you might as well get some good ones. The Braves picked 6 left-handed pitchers - always a hot commodity. All 6 were ranked in the top 60 of Baseball America's LHP list. And 3 of them (Reyes, Stevens and Harrison) were in the top 10. They weren't quite as extraordinary with the RHPs: 6 of 8 were in the top 83 and 2 (Nelson and Tucker) weren't ranked at all.

The Braves selected 9 position players in the 1st 20 rounds - 3 catchers, 3 outfielders, 2 first basemen and 1 third baseman. It's particularly telling that they stayed away from the middle infielders this go-around after selecting 3 shortstops and a second baseman in the same number of rounds last year.

And how about geographically? The Braves took just two players from Georgia - Bacot and Bakker. They still stayed in the South for the most part, although they did draw from Ohio, Kansas, Washington and California.

BREAKDOWN - TOP 20 ROUNDS

By Position:
RHP - 8
LHP - 6
C - 3
OF - 3
1B - 2
3B - 1

By School:
High School - 11
College - 7
Junior College - 5

Pitchers by School:
LHP - High School - 5
LHP - College - 1

RHP - High School - 4
RHP - College - 3
Junior College - 1

By State/Area:
North Carolina - 5
Florida - 3
Texas - 2
Virginia - 2
Georgia - 2
Alabama - 1
California - 1
Kansas - 1
Kentucky - 1
Ohio - 1
Washington - 1
Puerto Rico - 1
Canada - 1

I'm still providing coverage of today's picks (rounds 21-50), but not quite as in-depth as I did yesterday. The Braves only signed 3 players that they picked in last year's 2nd day, so it's tough to get too excited about all of them. Plus, the names get more and more obscure, and it's tough to find anything juicy on them.

 
Kyle Bakker, Georgia Tech's 6'9' left-handed starter, was selected by the Braves with their final pick of the 1st day. After entering th year as a possible 1st-rounder, Bakker had a rough year, and lost a lot of speed on his fastball. Dropping so far will most likely mean he's headed back to Tech for his senior season. If that happens, the Braves will retain his rights and should have the chance to sign him before next year's draft. A good low-risk pick.

 
Andy Barden from Virginia Military Institute was the Braves' 19th-round choice. The 6'0" catcher batted .318/.415/.520 and led the team in AVG and OBP and tied for the lead in HRs. He also threw out 57% of the batters trying to steal against him.

 
As Keanu Reeves would say, "Whoa!" Keith Weiser, who I had going in the top 5 rounds, was just picked by the Braves in the 18th. A southpaw from Ohio, Weiser started the year with a 54-inning scoreless streak and was ranked by BA as the 125th-best prospect in the draft and the 7th-best in Ohio. He's committed to Miami (OH), and may be dismayed enough by his drop to attend there rather than sign.

 
Keith Eichas, a power-hitting 1B from Temple College in Texas, was taken in the 17th. He batted .391 in a hitter's league with 16 HRs - good for 4th in the conference. He's 6'2", 200 lbs.

 
The Braves took their 2nd catcher of the day, choosing Cole Armstrong from Chipola Junior College. Armstrong was drafted in the 32nd round by the Mets in 2001, and then attended the University of Kansas. He's 6'3", 200 lbs and a left-handed hitter.

 
Ben Thomas, a 3B at Midland College in Texas, was chosen in the 15th round. He's 6'0" and 200 lbs and bats from the left side of the plate. He was originally drafted By the Twins in 2000, and he has recently signed to play with Ole Miss. He led his team in triples and steals and was second in HRs. And here's the best part - he had 59 walks and just 29 Ks in 188 ABs (!!!). There's nothing like a .523 OBP to set your heart a-flutter...

 
Steve Doetsch, considered to be the best junior-college position player was chosen with the Braves' 14th-round pick. The Phillies had a chance to sign him before the draft after choosing him in the 8th round last year, but he turned them down. Not sure if the Braves will have any more luck with him. Picked as a CF, he has tons of speed, a strong arm, and a lot of power from the right side of the plate. He's 6'3", 205 lbs.

 
Mark Jurich, the Braves' 13th-round selection is a hard-hitting OF from the University of Louisville. He was a third-team All-American selection and first-team All-Conference player in 2002, but he missed a lot of the current season after having surgery to remove a bone fragment from his right hand. Jurich is a 5'10" lefty and weighs in at 185 lbs.

 
Jimmy Barthmaier, who was mentioned as being a possible 1st-round-supplemental choice for the Braves and ranked as the 4th-best prospect in Georgia, was just chosen by Houston - as the 389th pick. No idea what caused the fall.

 
Hey, an outfielder! With the 327th overall pick, the Braves chose University of Kansas OF Casey Spanish. Spanish hit .383/.452/.665 leading the Jayhawks in all of those categories. He also had 7 triples, 12 HRs and a perfect fielding percentage.

