The curtain has fallen on the second season of baseball along the Chattahoochee River, as the Columbus Clingstones finished the 2026 season in Montgomery, Alabama with a 4-1 loss to the Biscuits.
Under the direction of manager Nestor Perez, Columbus finished its postponement-adjusted 132-game schedule with a record of 64-68 and finished fourth in the Southern League South Division full-season standings.
In a season that saw 68 total players don a Clingstones uniform, 16 Double-A debuts, 148 player transactions, and four MLB rehab assignments, the second year of Clingstones baseball underscored the club’s vital role in player development and giving fans a glimpse of future stars.
Two Clingstones — Owen Murphy and Blake Burkhalter — advanced through the Braves’ system to make their Major League debuts with Atlanta after appearing with Columbus during the 2026 season. Former 2025 Clingstones, Jim Jarvis and JR Ritchie, also made their Major League debuts in 2026.
In Synovus Park's 100th year of operation, the crown jewel in west-central Georgia welcomed 192,717 fans through the gates, making every homestand a party that celebrated the longstanding history of baseball in Columbus and the shining talent of baseball’s future.
Key Firsts
Even in the second season of Clingstones baseball, there were still many franchise firsts that were achieved by an all-around dynamic ballclub.
- 10+ Strikeout Game: Owen Murphy, vs Chattanooga (April 3)
- Walk-Off Home Run: Adam Zebrowski, vs Biloxi (April 19)
- Major League Rehab Assignment: Ha-Seong Kim (April 27)
- Nine-Inning Complete Game: Garrett Baumann, at Birmingham (August 14)
- 30 Home Run Season: Jordan Groshans, at Chattanooga (August 30)
- Five-Hit Game: John Gil, at Chattanooga (August 30)
Opening Weekend
For the first time, the Clingstones opened their act at Synovus Park against the Chattanooga Lookouts to start the 2026 season, and it was a three-game set from April 3-5 that set the tone for the rest of the season.
With the Braves No. 6 prospect, Owen Murphy, on the mound to start the Opening Night, Murphy worked through trouble and ended the night with the first double-digit strikeout performance, punching out 10 batters over 5.2 innings. Columbus lost the game in the ninth inning, as Chattanooga came back and won 8-6.
Murphy only started five games with Columbus before getting promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett, spent most of the season with the Stripers and finished the year with a 6-9 record with a 3.61 ERA and 121 strikeouts over 117.1 innings in the minors.
Because of his incredible minor league performances, Murphy got the call to the major leagues on July 6 and made his MLB debut with the Atlanta Braves.
Offensively, outfielder Tristin English struck the first home run of the season for Columbus on Opening Night. English’s long ball started a season of power that a Double-A Braves affiliate hasn’t seen this century.
English, a former big leaguer, spent half of his season with Columbus and Triple-A Gwinnett and was part of a powerful outfield with Patrick Clohisy and Ethan Workinger that helped the Clingstones hit a monthly high 35 home runs in April.
The rest of the weekend was filled with rain delays and early postponements, as Saturday’s game on April 4, started with a two-hour rain delay, followed by Sunday’s game that only made it five innings due to a downpour and wet grounds at Synovus Park.
With an opening weekend that had high strikeout numbers, multiple home runs and rainy days, it only made sense for the 2026 season to continue on this note.
Long Ball Leaderboard
Over 132 games played in 2026, the Clingstones blasted 151 home runs that started with Tristin English’s Opening Day home run, and ended with Carson Taylor’s blast in the final week of the season at Montgomery. The home run total was not just a new Clingstones single-season record, but a Braves Double-A affiliate record dating back to 1966. Columbus passed the previous record of 147 home runs in 144 games by the 1997 Greenville Braves.
In each full month played this season, Columbus hit at least 20 home runs, with the highest number coming in the first month of the season, April, when the Clingstones hit 35 long balls. A majority of the homers in April came from slugger David McCabe, who hit his monthly best 8 home runs.
