Empire State Braves Prospects: 5/17/11

Not many great performances by the Empire Staters over the past week (5/10-5/16). With the 2011 draft coming up in early June, hopefully the Braves add some more New Yorkers for me to track.

Courtesy: milb.com, ualbanysports.com

Anthony Varvaro, RHP (Triple A - Gwinnett)
Each time it looks like Varvaro might snag some closing opportunities, another reliever jumps in. Over the past week, both Scott Proctor and Jairo Asencio finished games for Gwinnett. Varvaro's still being brought in late in games and may sneak in for a save opportunity or two soon with Proctor recently being called up to Atlanta. The Staten Island native would be a decent enough bullpen option for a pitching-deficient major league team, but he's stuck behind an awful lot of quality arms in the Braves organization.

This Week: 2 G (0-1), 3.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 5 K, 3 BB
Season: 13 G (0-5), 1 SV, 20.1 IP, 3.98 ERA, 20 22 K, 12 16 BB

Dan Jurik, RHP (High A - Lynchburg)
Jurik only saw action in one game this past week, surrendering his first run of the season (a HR to the first batter he saw). I'm still a bit surprised he hasn't been given at least a few more opportunities so far this season, but maybe the domino-effect caused by Brandon Beachy's trip to the DL in Atlanta and Jacob Thompson's retirement from Gwinnett will shake things up to Jurik's benefit.

This Week: 1 G, (0-0), 1 IP, 1 H, 1 HR, 1 K 0 BB
Season (Rome/Lynchburg): 5 G (0-0), 1 SV, 10 IP, 0.90 ERA, 13 K, 2 BB

Dave Filak, RHP ( Low A - Rome)
After alternating been effective and ineffective starts so far this season, Filak put up some serious duds in his two starts this week. If there's one positive thing to take away, he walked just one batter in his second start. The Upstate, NY product still has plenty of time to turn around his season (he's still just 21-years-old), but you'd like to see a three-year college pitcher take care of Low A hitters a little bit more.

This Week: 2 G (0-2), 7.2 IP, 11 R (10 ER), 10 H, 2 HR, 7 K, 6 BB
Season: 7 G (1-3), 28 IP, 6.75 ERA, 20 K, 22 BB

Cory Brownsten, C (Low A - Rome)
Brownsten's still on the DL and hasn't played since April 17th.

This Week: DNP
Season: 3 G, .182/.250/.273, 0 HR, 0 RBI

Brendan Rowland, C/OF (Gulf Coast League)
Rowland is indeed listed on the GCL Braves' roster, so it looks like he'll have another season to apply his craft with the Braves organization.

Season Has Not Yet Begun