 
The Braves chose RHP Bradley Nelson with their 10th-round selection. He was a sophomore at Lenoir Community College in Kinston, NC. He's 6'3" and 220 pounds.

In the 11th round, RHP Glenn Tucker from East Carolina University was selected. Tucker posted a 2.82 ERA this season as the ace for the ECU Pirates. He had an exceptional K/BB ratio of 86/16 in 89.1 IP. He was also the winning pitcher in the game that eliminated Georgia Tech from the College World Series last weekend.

 
Next up is Adam Stanley, the 3rd-best LHP out of baseball-hotbed North Carolina. He's been compared to John Rocker and Mike Stanton with a "short-inning mentality" and "no finesse."

 
They continue the college path into the 8th round, picking Sean White, a RHP from the University of Washington. This was the 3rd time White has been drafted (Baltimore, 1999 and Montreal, 2002). He posted a 4.76 ERA in 16 starts in his senio year and was the Huskies' #2 starter. He's 6'4", 200 lbs and has a very good slider.

 
The Braves finally selected a college player, tabbing Ryan Basner with their 7th-round pick. A RHP out of Western Carolina University, Basner is listed as 6'3", 230 as mlb.com calls him "country strong." He has a good chance of being made into a reliever.

 
The speed of the picks has picked up quite a bit now that we're past the 5th round. In the 6th, the Braves selected RHP Asher Demme from Reston, VA. He's 6'2", 195 lbs. This time last year, Demme was ranked as one of the top prospects in the south, ahead of fellow draftees Jake Stevens and Paul Bacot. He throws in the low-90s and has an excellent curveball.

 
Here's a quick recap of the 1st 5 rounds, including the rankings by both Baseball America and TeamOne (BA/TO):

35. Luis Atilano, RHP - 130/57
36. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C - 42/40
43. Jo Jo Reyes, LHP - 46/96
67. Paul Bacot, RHP - 85/69
79. Jacob Stevens, LHP - 41/88
97. Matt Harrison, LHP - 61/67
127. Jaime Romak, 3B - -/-
157. Chris Vines, RHP - 113/-

 
Chris Vines, an RHP out of Alabama, was selected with the Braves' 5th-round pick. He's 6'5" and just 187 pounds and increased the speed on his fastball around 87 mph to 92 mph in his senior year. He also has an excellent curveball. He was ranked by Baseball America as the #2 prospect in Alabama (#113 overall) and has a committment to the University of Florida.

 
Jaime Romak became the 1st Canadian since Scott Thorman to be selected by the Braves with their 4th-round pick. A 3B for Team Canada, Romak was ranked as the top Canadian behind Adam Loewen. He's 6'2", 225 lbs. and has "unlimited potential", accordin to his Olympic coach. He's also just 17 and seems ready to sign a deal.

 
The Braves selected LHP Matt Harrison with the final pick of the 3rd round. Harrison was rated as the 3rd-best pitcher out of North Carolina. He's another lefty, the Braves' 3rd LHP so far, and regularly hits the low-90s. He also has an excellent slurve and changeup. According to BA, he has a perfect game, a no-hitter, and two more games where the ball did not leave the infield. He's 6'4", 185 lbs. TeamOne calls him one of the "fastest rising prospects" in baseball. Daniel Bard, the top prospect out of the state, asked for gazillions, so the Braves 'settle' with Harrison with a much more likely chance of signing him.

 
Compensation for Tom Glavine yielded LHP Jacob Stevens who throws in the mid-90s with an excellent assortment of pitches. TeamOne ranked him as the 7th-best HS lefty, and BA ranked him as 41st overall - not bad for the 79th pick. He's listed as 6'3", 215 lbs. The Braves seem to be reaping the benefits of so many college players being selected early.

 
Pick #4 for the Braves is Lakeside RHP Paul Bacot. He's tall and lean with an excellent curve and fastball. He was also the point guard for the basketball team, so you know he's athletic. I watched him play 3B in April and saw him blast a monster HR. An excellent pick for the Braves even though I thought he might be around with their next supplemental pick.

 
With their third pick and #43 overall, the Braves went with LHP Jo Jo Reyes. Reyes is 6'2", 215 pounds, and BA states that "he's built along the lines of David Wells and Dennys Reyes and will always need to watch his weight." But TeamOne states he's lost 30 pounds in the last few months. He has a fastball that reaches 90 mph fairly easily, along with an average curve and changeup. And he is also a fairly good hitter, playing 1B in high school. He's committed to Southern Cal.

TeamOne has him ranked 96th overall; BA at 46.

