Tate Southisene has had about the best start to his career that the Atlanta Braves could have dreamed of, putting together a monster campaign through a month and a half for Augusta and living up to his first round selection. His two RBI and home run led Augusta to a win to start their series. In Rome Cade Kuehler had a performance that will hopefully turn around his season, dicing through a lowly Brooklyn offense on his way to six hitless innings and his first win of the 2026 campaign.
(25-15) Gwinnett Stripers 6, (15-25) Durham Bulls 5
Statcast
- Jim Jarvis, SS: 2-4, .311/.420/.447
- Nacho Alvarez Jr., 3B: 1-4, RBI, .233/.326/.336
- Rowdy Tellez, 1B: 1-4, .235/.340/.513
- Anthony Molina, SP: 4.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 4.64 ERA
- Rolddy Munoz, RP: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0.57 ERA
The Gwinnett Stripers offense was on a scary trajectory through five innings, but turned the game around in a flash to sneak their way to a win in the series opener. Anthony Molina pitched a terrific game for the Stripers to keep them in the battle for the first half of the game, but through a combination of terrible luck and his own fielding mistakes he left the game trailing by a couple of runs. While the Gwinnett offense struggled to figure out Joe Boyle and company, notching one hit through five innings, Molina was forcing a slew of weak contact from Durham that still turned into seven hits allowed. A blooper from old pal Justyn-Henry Malloy put Molina into the stretch early in the third inning, and after a poor pickoff throw allowed Malloy to advance the Bulls were in position to strike first. The first solid hit of the game off of Molina chased Jim Jarvis deep into the hole, and though Jarvis was able to scoop and throw to first Rowdy Tellez couldn’t quite pick it and Malloy scored to give Durham a 1-0 lead. Molina’s next big mistake came in the fifth inning when two runners reached to lead off the inning and on a sacrifice bunt attempt he sailed the throw to first allowing another run to score. Still, even with those mistakes Molina pitched well enough to deserve a better result in the game, though the offense waited until he had hung the glove up for the day to kick it into gear.
The Gwinnett offense entered the sixth inning of this game with just one hit and no runs, but quickly flipped the game around with an outbreak of contact. A leadoff walk flipped the lineup over to Jim Jarvis, who was able to reach on an infield hit to start Gwinnett’s first real sniff of a rally. Nacho Alvarez Jr. put Gwinnett on the board with a classic swing, shooting a liner through the right side of the infield for a hit to score Gamel. These hits set off a chain of five straight Gwinnett singles, culminating in an Aaron Schunk chopper through the left side for the inning’s fourth run, and still no outs had been recorded in the inning. A double play snuffed out momentum for the moment, but the Stripers felt strong about their 4-2 lead. That was until Hunter Stratton immediately let up a couple of runs in the next half inning, resetting the game late for both sides. Gwinnett needed just a few pitches to answer back, however, as DaShawn Keirsey Jr. was able to carry a fly ball off of the top of the wall in left center field for a home run to lead off the seventh inning, and this time the bullpen held. A Brewer Hicklen solo shot in the bottom of the eighth inning extended the lead just enough, and Joel Payamps worked through a shaky ninth and stranded the tying run with a ABS-overturned pitch for a called strike three to end the game.
