Roundup: Braves promote Wright, Allard
The Braves are making big moves -- of the internal variety.The organization is promoting No. 25 overall prospectKyle Wright from Double-A Mississippi to Triple-A Gwinnett and No. 93 prospect Kolby Allard to make his Major League debut on Tuesday. Jon Heyman of Fancred first had the Wright news while David O'Brien of
The Braves are making big moves -- of the internal variety.
The organization is promoting No. 25 overall prospect
Wright had been listed as the Mississippi starter Monday night but was scratched, leading to speculation about whether he'd been traded.
Wright has posted a 3.70 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP with 105 strikeouts and 43 walks in 109 1/3 innings with Mississippi, but has been been much better recently with the Double-A club. Over his last seven starts, the 22-year-old right-hander owns a 2.33 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 46 1/3 innings -- 13 of which came in a June 26 outing against Jacksonville.
The Braves got aggressive with Wright in his first full season after taking him fifth overall in 2017 out of Vanderbilt. It took him some time to adjust to the Double-A Southern League, but even when the results weren't astounding, he still showed impressive stuff with three plus pitches in his fastball, curveball and slider and another above-average offering in his changeup. He demonstrated his velocity playing for the U.S. team at the Futures Game, where he retired both World batters he faced and hit 96.8 mph on the radar gun.
Allard has been a much steadier performer, despite playing the entire season as a 20-year-old at Triple-A. The southpaw has put up a 2.80 ERA (third-best in the International League) and 1.21 WHIP with 87 strikeouts and 33 walks in 109 1/3 innings this season. He last pitched on July 22 when he gave up one earned run on three hits and two walks while fanning six over five innings against Pawtucket.
The 6-foot-1 left-hander doesn't have overpowering stuff, but he makes his arsenal play up with above-average command and control. His changeup is considered his only truly plus pitch, but his curveball also receives above-average grades.
The Braves are in all-hands-on-deck mode as they sit 1 1/2 games behind the Phillies in the National League East and 1 1/2 games back of the Brewers for the final NL Wild Card spot.
The top Angels prospect is leaving Class A Advanced Inland Empire to join Double-A Mobile, the latter announced Monday. It is the 19-year-old's second promotion this season.
Adell opened the year with Class A Burlington and posted a .326/.398/.611 line with 14 extra-base hits, 29 RBIs and 23 runs scored in 25 games. He had 10 games with at least three hits for the Bees, including four four-hit efforts. He got the nod to join the 66ers on May 22.
It was more of the same for the 2017 No. 10 overall pick with Inland Empire as he rattled off a 13-game hitting streak and had a stretch where he hit safely in 23 of 24 games. His time with the 66ers ends after posting a .290/.345/.546 line. He knocked 12 homers, drove in 42 runs and scored 46 times in 57 games. He also turned in 18 multi-hit performances -- seven of them featuring at least three hits. In 131 Minor League games, Adell has a .310 average with 23 home runs and 101 RBIs.
The No. 16 prospect in baseball, according to MLB.com, represented the Angels at the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game in Washington D.C. on July 15. He also received MiLB.com's California League Player of the Week honors twice this season and was named the circuit's Player of the Month in June.
Drafted out of Ballard High School in Louisville, Adell received Gatorade Kentucky Baseball Player of the Year honors after his senior season, in which he led all high school hitters with 25 home runs and posted a .562 batting average with 61 RBIs, 22 stolen bases, and 53 runs scored.
The No. 5 overall pick in this year's Draft has been promoted to Class A Dayton, the Reds affiliate announced Monday. This move to a full-season circuit comes after India spent 14 games at Rookie-level Greeneville in the Appalachian League and three with Rookie-level Billings in the Pioneer League. The 21-year-old, right-handed batter hit .259/.444/.500 with three homers, 15 walks and 16 strikeouts over 17 games between the two clubs.
Coming out of the University of Florida, India has above-average hit, run, arm and fielding tools, leading to his high spot in the 2018 Draft. Despite being drafted as a third baseman, he has also played shortstop during his brief time in the Cincinnati system, including in all three of his games with Billings.
It was a big day for recent Astros first-rounders on Monday with the organization reassigning both 2018 28th overall pick
After a dominant run at Clemson, Beer has had few issues transitioning to the pro game. The 21-year-old outfielder produced a .348/.443/.491 line with three homers and seven doubles in 29 games at Quad Cities before the promotion. He's hit seven homers in 40 games as a pro, including his stint with Class A Short Season Tri-City.
The 2018 season has been much more difficult for Bukauskas, who missed two months of action due to a back injury related to a car accident this spring. After making two starts for Quad Cities in April, he didn't return to the River Bandits until July 20, following rehab stops in the Gulf Coast and New York-Penn Leagues. The right-hander posted a 4.20 ERA with 21 strikeouts and seven walks in his four starts (15 innings) in the Midwest League. He hasn't pitched more than five innings in a start this season, and the 85 pitches in his last outing Friday were a season high.