Brewers Minor League Roundup Week #6

Each week, I’ll be bringing you a roundup of the Brewers minor league affiliates, including score updates, key players and more. Here is the week six roundup.

AAA Nashville

The Sounds remain the cream of the crop in the International League West standings after a 4-2 record against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (20-16). Sitting at 24-11 on the year, Nashville is still in first in the standings, but Columbus (24-12) is now just a half game back after a perfect 6-0 week against St. Paul.

Keston Hiura, recently sent down to AAA, had the best week offensively for the Sounds, slashing .467/.556/1.067 with three homers and nine RBIs, both of which led the team. Catcher Mario Feliciano and second baseman Mark Mathias also had solid weeks, slashing .636/.667/.727 and .438/.471/.625, respectively. As a team, the Sounds batted an incredible .301/.382/.472 on the week, with 65 hits and 40 runs.

Pitcher Ethan Small bounced back from a poor performance with a five-inning, one-run outing that included nine punchouts. Josh Lindblom also had a solid week, pitching 11.1 innings across two appearances (one start) and allowing four runs with seven strikeouts. While the offense performed well, the pitching staff totaled a 4.50 ERA on the week, giving up eight homers and 26 earned runs across 52 innings.

The Sounds will look to rebuild their division lead as they return home to take on the Louisville Bats, who sit in last place in the standings at 13-22.

AA Biloxi

After a tough week against Montgomery, the Shuckers bounced back with a 4-2 week against the Birmingham Barons (13-20) to move back into second place in the Southern League South standings at 16-17, two games back of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.

Outfielder Joey Wiemer was the story of the week for Biloxi, slashing .417/.500/1.083 with a team-high five homers and eight RBIs in 24 at-bats. Wiemer, who had a slow start to the season, is now slashing .302/.375/.980 with nine home runs on the season. Fellow outfielder Tristen Lutz, who returned from the injured list Saturday, went 5-for-7 in the last two games of the series, including one homer and four RBIs. As a team, the Shuckers led the league with a 1.026 OPS on the week thanks to 30 extra-base hits, including 17 homers.

Tyler Herb had the best week on the mound, pitching six scoreless innings with three strikeouts to lower his season ERA to 1.31 across 34.1 innings. Victor Castaneda also pitched nine innings over two appearances (one start), giving up two runs and racking up 16 strikeouts. While the team had a 4.17 ERA altogether, they did enough offensively to win the series.

The Shuckers now travel to Mississippi to take on the Braves for six games. The Braves (14-19) are in last place in the standings and the Shuckers took five of six from them the first time they met back in April.

High-A Wisconsin

The Timber Rattlers had another great week, going 5-1 against the Quad Cities River Bandits to move to 22-11 on the season and staying two games back of Cedar Rapids in the Midwest League West standings. The Rattlers also improved to 10-2 on the year against Quad Cities, as they went 5-1 against them in their April series.

Second baseman Tyler Black had a solid week offensively for the Rattlers, slashing .440/.500/.800 with 11 hits and 11 RBIs across 25 at-bats. Outfielder Tristan Peters also performed well, slashing .375/.467/.833 with nine hits in 24 at-bats. On the basepaths, outfielder Carlos Rodriguez swiped three bags, giving him a team-high eight on the season. As a team, the Rattlers had a league-high .959 OPS in the series, including 63 hits, 49 runs and eight homers.

On the mound, Brandon Knarr got two wins in two starts, pitching a total of 12 innings while giving up just two runs and striking out 15. He now has a 1.34 ERA over seven starts this season with 48 strikeouts in 40.1 innings. Antoine Kelly also had a strong start, going 5.2 innings and giving up just one earned run with two strikeouts. As a team, the Rattlers had a 3.91 ERA, allowing 23 earned runs over 53 innings.

The Rattlers now welcome the South Bend Cubs to town. Sitting at 20-13 on the season, the Cubs are one of the hottest teams in the league, winning nine of their last 10 to move within two games of the Rattlers in the standings.

A Carolina

The Mudcats had another 3-3 week, splitting their series with the Fayetteville Woodpeckers to move to 17-16 on the season. Carolina fell back to third place in the Carolina League North standings, but they now sit just 2.5 games out of first after a 2-4 week for Fredericksburg.

Outfielder Hedbert Perez and catcher Jesus Chirinos had the best weeks offensively for the Mudcats, slashing .263/.391/.474 and .263/.417/.421, respectively. The team had a bad week offensively altogether, slashing just .174/.307/.254 with only three homers, 27 runs and 69 strikeouts.

Ryne Moore turned in a strong start for Carolina, going seven innings and allowing just one run while totaling six strikeouts. The bullpen ate up most of the innings for the Mudcats, but the team did well on the mound, finishing the week with a 3.33 ERA over 54 innings, including 79 strikeouts which tied Augusta for the league lead.

The Mudcats now welcome the Down East Wood Ducks (14-19) to town for six games. In nine games against the Ducks this season, the Mudcats are 7-2, including 3-0 at home.

Performances by Top 10 Brewers Prospects

1. Outfielder Sal Frelick (AA): .308/.400/.308 (13 at-bats), 0 HR, 0 RBI
2. Outfielder Joey Wiemer (AA): .417/.500/1.083 (24 at-bats), 5 HR, 8 RBI
3. Outfielder Garrett Mitchell (AA): .286/.375/.429 (14 at-bats), 0 HR, 0 RBI, placed on 7-day injured list 5/14
4. Shortstop Brice Turang (AAA): .286/.355/.393 (28 at-bats), 1 HR, 4 RBI
5. Catcher Jeferson Quero (A): .222/.391/.222 (18 at-bats), 0 HR, 0 RBI
6. Second Baseman Tyler Black (High-A): .440/.500/.800 (25 at-bats), 2 HR, 11 RBI
7. Pitcher Ethan Small (AAA): 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 SO (1.80 ERA)
8. Outfielder Hedbert Perez (A): .263/.391/.474 (19 at-bats), 1 HR, 5 RBI
9. Outfielder Jackson Chourio (A): .222/.263/.333 (18 at-bats), 0 HR, 3 RBI
10. Shortstop Freddy Zamora (AA): .000/.200/.000 (8 at-bats), 0 HR, 0 RBI, placed on 7-day injured list 5/13