After a strong start at Triple-A Gwinnett, lefty prospect Kolby Allard came down to earth in his most recent outing.
Before his May 19 start, Allard was 3-1 with a 1.71 ERA, including an ERA of 0.66 over his past four starts. Then came an eight-hit outing in which he gave up three earned runs in seven innings, while striking out four with no walks.
Allard’s ERA still sits at an impressive 2.02, and his record remains 3-1.
Here is an update on five other key prospects:
-- Gwinnett third baseman Austin Riley has hit a rough stretch in his past five games, which followed his 6-for-8 performance in a two-game stretch May 13 and May 15 that included a three-homer game.
In the five games since, Riley was 4-for-24, with nine strikeouts. The hits were all singles, and he didn’t walk.
Since Riley was promoted to Triple-A on May 7, he has played in 14 games. Other than the two big games in mid-May, the other 12 have not gone so well. In those 12, Riley is 10-for-48 (.208) with no homers, four RBIs, 16 strikeouts, one double, two runs scored and three walks.
-- Mississippi right-hander Touki Toussaint has a 2.33 ERA over his past five starts.
Toussaint is 2-3 overall with a 3.65 ERA, allowing 34 hits and issuing 22 walks in 44-1/3 innings (a WHIP of 1.26). Opponents are hitting. 206 off of him this season, and he has recorded 56 strikeouts.
In his past five starts, Toussaint has allowed 18 hits with 10 walks in 27 innings. He has 30 strikeouts in that time.
-- Mississippi right-hander Kyle Wright got off to a strong start, but has faded a bit.
Wright is 2-4 this season in nine starts and has a 4.53 ERA. In 43-2/3 innings, Wright has allowed 43 hits and walked 20 for a 1.44 WHIP. He has struck out 42, and opponents are hitting .257 against him.
His ERA was 2.45 entering his April 26 start. Since then, Wright has allowed 18 earned runs in 29 innings (a 5.59 ERA) and given up 33 hits and 11 walks, with 28 strikeouts. His walks and hits are up from 1.30 per nine innings in his first four starts to 1.52 in the past five.
-- Mississippi righty Bryse Wilson was promoted to Double-A from high Single-A Florida on May 8, and he has continued his strong start.
Wilson made five starts at Florida and was 2-0 with an ERA of 0.34. At Mississippi, he is 1-0 with a 2.87 ERA in three starts. In 15-2/3 innings for the M-Braves, Wilson has allowed 10 hits and walked six and recorded 14 strikeouts.
-- Mississippi righty reliever Chad Sobotka, was promoted from Florida on May 15 and continued his impressive work out of the bullpen.
A fourth-round draft choice in 2014, Sobotka was 2-0 in 13 appearances for the Fire Frogs, the last 12 in relief, and had a 2.21 ERA. He recorded 28 strikeouts in 20-1/3 innings, gave up nine hits and walked seven. Opponents hit .132 against him, and his WHIP was 0.79.
At Mississippi, he has made three appearances and pitched 3-1/3 innings without allowing a run. He has given up two hits and walked one, with three strikeouts.
Between the two teams, he has pitched 11 consecutive scoreless innings. He has allowed five runs, and four came in one outing. In 10 of his 12 relief appearances he allowed no runs.
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