As much as the Braves have built their minor league reputation on a system stocked with talented pitchers, they've got something special cooking at shortstop now as well.
In a matter of months last year, the Braves added four shortstops, all of whom are rated among their top 21 prospects, according to Baseball America. So for the first time in his five years as Braves director of player development, Kurt Kemp has had to get creative to find playing time for all of them.
Matt Lipka and Edward Salcedo, the top two additions to the Braves’ minor league system last year, are sharing the position in low Single-A Rome, along with Elmer Reyes, a 2009 signee from Nicaragua who came over from the Braves Dominican Summer League last year.
Those three are rotating so each one plays 16 games at shortstop, while the others play second and third. First it was Lipka, last year’s supplemental round pick at 35th overall. Now it’s Salcedo, their top international signee, the Dominican standout whom they consider an equivalent to a first-round pick and worthy of a $1.6 million bonus.
In another two weeks, it’ll be Reyes. Then it’s back to Lipka. This is not so much an attempt to find other positions for these prospects, but just to find enough games at short.
“It’s more driven by the fact that none of them have shown us yet that they can’t play short,” said Kemp. “We’re very pleased with how all of those guys have progressed.”
Andrelton Simmons is starting for high Single-A Lynchburg. He’s the oldest of the four at 21 and the only one with college experience – he played at Western Oklahoma Junior College – so the Braves felt comfortable promoting him past Rome. Lipka and Salcedo are 19 and Reyes is 20.
“I think it’s a plus,” Kemp said. “I’m glad that I’m not telling you that they’re not playing short because we already saw that they can’t. This is a good problem to have.”
Salcedo struggled in two months at Rome last year, hitting only .197 with 28 errors in 54 games in his first action in the U.S. He’s shown more composure this year and confidence. Through Rome’s first 18 games, he was hitting .315 (23-for-73) with three doubles, one triple, one homer and eight RBIs. He had eight errors but all eight were at third base, a position he played for the first time in the first two weeks of the season.
“My work ethic is a lot better,” said Salcedo, with Rome hitting coach Carlos Mendez translating. “I know now it’s not that easy. I felt I was overmatched at times last year. I worked [hard] but now I’m concentrating on things that are going to help me develop better as a ballplayer.”
The biggest adjustment he's had to make coming over to the U.S. was learning to hit the breaking ball. Salcedo said he saw predominantly fastballs in the Dominican Summer League. He’s laying off breaking balls earlier in the count and he’s not taking a poor performance at the plate into the field.
“Last year I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Salcedo said. "‘I’ve got to get a hit no matter what.’ I was taking every at-bat like it was the last at-bat of the season, like the seventh game of the World Series. Now my approach is to go up there, if I see a good pitch, to hit it.”
Lipka got off to a slower start in his first taste of the South Atlantic League, hitting .188 (6-for-32) through his first eight games. He hit .295 (13-for-44) over his past 10, though, with six stolen bases. The speedy leadoff hitter joked with roving baserunning instructor Lynn Jones that he would steal 60 bases this season.
“I just want to have great at-bats and keep progressing as the year goes on,” Lipka said.
In the field, Lipka is playing shortstop and second, Salcedo shortstop and third, and Reyes manning shortstop, second and third.
All three players were told about the scenario well before the season started and all have taken the change in stride, Kemp and Rome manager Matt Walbeck said.
“If you let it get to you, it could get to you. I’m just glad it’s not outfield,” said Lipka, whom some have projected as a center fielder. “I’ve always wanted to play up the middle and I wanted to stay in the dirt. That was important for me.”
Kemp said the Braves might keep all three on a rotation all season long. It just depends on who emerges and how. But for now he likes what he sees from all of them at short.
“Matt has made really, really good leaps from where he was technique-wise,” Kemp said. “Elmer has always had the slick fielding and the pure action. Then Edward, even though he made his errors last year, I think it was related to him wanting to do well and pressing a little bit. ... Each of them are progressing defensively the way we would like to see.”
