Braves see some improvements in minors

A breakdown of the Braves’ minor-league organization this season, including a look at who might be making the jump to the majors in 2009 and some of the best stories.

Biggest splashes

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Allen Sullivan/Special

Look for rightfielder Jason Heyward, who hit .323 in 120 games for Class A Rome, to make a possible leap to the majors.

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Jason Heyward

• Position: Right field

• Age: 19

• Accolades: First-team minor-league All-Star by Baseball America. Most outstanding major-league prospect in South Atlantic League.

• Stats: He hit .323 in 120 games for Class A Rome, with 27 doubles, six triples, 11 home runs and 52 RBIs. He also stole 15 bases in 18 attempts. He earned a late-season promotion to Myrtle Beach, where he hit .182 (4-for-22) in seven games.

• Comment from Kurt Kemp, Braves director of player development: “You’ve got a young player who has a tremendous amount of physical talent who did everything you thought he was going to do. Things like home run production are going to come. He hits the ball hard all over the field. We don’t want to change that. The production will come. He’s got the power.”

Tommy Hanson

• Position: Right-handed pitcher

• Age: 22

• Accolades: First-team minor-league All-Star by Baseball America

• Stats: Pitched a no-hitter on June 25 in a 6-0 victory over Birmingham. He struck out 14, walked three and hit one batter. He was first among all minor-league pitchers with a .175 opponents batting average. His combined ERA of 2.41 for Class A Myrtle Beach and Class AA Mississippi was 12th in the minors. He was fourth overall in strikeouts (163) and second in strikeouts/9 innings with 10.6.

• Kemp: “He was outstanding in seven starts in Myrtle Beach (3-1, 0.90 ERA), more than deserving of a promotion. After a short adjustment period, which is very normal, he went on to pitch not only a no-hitter, but he pitched very well in a number of other games. He did everything we thought he was capable of doing this year.”

Freddie Freeman

• Position: First base

• Age: 19

• Accolades: South Atlantic League All-Star

• Stats: The Braves’ 2007 second-round draft pick hit .316 in his first full season in the minors to keep pace with his roommate and friend Heyward, who hit .316 overall as well (including Myrtle Beach). Freeman drove in 95 runs for Rome while hitting .338 (51-for-151) with runners in scoring position.

• Kemp: “Playing his first long season, 18 years old in the South Atlantic League, he was really impressive not only in his ability to hit for average but drive in runs at the rate he did. Pretty solid year across the board, average, power production, the elements you’d want for a good young hitter.”

Ernesto Mejia

• Position: First base

• Age: 22

• Accolades: Carolina League All-Star

• Stats: The Venezuelan hit 21 homers, 47 doubles and five triples for Class A Myrtle Beach. His 73 extra-base hits were second in the minor leagues. He was tied for first in the Carolina League in homers. He won the home run derby in the Carolina League-California League All-Star game.

• Kemp: “He had gotten a fairly limited number of at-bats at Rome last year [with catcher Tyler Flowers playing a lot of first base recovering from knee surgery]. When [Freddie] Freeman earned a spot in Rome, Ernesto had to go up to Myrtle Beach and be productive. He did it, really not having a full year under his belt at Rome. He went to High A and had a terrific year. He’s got power. He hit a ton of doubles. He had 20-plus home runs, so he has out-of-the-park type power in most parts of the park. He had a breakout year.”

Might break into majors in 2009

• Jordan Schafer, center field

Rebounded from HGH-related 50-game suspension by hitting .323 in August. He finished at .269 with 10 home runs and 51 RBIs in 84 games for Class AA Mississippi. Hit 11th-inning homer in Game 4 of Southern League playoffs.

• Tommy Hanson, RHP

Held opponents to minors-best .175 batting average, went 11-5 with 2.41 ERA in 25 starts in Class A Myrtle Beach and Class AAA Mississippi and struck out 163 in 138 innings.

• Kris Medlen, RHP

Went 1-3 with a 4.70 ERA in 19 games as a reliever in Class AA Mississippi, then 6-5 with a 3.11 ERA in 17 starts. He had 120 strikeouts and 27 walks in 120 1/3 innings.

• Luis Valdez, RHP

Six-year minor-league free agent from Pirates blossomed into 28-save closer for Class AA Mississippi. Named best reliever in the Southern League by league managers.

Comeback players