After the excitement of Project Birmingham at the end of the 2022 season, the Barons have yet to recapture the energy from the players who hung around. Injuries have sapped production, of course, with Colson Montgomery and Bryan Ramos on the IL, and José Rodríguez just coming off it.
But then you have somebody like Luis Mieses, who legitimately earned his late-season promotion to Birmingham last season by hitting .281/.324/.448 with Winston-Salem. Then he nearly duplicated that line in 23 games with the Barons (.299/.333/.433).
This time around, Mieses is hitting .267/.,290/.384, and he didn't hit a homer until Wednesday night.
But what's more noteworthy is the lack of contact. Even before Mieses developed into a prospect worth following, he never struck out all that much. His K rate only topped 20 percent in any one assignment, and just barely: 20.5 percent over his first 58 games with the Dash in 2021.
This year, Mieses is striking out 27.8 percent of the time. What gives?
It's probably the baseball. Baseball America joined The Athletic in reporting on the Southern League's experiment with the "enhanced grip" ball, and the tackier cover is messing with the entire pitcher-hitter balance. BA's Kyle Glaser talked to Montgomery manager Morgan Ensberg, who said that some pitchers in Tampa Bay's system are getting up to 26 inches of carry, when no MLB pitcher is even averaging 21.
Pitchers love it. Hitters, not so much.
“As hitters it’s almost ridiculous,” one Southern League position player wrote in a Twitter message to reporters last week. “We have pitchers with average stuff throwing it like it’s a plus pitch. Four-seam fastballs middle-middle aren’t getting touched because of the huge increase in (carry). As players we feel we don’t have much say, but this is messing with guys’ careers, especially being in Double-A.”
Mieses just has to tread water until July 13, when the Southern League will return to using the typical baseballs. If his step back is any indication, maybe the absences of Montgomery and Ramos aren't as detrimental as they'd normally be.
Charlotte 6, Gwinnett 3
- Lenyn Sosa went 3-for-4 with a double.
- Oscar Colás, 2-for-4 with a walk.
- Carlos Pérez was 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout.
Notes:
*Sosa was pulled after doubling and scoring in the eighth, and I'm guessing it coincides with Jake Burger departing the game in Chicago, because he appeared to have no issues swinging or running.
Chattanooga 7, Birmingham 1
- Alsander Womack went 0-for-3 with a walk.
- José Rodríguez returned from the IL and went 1-for-4 with a K.
- Luis Mieses, 1-for-4 with his first homer and a strikeout.
- Yoelqui Céspedes singled and struck out thrice.
Winston-Salem 7, Greensboro 6
- Terrell Tatum went 3-for-5.
- Loidel Chapelli, 1-for-4 with a stolen base and a strikeout.
- DJ Gladney is up to 30 RBIs in 21 games after going 3-for-3 with a homer, double and HBP.
- Wilfred Veras went 1-for-4 with a double, a strikeout and a stolen base.
- Wes Kath, 1-for-4 with a K.
- Brooks Gosswein: 6 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
Highlights:
*Gladney's bomb:
Augusta 4, Kannapolis 1
- Jordan Sprinkle went 0-for-5 with a K.
- Brooks Baldwin was 2-for-4 with a double.
- Shane Murphy: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K