Swing and Misses
Anthony Molina – 9
Rolddy Munoz – 4
(16-17) Columbus Clingstones 2, (19-15) Knoxville Smokies 8
- Lizandro Espinoza, CF: 1-3, RBI, .286/.405/.551
- David McCabe, 3B: 1-4, RBI, .264/.358/.615
- Ian Mejia, SP: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K, 17.36 ERA
- Jhancarlos Lara, RP: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 10.24 ERA
It’s always more fun to look for a positive spin in any given game, but sometimes that is a bit tougher to do. There was little that stood out for the Clingstones either late or early, and fittingly they weren’t much in this game in the end despite a little taste of good pitching in the middle frames. On the offensive end the highlight of the entire season continues to be Lizandro Espinoza, who continued a breakout trajectory with another hit and two stolen bases in this game. It wasn’t the loudest game out there for Espinoza, but after getting hit by a pitch in the first inning he took off and stole his 15th bag of the season, putting himself in a spot to score on David McCabe’s single up the middle. Espinoza then drove in the only other run of the game, blistering a ball off of the left field wall for a single. Unfortunately the high of the fly ball caused the runners to hold and prevented Espinoza from adding an extra base hit to his resume, but nonetheless it was another example of Espinoza making loud contact. In addition to his improvement on batted balls Espinoza has his highest contact rate this season, largely as the result of an improved approach that has seen him be more selective with those swings. He has finally overtaken David McCabe for the system’s fourth high wRC+ at 148.
Ian Mejia has struggled to get over the hump the past two seasons, and it’s been a real lousy couple of outings since he came back to Columbus. In this one he was able to control the walks which plagues him in his inning a bit over a week ago, but the home runs remained and led to him allowing three runs over three innings. Certainly he was finer with his pitches than last time out but he doesn’t have the stuff to make mistakes in the zone and not get punished, and that has limited his ability to grow past an innings eater at the minor league level. The most encouraging outing was from Jhancarlos Lara, who struck out two batters and more importantly walked none in an inning of work. Lara has not looked comfortable at all on the mound this season and has had a concerning amount of control regression, but this was by far the best he has looked at any point this season. There is never going to be any question about the talent, but this sort of game has to happen more c0nsistently for him to get into any kind of talks.
Swing and Misses
Ian Mejia – 8
Jhancarlos Lara – 5
(19-15) Rome Emperors 2, (8-25) Brooklyn Cyclones 0
- Isaiah Drake, LF: 0-2, 2 BB, .293/.365/.511
- John Gil, SS: 0-3, BB, .298/.399/.496
- Eric Hartman, CF: 1-4, .328/.412/.695
- Cade Kuehler, SP: 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K, 6.04 ERA
It’s always good to start off the week with a win, but it’s an even more pleasant day to see someone who has struggled to find his footing this year finally have a day where everything goes his way. Cade Kuehler has had to battle everything under the sun in his starts this year, but a four pitch first inning set the tone for one of the best starts from any pitcher so far this season as Kuehler covered six hitless innings that only fell short of perfection due to an error and a hit batter. Control has been a sticking point for Kuehler, but he pounded the zone from the first batter he faced and was able to land his secondaries well. That was particularly apparent against left-handed batters, who had to contend with the best looking curveball-changeup combination I’ve ever seen from a Kuehler outing. He was able to feed both of those pitches at the bottom of the zone and they worked well off of each other, both being able to force swing and miss and keep lefty hitters in between those two options when he got into strikeout counts. The one snag was Kuehler’s slider which he never got particularly comfortable with, but it didn’t seem to hurt him as he was able to get outs early in counts against right handed hitters. Kuehler hummed through his six innings on a mere 59 pitches, and never had one of those stretches where he wasn’t landing his pitches where he wanted them. It’s unfair to expect this level of performance from Kuehler every time out, but as much as he has struggled this season, to see the proof that he is capable of getting outs at a high level has to be a relief for prospect watchers.
Kuehler was brilliants, but the offense had to settle for ‘just enough’, only notching four hits in the game and none with runners in scoring position. It was the eight walks in the game that really vaulted them over the edge, and of course the top four in the batting order were right in the thick of that. The bottom of the order had the first taste of success, however, with a Mason Guerra single and two walks loading the bases with two outs for the top of the order. Isaiah Drake just stood back and waited out a five pitch walk to force home the game’s first run, but a strikeout from John Gil ensured the team would have to settle for just that single run. They were right back on the horse the next inning, however, and this time they hit their way into a run. It wasn’t the breakout power from Eric Hartman that got it done this time, but a sharp grounder up the middle that perfectly split the infield to lead off a rally. Dixon Williams made his mark with a blooper that fell for a single, and a good read on the ball from Hartman allowed him to easily advance to third base with no outs in the inning. Cody Miller didn’t get all of a fly ball to dead center field, but he got it plenty deep enough to score Hartman. From there, Connor Thomas and his six strikeouts over three innings erased any hope of a resurgence from the Cyclones.
