Mallex Smith, CF, Triple-A Gwinnett
Ranking: No. 6 prospect in Baseball America’s midseason report
Smith was named International League’s player of the month for August after hitting .336 (41-for-122) with five doubles, three triples, 24 runs and 13 stolen bases in 29 games. He was batting .302 for Gwinnett since the Triple-A All-Star break, entering the final game of the season against Charlotte on Monday, and was fifth in the minor leagues with 56 stolen bases in 125 games combined between Gwinnett and Mississippi.
Braxton Davidson, RF, low Class-A Rome
Ranking: No. 7 prospect in Baseball America’s midseason report
Davidson went 5-for-17 (.294) with a double and a homer in his first five games in September to finish his first full season strong. For the year, he hit .244 with 10 home runs and 44 RBIs for Rome. He leads the South Atlantic League with 83 walks and is sixth with a .382 on-base percentage.
Tyrell Jenkins, RHP, Triple-A Gwinnett
Ranking: No. 9 prospect in Baseball America’s midseason report
Jenkins returned to the mound Friday night for the first time in almost three weeks after leaving an outing August 16 with arm fatigue. Jenkins pitched 1 2/3 innings against Norfolk, giving up one hit, no runs, one hit batter and one walk, before coming out when he reached his pitch limit. He will finish the season with a career-high 138 1/3 innings in both Double-A and Triple-A.
Lucas Sims, RHP, Double-A Mississippi
Ranking: No. 10 prospect in Baseball America’s midseason report
Sims pitched his fifth straight game in which he allowed one or no runs for Mississippi on Thursday. He pitched seven innings for his longest outing since getting called up to Double-A while allowing just one run on three hits, walking one, hitting a batter and striking out seven. He has thrown 100 or more pitches in each of his past two starts. Sims improved to 4-2 with a 3.21 ERA in nine starts for Mississippi and earned an invitation to pitch in the Arizona Fall League.
Jason Hursh, RHP, Triple-A Gwinnett
Ranking: No. 7 prospect by Baseball America preseason 2015 season
After giving up a three-run homer on August 25 in Charlotte on one of his secondary pitches, Hursh settled back over his past two relief appearances. He had two, two-inning outings, allowing one run over that span, walking two and striking out three. Hursh is 4-2 with a 4.32 ERA in 18 appearances in Double-A and Triple-A since the Braves moved him into a relief role. He has walked seven and struck out 14 in 25 innings of relief.
Rio Ruiz, 3B, Double-A Mississippi
Ranking: No. 11 prospect by Baseball America preseason 2015
Ruiz saw his 15-game hitting streak end against a tough left-handed pitcher who throws in the upper 90s from a low arm angle. Ruiz batted .362 (21-for-58) with seven doubles, one triple, two home runs and 11 RBIs over the streak to raise his season batting average from .216 to .238. Two nights later, he hit his fifth home run of the year to go along with 46 RBIs in 127 games for Mississippi.
Mauricio Cabrera, RHP, Double-A Mississippi
Ranking: No. 16 prospect by Baseball America’s preseason 2015
Cabrera rebounded from a three-run, no-out appearance against Biloxi with two scoreless innings of relief in Jacksonville. Cabrera hasn’t given up a run in four of his past five relief appearances and is now 0-1 with a 5.71 ERA in 13 relief appearances for Mississippi since his call-up from Carolina. Cabrera was among four pitchers the Braves invited to the Arizona Fall League, along with Sims, Daniel Winkler and Andrew Thurman.
Dustin Peterson, LF, high Class-A Carolina
Ranking: No. 18 prospect by Baseball America preseason 2015
Peterson had back-to-back multi-hit games in Frederick then slipped into a slump, going 0-for-16 over his past four games. Peterson has hit .252 with 15 doubles, two triples, eight home runs and 60 RBIs in 117 games for Carolina.
Andrew Thurman, RHP, Double-A Mississippi
Ranking: No. 20 prospect by Baseball America preseason 2015
Thurman gave up four runs on eight hits with three walks in each of his last two starts for Mississippi and finished 1-4 with a 5.18 ERA in five starts since his promotion from Carolina. His bright spot in Double-A was a win over Birmingham on August 20, when he allowed just one run on three hits in six innings. Thurman earned an invitation to the Arizona Fall League.
Stephen Janas, RHP, Double-A Mississippi
Ranking: No. 30 by Baseball America preseason 2015
Janas didn’t go out the way he wanted, allowing seven runs (six earned) in 2 1/3 innings of his Double-A finale in Jacksonville, but he pitched a lot better than his 2-8 record since his promotion from Carolina. Janas went 5-0 with a 0.49 ERA in six starts for Carolina, before going 2-8 with a 4.87 ERA in 13 starts for Mississippi. He won his second-to-last start with six shutout one-hit innings against Biloxi. Janas pitched a career high 105 1/3 innings combined between his two stops.
