The affiliates left much to be desired on Thursday evening, but the one man who kept his great season rolling was David McCabe. McCabe has homered in half of Columbus’s games so far, and his performance led to the only win in the system. In Augusta Luis Arestigueta made his season debut and looked sharp, striking out six batters over three innings.
(7-5) Gwinnett Stripers 3, (6-5) Nashville Sounds 6
- Jim Jarvis, SS: 1-4, HR, 3 RBI, .356/.463/.511
- Rowdy Tellez, 1B: 0-3, BB, .167/.279/.389
- Carlos Carrasco, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 2.40 ERA
- Hayden Harris, RP: 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 6.23 ERA
It was a drag on the offensive end for the Gwinnett Stripers, who struggled to get anything going throughout this game save for a single
big swing from Jim Jarvis. While the Sounds were applying steady pressure throughout the game the Stripers had no real signs of life with two outs in the fifth inning, when Sandy Leon poked a bloop hit the other way for just his second hit this season. On the very next pitch Brewer Hicklen hit a sharp liner back up the middle and into center field, and for the first time in the game Gwinnett was threatening a bit with two runners on and the top of the order up to bat. With the game sitting on a one run margin Jarvis had a chance to make a huge impact on this game, and the Sounds were giving him a diet of sliders on the inning half of the plate. When the count ran to 2-2 Jarvis got a slider that stayed in the top of the zone and he turned on it, hooking it fair down the right field line and into the visitor bullpen for a three-run home run. Aaron Shunk got Gwinnett right back rolling with their fourth straight hit, but the fun ended on a Rowdy Tellez strikeout and the Sounds clawed those runs back in the late innings. In the sixth the Stripers had a huge chance to score after a Ben Gamel leadoff walk that was followed by a double from Jose Azocar, but the left fielder cut the ball off before it could reach the wall and held Gamel at third base. The next two Stripers struck out with runners in scoring position, and Leon ended the inning with an infield pop up, spoiling what would be by far the biggest chance for Gwinnett in the later half of the game. Hicklen’s single to lead off the next inning was the final hit they would get in the game, and even he didn’t last on the basepaths when a laser from Schunk went straight at the third baseman with Hicklen running, turning into an inning-ending double play.
While the offense was in the pits Carlos Carrasco kept Gwinnett around in this game with a strong outing that saw him cover five innings of one-run ball. His early inning work was a bit shaky with the first two batters netting singles and former Striper Eddys Leonard tagging him for a second inning home run, but he found a rhythm quickly and begin retiring the order with ease. Carrasco allowed only one hit over the final three innings, and after that swing from Jarvis he was in line for a win. Unfortunately that lead would quickly dwindle and flip, as Anthony Molina had an outing that was marked by a huge defensive mistake. Though Molina was shaky and gave up a lot of contact, in the sixth inning he had the Sounds down to the final out with two runners on and none in, and he forced a soft roller over to the left side. Luke Williams made the pick and tossed to first, but put it in the dirt and the ball got past Tellez allowing two runners to score and tie the game. Molina came in for another inning and once again Eddys Leonard made his presence felt, hitting his second home run of the game to give the Sounds the lead and in the end the game. The only pitcher to slow him down was Hayden Harris, who appeared in the ninth inning just to face Leonard. A caught stealing accounted for the second out while Harris was on the mound, and Harris needed just four fastballs to retire Leonard on swings.