 
The Braves selected Luis Atilano with their 1st pick, not later on as BA had reported. And Jarrod Saltalamacchia was chosen with the 36th overall. Atilano seems to be a reach with the 35th pick, but then again, do we really need to question Roy Clark's ability to scout pitchers? BA was heard on their broadcast praising Saltalamacchia - his makeup and his skills - and called him the best total catching package in the draft. As I mentioned before, MLB.com compared him favorably to Javy Lopez.

 
The draft has begun, and we've already got our 1st big surprise. Nick Markakis apparently didn't scare anyone off with this bonus demands and was selected 7th by Baltimore.

 
BA is reporting that the Braves have reached a pre-draft deal with Puerto Rican RHP Luis Atilano with their second-round pick. Atilano is the best Puerto Rican pitcher in the draft. At 6'3" and 170 lbs, he already throws a 90-mph fastball and is extremely projectable both with his size and his arm speed.

Where Atilano ranks: BA - 103rd; Team One - 57th

 
It's less than an hour until the draft begins, but I know this is the moment that you've all been waiting for: my predictions for the Braves' picks. I have no idea why I'm doing this. If Baseball America can't even figure out who's being picked first today, then me guessing the 157th pick seems especially foolhardy. Yet somehow that doesn't deter me...

1s (35th) - Jimmy Barthmaier, RHP
1s (36th) - Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
2 (43rd) - Anthony Whittington, LHP
2 (67th) - Abe Alvarez, LHP
3 (79th) - Paul Bacot, RHP
3 (97th) - Aaron Laffey, LHP
4 (127th) - Jevon Moran, OF
5 (157th) - Blake Murphy, C

 
I've got some other names to throw out - most of them should go in the early-rounds, but we might not hear a few of them until tomorrow. All of these players have been linked to the Braves, most of them through expressed interest by the team. I've also included where in the draft that they are likely to be picked....

Jared Hughes, RHP (California) - 1st-round supplemental
Jo Jo Reyes , LHP (California) - 2nd round
Adam Miller, RHP (Texas) - early 2nd round
Anthony Whittington, LHP (West Virginia) - 3rd round
Aaron Laffey, LHP (Maryland) - late 3rd, early 4th round
Keith Weiser, LHP (Ohio) - late 3rd, early 4th round
Eric O'Flaherty, LHP (Washington) - late 3rd, early 4th round
Brooks Brown, RHP (Georgia) - 5th round
Nathan Nery, LHP (Pennsylvania) - 6th to 7th round
Jon Barratt, LHP (Missouri) - 6th to 8th round
Tripp Mealor, RHP (Georgia) - 8th to 10th round
Brandon Lowe, 1B (Georgia) - 8th to 10th round
Adriano Petrutz, RHP (Pennsylvania) - unknown
Kyle Gunderson, 3B/RHP (Texas) - unknown

 
Baseball America finally released their final draft projection for the 1st round, and they have a brand-new name going to the Braves: Jarrod Saltalamacchia with the 35th pick and Stuart Pomeranz with the 36th. Pomeranz is another huge RHP - 6'7" and 210 pounds. According to BA, Tennessee's best prospect went 9-0 with a 0.11 ERA and averaged 2 strikeouts per inning. He is also signed to a junior college which helps his signability tremendously.

BA has Nick Markakis going to Florida with the 16th pick; Ryan Sweeney to the Dodgers at 24; Matt Murton to Oakland at 25; Ryan Feierabend to Cleveland at 31; and Abe Alvarez to Oakland with the 33rd.

 
Clemson 1B Michael Johnson, who likely would have been around for the Braves in the 2nd round, signed a (literally) last-minute deal with San Diego last night. The Padres held his rights from last year's draft but had to wait until Clemson was eliminated from the College World Series before they could begin negotiations with him.

 
I promised reports on LHPs Ryan Feierabend and Abe Alvarez last week, and I'm just now getting to them. Both are possibilities for the Braves' picks in the 2nd round (#43 and #67 overall). Feierabend, a 6'3" high schooler in Ohio, has near-perfect mechanics, but his draft status might suffer from the same downgrading of Northern players that affects Ryan Sweeney. John Sickels calls him a sleeper of the draft. Alvarez is rated just below Feierabend but might actually be selected before him because of the number of teams looking mainly at college players in the early rounds. A first-team All-American at Long Beach State, Alvarez is currently 11-1 with a 2.41 ERA with a K/BB ratio of 139/19. He and his fellow 49ers have advanced to the Super Regional of the College World Series.

 
In the 3rd mock draft I've seen conducted, Chris Reed's Prospect Report has the Braves selecting Tim Battle and Jimmy Barthmaier in the supplemental round with Nick Markakis going to Cleveland at 18, Ryan Sweeney to the Dodgers at 24, and Matt Murton to Arizona at 29. If anyone knows of any other reputable mocks, please let me know.