McCabe started the season with Columbus before landing on the 7-Day Injured List and then earned a late season promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett. In 53 games with the Clingstones, McCabe hit .282 with 16 home runs and 45 RBI. In total this season, McCabe surpassed the 20-homer threshold for the first time in his career in a season split between Columbus and Gwinnett.
Of the 151 home runs there was one walk-off home run, the first walk-off homer in Clingstones history. On April 19, Adam Zebrowski crushed a baseball off the batter’s eye to defeat Biloxi in 12 innings and cap off the longest game in franchise history at three hours and 55 minutes.
For Zebrowski, this would be the start of a year unlike any he has had before. The catcher hit 19 home runs with Columbus. Adding the three home runs he hit with Triple-A Gwinnett, Zebrowski set a new single-season career best of 22. Not only did he make history by becoming the first Clingstone with a walk-off home run, but he also made history by becoming the first Clingstone to hit a home run in four-straight games (August 18-23),. His 19 home runs with Columbus are the fourth-most for a league catcher since 2015.
Of the five walk-off’s the Clingstones had this past season, this was the only walk-off home run. The other four walk-off wins came off singles by Ethan Workinger (May 15 vs Knoxville), Archer Brookman (July 7 vs. Birmingham), Luke Waddell (August 5 vs. Biloxi), and Ambioris Tavarez (August 6 vs. Biloxi).
One Day in May
In a historic home run season, one day broke new ground in Southern League history, when the Clingstones and Montgomery Biscuits combined to hit 13 home runs in a single game. That day was a breezy May 3rd Sunday in west-central Georgia that ended with a final score of 18-10.
It was a performance that showed the sheer home run power of both Columbus and Montgomery with every inning but the third and ninth producing a home run. Of the 13 combined home runs, eight were hit by Montgomery, while five were hit by Columbus (Drew Compton, Lizandro Espinoza, Ethan Workinger, Cal Conley and Archer Brookman).
The combined 13 home runs tied the most in a Double-A game this century and set a new Southern League record, surpassing the previous mark of 10 home runs set on July 3, 1979 between Charlotte (6) and Chattanooga (4). The clubs combined for 19 extra-base hits, tied for the second-most in a league game since 2005, and 28 runs, tied for the sixth-most since 2015.
This stellar performance marked the second time in Clingstones history that the club hit five home runs in a game with the first showing coming on April 19 vs. Biloxi.
This wouldn’t be the last time Columbus hit five home runs in a single game against Montgomery this season. The Stones did it again months later on August 22 in a game that saw less overall home run power, but the same high-flying Columbus offense that fans knew and loved this season. In games where Columbus hit five home runs, the Clingstones went 2-1.
In a season that saw 31 different hitters step into the box for Columbus, and 24 of them leave the yard at least once, one man spearheaded an explosive offense and claimed the mantle as one of the best offensive players in the Clingstones short history.
Air Jordan Takes Flight
In his first season in the Atlanta Braves organization, Jordan Groshans not only answered the offensive call when the team needed it, but also set new single-season records for himself and the Columbus Clingstones.
After starting the season with Columbus, Groshans snatched the crown in multiple single-season records in home runs (30), RBI (81) and hits (111). With these numbers, Groshans broke previous records set by David McCabe (home runs - 16 and hits - 106) and Ethan Workinger (RBI - 70) in the 2025 inaugural season. Groshans 30 homers crushed his previous single season best of seven home runs with Double-A New Hampshire in 2021. On top of making Clingstones history, Groshans also made Braves Double-A history, becoming the first Atlanta Double-A player to 30 home runs since 1981, when Leo Vargas hit 32 home runs for Double-A Savannah.
