Braves minor-league coaches see talent spike in improved farm system
LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- Brian Snitker arrived at the Atlanta Braves' organizational meetings last fall largely unaware of the talent shortage plaguing the franchise's farm system. An organization that produced homegrown stars like Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman and Craig Kimbrel at the turn of the decade had yielded just three consistent major-league players since the 2011 season and, worse still, few, if any, projectable prospects were making their way up the pipeline.
Such was the big-picture issue facing the Braves' new-look front office led by John Hart, the longtime baseball executive spearheading a dramatic shift in organizational philosophy. Snitker, manager of the franchise's Triple-A affiliate in Gwinnett, embraced the trade-happy plan, although he assumed the club was facing a lengthy timeline.
"I didn't realize how bare (the farm system) was, you know?" Snitker said in his manager's office on Friday afternoon. "What they've done has been phenomenal to me. I was like, 'Well, it's going to take a while to get this thing back.' Over the course of an offseason it's like, 'Wow, they did a really good job.'"
The hyperactive process continued into the regular season and through MLB's trade deadline. Atlanta completed trades in November, December, January, April, May, June, July and August -- prospect-driven deals that nearly flipped the entire 25-man roster over an eight-month stretch. In total, the Braves acquired 22 prospects via trade alone, not including potential future pieces like Shelby Miller, Jace Peterson and Cameron Maybin that jumped straight to the majors.
The immediate result: The 2015 team is 17 games under .500 and all but eliminated from the National League playoff race, but the farm system has made a consensus leap in every available ranking system, reaching as high as No. 2 overall.
Mortgaging the present for the future was never trademarked as the organization's official slogan, but considering the rate Hart & Co. swapped well-established players like Heyward, Kimbrel, Justin Upton and Evan Gattis, the writing was on The Ted's outfield wall.
Rebuilding projects are typically viewed as wait-and-see affairs. Prospects are saddled with expected deadlines. When will Player A be ready to contribute at the big-league level? When will Player B make the leap? Up-and-coming minor-leaguers remain faceless to the general viewing audience, names relayed by a select few minor-league experts and relied upon to be the Next Big Thing: Albies, Jenkins, Allard and so on.
Acquiring talent, however, is simply the first step in a long-term process, and while the Braves did not have to wait long on promising rookie pitchers Matt Wisler, Mike Foltynewicz and Manny Banuelos, the player development aspect -- arguably the most imperative step in producing top-tier homegrown talent -- began well before their respective Braves debuts.
That's where Snitker's staff and the rest of the minor-league coaches and coordinators come in.
When asked if a farm system that has rocketed up league-wide rankings is noticeably better, Snitker, Gwinnett pitching coach Marty Reed and Double-A manager Aaron Holbert echoed one another's answer: "Absolutely."
"It's nice when you're getting talent to work with and you can mold that talent. You can be the greatest pitching coach in the world, if you don't have talented pitchers you're not going to do anything," Reed said. "My (Triple-A) staff from last year to this year has been completely different. When you're looking at these guys as a group -- I don't want to single guys out -- but when you start looking at them as a group, then all of a sudden you've got five or six guys that have got a shot."
Of the four minor-league coaches polled, also including Triple-A Gwinnett hitting John Moses, each zeroed in on pitching as the most visible improvement. It was an obvious consensus.
Along with under-25 starters Wisler, Foltynewicz and Banuelos already cutting their teeth in the majors, 12 of the remaining 19 prospects acquired in trades were pitchers, headlined by highly coveted arms Max Fried, Tyrell Jenkins, Ricardo Sanchez and Touki Toussaint. Throw in 12 of the Braves' top 14 draft picks back in June, including No. 14 overall pick Kolby Allard, who is already tearing through rookie-ball competition, and the team's focus was clear and unyielding.
There are high expectations for recently acquired Cuban third baseman Hector Olivera, top prospect Ozhaino Albies and Holbert, in particular, was extremely high on speedy outfielder Mallex Smith, but the future of the Atlanta Braves rests on a pitching-centric foundation.
"What we've done here is stockpile arms," Reed said. "You're not doing anything without pitching in this game. Nobody's going to win without pitching. Nobody. If you don't have it, you're done.
" ... The most expensive thing out there right now is starting pitching. So if you can develop your own and you've got a pretty good system for developing them, then you're going to save the organization an awful lot of money."
The franchise-wide shift has not only given managers like Holbert and Snitker higher-quality pieces to mold, but it has also involved the minor-league affiliates more in the grand scheme of things. Player development is underscored during a rebuild. There are more available opportunities for young talent as well.
