Braves: Watch out for Daysbel Hernández and Brooks Wilson

Drew Lugbauer

The 2021 minor league regular season may soon draw to a close, but the Braves aren’t done making moves down on the farm. On Tuesday, both righties Daysbel Hernández and Brooks Wilson were moved from Double-A Mississippi to Triple-A Gwinnett.

 

Hernandez — currently ranked no. 21 on my midseason Braves Top 30 list — has already had one opportunity with the Stripers. To start the 2021 campaign, the righty spent most of the month of May in Gwinnett, but after posting a 9.64 ERA in five relief appearances, he was sent down to Mississippi.

Beginning the year in Triple-A was always a rather aggressive assignment for Hernandez, given his most-recent completed level prior to 2021 was High-A Rome two seasons ago; however, considering just how much he dominated that year, many believed he could handle the competition. Regardless, Hernandez is obviously deserving of another shot. Ever since his demotion, the righty has been a consistent weapon out of the M-Braves bullpen, averaging 12.6 strikeouts per nine to go with a solid 2.76 ERA in 32.2 innings. At 25-years-old, and with a nice track record in the Braves system thus far, a good showing with Gwinnett to end 2021 could give Hernandez some much-needed momentum to potentially make an MLB debut next season.

Wilson — also 25 — is another interesting arm to pay attention to. A former seventh-round pick, the 6-2, 205-pound righty has absolutely exploded this season with Mississippi, becoming one of the most dominating relievers in the league. In 44 innings in 2021, Wilson is averaging 14.9 strikeouts per nine and has posted a 2.45 ERA. He also advanced from the High-A level in 2019, where Wilson was just as strong run-prevention wise, but nowhere near as dominate in terms of strikeouts. He’s another righty that, if all goes well, could be right on the cusp of a big league debut in 2022.

Congrats to both Hernandez and Wilson as they try and master the final level of the minors. The Braves look to be set up nicely with bullpen depth pieces, and these two should get their shot to contribute as soon as next spring.

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