Groshans batted .282 over 103 games and his final month with Columbus was one of his best. Across August, Groshans had his best single month when he batted .360 (5 2B, 2 3B, 11 HR, 27 RBI, .780 SLG and a 1.173 OPS) and ended the month with Southern League Player of the Week and Southern League Player of the Month honors. His incredible final week with Columbus reached an apex when Groshans smashed the baseball and batted .423 with four home runs and 11 RBI. Upon the end of August, Groshans got promoted to Triple-A Gwinnett to finish off the 2026 season.
Trophy Case
The 2026 season held a lot of great individual performances, from Groshans winning Southern League Player of the Month in August and many others, the Clingstones were recognized multiple times throughout the season.
At season's end, the Clingstones tallied five Southern League Pitcher/Player of the Week awards, and Player/Pitcher of the Month twice. It began with starting pitcher Brett Sears winning Southern League Pitcher of the Week back in the week of April 26. Sears earned the recognition following his start on April 25 at Birmingham, when he tossed 5.0 one-hit scoreless innings, allowing two walks while striking out seven. The next two weekly awards were pitchers of the week, Herick Hernandez for the week of May 3 and Lucas Braun for his performance during the week of July 5.
For Hernandez, he earned the recognition following his start on April 30 vs. Montgomery, when he tossed 7.0 one-hit scoreless innings while striking out nine batters. He retired the first 16 batters he faced and was perfect through 5.1 innings before allowing his lone hit of the outing. For Sears, following his start on April 25 at Birmingham, Brett tossed 5.0 one-hit scoreless innings, allowing two walks while striking out seven.
In the month of August, Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. and Jordan Groshans won Southern League Player of the Week for their excellent performances in the batters box. Kilpatrick Jr. earned the recognition following his offensive week against Biloxi, where he batted .615 (8-for-13) with two doubles, three home runs, nine RBI, .643 OPS, 1.462 SLG and a 2.105 OPS over four games. Kilpatrick Jr. had a home run in each of the last three games he played, marking the first time in his professional career he had three-straight games with a home run.
For Player of the Month, the Clingstones had a pitcher, Cedric De Grandpre and a batter, Jordan Groshans. De Grandpre, who only spent one full month with Double-A Columbus, became the first Southern League Pitcher of the Month in Clingstones history.
De Grandpre posted a 3-0 record with a 1.13 ERA in July four starts with Columbus. He allowed only three earned runs across 24.0 innings, recording 29 strikeouts and three quality starts. Among Southern League pitchers in July, De Grandpre led in wins (three), ERA (1.13), and WHIP (0.75), while finishing second in average against (.148). Following his start on July 19 at Chattanooga, when he worked 7.0 innings and struck out seven, De Grandpre earned his first promotion to Triple-A Gwinnett and spent the remainder of the season with the Stripers.
The Clingstones’ pitching staff took a massive leap in its second year under pitching coach Mike Steed, and were one of the most dominant staffs not only in the Southern League, but in all of Minor League Baseball.
Over the entirety of the season, the Clingstones pitching staff tossed 32 quality starts, but really hit its stride as the calendar turned to June. Over the first 49 games of the season, Columbus starters ranked 8th in the Southern League with a 5.87 ERA and four quality starts, but over the final 82 games starting from June 1, Columbus ranked first in minor league baseball with 28 quality starts and also lead full-season minor league clubs in starting pitching ERA with a 3.18.
The first quality start of the season thrown by Garrett Baumann on April 10 at Montgomery (6.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO), and the last was collected on September 13, the final game of the season at Montgomery, when Davis Polo made his second ever Double-A Start (6.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO).
Brett Sears led the team with six quality starts throughout the season, with Garrett Baumann following right behind him with five of his own. Both Sears and Baumann spent a majority of their seasons with Columbus, but late season call-ups to Gwinnett showed the Atlanta Braves pitching success at the Double-A level and throughout the organization.
Strikeout Stuff
Along with the quality start success, the Clingstones were one of the best teams in Double-A when it came to strikeouts. Finishing the full season standings 11th overall and third in the Southern League with 1291 punchouts, the arsenal that was utilized was about as lethal as anyone could have asked for.
