Braves Minor League Recap: Herick Hernandez shines for Gwinnett

Offenses across the board were pretty stagnant on Wednesday, but the pitching — for the most part — stood out, with Hernandez leading the charge for the Stripers. Let’s get into it.

(58-57) Gwinnett Stripers 5, (41-73) Norfolk Tides 6 (F/10)

• Brewer Hicklen, LF: 2-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI
• Patrick Clohisy, CF: 1-3, RBI, R, BB
• Cal Conley, 2B: 1-4, RBI, R
• Herick Hernandez, SP: 6.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 11 K

Box Score

Gwinnett ultimately fell short on Wednesday, moving to just one game above the .500 mark for the year. While the outcome wasn’t what everyone wanted, Herick Hernandez had as good of a day as he’s ever had as a professional.

Across 6.1 innings of work, Hernandez gave up two runs on two hits, but managed to strike out 11 batters in the process for his first double-digit strikeout game since being promoted to triple-A. Additionally, Hernandez managed to get a phenomenal 22 whiffs as well on the night, which paced all pitchers at the triple-A level on Wednesday.

Hernandez’ stock has absolutely rocketed up over the course of this season, as he is suddenly looking like a potential big league piece — perhaps as soon as this season. The stuff is there, but he will need to cut down on the walks if he wants to truly take that next step.

Regardless, the strikeout stuff is legit and he, at the very least, should be able to help out of the bullpen, if not the rotation in Atlanta sooner rather than later.

Back to Wednesday’s action, the Stripers actually outhit Norfolk by a 6-4 tally and actually carried a 4-2 lead into the bottom of the seventh. However, the Tides managed to tie things up and the game ultimately went into extras.

Gwinnett brought home their fifth run in the top of the 10th thanks to a Brewer Hicklen — who also had a pair of doubles on the night — sacrifice fly to plate Maverick Handley. In the home half, however, Norfolk tagged Ian Hamilton for two walks (one intentional) and a two-RBI double to take the lead and seal off the walkoff loss for the Stripers.

(51-54) Columbus Clingstones 4, (44-66) Birmingham Barons 3

• Owen Carey, RF: 1-4, 2 RBI, R
• Adam Zebrowski, C: 2-4, 2B, RBI
• Eric Hartman, LF: 1-4, 2 R
• John Gil, SS: 1-5
• Cam Caminiti, SP: 3 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 3 K

Box Score

It was a bit shaky as Columbus had to stave off a late comeback attempt, but the Clingstones managed to get things done and cap off the narrow 4-3 win over Birmingham.

Cam Caminiti got the start and got a relatively early hook as he didn’t have his best stuff. His command was off and he gave up a homer in the three inning start in which he allowed the one run while striking out three. However, there doesn’t seem to be any concern regarding injury for Atlanta’s top prospect, but perhaps rather a case of wanting to pull him simply because he wasn’t bringing his plus stuff on the night.

At the plate, Owen Carey paced the offense by driving in a pair of runs and scoring one himself, while Adam Zebrowski went 2-4 with a double and RBI to his credit as well.

Carey’s biggest hit of the night came in the top of the eighth inning, as he singled into right field to plate Eric Hartman to give Columbus what would be a crucial insurance run.

Leading 4-1 headed into the bottom of the ninth, the Clingstones only needed three outs to secure the win, but Birmingham didn’t make it easy.

The Barons tagged Owen Hackman for two runs on two hits to cut the Columbus lead to 4-3. However, Hackman thankfully settled in and managed to record the final out to get the save.

(51-55) Rome Emperors 4, (37-71) Asheville Tourists 1

• Dixon Williams, 2B: 2-4, 2B, 3B
• Luis Guanipa, CF: 2-5, 2 2B, RBI, R
• Luke Sinnard, SP: 4 IP, 2 H, 4 K

Box Score

Rome rode a solid start from Luke Sinnard and multiple banner performances at the plate en route to a 4-1 victory over Asheville.

Across four innings, Sinnard held the Tourists scoreless, limiting the opposition to just a pair of hits and striking out four as well.

