Brewers Minor League Roundup Week #16

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 16 roundup.

AAA Nashville

The Sounds lost two of three to the Louisville Bats (38-54) and lost seven of their last 10 to fall to 55-37 on the season. Both Columbus (53-39) and Memphis (51-42) are closing in on the Sounds, as they sit 2 and 4.5 games back, respectively.

This week it was first baseman Jon Singleton carrying the offense, as he accumulated three homers and eight RBIs — including two homers and five RBIs on Friday — over the three-game set. Third baseman Pablo Reyes also hit well, slashing .600/.636/1.100 with a homer, four RBIs and six hits over the weekend, while outfielder Abraham Almonte* slashed .600/.636/.800 with six hits of his own. The Sounds actually led the league in OPS over the weekend, slashing .319/.425/.593 with seven homers and 23 runs scored.

While nobody had a strong start, Freddy Peralta made his first rehab start since his injury in May. He lasted two innings, allowing one run on one hit and one walk to go with three strikeouts. Reliever Matt Hardy also made two scoreless appearances, going a total of two innings and allowing on hit and one walk. Despite it being their strongest area for much of the season, the Sounds pitching staff has struggled the last two weeks as they compiled a 7.20 ERA with 18 strikeouts over 25 innings this weekend. Starter Ethan Small was also promoted to the Brewers for the second time this season Monday afternoon, as he may make a spot start for the team on Tuesday.

The Sounds now welcome the Charlotte Knights to town for a six-game set. The Knights (34-59) sit in last place in the International League East standings, so hopefully Nashville can bounce back against them. In their lone matchup this season, the Sounds went 5-1 back in April.

*Note: Almonte was traded to the Red Sox Monday afternoon

AA Biloxi

Biloxi bounced back with a 2-1 weekend series against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (10-11) to improve to 8-13 in the second half of the season. They also improve to 13-11 against the first-half division champions this season.

Prospect Sal Frelick continues to rake for the Shuckers, as he slashed .455/.538/.909 with a homer and a team-high five hits this weekend. Infielder Cam Devanney and fellow prospect Garrett Mitchell also helped on the offensive side of things with .444/.455/.889 and .333/.385/.583 slash lines, respectively. Biloxi slashed .260/.336/.448 with three homers and 17 runs scored on the weekend.

Starter Nick Bennett pitched a masterful seven innings in his start, allowing just one unearned run on two hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Noah Zavolas also impressed in a four-inning relief appearance, allowing one run on two hits and two walks with four strikeouts. Biloxi’s pitching staff did well altogether, finishing the series with a 2.33 ERA and 24 strikeouts across 27 innings.

Biloxi now takes on the Montgomery Biscuits at home for six games this week. Montgomery (13-8) has looked strong in the second half, and they’ve had the Shuckers number this season with a 10-6 record, including a 4-2 series in early July.

High-A Wisconsin

The Rattlers continue to struggle, as they dropped all three games to the Beloit Sky Carp (11-13) over the weekend, extending their losing streak to seven games and falling to 12-12 in the second half, five games behind the South Bend Cubs (17-7) in the Midwest League West standings.

Despite the rough weekend, the Rattlers did manage to get on base as four places had an OPS of over 1.000. Catcher Darrien Miller (.400/.625/.600), outfielder Tristan Peters (.500/.545/.625), third baseman Ashton McGee (.455/.455/.636) and outfielder Joe Gray Jr. (.364/.364/.636) all finished with at least one RBI. Despite the individual performances, Wisconsin slashed just .278/.327/.378 as a team, hitting no homers and scoring only 11 runs.

Antoine Kelly had a strong start despite earning the loss, going five innings and allowing one unearned run on four hits and three walks to go with seven strikeouts. The Rattlers pitching staff struggled much as the offense did, finishing the weekend with a 4.70 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 23 innings.

Wisconsin will look to bounce back against the Cedar Rapids Kernels (12-12) who have disappointed in the second half after winning the division in the first half. The Rattlers have had success against the Kernels this season, going 8-4 across their two series.

A Carolina

The Mudcats took two of three from the Down East Wood Ducks (13-10) to improve to 11-13 in the second half, although they fell to seven games back of Fredericksburg (18-6) after a three-game sweep for the Nationals.

A trio of outfielders led the way for Carolina offensively. Hendry Mendez slashed .545/.571/1.000 with a homer and two RBIs while Alberis Ferrer slashed .500/.556/.750. Jackson Chourio, who was promoted to High-A at the end of the weekend, slashed .385/.429/.769 with five hits, all of which were doubles. The Mudcats slashed .270/.364/.470 with two homers and 20 runs scored as a team.

Starter Edwin Jimenez navigated 5 ⅔ innings without giving up a run with five strikeouts, while Carlos Rodriguez went five innings and allowed one run on four hits and two walks with two strikeouts in his start. Carolina finished the weekend with a 3.67 ERA, striking out 20 over 27 innings.

The Mudcats will travel to Fayetteville to take on the Woodpeckers (7-16), who sit in last place in the Carolina League South standings in the second half. Carolina is 8-4 against Fayetteville this season, including four straight wins during their last series in July.

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

1. (MLB No. 38) OF Jackson Chourio* (High-A): .385/.429/.769 (13 at-bats), 0 HR, 2 RBI; .324/.373/.600 (250 at-bats), 12 HR, 47 RBI
2. (MLB No. 49) OF Sal Frelick (AA): .455/.538/.909 (11 at-bats), 1 HR, 1 RBI; .315/.386/.464 (276 at-bats), 6 HR, 30 RBI
3. (MLB No. 63) OF Joey Wiemer (AA): .182/.231/.273 (11 at-bats), 0 HR, 2 RBI; .245/.323/.453 (318 at-bats), 15 HR, 47 RBI
4. OF Garrett Mitchell (AA): .333/.385/.583 (12 at-bats), 0 HR, 2 RBI; .255/.356/.399 (153 at-bats), 3 HR, 21 RBI
5. SS Brice Turang (AAA): .333/.500/.667 (12 at-bats), 1 HR, 2 RBI; .282/.349/.378 (347 at-bats), 5 HR, 41 RBI
6. C Jeferson Quero (A): .333/.400/.444 (9 at-bats), 0 HR, 4 RBI; .269/.339/.407 (268 at-bats), 6 HR, 41 RBI
7. 2B Tyler Black (High-A): On 7-day injured list (7/18); .281/.406/.424 (231 at-bats), 4 HR, 35 RBI
8. P Ethan Small^ (MLB): No appearances; 72 ⅔ IP, 50 H, 33 R (27 ER), 40 BB, 81 SO (3.34 ERA)
9. OF Hedbert Perez (A): .222/.200/.556 (9 at-bats), 0 HR, 3 RBI; .220/.272/.402 (286 at-bats), 11 HR, 41 RBI
10. SS Freddy Zamora (AA): On 7-day injured list (5/13); .209/.270/.286 (91 at-bats), 1 HR, 5 RBI

*Chourio was promoted to High-A Wisconsin on 7/24 and hasn’t yet made an appearance

^Small was promoted to the MLB on 7/25