Brewers Minor League Roundup Week #17

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 17 roundup.

AAA Nashville

The Sounds won four of six against the Charlotte Knights, dropping the last two over the weekend after claiming the first four games. At 59-39, Nashville now holds a three-game lead over Columbus (56-42) in the International League West standings.

First baseman Jon Singleton stayed hot offensively, slashing .304/.385/.652 with two homers and eight RBIs on the week, while shortstop Brice Turang slashed .381/.500/.619 with a homer and three RBIs of his own, totaling a team-high eight runs and eight hits on the week. As a team, the Sounds slashed .237/.360/.405 with seven homers and 30 runs scored over the six-game set.

Ethan Small had a strong performance on Sunday after making an appearance with the Brewers earlier in the week. On Sunday, he went five innings and allowed one run on two hits and one walk with four strikeouts. Jason Alexander also had a strong start, spanning five innings and giving up no runs on six hits and one walk with two strikeouts. As a team, the Sounds pitching staff finished with an ERA of 3.00 and 40 strikeouts across 54 innings.

The Sounds now travel to take on the Norfolk Tides for six games. This season, the Sounds have split 12 games with the Tides (46-52), so these six games will decide the winner in the season series.

AA Biloxi

Biloxi continues to find ways to win, as they went 4-2 against the Montgomery Biscuits (15-12) to improve to 12-15 in the second half. The series included a walk-off grand slam by Andruw Monasterio on Sunday evening for a 6-2 win.

Outfielder Tristen Lutz looked great in his return from injury, slashing .294/.556/.647 with two homers, four RBIs and a team-high nine walks on the week. Outfielder Garrett Mitchell has also continued to impress since returning from his injury in July, as he slashed .320/.333/.480 with a homer, four RBIs and a team-high eight hits. As a team, the Shuckers slashed .239/.370/.373 with seven homers and 33 runs on the week.

The Shuckers were anchored by strong pitching performances, as Nick Bennett, Victor Castaneda, Noah Zavolas and TJ Shook combined for 28 ⅓ innings across five starts while allowing just seven runs (six earned) with 21 strikeouts. Castaneda was particularly impressive, spanning 11 innings over two starts and giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits and two walks while striking out eight total. The Shuckers finished the week with a 3.72 ERA and 51 strikeouts across 58 innings as a staff.

The Shuckers now travel to take on the Mississippi Braves (17-10) who lead the Southern League South in the second half so far. In 18 games against the Braves this season, Biloxi is 9-9, so they’ll look to take the season series lead this time around.

High-A Wisconsin

After opening the second half red hot, the Rattlers have fallen off a bit of a cliff, as they now sit at 14-16 after the break, including losing four of six to the Cedar Rapids Kernels (16-14) at home this week.

Outfielder Tristan Peters had a strong week offensively, slashing .520/.536/.760 with 13 hits, including six doubles. Top prospect Jackson Chourio, who was just called up to Wisconsin last week, keeps on raking as he slashed .333/.370/.500 with a homer and five RBIs in his first week in a Rattler uniform. Wisconsin slashed .250/.326/.378 with three homers and 23 runs scored on the week.

The lone bright spot on the mound was Justin Jarvis, who pitched an incredible six innings in a victory, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out eight. Several relievers also had strong performances, as James Meeker, Zach Mort and Brady Schanuel combined for 10 ⅔ innings allowing just one unearned run and striking out 15. The Rattlers finished with a league-worst 6.00 ERA on the week, striking out 32 over 54 innings.

Wisconsin now travels to take on the Quad Cities River Bandits (10-20). The Rattlers have had the Bandits’ number this season, going 15-3 against the Royals affiliate, including five straight wins to finish their last series in June.

A Carolina

The Mudcats split their six-game set with Fayetteville to move to 14-16 in the second half, 7.5 games back of Fredericksburg (21-8) in the Carolina League North standings.

Catcher Jesus Chirinos stepped up in a huge way after Jeferson Quero found himself dealing with an injury, as he slashed .353/.522/.471 with six hits and four runs scored on the week. Second baseman Zack Raabe also had a strong week, slashing .278/.480/.389 with a team-high seven walks to go with five hits. As a team, the Mudcats slashed .206/.335/.271 with just two homers and 23 runs scored.

Starter Miguel Segura had the strongest performance of the week, going five innings and giving up one run on four hits and one walk while striking out seven. Alexander Cornielle also looked strong across two starts, giving up five runs (four earned) over 10 innings and striking out 15. Carlos Rodriguez went four scoreless innings in his start, striking out five and giving up no hits and two walks. The Mudcats looked good as a team on the mound, finishing the week with a 3.12 ERA and 71 strikeouts across 52 innings.

The Mudcats now take on the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (18-12), who sit in first place in the Carolina League South standings in the second half. While Carolina is 6-6 against Kannapolis this season, they lost five straight in July, so they’ll look to bounce back this time around.

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

1. (MLB No. 38) OF Jackson Chourio (High-A): .333/.370/.500 (24 at-bats), 1 HR, 5 RBI; ..325/.372/.591 (274 at-bats), 13 HR, 52 RBI
2. (MLB No. 49) OF Sal Frelick (AA): .259/.355/.444 (27 at-bats), 1 HR, 4 RBI; .310/.383/.462 (303 at-bats), 7 HR, 34 RBI
3. (MLB No. 63) OF Joey Wiemer (AA): .188/.278/.188 (16 at-bats), 0 HR, 0 RBI; .243/.321/.440 (334 at-bats), 15 HR, 47 RBI
4. OF Garrett Mitchell (AA): .320/.333/.480 (25 at-bats), 1 HR, 4 RBI; .264/.353/.410 (178 at-bats), 4 HR, 25 RBI
5. SS Brice Turang (AAA): .381/.500/.619 (21 at-bats), 1 HR, 3 RBI; .288/.358/.391 (368 at-bats), 6 HR, 44 RBI
6. C Jeferson Quero (A): .250/.200/.250 (4 at-bats), 0 HR, 1 RBI; .268/.337/.404 (272 at-bats), 6 HR, 42 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* (AAA): 8 ⅔ IP, 6 H, 4 R (4 ER), 5 BB, 7 SO (4.15 ERA); 84 IP, 60 H, 39 R (33 ER), 49 BB, 92 SO (3.54 ERA)
9. OF Hedbert Perez (A): .120/.214/.240 (25 at-bats), 1 HR, 1 RBI; .212/.267/.389 (311 at-bats), 12 HR, 42 RBI
10. SS Freddy Zamora (AA): On 7-day injured list (5/13); .209/.270/.286 (91 at-bats), 1 HR, 5 RBI

*Small made a start in both AAA and the MLB this week; his weekly and season stats reflect both performances

Note: The Brewers top 10 prospects list is expected to change officially following the trade of Josh Hader for prospects from San Diego; the list will reflect this update next week