Swing and Misses
Carlos Carrasco – 15
Anthony Molina – 5
(2-4) Columbus Clingstones 2, (3-2) Montgomery Biscuits 3
- Lizandro Espinoza, CF: 1-3, 2 BB, .238/.407/.429
- David McCabe, 3B: 1-3, HR, 2 BB, .353/.542/.882
- Ambioris Tavarez, 2B: 1-3, BB, RBI, .273/.429/.545
- Owen Murphy, SP: 2.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 5.40 ERA
- Jhancarlos Lara, RP: 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 6.75 ERA
The Clingstones had some issues making contact in this game, recording 13 strikeouts and only six hits, but the Biscuits issued free pass after free pass to the top of the lineup and eventually they would take advantage of the wildness of the Montgomery staff. First, they walked the bases loaded with no outs in the first inning, only for a strikeout and a double play to eliminate a huge threat. Montgomery took the lead in the bottom of the first inning, and after three innings held fast to a 3-0 advantage. The second time through the order David McCabe made an impact with the lumber, crushing a monster home run to center field to put the Clingstones on the board. Jordan Groshans made it back-to-back home runs to pull Columbus within a run, but the fireworks faded and Columbus went back to struggling in key moments with runners on. In the top of the eighth inning they had another good chance with the top of the order up to bat, and once again the Biscuits issued three consecutive walks to load the bases. With the tying run on second base Drew Compton hit a dangerous grounder over to the right side of the infield, but the second baseman bobbled the ball a bit after tagging out Jordan Groshans, and that delay ensured that Compton had plenty of time to get to first and prevent the double play. Adam Zebrowski tied the game up with a base hit, a feat matched by Ambioris Tavarez who landed an inside-out liner just inside the right field line to give Columbus their first lead of the day. A wild pitch scored one more and Ethan Workinger fit a chopper perfectly between second base and short, extending the inning to a five run outburst and giving Columbus a comfortable lead.
Owen Murphy really struggled in this game as he could not find his command at all and Montgomery took advantage quickly. Murphy walked four batters and hit another, and never really seemed to settle in with the command of any of his pitches. In the third inning he allowed that hit batter and three walks in a span of just five batters, and after a base hit forced in the third run allowed Murphy was yanked from the game for Samuel Strickland. This was a highly out of character outing for Murphy, whose last remotely similar game as a professional came on July 20, 2023 when he walked four and struck out four over three innings. It’s just the third time he’s walked more hitters than he has struck out as a professional. After a shaky opener last week Jhancarlos Lara got back in the saddle with a good performance, limiting the action to just one walk and no hits over 1 2/3 innings and earning the win. The same cannot be said of Elison Joseph, who managed to not allow any runs despite walking four of the nine batters he faced. Joseph had a terrific outing last week and gave some hope he may turn things around after a disappointing regression last season, but this is more of the old ways we saw last season where he really seems to have no idea where the ball is going.
Swing and Misses
Jhancarlos Lara – 4
Samuel Strickland – 4
(3-3) Rome Emperors 5, (4-2) Bowling Green Hot Rods 10
- Isaiah Drake, DH: 2-5, .259/.333/.481
- Cody Miller, SS: 1-5, 2B, RBI, .208/.269/.292
- Cedric De Grandpre, SP: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 6.35 ERA
It’s been a rough start to the season for Cedric De Grandpre and his command, as both outings have featured him struggling to find the strike zone. His first outing features enough control to work around his bad moments and keep a good final line, but in this one it was all over the place and he ran out of leash quickly. The first inning was solid enough despite a walk, but it all fell apart after a leadoff home run in the second inning. De Grandpre allowed three hits and two walks before being pulled, and if it wasn’t for a failed double steal attempt it could have been an even uglier line. Colin Burgess recording two caught stealing in the inning really kept the game reasonable for the time being, but that didn’t last. Jacob Shafer let up three more runs in the next inning, and just a third of the way through the game was already out of hand. After Shafer gave up two more runs in the fourth inning it was a beat down, and all of Rome’s runs came with the game well in hand.
