Brewers - Arizona Fall League

[UpandIn]

Just curious who y'all think could be in line for a spot in the Arizona Fall League. I haven't seen this post, so I thought with the MiLB season coming to a close, could be a good time. 

I'll start with players I wouldn't send this particular year;
The Nashville 5-Turang, Frelick, Mitchell, Wiemer, Ruiz-Of the two, It MIGHT make sense to send Turang there to get him more playing time at 3B and 2B. Ruiz maybe time at 2B to see if he can work on his hands, but by in large, they're shown what they need to show, all had big years in AAA and there is little for the Brewers to find out there. 
Jackson Chourio-He's shot up SO quickly this year, I'd just give him some time, let him play in the Dominican League in a bit more anonymity(or at least less pressure). They're already pushing him aggressively and he seemed to have slowed down a bit toward the end of the year. Still think he's got a chance to go, but I'd let him take the foot off the gas and start him in HiA next year and when he produces, preferably early in the season, a quick promotion to AA. 
Jefferson Quero-Again, same reason. He doesn't have the high prospect ranking next to his name, but he's produced like one and he's done so at a premiere position and he's just...what, half a year older than Chourio but he's been up in HiA and even in a smaller sample size, he's actually out-performed him offensively. 
Robert Gasser-RHP He's finishing the season on an exceptionally high note. He's also thrown 121 IP and will finish up with 40+ innings over his previous career high.
Carlos Rodriguez-RHP Same thinking, he's up to 120 innings in his first full year. He's been outstanding. I think just shutting him down is a good idea. Bring him back next year in AA,

 

Tyler Black-2B/3B/CF if he is healthy and ready to go...which was the speculation when he got injured, that he should(could) be back by the time he was healthy to play in the Arizona Fall League. That'd be the most obvious choice if he's good, and participating in baseball activities. It would hardly have been a surprise to see him progress along with Frelick up through HiA, AA and then end the season in AAA. I think it's more likely he's a half season behind Frelick if he stays healthy, but he has outstanding command of the strike zone, he's got good power, good speed, can play all over the field. He'd be an option for the OF in the near future if we didn't have Brewers AAA OF equivalent of Willie....Micky and the Duke(imagine that in harmony). 
Ok, that's pushing juuuust a bit, nonetheless, a very deep and talented group of players who can play the OF.

 

But he can play 2nd and 3rd...I'm gonna assume he can play 1st if he can play those two,...though 3B drops his value with his limit arm, unless he can improve his arm strength. Jace Peterson has been an outstanding defender at 3B this year and he's certainly not Scott Rolen at 1B throwing 100 over to 1B. 

Cam Devanney-3B/SS (and presumably 2B/1B moving forward if need be). Cat's kinda out of the bag on him now. Not to say he's some lock to go in the rule 5, but this could help the Brewers make their decision one way or the other if they're on the fence(I've come around to protecting him just because of Joseph Zarr's commentary on him...which has forced me to kinda dig a little deeper and see some of the INCREDIBLE plays he's made defensively. We love utility players, right? Well, a plus defensive 3B, at least a good defensive SS.

Devanney has taken a strange route. 4 year College player...very good 1st year, but just at rookie ball. Struggle after skipping both levels of A ball after the Covid season, but this year put up very solid offensive lines. A .~.260/.340/.480. I get he's going to be 26 when next season starts, but we've also rostered the likes of Pablo Reyes, Mathias, and others. 

I think these two are rather obvious if healthy with Black and Devanney should just be headed their either way.

Eric Brown Jr-SS/2B
The 1st round pick...could swap him out with Robert Moore or Dylan O'Rae, but I'd prefer to see Brown there for obvious reasons. 

Wes Clarke-C/1B/DH
Clarke has played all over the field. Maybe a good chance to see if he can Catch a little more...even if it's more as a 3rd option. But he's been a productive hitter. High Walk Rate, hit for good power, he's produced at AA(again, in limited time). 

