Empire State Braves Prospects: 8/23/11

The Empire Staters made a total of six appearances this past week, so plenty of updates to include. I'm definitely a fan of pitchers/pitching, but I wouldn't mind posting some hitting stats once in a while! In other news, as expected, Braves 2011 50th round pick Kevin McKague did not sign with the team by this past week's deadline. In addition to his Army commitment, McKague still has a year of eligibility left with West Point. Here's how the current group performed over the past seven days (8/16-8/22)...

Courtesy: milb.com

Anthony Varvaro, RHP (Triple A - Gwinnett)

Varvaro made his obligatory two appearances this week and his performance made it clear he wishes he was still with the big league club. Reports came out Monday that the Braves would likely bring up seven players with the September call-ups (Teheran, Delgado, catcher and four others). I think Varvaro should have a pretty decent shot at being one of those guys, as Atlanta seems to have a preference for guys with a live arm and high strikeout numbers.

This Week: 2 G (0-0), 3.2 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 5 K, 0 BB
Season (MiLB): 36 G (2-7), 1 SV, 56 IP, 2.89 ERA, 66 K, 33 BB
Season (MLB): 7 G (0-0), 9 IP, 3.00 ERA, 16 K, 6 BB

Chris Cody, LHP (Double A - Mississippi) 
Cody fit in two starts this past week, putting up solid numbers in both. Following his mid-season pick-up by the Braves, he's quietly showing encouraging results in his handful of starts. While his 5.6 K/9 isn't anything great, it looks better when sitting next to his 3.0 K/BB and 1.9 BB/9.

This Week: 2 G (1-0), 13 IP, 5 R (3 ER), 11 H, 1 HR, 8 K, 3 BB
Season: 4 G (2-0), 24 IP, 3.00 ERA, 15 K, 5 BB

Cory Brownsten, C (Low A - Rome)
Brownsten's been on the DL since July 16th with a broken thumb.

This Week: DL
Season (Rome and Lynchburg): 13 G, .163/.234/.209, 0 HR, 0 RBI

Dan Jurik, RHP (Low A - Rome)
Jurik made two appearances this week for Rome, throwing long relief in one and earning the start in the other. He continues to be effective, if unspectacular. As a 24-year-old in Low A, that type of performance is at least expected, so it will be worth watching to see if he makes it up to Lynchburg before the 2011 season ends.

This Week: 2 G (1-0), 10.1 IP, 5 R (4 ER), 12 H, 7 K, 3 BB
Season (Danville, Rome & Lynchburg): 27 G (2-3), 2 SV, 61 IP, 3.25 ERA, 51 K, 21 BB

Dave Filak, RHP (Rookie - Danville)
The Albany, NY-area native made his second consecutive quality start this past week for Danville. It took until about the last week in July for Filak to really start turning his season around, but better late than never. Once he was able to get his walk rate down, it only took a handful of starts for his BAA to start to settle down as well.

This Week: 1 G (0-0), 6 IP, 3 R (1 ER), 5 H, 5 K, 1 BB
Season (Danville and Rome): 22 G (3-9), 97 IP, 6.47 ERA, 76 K, 47 BB