Down on the Farm: 2019 Augusta Greenjackets Preview

A strong group of pitchers headlines this year's Augusta squad while a few position players will be looking for a breakout.

Pitchers:  Solomon Bates RHP, Seth Corry LHP, Matt Frisbee RHP, Sean Hjelle RHP, Blake Rivera RHP, Gregory Santos RHP, Tyler Schimpf RHP, Jesus Tona RHP, Franklin Van Gurp RHP, Ryan Walker RHP, Preston White RHP, Keaton Winn RHP, Jake Wong RHP.

Several single digit round draft picks out of college from 2018 which is a bit unusual as 1 or 2 of those generally get assigned to San Jose.  Sean Hjelle and Jake Wong are the two most likely to get an early promotion.  If Gregory Santos can stay healthy, he looks like an ace in the making.  Seth Corry will look for command consistency.  Jesus Tona is a converted catcher on the Closer Track who was lights out last season.  Watch for him to move fast.

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Catchers:  Andres Angulo B-R, T-R, Jeffry Parra B-R, T-R.

A couple of sleeper/breakout candidates. I'm really rooting for Parra.

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Infielders:  Wander Franco 1B B-S, T-R, Nico Giarratano SS B-S, T-R, Jacob Gonzalez 3B B-R, T-R, Shane Matheny 2B B-L, T-R, Frankie Tostado 1B B-L, T- L.

Wander Franco the Younger stays in the organization.  A non-hitting SS in college, Giarratano found a bat last year in S-K.  Huge, potentially pivotal season for Jacob Gonzalez.  Watch for a breakout power season for Frankie Tostado who everybody has to be rooting for for his name alone.

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Outfielders:  Aaron Bond B-L, T-R, Mikey Edie B-R, T-R, Jose Layer B-R, T-R, Ismael Munguia B-L, T-L, Diego Rincones B-R, T-R.

Scouts don't think much of his body but love his bat.  Diego Rincones will try to mash his way to the majors from LF.  Aaron Bond and Jose Layer have breakout potential with Layer mostly needing to stay health for 500 PA.  Ismael Munguia is a smallish scrapper who folks like to root for.

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The SAL in general and Augusta in particular tends to be very pitcher friendly.  This looks like an unusually strong group of pitchers while the hitters are more likely to struggle.