Darrien Miller-C Another intriguing catching prospect. I expect the Brewers to send at least one with their catching depth, but Miller is a viable option here. 

Ethan Small-LHP
Small has been finishing the season about as poorly as a guy who came into the year with a legitimate claim to the 6th spot in what appeared to be among the best rotations 1-5 in all of baseball could. Struggling to find the zone, not trusting his stuff. Rich Hill was the comp I heard a lot. You can see it in their delivery, in their stuff. But it seems like he's trying to make the perfect pitch. He's also under or just around 100 IP this year. Given a month off, a chance to regroup and then go and face some of the top prospects, I think that could be good for him. His confidence coming into next year, his trade value, whatever it may be. I still believe he will be a good #4 who can eat a lot of innings and be an effective starter...which of course is extremely valuable. 

Stiven Cruz-RHP
From what I can see, his stuff is really coming along. He's dominated at HiA. if you could get him 15 innings there, I think you could find out quite a bit about him as a 20 year old in HiA. 

I like the idea of sending a couple of the Brewers fireballers 

Jacob Misiorowski RHP-
Who doesn't want to see the guy who throws 102 with a lower 90's slider pitching more? If nothing else, we get his feet wet against good competition. More likely he goes to the Brewers "pitching lab," along with Cruz and Gasser, but with the limited innings, 
He's OBVIOUSLY on a very limited pitch count and I'd be hesitant to send an arm like his to the AZF League, but I'd like to see him get a few more innings under his belt. I believe we're required to send at least one starter. I might label him as a reliever for AZF leaue purposes and keep his pitch count under 45.

Zach Vennaro-Power righty...I think there's something there. Could be a good chance to see if that plus fastball can ever develop a modicum of consistency...and not in the way of 6ER outings every few weeks. 

Lucas Ecerg RHP-CLEARLY a dark horse and he's a Minor League FA, so the logistics would make it difficult. He's also much older than the average AFL participant, but he's also young in terms of pitching. He has elite stuff, but he's not refined. It could give us a bit of a clue if he's on the precipice of the big league team or if it's time to move on.

Cam Robinson RHP-Not quite a flame thrower, but he's throwing in the mid 90s and has been dominant. 

I also considered guys like Castenda, Brady Schanuel, Woessener, Wagoner, Smith or even Henderson, but their either to new into the system, or as is the case with Henderson, has already thrown quite a few innings. Russell Smith would have been a consideration, but he hasn't been pitching the last 6 weeks, so not sure what's going on with him exactly.  

 

Final guesses are Black, Devanney, Darrien Miller, Carlos Rodriquez CFer

Ethan Small, Lucas Ecerg, Cam Robinson, Zach Vennaro

I feel pretty good about Black and Devanney, beyond that, just kinda blind guesses and players I'd like to see. 

 

Love to hear what our resident MiLB fanatic's have to say about this. Again, I feel like it'll be pointed out that we don't send pitching prospects preferring they instead stay and work with the Brewers, but I think it'd be good to get Small back into some game action where his advanced feel for pitching could serve him and help his confidence after imploding, get a chance to see Robinson vs some top prospect, and see if Ecerg can dominate high premiere prospects with his power CB and that big FB. 

 

 

[CheeseheadInQC]

It is so tough to tell without knowing pitching inning limits or who they might want to shield from exposure from exposure before the rule 5 draft, but on Small, I would lean the other way. I will admit to knowing nothing about player development, but it seemed like pitching his way out of his issues wasn’t working during the season. Just working behind the scenes might be better than more games at this point.

[wiguy94]

How is Uribe recovering from his knee injury? Feel like sending him there would be productive just letting him get some game action in. 

[ARobsBrewCrew]

3 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

How is Uribe recovering from his knee injury? Feel like sending him there would be productive just letting him get some game action in. 

If Uribe is still on the timetable that they originally set for him, he will not be ready to pitch until the spring.  Also want to put it out there since they were mentioned in the first post, CF Carlos Rodriguez and 2B Tyler Black will, without a doubt, be out until the spring.

