Matt Wisler, RHP, Triple-A Gwinnett
Ranking: Braves’ No. 1 prospect by Baseball America
Wisler was excited about pitching last Wednesday in Toledo, just an hour from his hometown of Bryan, Ohio (population: 8,000). He didn’t get the results he might have hoped for, giving up four runs on five hits in six innings in a 5-4 Gwinnett loss in extra innings, but the six innings tied for Wisler’s second-longest outing of the year. Three of the runs came in the fifth when he gave up a triple and a two-run homer. That snapped a stretch of four starts without allowing a home run since Norfolk got him twice on April 23.
Jose Peraza, 2B, Triple-A Gwinnett
Ranking: No. 2 prospect by Baseball America
Peraza celebrated returning to the lineup after missing five games with a sore hamstring by hitting home runs in back-to-back games Thursday and Friday. The home run Thursday was Peraza’s first in Triple-A. He hit it off right-hander Toru Murata and he followed it up by hitting his second the next night off left-hander Michael Roth. Peraza snapped his eight-game hitting streak Saturday during which he hit .353 (12-for-34) with a double, a triple, six runs scored, eight RBIs and three stolen bases.
Jason Hursh, RHP, Double-A Mississippi
Ranking: No. 7 prospect by Baseball America
After going 0-3 with an 8.56 ERA through his first seven starts, Hursh has had two straight quality starts thanks in part to an adjustment he made to help the command of his two-seam fastball. Hursh followed up his six shutout innings in a 1-0 win in Pensacola with another good outing in Jacksonville. He pitched 6 1/3 innings and gave up only two earned runs. He gave up 10 hits in the game but didn’t walk a batter for the first time all year and struck out five.
Ozhaino Albies, SS, low Single-A Rome
Ranking: No. 8 prospect by Baseball America
Albies has cooled off just a bit, but he’s putting up another strong month in his first full professional season. Albies hit .273 with one double, two triples, six RBIs, 15 runs scored and six stolen bases in 10 attempts in April. Entering Monday, he was hitting .284 in May with three doubles, two triples, 10 RBIs, 14 runs scored and 11 stolen bases in 13 attempts.
Braxton Davidson, LF, low Single-A Rome
Ranking: No. 12 prospect by Baseball America
Davidson used a three-hit game May 16 while playing in his hometown of Asheville, N.C., to help get him going at the plate. Last year’s first-round draft pick has collected hits in six of his eight games since. Starting that night in Asheville, he has batted .367 (11-for-30) with a home run in his past nine games to raise his season average from .212 to .248 entering Monday.
Rio Ruiz, 3B, Double-A Mississippi
Ranking: No. 11 prospect by Baseball America
Ruiz celebrated his 21st birthday on Friday and it was nice reprieve from what he’s been dealing with the first two months of the season. He endured an 0-for-26 stretch while watching his season average drop to .168. Ruiz doubled to break out of it and had hits in four of his next five games.
Tyrell Jenkins, RHP, Double-A Mississippi
Ranking: No. 13 prospect by Baseball America
Jenkins took a no-hitter into the sixth inning of his last start Friday night, that coming after throwing seven shutout innings the day Shelby Miller fell one out shy of a no-hitter for Atlanta. He did not allow a run until the eighth inning, when he gave up two, becoming the first Mississippi starter to work into the eighth this season. Jenkins is leading the team in innings pitched (52) and strikeouts (33), while going 3-2 with a 2.94 ERA.
Manny Banuelos, LHP, Triple-A Gwinnett
Ranking: No. 14 prospect by Baseball America
Banuelos snapped his streak of seven straight starts with at least five innings pitched when he lasted only 4 1/3 innings on Saturday at Columbus. But he still got good results, despite not pitching economically (90 pitches, only 52 strikes). He gave up just one run on four hits and combined with three other pitchers on a four-hitter. Banuelos has allowed one or no runs in each of his past five starts, while going 2-0 with a 1.32 ERA.
Mauricio Cabrera, RHP, high Single-A Carolina Mudcats
Ranking: 16th prospect by Baseball America
Cabrera gave up six runs while recording just one out in his last relief appearance for Carolina on Sunday to spoil what had been a good start to the season for the hard-throwing Dominican. Cabrera had done scoreless work in eight of his first 10 relief appearances. A hard-throwing righty, he went 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA in 22 games (five starts) last season for the Gulf Coast Braves and Lynchburg combined.
Mallex Smith, CF, Double-A Mississippi
Ranking: No. 17 prospect by Baseball America
First there was the 14-game hitting streak (hitting .364, 20-for-55), which was snapped on Tuesday. Now Smith has got another five-game hitting streak working with a five-game stolen base streak on top of it. Entering Monday’s game in Jacksonville, Smith had matched the third-longest stolen base streak of his career and was two shy of matching his career best of seven straight games with a steal which he did May 26-June 1, 2014. He stole 88 bases last season to lead the minors.
