Mississippi Braves

Well Mississippi could largely be considered a dissappointment solely on the shoulders of Jarrod Saltallamacchia's first half performance. The consensus top catching prospect in baseball ended the first half going on the DL with an batting average south of .200 and only 4 homers (none since may). Surprisingly many people in the Braves organization (and outside it) haven't even given up hope. Salty has said he is working on his defense, but that seems skeptical. He went on the DL with a wrist injury. I wonder how long he has had that, because wrist injuries can be significant. Also reasons for optimism are he was HUGE in the second half last year at the Beach and maybe that injury will heal just right. Again, I'm not giving up hope, just worried right now. There have been some bright spots for the M- Braves, who finished 31-38 in the first half standings. Matt Wright has been outstanding, starting the AA all star game for the Southern League. He went 7-3 with 84 Ks in 89 inn. pitched against only 28 BBs and a 2.22 ERA. Now he is a little old for AA at this point (24) and recently got a promo to AAA. We'll see how that goes. Yunel Escobar has been steady for Miss. but without much power. His slg. is .383 but his OBP is .373 with a .284 average; so he is taking some walks while playing some 3B and 2B. Brandon Jones (one of my fav prospects) has also held his own recently since a promo to AA. Even flashing a little more power than expected. It seems his power comes in spurts but throughout the season he has maintained his good plate discipline while learning the nuances of the game. Matt Harrison was recently promoed to AA while Anthony Lerew was demoted. Lerew has pitched well since being reunited with Bruce Del Canton and Harrison has been stable. We'll see how both of those play out in the long haul.