Braves Briefing: Ignacio Alvarez is Atlanta's first-half minor-league MVP
Atlanta's big league team has had an amazing season so far, being the first team to 60 wins and absolutely tearing through the month of June.
Atlanta's farm system, consistently ranked in the bottom five in baseball, hasn't been so lucky. The Braves four full-season affiliates all finished the first half with losing records, and Braves hitters were (collectively) last in the minors in average (.230), runs (1,457), hits (2,415), doubles (456), and RBIs (1,336). With the strength of this system being pitching, it'd make sense that the offense would be lacking a bit until Atlanta was able to restock the system with some high-impact bats.
But one hitter has stood out in the minor leagues for Atlanta: SS Ignacio Alvarez. A 2022 5th rounder out of Riverside City College in California, "Nacho" finished the first half with a .297/.411/.420 slash line and 22 extra base hits in his 78 games, going 14/19 on stolen bases and walking 50 times to 54 strikeouts in High-A Rome.
Baseball America ($) named him Atlanta's first half MVP, pointing out that he may be the hitter to emerge from a system rich in young pitching prospects with upside to crack a Top 100 prospect list in the future.
With eight of the nine spots on the diamond locked up long-term, Atlanta's looking for more quality than quantity from their position players, and Alvarez appears to be one a high-quality piece for the Atlanta Braves going forward.
NL East Standings
| Team | Record | Games Back | Action Today |
|---|---|---|---|
Atlanta | 61-31 | -- | vs Diamondbacks |
Miami | 53-43 | 10.0 | @ Cardinals |
Philadelphia | 51-42 | 10.5 | vs Brewers |
NY Mets | 43-50 | 18.5 | vs White Sox |
Washington | 38-56 | 24.0 | @ Cubs |
We Wrote It
Braves Today's Jake Mastroianni talked about the potential to link back up with frequent trade partner Detroit on some trade deadline moves for pitching reinforcements:
Michael Lorenzen makes more sense as he's a rental that probably won't cost as much and he can give you solid innings as a fourth or fifth starter. The .251 xBA, 4.21 xERA, and just 19.5 percent strikeout rate aren't all that encouraging, but he doesn't walk a lot and has gone at least 5 innings in 15 straight starts -- he's worked into the sixth inning in 10 of those 15 starts.
Another great thing about Lorenzen is that he has experience in the bullpen, so if the need in the rotation goes away he could become a solid setup or long reliever.
Because he's a rental, he'll probably be an attractive option at the deadline. But maybe a straight-up swap for Jared Shuster or Dylan Dodd could get it done. That would give them a solid back-of-the-rotation option with a lot of control.
Check out the whole piece HERE.
What's next for the Atlanta Braves?
After a much needed actual off day (the All Star Break wasn't much of a break for half the roster), Atlanta hosts Arizona in a rematch of a three game series that Atlanta won in the desert in early June. Game one of the matchup with the Diamondbacks is at 7:20 PM ET. The game broadcast, with Voice of the Braves Brandon Gaudin, is available inside Braves Country on Bally Sports Southeast and is available on MLB.TV outside of the broadcast area. The radio call, with Ben Ingram, is available locally on 680 AM/93.7 FM The Fan or outside the Atlanta market on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network or MLB.com.
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