[CheeseheadInQC]

I will toss Ernesto Martinez out there. Needs some more at bats, and the Brewers have been trending toward lower level guys recently. Some of their “taxi squad” or however they refer to it, picks have been so young that I wouldn’t rule out Jace Avina for one of those spots.

[nate82]

I have a thread from earlier with my predictions: 

 

Though it looks like Black is out.

[UpandIn]

15 hours ago, CheeseheadInQC said:

It is so tough to tell without knowing pitching inning limits or who they might want to shield from exposure from exposure before the rule 5 draft, but on Small, I would lean the other way. I will admit to knowing nothing about player development, but it seemed like pitching his way out of his issues wasn’t working during the season. Just working behind the scenes might be better than more games at this point.

Can't argue with that. I was thinking rather than let him sit with this all season, give him a little break(though it is admittedly a very short break...I thought it used to be about 6-7 weeks between the end of the MiLB season and the AZ Fall League) and then get him out there vs some more aggressive hitters where his style of pitching may yield better results. Maybe increase his value, confidence...

But it could certainly could do just the opposite. 

11 hours ago, ARobsBrewCrew said:

If Uribe is still on the timetable that they originally set for him, he will not be ready to pitch until the spring.  Also want to put it out there since they were mentioned in the first post, CF Carlos Rodriguez and 2B Tyler Black will, without a doubt, be out until the spring.

I didn't know Black was going to be out until spring. At the time of the injury, I remembered a few articles that stated the Brewers hoped he'd be able to come back and play by the time the AZF started. 

Rodriguez...I'd completely forgotten he was out with a torn ACL. I thought he was another torn meniscus. 

 

[UpandIn]

1 hour ago, nate82 said:

I have a thread from earlier with my predictions: 

 

Though it looks like Black is out.

My bad, I didn't search, but I didn't see it. I'd have just bumped it...

As for Black, what's going on there? I thought they were hoping he'd be healthy by the end of the year and able to get back out there for Fall League. 

 

4 hours ago, CheeseheadInQC said:

I will toss Ernesto Martinez out there. Needs some more at bats, and the Brewers have been trending toward lower level guys recently. Some of their “taxi squad” or however they refer to it, picks have been so young that I wouldn’t rule out Jace Avina for one of those spots.

I thought about Martinez because...I just really love the way the guy plays, but wasn't sure if he'd be considered a big enough prospect to get there. He's kinda like the T-Rats version of Cody Bellinger. A 6'5 guy who can play 1B, CF and has some quick hands. 

Avina is another one I'd like to see, but I was thinking he was just too young and they'd likely not send him out there. He looks like an incredible value for a 15th rounder though...

I really haven't paid attention too closely to who's been sent to the AZF the last couple years, but obviously with the limits lifted on how many players below AA-AAA opens the Brewers up to a whole lot more options...as does the talent they seem to have in A ball at the time.

 

In the past, I'd have assumed Chourio was promoted so they could send him to the Fall League while still sending someone else as that promotion at this point doesn't make all that much sense to me on it's own. 

[ARobsBrewCrew]

2 hours ago, UpandIn said:

As for Black, what's going on there? I thought they were hoping he'd be healthy by the end of the year and able to get back out there for Fall League.

I’ll check in on him again because it has been a while.  At the time, Black and a few other members of the organization had told me the hope was he would get close to a normal offseason of training but no game action until the spring.

[UpandIn]

On 9/12/2022 at 9:55 PM, ARobsBrewCrew said:

I’ll check in on him again because it has been a while.  At the time, Black and a few other members of the organization had told me the hope was he would get close to a normal offseason of training but no game action until the spring.

Well, if you've got actual connections to the Brewers in some capacity, obviously I'll take your word for it over the MJS article saying they hoped he'd be able to play in the Fall League. 