Of all the strikeouts, almost half of them, 640, were collected by the starting rotation, which placed the Clingstones starting staff seventh overall in Double-A baseball and first in the Southern League.
Most of the punchout success came in the second half of the season, which started on June 23 and ran through September 13. Across 68 games, the Clingstones struck out 689 batters and posted a 3.81 ERA. That ranked the Clingstones third in Double-A baseball in ERA, fourth in strikeouts, and strikeout to walk percentage at a 2.75.
In comparison to the first half of the season where the Stones ranked 20th in strikeouts with 602, the entirety of the pitching staff, starters and relievers, all grew into their own and came through with their best stuff as the season progressed.
The best month of the season for the pitching staff came right in the heat of the Georgia summer, July. Columbus finished the month with a 13-11 record, tying April for their best monthly record in 2026 and the fourth month with a winning record for the club since 2025.The month featured a Clingstones’ pitching staff that led the Southern League in ERA (3.36), WHIP (1.10), BAA (.216), and K/9 (10.98).
Rehabbers
On top of the frequent roster adjustments, Perez adjusted his lineup and pitching staff for four players on Major League rehab.
Ha-Seong Kim was the first familiar face in Braves country to play for the Clingstones on a rehab assignment, joining the club on April 28th. It did not take him long to make an impact.
In the first game of his rehab stint, Kim went 1-for-2 with a stolen base in a tough 6-5 loss against Montgomery.
The moment that Kim stepped into the batters box, he made history. By donning a Clingstones uniform, he became the first Major League rehab assignment in franchise history and first rehabbing big leaguer to reach base with a hit.
Outside of Kim, there were other notable players to join the Clingstones on a rehab assignment.
Braves’ starting pitcher Hurston Waldrep joined Columbus in early June and worked 3.2 innings and allowed four earned runs, while striking out three batters in one rehab start on June 11. Upon toeing the slab, Waldrep became the first Atlanta Braves pitcher to pitch for Columbus on Major League rehab.
Later in the month, Braves’ infielder Kyle Farmer became the second batter to rehab with Columbus trying to find his way back as a catcher after not being a backstop since the 2021 season with the Cincinnati Reds. With Columbus, Farmer batted .100 (2-for-20), with one home run and three RBIs in seven games. His home run on June 28th against Rocket City became the first home run hit by a Major League Rehab home run in franchise history.
Braves’ reliever Danny Young also joined Columbus along with Farmer on June 23rd and worked a 1-0 record over 3.0 innings and five strikeouts in three appearances.
Rain Dance
When the 2026 season began, the Clingstones were scheduled to play 138 games, but that would be far from what would actually happen. The Clingstones managed to rumble through 132 ball games over the six-month season. The 132-game season is tied with Montgomery for the second-fewest games played by a Double-A team since 2022.
In the entire Southern League season, only seven games were fully cancelled. The Clingstones were members of six of those seven cancelled games. None of these cancelled games took place at Synovus Park.
Even with the changed trajectory of the 2026 schedule, the Clingstones made do with the games given to them on the road. Columbus finished their road schedule with a 30-34 record, and a 34-34 record at home, the first time in franchise history that the Clingstones finished with a .500 or above winning percentage at Synovus Park.
Kicked Open
The Clingstones were in the playoff hunt for both the first and second halves of the season, but the pitching woes came back to bite them. Over the course of the season, Columbus recorded 22 blown saves, which was the second most in the Southern League only behind Birmingham who had 25.
Blown saves were an issue that plagued the Clingstones from the beginning of the season until the end of it. The first came in the Opening Day game on 4/3 vs Chattanooga when Columbus had a 6-4 lead in the top of the ninth and allowed a Grand Slam to fall 8-6. The last came on the final home game of the season on 9/6 vs Pensacola, when the Clingstones were up 5-2, and allowed five runs in the ninth inning to a Blue Wahoos team that struck three home runs and claimed the Southern League second half playoff spot just three outs later in the bottom of the ninth.
