Brewers Minor League Roundup Week #7

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 seven roundup.

AAA Nashville

The Sounds had another amazing week, improving to 29-12 (.707 win percentage) on the season, going 5-1 against the Louisville Bats, moving their division lead to 2.5 games over Columbus (27-15).

Four players finished with an OPS north of 1.000 on the week, including third baseman Pablo Reyes (.500/.500/.938), first baseman Jon Singleton (.333/.500/.667), outfielder Abraham Almonte (.313/.389/.688) and second baseman Mark Mathias (.357/.500/.571). As a team, the Sounds slashed .305/.404/.505, scoring 38 runs and grabbing eight stolen bases.

On the mound, Jason Alexander had the best start of the week, going five shutout innings and striking out six. Pitcher Dylan File also had a solid start, allowing one earned run over five innings of work to go with three strikeouts. As a team, the Sounds had a 3.06 ERA, striking out 59 over 54 innings.

The team now travels to Toledo, where they’ll take on the Mud Hens (21-19) who sit 7.5 games back from the Sounds in the standings.

AA Biloxi

The Shuckers dropped four of six to the Mississippi Braves, falling to 18-21 and moving into a tie with the Braves (18-21), 3.5 games out of first in the Southern League South Standings.

Biloxi continues to have key performers on offense, led by outfielder Joey Wiemer, who slashed .308/.357/.615 on the week with two homers and three RBIs in 26 at-bats. Catcher Jakson Reetz also had a solid week, slashing .250/.333/.625 and hitting a team-leading three homers, driving in six. Despite the strong solo performances, the Shuckers had the second-worst OPS in the league over the course of the week, slashing .244/.311/.394 with just 23 runs scored. They did, however, lead the league with 11 stolen bases on the week.

TJ Shook made the only scoreless start on the week, going three innings and allowing three hits, three walks and striking out three. As a team, the Shuckers finished the series with a 5.76 ERA, allowing 32 earned runs over 50 innings while striking out 40.

The Shuckers will look to find the win column as they welcome the Montgomery Biscuits (15-19) to town. In their loan six-game series so far this year, the Biscuits swept the Shuckers in early May, outscoring Biloxi 37 to 19.

High-A Wisconsin

The Timber Rattlers split their six-game series with the South Bend Cubs (23-16), including the final two after allowing the Cubs to rattle off three straight wins during the week. The Rattlers now sit one game back in the Midwest League West standings.

Outfielders Carlos Rodriguez and Joe Gray Jr. led the way for the Rattlers on the week. Rodriguez slashed .368/.478/.474 with seven hits in 19 at-bats while Gray slashed .273/.385/.545 with two homers and five RBIs. As a team, the Rattlers finished with the second-worst OPS in the league on the week, slashing .215/.291/.318 with just four homers and 25 runs scored. Like the Shuckers, however, they had a solid week on the basepaths, going a perfect 9-for-9 on steals.

For the second straight week, Brandon Knarr led the way on the mound, going six innings and allowing no runs with seven strikeouts. Justin Jarvis also had a solid start, giving up one earned run over six innings to go with 10 strikeouts. Despite their poor offensive showing, the pitching carried the team to a series split with a 3.70 ERA over 56 innings, striking out 68 Cubs batters.

The Rattlers now travel to Cedar Rapids to take on the Kernels (26-13) in a battle for first place in the Midwest League West standings.

A Carolina

The Mudcats took four of six against the Down East Wood Ducks (16-23), moving within 0.5 games of first-place Lynchburg (21-17) in the Carolina League North standings at 21-18.

Five Mudcats finished the week with an OPS over 1.000, including catcher Jose Sibrian (.500/.600/.750), outfielder Hendry Mendez (.375/.500/.688), second baseman Zack Raabe (.429/.529/.643), outfielder Arbert Cipion (.357/.500/.643) and outfielder Alberis Ferrer (.308/.357/.692). The Mudcasts managed to slash .265/.365/.398 as a team despite only having three homers on the week, racking up 52 hits.

On the mound, no pitchers had a phenomenal performance, but Stiven Cruz went four scoreless innings with three strikeouts while Fernando Olguin went five scoreless with one strikeout. It was truly a team effort, as the team pitched to a 3.17 ERA over 54 innings, striking 57 batters.

The Mudcats will host their second straight series this week, welcoming the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (17-22) for six games as they look to close the gap on Lynchburg.

Performances by Top 10 Brewers Prospects (Weekly Performance; Season Totals)

1. OF Sal Frelick (MLB No. 66) (AA): .600/.600/1.000 (5 at-bats), 0 HR, 0 RBI; .285/.362/.415 (123 at-bats), 2 HR, 10 RBI
2. OF Joey Wiemer (MLB No. 82) (AA): .308/.357/.615 (26 at-bats), 2 HR, 3 RBI; .303/.372/.606 (155 at-bats), 11 HR, 30 RBI
3. OF Garrett Mitchell (AA): On 7-day injured list (5/14); .224/.331/.346 (107 at-bats), 2 HR, 11 RBI
4. SS Brice Turang (AAA): .227/.227/.273 (22 at-bats), 0 HR, 4 RBI; .279/.337/.403 (154 at-bats), 3 HR, 25 RBI
5. C Jeferson Quero (A): .222/.300/.278 (18 at-bats), 0 HR, 2 RBI; .234/.292/.339 (124 at-bats), 1 HR, 16 RBI
6. 2B Tyler Black (High-A): .250/.333/.292 (24 at-bats), 0 HR, 0 RBI; .300/.413/.444 (90 at-bats), 2 HR, 21 RBI
7. P Ethan Small (AAA): No appearances; 32.1 IP, 17 H, 7 ER, 21 BB, 46 SO (1.95 ERA)
8. OF Hedbert Perez (A): .176/.176/.235 (17 at-bats), 0 HR, 1 RBI; .176/.237/.288 (125 at-bats), 3 HR, 15 RBI
9. OF Jackson Chourio (A): .238/.370/.333 (21 at-bats), 0 HR, 2 RBI; .328/.397/.516 (64 at-bats), 1 HR, 10 RBI
10. SS Freddy Zamora (AA): On 7-day injured list (5/13); .209/.270/.286 (91 at-bats), 1 HR, 5 RBI

Note: A previous version of the season stats for the top 10 prospects used OPS instead of SLG for some players; these numbers are now updated