I have...no concept what the recovery type on a scapula would be. I've never heard of someone breaking it in any athletic activity. 

I guess just based on my ignorance, I'd say the bone would probably take 8 weeks to heal, but that's in an area where there are a lot of other muscles or possible complications with the back. Last thing you want is a prospect of his caliber to come back before their ready. These prospects get a splinter, they go on the 7 day IL.

 

But it'd be great if he was ahead of schedule and could participate. He's been overlooked this year when talking about the best pure hitters in our system. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

If they've decided to commit a guy Like Clarke or Xavier Warren to a particular position (either 1B or 3B), then I think it would make sense to give that guy some work there. Same thing if they were, say, planning on looking at Eduardo Garcia at 3B.

Too bad if Black is indeed done until spring. He would've been a prime candidate. Erceg wouldn't surprise me.

Nick Kahle?

[markedman5]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/2022-arizona-fall-league-glendale-desert-dogs/

[markedman5]

https://www.mlb.com/news/arizona-fall-league-rosters-2022

[Ro Mueller]

Our AFL representatives:

• C Jeferson Quero
• INF Zavier Warren
• OF/INF Tyler Black (last played July 10, 2022)
• RHP Logan Henderson
• RHP Ryan Middendorf
• LHP Russell Smith (last played July 31, 2022)
• RHP Abner Uribe (last played April 12, 2022)
• OF Je'Von Ward (last played August 22, 2021)

[igor67]

Plenty of interesting players to follow there.

[CheeseheadInQC]

It’s good to see some of those pitchers are going to get some more innings in. Every single one makes some sense, Especially if you look at it from a position perspective.

[Outlander]

I'm not happy to see that Uribe and Black are planning on playing again.

[Jim Goulart]

• OF Je'Von Ward (last played August 22, 2021)

Welcome back, Je'Von!
 

 

[wiguy94]

I swear there was someone on this site saying they had inside sources that Uribe and Black weren't playing until Spring. Good to see they were wrong and that both will be attending AZFL!

[ARobsBrewCrew]

3 hours ago, wiguy94 said:

I swear there was someone on this site saying they had inside sources that Uribe and Black weren't playing until Spring. Good to see they were wrong and that both will be attending AZFL!

That was me, clearly both are ahead of schedule in their rehab.  I had previously heard that Black was hoping to participate from the get-go, but there was a chance that his spot may go to another Brewers farmhand if he isn’t quite there yet.  Not sure if that is still the case.

[wiguy94]

1 hour ago, ARobsBrewCrew said:

That was me, clearly both are ahead of schedule in their rehab.  I had previously heard that Black was hoping to participate from the get-go, but there was a chance that his spot may go to another Brewers farmhand if he isn’t quite there yet.  Not sure if that is still the case.

Good to see that both of their recoveries went well. Uribe especially with him being Rule 5 eligible this offseason.

[LouisEly]

Are my eyes deceiving me, or is Ward not listed on the graphic?

Don't like that Black is listed as an OF.

[CheeseheadInQC]

1 hour ago, LouisEly said:

Are my eyes deceiving me, or is Ward not listed on the graphic?

Don't like that Black is listed as an OF.

If I remember correctly, teams “draft” positions, so they might just have had an outfield spot to fill so they put him there.

[ARobsBrewCrew]

3 hours ago, LouisEly said:

Are my eyes deceiving me, or is Ward not listed on the graphic?

Ward is not listed and, honestly, I can’t find where that was originally confirmed.  However, I reached out to him last night and he said he is indeed playing and can’t wait to get back on the field.

[CheeseheadInQC]

30 minutes ago, ARobsBrewCrew said:

Ward is not listed and, honestly, I can’t find where that was originally confirmed.  However, I reached out to him last night and he said he is indeed playing and can’t wait to get back on the field.

Don’t they have a taxi squad or something like that where the players are only eligible to play two days a week? Maybe he is one of the Brewers’ for that and they aren’t listed on the graphic.