Second-Half Success
Once June 23 rolled around, the second-half of the 2026 season began for the Clingstones. After finishing the first-half of the season with a 29-35 record, Columbus decided it was time to kick it into gear to try and reach the Southern League playoffs in the second-half.
Ending the first half ranked last in the Southern League in team average (.233) and second to last in staff ERA (5.19), necessary adjustments were needed for success, and those adjustments were made.
To end the second-half, the Columbus team average remained almost the exact same, growing only to a .234, but the pitching side grew drastically. Staff ERA went from seventh in the Southern League in the first-half to first overall in the second-half at a 3.81 ERA..
From June 23 onwards, the Clingstones tossed 25 quality starts, one complete game, four shutouts, and struck out 689 batters. At the plate, the Clingstones bashed 78 home runs, 19 triples, 285 RBI and 98 stolen bases.
Most of the success was stemmed from players reaching their full-strides at a point in the season where everyone is multiple months into their game, but also, some new faces start to arrive and bring new blood to a team that can only help foster success and new energy.
Prospect Promotions
To start off the 2026 season, the Clingstones Opening Day roster began with six Top-30 prospects, the most the Clingstones had on the active roster up to that point. On the final day of the season, the Clingstones had seven Top-30 prospects and only one of them, Drue Hackenberg, was on the Opening Day roster.
A roster fluctuation that at points saw almost two-handfuls of prospects or zero Top-30 players, had been through a lot of up and down, but the day that many Braves fans were looking forward to was August 4.
At the time of August 4, the Clingstones received the Braves No. 1 prospect, left-handed pitcher Cam Caminiti, No. 2 prospect, outfielder Eric Hartman, the No. 6 prospect, infielder John Gil and the No. 15 prospect, outfielder Owen Carey. They would remain on the team and serve as crucial members of the Clingstones pitching staff and offense.
For Caminiti, there were high expectations for the top pitching prospect in the Braves organization, but that never seemed to bother the lefty at any level, let alone Double-A. With Columbus, he posted a 1-0 record, with a 2.01 ERA and 32 strikeouts over six starts. It started rocky, as on the first pitch of his Double-A Career he allowed a home run, but Caminit locked it in and became one of the best arms Columbus had down the stretch.
Eric Hartman ended the season as the Braves No. 1 prospect, and for good reason: he had a season that was one for the history books. Hartman posted a 25-home run/50-stolen base season in minor league baseball hitting 26 home runs and swiping 56 bags in 128 games over High-A Rome and Columbus. Hartman became the first MiLB player since former Atlanta outfielder Andruw Jones (25 home runs/56 stolen bases) in 1995 with Class-A Macon to post a 25/50 season. In MLB, a 25/50 season has only been achieved 15 times in the Modern Era (since 1901).
On To 2027
With another year of Clingstones baseball in the book, the 2026 season was one to remember. From a roster that sent two players to the Major Leagues, and a high-flying offense that recorded over 150 home runs and a pitching staff that was the best in minor league baseball for almost half of the season, the Clingstones’ second season expanded all facets of the inaugural season in 2025 and continues the storybook of baseball on the banks of the Chattahoochee. The story of 2026 was one that introduced new team identities, league firsts and shattered records on the road and at Synovus Park, which will be known by its new name — Pinnacle Park — for the third season of Clingstones baseball.. Even with a new name, Pinnacle Park sets the same stage for more chances to see records broken, new franchise firsts and the future of Atlanta Braves baseball.
The Columbus Clingstones’ 2027 season will begin on April 2, 2027, at Toyota Field against Rocket City. The Clingstones will open up the season at Pinnacle Park on April 6, 2027 against the Knoxville Smokies for a six-game homestand. For a full season schedule and updates on the 2027 season, visit Clingstones.com.