Last season, Atlanta's starting lineup was blocked at every position except second base and a bullpen slot or two -- either due to established MLB talent or oversized contracts. (Plus, aside from relievers Chasen Shreve and Shae Simmons, there were no standout prospects forcing the parent club's hand.) The narrative has shifted in 2015. Restocking the farm's shelves cleared roster spots.
Turner Field -- much like the still-to-come Suntrust Park -- is now a land of opportunity.
"I've told (my players) all year that everybody's in play. 'Don't worry if you're not on the (40-man) roster. They'll find a roster spot for you. They can finagle that. If you're doing good, you're in play,'" Snitker said. "Guys get noticed and (the front office is) asking all the time: 'Are we missing on this guy? Can this guy help?'"
Marty Reed and Roger McDowell's coaching paths first crossed in 2002 when McDowell joined the Dodgers organization as the pitching coach of the team's Single-A affiliate, the South Georgia Waves. Two-hundred-and-five miles southeast, Reed was coaching up pitchers for the Jacksonville Suns, Los Angeles' Double-A team.
McDowell's hiring started a four-year collective run in the L.A. farm system, the last of which Reed worked as the club's minor-league pitching coordinator. Their philosophies on developing talent lined up, either from the start or over time. McDowell replaced Leo Mazzone in Atlanta prior to the '06 campaign, and he helped facilitate Reed's move to the Braves in 2009. Reed said the two now talk practically every day.
That close relationship is paying dividends during this rebuild.
More than 20 pitchers have been called up from the Triple-A level this season, mainly low-ceiling bullpen arms, and the franchise is focused on making the transition as smooth as possible. Reed's entire coaching process -- from individualized throwing programs to reviewing scouting reports to pregame meetings -- parallels McDowell's program at the big-league level. The goal is to create a mirror image, streamlining the process players making the jump.
"He's the major-league pitching coach. What he's looking for is what we want to transfer down into here, so when they go there it's a smooth transition for them," Reed said of McDowell. "It's not like I'm doing something different down here and now when they go there at the big-league level they've got to learn something different.
" ... When they leave here I want them to go to Roger in Atlanta and just fit right in."
Creating routines and comfort zones is especially important for young players still learning the ropes. Take a 22-year-old Matt Wisler getting called up for his MLB debut in June after just 12 starts in Atlanta's system -- he was just beginning to get accustomed to a new pitching program and instruction from Reed. Why throw an extra curveball into the mix?
Perhaps Snitker, who talks shop with Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez on a regular basis as well, said it best when asked about the top-down structure of Atlanta's coaching philosophy: "They're going to have enough on their plate when they get there without the difference in the routines."
Reed continued: "That's why I think it's critical -- it really is critical -- to have this setup that we have in terms of a rebuild or restock, whatever you want to call it, to make the transition for the players as easy as possible when they go up there. When you've got a pitching coach in Triple-A that is likeminded with major-league pitching coach, it makes it more simple. They're getting the same kind of terminology, same kind of focus and attention. They know exactly what to expect."
The same applies to first-year Braves hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and his Triple-A counterpart.
While Moses and Seitzer are not nearly as familiar on a personal level, their hitting philosophies line up and Moses said both men stay in constant contact. They offer encouragement during the down times -- the franchise lacks big-time bats at both levels; "Smurf-ball. That's what we play," Snitker joked -- and communicate whenever a position player moves up or down to discuss recent drill work, batting practice tweaks and other minutiae that comes with the profession.
"That's what we're trying to structure here in Atlanta is basing everything off the major leagues, hitting instructor on down. We don't have a hitting coordinator per say, but we've been trying to do that at every level," Moses said. "We're not a powerful organization. We don't have guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark. You can see that on every team that we have throughout the organization, you know? But we're cutting down our strikeouts, trying to get on-base, trying to make things happen."
Timelines, of course, are important.
The Braves do not want to be 17 games under .500 next August, and certainly not two years from now in the new ballpark. The team is running short on tradeable big-league assets, and the renovation project will eventually need to start yielding results.
To see the rankings and hear the minor-league coaches, though, Atlanta's front office accomplished its initial mission. The talent is there. That was Step No. 1. But while the Braves' 25-man roster takes its lumps with inexperienced pieces and adopts a wait-and-see approach with the farm system, the minor-league coaches' work on the subsequent steps began immediately.