In his seven starts with Rome since returning from injury, Sinnard has been excellent. Sinnard is carrying an ERA of 2.81 across 25.2 innings in which he has also struck out 29 batters and limiting the opposition to a batting average of .202.

Overall, Sinnard is striking out batters at a 30.1% clip, while his walk rate has remained steady at 8.1%, which is slightly below his career average thus far. The system will most-likely take it easy with Sinnard and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him finish out the season with the Emperors. However, there is a slight possibility he gets a few start at Columbus at the end of the year.

As Sinnard was dealing, his offense provided him with plenty of firepower in the process.

Colin Burgess got the scoring party started with an RBI-single in the top of the second to plate Colby Jones and make it a 1-0 lead. Burgess then came around to score on an RBI-double off the bat of Luis Guanipa to extend the lead to 2-0. Had the Emperors been playing in virtually any other park, Guanipa’s double would’ve probably resulted in a homer.

Nevertheless, Guanipa had a big day at the plate, doubling twice and driving in and scoring a run as well. It is an encouraging turn of events for Guanipa, who has sputtered a bit since being promoted to high-A.

Dixon Williams also had a huge game for the Emperors, which featured a triple in the top of the seventh, while Logan Braunschweig came off the bench in the eighth and provided an RBI-single to extend the lead to 4-1 which held as the final.

(57-51) Augusta GreenJackets 2, (62-48) Charleston RiverDogs 11

• Carter Beck, DH: 2-5
• Parker Brosius, LF: 1-4, 2B, R
• Caleb Klein, CF: 2-4, RBI
• Gensi Angeles, SP: 0.2 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 5 ER, BB, K

Box Score

This one unfortunately was pretty much over with before the GreenJackets even had a chance to come to the plate.

Starter Gensi Angeles was hit hard, giving up six runs (five earned) on four hits while walking one and striking out one. Angeles ultimately wouldn’t make it out of the first inning, as Augusta had to go to their bullpen earlier than they probably would have liked to.

With Charleston leading 8-0, the GreenJackets finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth as 2026 15th round pick Caleb Klein registered his first professional RBI on a single to score Parker Brosius — who tallied a double to his credit on the night — to make it an 8-1 game.

Augusta got their second run of the night in the eighth inning as Cooper McMurray scampered home on a wild pitch, cutting the deficit to 9-2.

(15-35) DSL Braves 4, (30-20) DSL Tampa Bay 3

• Luis Fortunato, 3B: 1-3, 2B, RBI, R, BB
• Luis Consoro, LF: 2-4, RBI
• Yassel Pena, 1B: 1-2, RBI
• Cesar Navarro, SP: 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 K

Box Score

The DSL Braves mounted a late comeback in this one to earn their 15th victory of the season on Wednesday.

Cesar Navarro got the start and spun an excellent game, allowing two runs across six innings, striking out three and not walking a single batter on the day.

Overall, Navarro has sort of flown under the radar in terms of Braves prospects putting together a solid 2026 campaign. In 10 starts — 47.1 innings pitched — Navarro is currently carrying an ERA of 2.47 while striking out 36 batters during that span. Opponents are also hitting just .196 against the righty, while only tallying one homer against him on the season as well.

If Navarro can continue to put up solid numbers through the close of the DSL season, there’s a good chance he could sneak his way onto next season’s top preseason prospects lists.

Back to Wednesday’s action, while Navarro was doing his thing, his offense sputtered through the first six innings.

In the midst of a 3-0 shutout, the Braves’ bats finally came alive in the top of the seventh.

Luis Fortunato led things off with a walk before advancing to second on a Jose Nelo infield single. Elioberto Mondesir worked a walk to load the bases before Yassel Pena drew a free pass of his own to plate Fortunato and cut the deficit to 3-1.

Luis Consoro proceeded to come through with an RBI-single up the middle, allowing Nelo to score and make it a 3-2 game. The tying run came as Durban Arnedo grounded into a double play and Mondesir scored.

It wouldn’t take much longer for the Braves to take their first lead of the night, as Fortunato doubled home Mayonbanex Rosa to give them a 4-3 lead, which ultimately held as the final.