Minor League Baseball is officially in full swing as Columbus and Augusta opened their seasons on Friday and the starting pitching for Atlanta’s farm affiliates absolutely dominated across the board.
(4-3) Gwinnett Stripers 8, (1-6) Round Rock Express 1
- Rowdy Tellez, 1B: 2-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI
- Jim Jarvis, SS: 3-5, RBI, 2 R
- Chadwick Tromp, DH: 1-3, HR, BB
- Didier Fuentes, SP: 3.2 IP, H, BB, 7 K
Simply put, Didier Fuentes look electric in his first start of the season for Gwinnett as he stretches back out to fill a much-needed rotation spot in Atlanta down the road.
Across 3.2 innings of work, the 20-year-old struck out seven batters while surrendering just one hit and one walk.
Fuentes’
velocity was top tier, as his fastball — which he threw 40 times — topped out at 99.5 miles per hour on the night while averaging a gaudy 97.3 miles per hour. The biggest thing in Fuentes’ performance, however, is the fact only two of his 72 pitches were hit “hard” into fair territory, according to Baseball Savant.
Across less than four innings of work, Fuentes managed to get a remarkable 12 swings and misses.
Offensively, things went swimmingly for the Stripers as Rowdt Tellez homered not once, but twice on the night including a 104.2 MPH, three-run shot in the top of the ninth.
Jim Jarvis continues to rake at the plate as he went 3-5 with an RBI and two runs scored in Gwinnett’s win.
Batting a cool .393 with an OPS of 1.036, Jarvis has gotten off to the hottest start among Atlanta’s positional prospects. What could be the biggest difference Jarvis — albeit the fact it’s still extremely early in the season — is that he is striking out at a much lower clip of 17% this year compared to seasons past.
Sure, it’s only a handful of games to start the year, but it’s an encouraging sign for a franchise in desperate need of solid positional prospects in the upper minors.
(0-1) Columbus Clingstones 6, (1-0) Chattanooga Lookouts 8
- David McCabe, 1B: 2-4, HR, 2 RBI
- Tristin English, RF: 2-5, HR, RBI, 2 R
- Owen Murphy, SP: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K
Columbus, like Rome and Augusta, kicked off their season on Friday and while the final score may not have been where they had preferred, there were several individual performances to write home about.
Above all else is Owen Murphy who, despite giving up a two-run homer in the first inning, put up solid numbers in his first start.
Across 5.2 innings, Murphy settled down after that first inning snafu and bounced back to strike out 10 batters on the night while holding Chattanooga to just three hits and two runs.
Of his 85 pitches, 58 were for strikes and got 15 swings and misses on the night as well, which led all double-A pitchers on Friday.
At the plate, David McCabe — who returns to Columbus to start the year after a brief stint with Gwinnett to end 2025 — homered while newcomer Tristin English also knocked one over the fence as well.
(1-1) Rome Emperors 8, (1-1) Asheville Tourists 6
- Isaiah Drake, RF: 2-5, HR, 3 RBI
- Eric Hartman, CF: 2-4, 2B, 3B, RBI
- Cam Caminiti, SP: 4.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Keeping with a trend on Friday, Cam Caminiti got the start on the mound for Rome and put up decent numbers as well.
Across 4.2 innings of work, the lefty gave up three runs, but also struck out six batters during the process as well — including a beautifully placed back foot breaking ball for his first strikeout of the night and a dot of a changeup in the fourth inning to get an Asheville batter looking.
While Caminiti dealt, his offense wasted no time in providing run support.
Isaiah Drake and Eric Hartman shouldered most of the load for Rome, as Drake launched a three-run homer after turning on an inside breaking ball and pulling it over the right field wall to extend the Emperors’ lead to 7-1 in the fourth inning. Drake also tallied a stolen base on the night, bringing his early season total to three swipes in two games.
Drake also made an impressive leaping catch in the top of the sixth to take away what would have likely been extra bases as well.
As for Hartman, it’s safe to say he put one of his best tools — his speed — to excellent use on Friday as he managed to rip an RBI-triple into the right field corner and tallied a double to the same spot.
(0-1) Augusta GreenJackets 3, (1-0) Fredericksburg Nationals 5
- Nick Montgomery, C: 1-2, HR, RBI, 2 BB
- Luis Guanipa, RF: 2-4, 2 2B, R
- Conor Essenburg, CF: 1-4, RBI, BB
- Ethan Bagwell, SP: 6 IP, BB, 6 K
Among the more under-the-radar performances on Friday was Ethan Bagwell who got the start in Augusta’s season opener against Fredericksburg.
Going up against names like Fuentes, Murphy and Caminiti means you probably won’t get top billing in any prospect reports on most nights — to no fault of his own, as Bagwell was simply dominant in his own right.
Not only did Bagwell toss six scoreless innings for the GreenJackets, he also held the Nationals hitless through those six innings of work before giving way to the bullpen. The only blemish on his record for the night was that he issued one walk.
Bagwell last season pitched to a 3.05 ERA in 59.1 innings of work as it was really the first time we got an extended look at the young righty. What he ended up showing us is a high-octane fastball that he’s able to throw and make it look effortless in the process, while also possessing solid command as well.
Again, he may not get the spotlight like other pitching prospects in Atlanta’s system, but that will almost certainly change by the end of this season for Bagwell who has as high a ceiling as any prospect.
While Bagwell was absolutely dominating, the GreenJackets got some encouraging performances at the dish as well, including from catcher Nick Montgomery who homered while also drawing two walks in the process. For a guy who struggled mightily at the plate a year ago, that’s hopefully a sign of better things to come for him.
Luis Guanipa got the start in right field while 2025 draftee Conor Essenburg made his professional debut in center field — which was a bit shocking as he profiles more as a corner outfielder. Nevertheless, Guanipa laced two doubles and scored a run on the night, while Essenburg went 1-4 with an RBI and a walk to his credit in his first game.