The Rome lineup had all sorts of trouble with Bowling Green starter Jacob Kisting, who struck out the side in the first inning. It took four innings before a bloop single from Colby Jones had the Emperors in the hit column, but all the while Bowling Green was scoring the Emperors had no real answer. Logan Braunschweig finally got some good lumber on the ball and led off in the fifth inning with a single, and despite no more hits in the inning he was able to advance and score to get Rome off of the goose egg before Kisting left the game. Immediately the Emperors had more success against the mop up guys for Bowling Green, with Eric Hartman drawing a walk and scoring a run on a Mason Guerra double. Still the top of the order didn’t really have much say (especially with Gil and Owen Carey both sitting this one out), but that would change in the seventh inning. Isaiah Drake floated a single into center field to put runners on the corner, bringing up Cody Miller who has really struggled in the few games he’s played this year. He had a great swing in this at bat, though, hitting a deep fly ball to left field that fell for a corner and brought in Miller’s first RBI of the season. Isaiah Drake has struggled a bit with an elevated strikeout rate in the small sample so far this season, and there is a level of expectation that will happen as he tries to tap into his power more often, but it doesn’t seem to be a matter of any swing deficiencies causing it. His timing is fine and he’s making solid contact when he does get to the ball, so with a bigger sample size he should start to see his strikeout rate trickle back down to the impressive numbers we saw last season. He has, at least in this sample, been a lot more patient than he was in his 32 games in High-A last season. He got far too aggressive last season on borderline pitches and his walk rate plummeted after being promoted, but in his leadoff role this season he is showing a good eye and attacking the pitches he wants to hit more often, another good sign for him in the few times we’ve gotten to see him.
Swing and Misses
Cedric De Grandpre – 7
Jacob Kroeger – 6
Isaac Gallegos – 5
(2-4) Augusta GreenJackets 2, (2-4) Delmarva Shorebirds 7
- Tate Southisene, DH: 0-2, 2 BB, .261/.469/.391
- Alex Lodise, SS: 1-4, .321/.387/.393
- Luis Guanipa, CF: 2-5, .348/.400/.435
- Landon Biedelschies, SP: 3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 15.00 ERA
- Luis Arestigueta, RP: 3 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 2.25 ERA
If you were hoping for a happy ending to a pretty lackluster day on the farm it’s not going to come in Augusta, as the GreenJackets had their worst collective offensive performance of the young season. Five hits to 15 strikeouts is never the ratio you want to see, and even some of the game’s bright spots came with their caveats. Tate Southisene drew two walks, but also struck out in his first two at bats both on pitches out of the strike zone. Southisene has been a bit off at the plate so far this season, with a handful of ugly at bats and a lot of swing-and-miss with an approach that’s bordered on too patient early in counts. Now, it could be the Braves trying to get him to see pitches, a teaching style that has become more common to the Braves in recent years, but it’s the contact that’s been the most unfortunate. So far it’s been mostly soft ground balls from Southisene and it’s clear the approach on what pitches he can drive needs a bit of work. Luis Guanipa had a couple of hits, one a hard hit line drive up the middle, but it’s been more of the same for him early this season. While he has the bat speed and barrel presence to make contact at a high rate he just swings at way too much and his swing mechanics aren’t consistent enough for him to drive the ball. The lack of walks is getting scarier and scarier and his swing decisions need to take a massive leap to get him to a point he can compete at the High-A level and make that jump.
Thursday featured two good Landon Beidelschies innings and one very sad one. Beidelschies was leaning heavily on his slider this outing, and while he mostly kept it in the zone and low in the early innings as he kept pounding them in there they started to get higher and more on his arm side. His release point deteriorated the deeper he went into the game. and the Shorebirds were all over anything he left in the strike zone. They racked up six straight hits in the third inning and scored five runs before Beidelschies was finally able to pick off a runner and get a strikeout to escape the nightmare. The most promising performance for either side of the ball came by Luis Arestigueta, who was terrific in his relief appearance finishing this game. Arestigueta commanded his fastball and slider well, and with the quality of those pitches he can always have some success if he stays around the zone. He slider had a sharp bite off the plate and he showed a more vertical fastball, one he was able to put at the top of the zone and get hitters to swing under. He hit a bit of a wall in the third inning and issued a walk, hit a batter, then walked another, but he settled back down with a strikeout and retired the final three guys in the inning. After a disappointing 2025 season this is a huge start to the year for Arestigueta, who has a great base with his slider and projectability. He didn’t utilize the changeup in this offering and that’s still a distant third pitch for him, but the main goal for him will be to stay in the rotation and get more than 42 innings this season.
Swing and Misses
Luis Arestigueta – 10
Landon Biedelschies – 8
Cristobal Abreu – 3