 
Can you imagine what Roy Clark and the rest of the scouting department could do with a pick as high as 18th in the draft?!? Since 1992, the earliest that the Braves have chosen is 21st. And in two of those years, the team had no 1st-round picks. Sure, there have been some duds (Jaime Arnold, Mike Kelly, Jacob Shumate), but in the last few years, the Braves have used their late-1st-rounders in impressive fashion (Adam Wainwright, Scott Thorman, Macay McBride, Jeff Francoeur). Well, had Tom Glavine signed with the Phillies instead of with the Not-So-Lovable-Losers (aka the Mets), the Braves would've received the Phillies' 1st-rounder rather than the Mets' 3rd-round choice. Nick Markakis anyone? That scenario, by the way, would've also meant that Schuerholz (whose name gets no bolding) would have been unable to gift-wrap Kevin Millwood to any other team, and the Braves would've been "stuck" with him in the #2 slot. But I digress...

 
We're about 24 hours away from the Braves' first pick of the '03 draft, and I've got several more names I want to highlight. In addition to Tim Battle, Paul Bacot and Jimmy Barthmaier, there are a few other local boys that deserve a mention. Tim Gustafson, an RHP from Parkview High (Jeff Francoeur's alma mater), is 6'3" and 185 lbs and has a committment to Georgia Tech. He's projected to be selected somewhere around the 5th-8th round.

Chris Goodman and Kyle Bakker made up two-thirds of Georgia Tech's ACC Championship rotation. Goodman's a former SS who just started pitching for Tech last year. Bakker is a draft-eligible junior who's big (6'9", 255 lbs.) and a lefty - two qualities that most teams covet. He didn't have as good of a year as predicted, so he might return to Georgia Tech. Both are probably slotted for selection after the 5th round.

 
Several of the Braves' minor-leaguers had slow starts to the season but really turned it on in May. James Jurries's rise was easily the biggest, but Andy Marte's was not far behind. Here's a look at the biggest risers:

Wilson Betemit
April: .224/.290/.282
May: .301/.343/.473

Kelly Johnson
April: .250/.301/.368
May: .310/.358/.540

James Jurries
April: .164/.309/.182
May: .387/.440/.594

Billy McCarthy
April: .234/.324/.422
May: .300/.402/.467

Andy Marte
April: .200/.305/.275
May: .361/.427/.620

Jonathan Schuerholz
April: .156/.308/.203
May: .271/.380/.329

 
BA's Draft Dish states that prep catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia "should go to the Braves in the supplemental first round." At 6'4" and 195 lbs., Saltalamacchia is regarded as the top HS backstop in the draft, but it's also a fairly weak year for catchers overall. He was the starting catcher for the USA Junior Olympic team and has committed to Florida State. "Salty" already has a major-league-ready arm and should develop power, especially from the left side of the plate. He sounds like a taller version of last year's 2nd-rounder Brian McCann.

 
Pitchers, of course, will make up the bulk of the Braves' selections this week, but there are several positional players to look out for. I've already mentioned Peachtree City OF Tim Battle a couple of times. A much more intriguing OF prospect is Ryan Sweeney. Sweeney was once thought to be close to a top-10 selection, but most teams are backing off of him, and he might actually fall to the end of the 1st round. Sweeney's the ultimate high-risk player. It's not his athletic credentials that are in question. Baseball America ranked him as the 3rd-best corner OF prospect, the 17th-best LHP and 24th overall. TeamOne has Sweeney ranked 23th in the draft. The reason for his fall is that he goes to high school in Iowa where spring baseball is virtually non-existent. Thus, other than a few random tournaments in the last few months, scouts have not seen Sweeney play regularly since last summer. If the Twins don't grab him with the 21st pick, he could fall to the supplemental round.

If the Braves have thought about drafting a college OF with their 1st picks, then they probably saved some money on travel expenses. Georgia Tech's Matt Murton might still be around, although most predictions have him going to college-happy Oakland two picks before the Braves get to choose. Murton, a junior at Tech, has batted over .300 in all three seasons, and his power has increased every year. His final 2003 numbers: .301/.403/.524.

In the 2001 draft, the Braves used a second-round pick on a 3B who also happened to be a highly-ranked QB committed to an SEC school. Cole Barthel (selected just before RHP Jesse Foppert) has had a rough time in the minors so far, although this year's injury has not helped too much. Could the Braves follow that same path this year and draft SS/3B Robert Lane, the top QB in Louisiana? They expressed some interest in him a few months ago, although it's pretty much a consensus that he won't be lured away from playing football at Mississippi State.

There are several high school catchers that have received some recent attention from the Braves: C.J. Bressoud from Kennesaw, Blake Murphy, the best prep catcher in NC, Cody Collet, a very polished receiver from California, Ryan Silman from Kentucky, and Taylor Mattingly, son of Don. Bressoud, Murphy and Collet are likely to be selected somewhere between rounds 3 and 5. Silman and Mattingly might not hear their names called until after the 8th round.