Braves' No. 12 prospect caps first week back with 2 roundtrippers
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Conor Essenburg learned the best way to snap a home run drought: hit two in one game.
The Braves' No. 12 prospect -- who missed a month due to injury -- went 14 games (and 56 days) without a long ball. The 2025 fifth-rounder notched the first multihomer game of his professional career Sunday in Single-A Augusta's 8-4 win over Kannapolis at Atrium Health Ballpark.
Essenburg connected on his first roundtripper of the afternoon in the third inning, going back-to-back with Tate Southisene (ATL No. 3). The 19-year-old Essenburg lofted the second pitch from righty Max Banks (White Sox) to right-center field.
Following a single in the sixth, Essenburg left the yard again two frames later. The right-handed hitter, who throws left-handed, won a five-pitch battle with righty Alexander Martinez to line his third professional homer over the left-field wall.
Out of the two-hole in the GreenJackets' lineup, Essenburg raised his OPS to .857 over 13 games at Single-A. Since returning to Augusta on Tuesday after a five-game rehab assignment in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League, he went 6-for-21 across five contests.
Southisene, the Braves' first-round pick (22nd overall) last summer, notched his third multihit game Sunday, tallying a triple to go along with his eighth homer of the season. The 19-year-old middle infielder is slashing .299/.435/.514 with eight doubles and 35 stolen bases over 47 games.
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