Swing and Misses
Cade Kuehler – 12
Connor Thomas – 11
(18-16) Augusta GreenJackets 4, (16-16) Myrtle Beach Pelicans 3
- Tate Southisene, 2B: 2-4, HR, BB, 2 RBI, .274/.431/.516
- Alex Lodise, SS: 0-3, 2 BB, .246/.321/.394
- Luis Guanipa, CF: 0-3, 2 BB, .304/.348/.536
- Logan Forsythe, SP: 1.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 4.70 ERA
- Aiven Cabral, RP: 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 2.48 ERA
May Tate Southisene has been a man amongst boys, continuing on his outstanding run of play to start his professional career. There’s really nothing else you can ask for at this point. I’ve been covering the Braves for this site since 2015, and in that time he has the 5th-most home runs in a season for a teenage Braves prospect in full season ball. That seems like a lot of qualifiers but that’s 51 people. He’s played 33 games and he’s already tied for fifth in home runs, and that’s a counting stat. His OBP, isolated power, slugging, OPS, and wRC+ are leaps above anyone else on this list. He had a missile in the second inning that went for an out because it was straight at the center fielder, but that was far from his last moment of the game. He tied the game in the seventh inning with that seventh home run of the season, and it was far from a cheap shot. He also had the go ahead hit in the game, though a chopper into the deep hole that he beat for an infield single is admittedly a bit less impressive than the other batted balls this game. Southisene has three extra base hits, three walks, five stolen bases, and one strikeout in his past three games. It’s rare to see a guy at this age seem just completely overpowered for full season ball, but Southisene doesn’t have a hole in his game that pitchers in Single-A are capable of consistently taking advantage of. Guys at higher levels with better command would certainly test his approach and ability to cover some pitches on the inner half, but even if the Braves aren’t likely to be eager to promote him given the depth they have on the infield at the lower levels he still seems like he could already handle High-A. That’s high praise for a guy with such little experience at the lower levels. He may have his slumps this season, but he’s shown not only the physical characteristics to hit for contact and power but the aptitude to make high-level adjustments mentally and physically in a short period of time.
Outside of Southisene it was a bit less of an exciting offensive showing. Luis Guanipa drew a couple of walks, a refreshing sign for him, and overall his swing rate is slowly trickling down while his contact rate is growing. Getting at least back to his norms in those categories is going to be a huge step in the right direction for him as he has obviously been otherwise phenomenal, though the three strikeouts this game were a bit of a shame. Still, seeing a healthy Guanipa is a complete change in explosiveness compared to the guy that was in Augusta in 2024 and 2025, and if the adjustments they are working on start to take shape he could earn a lot more attention moving into summer. The pitching staff carried in this one, but it actually didn’t seem like that would be the case early on. Logan Forsythe really struggled to throw strikes and only recorded four outs while issuing four walks and letting up three runs. That put the bullpen in the tricky spot of needing to cover 7 2/3 innings in the series opener, but boy did Aiven Cabral step up in a huge way. Cabral is just a depth guy for the system as he really doesn’t have enough power or movement to succeed at higher levels, but he has been uber-valuable for Augusta as a guy who can command three pitches and save arms out of the bullpen. He was brilliant with his arsenal tonight and made quality pitches consistently, and managed to work out six scoreless innings of relief to earn the win. His changeup was a particular star of the show for him and helped him carve through lefty hitters in the lineup. Cabral has earned a win in each of his past five starts, four in relief, to start the season 5-0.
Swing and Misses
Aiven Cabral – 15
Lewis Sifontes – 4
