Brewers Minor League Roundup Week #21

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 21 roundup.

AAA Nashville

The Sounds went 4-2 against the Durham Bulls (68-55) to improve to 74-48 on the season, holding a 2.5-game lead over Columbus (71-50) in the standings.

Joey Wiemer had a solid bounce-back week, slashing .478.500/1.174 with four homers and 11 RBIs, including a grand slam. He also tied for the team lead with 11 hits on the week. Garrett Mitchell, who got the call to the majors and went 1-for-4 with two RBIs in his first start on Sunday, also slashed .438/.500/.563 over four AAA games on the week. Esteury Ruiz also continues to rake, slashing .423/.444/.462 with 11 hits and five stolen bases on the week. He now has 70 stolen bases this season, which leads all minor leaguers. As a team, the Sounds slashed a solid .276/.330/.462 with nine homers and 39 runs scored.

Josh Lindblom had a strong start this week, lasting six innings and allowing just one run on two hits and one walk to go with seven strikeouts. Hobie Harris worked 3 ⅓ scoreless innings over three relief appearances, giving up one unearned run on one hit and one walk while striking out four himself. As a pitching staff, the Sounds pitched to a 4.85 ERA with 57 strikeouts across 52 innings.

The Sounds will now play host to the Memphis Redbirds (63-59). Memphis has looked strong against Nashville this season with a 7-5 record against the Sounds, so Nashville will look to take the series lead with a strong week.

AA Biloxi

The Shuckers went 1-4 against the Chattanooga Lookouts (18-32), remaining in last place in the Southern League South standings at 23-27 in the second half. With just three series remaining in the season, the playoffs are looking increasingly unlikely for Biloxi.

Catcher Thomas Dillard was one of the rare bright spots offensively for Biloxi this week, slashing .267/.389/.733 with two homers and three RBIs. Fellow catcher Zavier Warren slashed .333/.313/.600 with a homer and six RBIs himself. As a team, Biloxi slashed just .237/.329/.393 with six homers and a league-worst 17 runs scored across the five games.

Brandon Knarr had a strong start for Biloxi, pitching six scoreless innings and striking out six while allowing three hits and four walks. Nick Bennett also had a scoreless start, lasting just 4 ⅔ innings but striking out six while allowing three hits and three walks. As a pitching staff, the Shuckers finished with a 5.35 ERA on the week, striking out 47 over 37 innings.

Biloxi now travels to Alabama to take on the Rocket City Trash Pandas (29-22). In the lone series between the two teams earlier this month, Biloxi split six games at home.

High-A Wisconsin

The Timber Rattlers had another difficult week, going 2-4 against the Lansing Lugnuts (25-29), putting them eight games back from the South Bend Cubs (33-21) in the Midwest League West standings. Wisconsin’s elimination number is down to just five, leaving them limited opportunities to close the gap with the season coming to a close.

Top prospect Jackson Chourio missed a few games with an elbow issue but hit a homer in his return yesterday. First baseman Wes Clarke had a strong week for Wisconsin, slashing .364/.440/.500 with a team-high eight hits and four RBIs. As a team, the Rattlers slashed .209/.293/.372 with seven homers and 26 runs scored.

Stiven Cruz had a strong shutout start en route to earning Midwest League Pitcher of the Week honors, spanning six innings and striking out seven while allowing just one hit and one walk. Fellow starter Israel Puello also had a strong start, going 6 ⅓ innings and allowing one unearned run on one hit and five walks while striking out six. The Rattlers pitching staff pitched to a 2.83 ERA, striking out 57 across 54 innings.

Wisconsin now travels to take on the Peoria Chiefs (23-31) as they look to bounce back against a team lower in the standings. This season, the Rattlers are 7-8 against the Chiefs, but they haven’t faced them since June 5.

A Carolina

The Mudcats went 3-3 against the Kannapolis Cannon Ballers (27-27) to move to 30-24 in the second half, 3.5 games behind Fredericksburg (33-20) in the Carolina League North standings.

Outfielder Eduarqui Fernandez had a strong week for Carolina, slashing .368/.400/.684 with seven hits and four RBIs. Third baseman Branlyn Jaraba also slashed .333/.375/.600 with a homer and two RBIs himself. The Mudcats slashed .248/.320/.354 with three homers and 24 runs scored on the week.

Starter Edwin Jimenez had a strong start, spanning six innings and allowing four runs (just one earned) on six hits and no walks with seven strikeouts. Pablo Garabitos also impressed in a long-relief situation, going five scoreless innings and striking out eight while allowing five hits and no walks. As a team, Carolina pitched to a 4.24 ERA with 69 strikeouts across 51 innings.

The Mudcats now welcome the Columbia Fireflies (30-23) to town in a battle of second-place teams. Carolina went 4-2 against the Fireflies in their lone series back in June.

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

1. (MLB No. 11) OF Jackson Chourio (High-A): .500/.667/2.000 (2 at-bats), 1 HR, 3 RBI; .311/.365/.575 (334 at-bats), 17 HR, 62 RBI
2. (MLB No. 49) OF Sal Frelick (AAA): .200/.273/.250 (20 at-bats), 0 HR, 1 RBI; .327/.401/.466 (388 at-bats), 7 HR, 40 RBI
3. (MLB No. 89) OF Joey Wiemer (AAA): .478/.500/1.174 (23 at-bats), 4 HR, 11 RBI; .251/.320/.467 (415 at-bats), 20 HR, 66 RBI
4. SS Brice Turang (AAA): .250/.304/.450 (20 at-bats), 1 HR, 4 RBI; .289/.358/.419 (454 at-bats), 12 HR, 67 RBI
5. OF Garrett Mitchell (MLB)*: .400/.455/.500 (20 at-bats), 0 HR, 3 RBI; .287/.377/.426 (255 at-bats), 5 HR, 36 RBI
6. 2B Tyler Black (High-A): On 7-day injured list (7/18); .281/.406/.424 (231 at-bats), 4 HR, 35 RBI
7. C Jeferson Quero (High-A): .133/.188/.333 (15 at-bats), 1 HR, 1 RBI; .275/.336/.399 (328 at-bats), 7 HR, 46 RBI
8. OF Esteury Ruiz (AAA): .423/.444/.462 (26 at-bats), 0 HR, 2 RBI; .335/.454/.528 (373 at-bats), 13 HR, 51 RBI
9. RHP Jacob Misiorowski (A): No appearances
10. SS Eric Brown Jr. (A): .000/.000/.000 (4 at-bats), 0 HR, 0 RBI; .237/.370/.508 (59 at-bats), 3 HR, 8 RBI

*Garrett Mitchell was promoted to the MLB on 8/27; his weekly stats are combined from AAA and MLB