As the major league postseason churns on, a handful of Braves farmhands are making an impact in the Arizona Fall League. Let’s dive into Friday’s action.
(1-5) Glendale River Dogs 9, (5-1) Salt River Rafters 13
- Owen Carey, RF: 2-3, RBI, R, BB
- Isaiah Drake, DH: 1-2, R
- Briggs McKenzie, SP: 2.2 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
- Tyler LaPorte, RP: IP, 2 K
Box Score
Briggs McKenzie made his second start of the postseason, but it unfortunately did not go all that well for the lefthander.
While his first start a week ago was fairly solid despite a few command issues, McKenzie was tagged for eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits and a pair of walks before being pulled with two gone in the third inning.
On the one hand, the baseline numbers weren’t great Friday. On the other hand, the underlying metrics were still impressive for McKenzie.
Overall, he registered seven whiffs on the night, while his fastball generated four of those, which was good for a 33.3% clip.
The biggest issue for McKenzie was the fact he left a good number of changeups and sliders up in the zone, which doesn’t bode well for a guy who needs the upper part of the zone for his fastball to be effective.
It’s probably just a blip on his resume given the fact he hasn’t pitched since late June, and it’ll be interesting to see how his next start goes.
On another pitching note, reliever Tyler LaPorte came on to toss the final inning for Glendale and pitched a scoreless frame while striking out a pair. Overall, LaPorte has yet to allow a run during his AFL stint.
At the plate, Owen Carey came through with an RBI by lacing a two-out single into right centerfield to tie things up at 1-1 in the top of the second.
On the season, albeit a short stint, Carey is hitting an even .300 with a .762 OPS.
Later in the game, Isaiah Drake came on as a pinch hitter and managed to register an infield single as well.
