Waters, Gausman named Farm Bureau Player and Pitcher of the Week

PEARL, MS - Mississippi Braves outfielder Drew Waters  and right-handed pitcher Kevin Gausman have been named Farm Bureau Player and Pitcher of the Week. The awards were given for their performances for the M-Braves from July 8-15.

Waters, 20, the No. 4 overall prospect for the Atlanta Braves hit .391 (9-for-23) with two doubles, three runs, three RBI, one walk, one stolen base and .400 on-base percentage in six games last week, upping his season hit total to a professional baseball leading 122 over 91 games. 
Waters became the first player in the Southern League and Double-A baseball to the 100-hit mark on June 30 and the first player in MLB and MiLB to 120 hits on July 13 in his 89th game. The Woodstock, Georgia native is on pace for 185 hits this season which would which blow past the M-Braves record of 148 set by Ernesto Mejia in 2011 and Dustin Peterson in 2016. He has four four-hit games this season and a league-best 35 multi-hit games. The league record for hits in a season is 187, set in 1981, by Chattanooga's (CLE) Kevin Rhomberg. 

Over 91 games, Waters leads Double-A Baseball in hits (122) (next closest with 103), 186 total bases, 31 doubles 45 extra-base hits and second with a .339 batting average. Waters leads the league in seven categories, AVG (.339, by .33 points), hits (122), doubles (31), triples (9), XBH, (45), total bases (186) and runs (56). He ranks second in OPS (.898), third in OBP (.381) and fifth in slugging (.517). 

The second-youngest player in the Southern League is batting a league-best .438 (21-for-48) in July with five doubles, a triple, five RBI, four walks and .472 OBP.

This is the fourth weekly award for the Atlanta Braves second-round selection in the 2017 draft out of Etowah High School (GA). 

Gausman, 28, made one start for the M-Braves last week, allowing just one unearned run on three hits with no walks and three strikeouts, settling for a no-decision in Mississippi's series-opening 3-1 extra-inning win at Jacksonville on Thursday night. The start was Gausman's second on a Major League rehab assignment after being placed on the 10-day injured list by Atlanta with plantar fasciitis on his right foot on June 11. 

The former fourth-overall selection in 2012 by Baltimore needed just 92 pitches (75 strikes) in the outing. Over two rehab starts, Gausman has allowed three earned runs on eight hits over 11.0 innings with seven strikeouts and one walk. In 13 starts this season for Atlanta, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana native is 2-5 with a 6.21 ERA (43 ER/62.1 IP), 24 walks and 64 strikeouts. Gausman's best start this season was his third career game of 10+ strikeouts on April 17, when he fanned 10 Diamondbacks at SunTrust Park.

Gausman made ten starts for Atlanta in 2018 after being acquired from Baltimore and went 5-3 with a 2.87 ERA (19 ER/59.2 IP). His five wins with the Braves were the most for an Atlanta pitcher acquired in-season since 2000, when Andy Ashby went 8-6 over 15 turns with Atlanta after being acquired from Philadelphia.

The Braves brought Gausman over from the O's along with RHP Darren O'Day in exchange for INF Jean Carlos Encarnacíon, C Brett Cumberland, RHP Evan Phillips, LHP Bruce Zimmermann and international signing slots on July 31, 2018 He was initially selected fourth overall by the Orioles out of LSU in the first round of the 2012 draft.

The M-Braves return to Trustmark Park for one more homestand this month, July 18-21 against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Visit mississippibraves.com for tickets or call 888-BRAVES4.