Strong left-handed arms are worth their weight in gold in a major league farm system, so it was no small deal when the Braves placed a pair of promising left-ihanders, Chuck Buchanan and Luis Merejo, on the 60-day disabled llist Saturday.
No details on injury was provided, but the July 27th assures the players thay they will not be seeing any more regular season action in 2013.
But just exactly who have the Braves lost?
Buchanan was the 19th round pick in this summer's June draft, a big (6-5, 220) college veteran out of Cal-Bakersfield. In fact, he was one of four lefties the Braves drafted in five rounds as they apparenently sensed a glut of lefty talent still available. But Buchanan only pitched twice for Danville, the latest appearance on July 7.
Merejo is an even bigger disappointment. Not scheduled to turn 19 until after the season, he was Baseball America's 22nd-ranked Braves prospect despite his 0-5 debut in the DSL as a 17-year-old. This year, the promise was becomeing apparent: in two different stops, he pitched in five games for a total of 16 innings wiith 12 strikeouts, just 11 hits allowed and a perrfect 0.00 ERA.
He final appearance was a solid inning on July 20th.
It's premature to know what lay ahead for the pitchers, but the Braves had to shut one one of their top 2012 draftees, Doug Peterson, for Tommy John surgery early in the seaons and the breakdown of their big league bullpen is well documented. And we still don't know the extent of the damage in J.R. Graham's shoulder. And Cory Gearrin still hasn't pitched since his return to the minors.
One encouraging note is that Sean Gilmartin has already made one rehab start as he returns from his own shoulder troubles.
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SUNDAY'S GAMES
CLASS AAA
Charlotte 6, Gwinnett (46-63) 1
LP: Bisenius (3-4) 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K .
Carrithers 1-3; Boggs 1-3, RBI; Mejia 1-3, 2B; Leonard 1-3.
CLASS AA
Mississippi (17-16) 12, Montgomery 6
WP: Northcraft (5-8) 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 K.
Salcedo 1-4, 3 SB (17); Hefflinger 1-3, 2B, 2 R, 3 RBI; Luna 4-5, 2 2B, 3 R, RBI; La Stella 1-2, R, 2 BB; Bethancourt 2-6, 2B, R, RBI; Jones 1-4, R, 2 RBI, SB; Martinez 1-3, R, RBI; Pedroza 2-5, 2B, 3 R, RBI.
ADVAMCED CLASS A
Lynchburg, idle.
CLASS A
Rome (16-20) 9, Asheville 3 (17 total hits)
SP: Hursh 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R. 1 BB, 5 K. (0.00)
WP: Briceno (4-7) 3.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K.
Kalenkosky 2-5, R, RBI; Meneses 3-5, R, RBI, SB; Wren 1-5, R, RBI, 2 SB (17); Tewell 2-5, 2 R, HR (8th), 2 RBI; Heffley 3-5, 2B, 3B, R, RBI; Carroll 2-4, 2 RBI, SB; Peraza 1-5, R.
SHORT-SEASON
Danville (18-16) 4, Burlington 2
WP: Flores (2-1) 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB<, 6 K. Swanner (Save, 3) 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K.
Shrader 1-4, HR (4th), RBI; Reynolds 3-4, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI; Camargo 2-4, 2B, R, RBI.