Atlanta Braves Thread (I HURT MYSELF TODAY TO SEE IF I STILL FEEL)

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#11,242
#11,242
A) Serrano and the BaseVols have sucked out loud since SEC play started and he's probably on his way out as it stands right now

B) Despite A, going into Gainsville and beating the Gators is a helluva way to start an away series. Two more chances to take a series on the road from the #7 team in the country is a nice spot to be in

C) Those grey unis are very nice
 
#11,244
#11,244
BearCat204 said:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIq9ta-DzXQ[/youtube]
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Atlanta Braves Notes: Prospect Luiz Gohara Dazzles In Debut In Organization

Atlanta Braves Notes: Prospect Luiz Gohara Dazzles In Debut In Organization


After being dealt this offseason by the Seattle Mariners, Luiz Gohara made his organizational debut with the Atlanta Braves, earning the opening day nod for the Florida Fire Frogs

One of the big moves this offseason for the Atlanta Braves was to acquire prospect Luiz Gohara from Seattle for OF Mallex Smith and reliever Shae Simmons. Many scouts wondered why the Mariners would part with such a promising arm, but they felt he was expendable and used the pieces to acquire veteran Drew Smyly from Tampa. The Braves continue their rebuild and continue to stockpile prominent arms in hopes that several work out and become key pieces of the future.

Tonight in Florida, Luiz Gohara, 20, made his debut in the Braves' organization, earning the Opening Day nod for the Florida Fire Frogs, the new Braves affiliate in the Florida State League. Gohara impressed scouts last year in the Arizona Fall League after striking out 19 in 11 innings of work and the Atlanta organization has high hopes for the young lefty from Brazil that he can continue to develop into a front-line starter.

He did not disappoint in his debut, striking out 7 in 5 innings of work. He didn't walk any batters and gave up just 4 hits. The bullpen eventually yielded three runs in 7th inning and the Florida ended up dropping the game to Daytona, but Gohara was the star of the night, showing poise and commanding his repertoire in dominant fashion. He reportedly hit 99 according to Ben Badler of Baseball America and also featured a wipeout slider.

Braves LHP Luiz Gohara with wipeout stuff in a scoreless first with three Ks. Fastball up to 99 and buried a slider to whiff Nick Senzel.
— Ben Badler (@BenBadler) April 6, 2017
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Ranked as the 10th best prospect in the Atlanta organization by MLB.com, Gohara is a well-built lefty that was signed as an international free agent out of Brazil by the Mariners back in 2012. Some scouts have likened his power lefty arsenal to that of Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia, while he has also drawn comparisons to Sabathia for his build. In order to maximize his potential, many scouts have said he would need to keep his weight under control and get in better shape. The stuff is there and he has the makings of a front-line starter or power reliever, but the rest would be left up to him.

Last season in Class A ball with the Clinton Lumberkings, Gohara made 10 starts, going 54.1 innings and producing a 5-2 record with a 1.82 ERA. He struck out 60 batters and walked 20, surrendering one home run on the season. He also made 3 starts in short season A ball with the Everett AquaSox, throwing 15.1 innings and striking out 21, while walking just 3.

Gohara made big strides last year and Atlanta is hoping that he will continue to build on last year. They will remain patient with him with so much top-end pitching depth in the minors, but he has a chance to be an absolute steal for the Braves in the future, especially if he continues to pitch as he did tonight in Florida.
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Luiz Gohara Shows Frontline Stuff In Opener
Luiz Gohara Shows Frontline Stuff In Opener

KISSIMMEE, Fla.—It’s his first start of the year. His first official game as a member of the Braves. He had bronchitis in spring training, so he’s still a bit behind schedule. Had 20-year-old lefthander Luiz Gohara been rusty yesterday, there would have been plenty of reasonable explanations.

Instead, Gohara combined overpowering stuff with a heavy dose of first-pitch strikes and good command of his slider on Opening Day for high Class A Florida. Facing a Daytona lineup that included some of the Reds’ better hitting prospects in Nick Senzel, Shed Long and Chris Okey, Gohara threw five scoreless innings with seven strikeouts, no walks and four hits allowed. His fastball sat in the mid-90s, reached 99 mph and he got consistent swing-and-miss with a plus slider against lefties and righties. He racked up groundballs and even picked off a runner.

“We were very impressed,” Fire Frogs pitching coach Dennis Lewallyn said. “He threw 13 out of 17 first-pitch strikes. He attacked the strike zone, he threw a plus fastball to both sides of the plate and he threw a slider and a changeup to both sides of the plate for strikes. Very impressive.”

Gohara opened the game by getting three swinging strikeouts in an electric first inning in which his fastball sat 95-97 mph. Against leadoff hitter Daniel Sweet, Gohara unleashed a 3-2 changeup at 89 mph for his first swinging strikeout. He needed just three pitches to strike out Long, finishing him with a 96 mph fastball. Then against Senzel, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, Gohara got ahead when Senzel swung through a 98 mph fastball on the first pitch. Once Gohara got ahead of Senzel with a 1-2 count, he buried a slider in the dirt that Senzel swung over the top of for Gohara’s third strikeout of the inning.

Gohara’s fastball mostly parked at 94-95 mph the rest of the way, with late riding life up in the zone. He threw 51 of his 75 pitches (68 percent) for strikes, though he will have to tighten his fastball command. While Gohara’s stuff gives him extra margin for error, what helped him overmatch Reds hitters was that he didn’t make many mistakes, especially with his slider. Gohara was able to manipulate speeds on his sharp, late-breaking slider and he consistently drove it down in the strike zone or buried it further beneath it for a chase pitch to finish hitters. He struck out the last batter he faced, lefthanded-hitting Reydel Medina, on four straight 84 mph sliders, with Medina swinging through the first, third and fourth pitches of the at-bat. By the Braves’ count, Gohara threw 21 of his 29 offspeed pitches for strikes.

“He commanded the ball well for the most part,” Lewallyn said. “A few pitches got away from him, but you watch a big league game and they don’t throw every pitch right where they want to either. It was solid. When he would get ahead in the count, he would bury the breaking ball—he didn’t hang it. Everything was really good. It was fun to watch.”

It was Gohara’s first start as a member of the Braves, who acquired him and lefthander Thomas Burrows in the January trade that sent outfielder Mallex Smith and righthander Shae Simmons to the Mariners (with Seattle then flipping Smith to the Rays in the Drew Smyly trade). Gohara is wishfully listed at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, but he’s built more along the lines of former major league lefthander David Wells. Gohara’s 69.2 innings last year (not counting another 11.2 innings in the Arizona Fall League) were a career high, so he still has to prove his durability.

Based on the stuff he showed on Opening Day, Gohara has the repertoire to pitch at the front end of a rotation if he can handle a starter’s full season workload.

#Atlanta Braves #Luiz Gohara

Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/inte...s-frontline-stuff-opener/#ZZBYztt2vutXDagQ.99
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