Article: Looking Over The Rosters On The Farm: Nashville Sounds

[Harold Hutchison]

The Nashville Sounds, the AAA affiliate of the Brewers, arguably is the minor-league roster of most importance to the Brewers in 2023.

Image courtesy of © Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

After all, the players here have climbed through multiple levels of competition and are on the cusp of the majors. A fair number of the players on this roster were non-roster invitees to spring training or were on the Brewers’ 40-man roster to start the spring.

Let’s take a look at this team and give some thoughts.

Pitching
At least 14 of the pitchers on the Sounds roster were on the 40-man roster were NRIs to spring training. This gives the Brewers a lot of depth options, both in the rotation (where Janson Junk, Robert Gasser, Colin Rea, and Tyler Herb are) and out of the bullpen (from which Ethan Small, Cam Robinson, Alex Claudio, Jake Cousins, Clayton Andrews, Elvis Peguero, and Lucas Erceg could contribute). Cousins is currently on the 7-day disabled list for the Sounds, while Jason Alexander, expected to be part of the Sounds rotation, is on the 60-day injured list with the MLB team.

Catchers
Payton Henry is the third of three catchers for the Brewers – and should be the primary catcher for the Sounds, and would be a credible second catcher for the Crew if not for the presence of Victor Caratini. Alex Jackson and Brian Navarreto are suitable backups, along with Brent Diaz, who is on the “developmental list.” Could the Brewers have been better served by an aggressive promotion of Darrien Miller or Wes Clarke, who arguably are closer to the future of the position than Jackson or Navarreto are?

Infielders
The Brewers have a pair of one-time major-leaguers at first base in, Jon Singleton and Keston Hiura, who are trying to get back to the big leagues after showing a lot of promise before losing their way. The Sounds infield has NRI Josh VanMeter and prospect Cam Devanney on the injured list to start 2023. Still, Andruw Monasterio, Eddy Alvarez, and offseason acquisition Abraham Toro all look to get playing time, while third-base prospect Patrick Dorrian is on the developmental list.

Outfielders
For Sal Frelick, being back in Nashville after spring training and his performance in the World Baseball Classic must be frustrating. But it will be a question of when, not if, he joins Garrett Mitchell and Joey Wiemer in Milwaukee. Blake Perkins, who was on the 40-man roster, joins 2023 NRIs Monte Harrison (on the development list), Skye Bolt, and Tyler Naquin in the outfield. Hiura spent some time in left field with the Brewers in 2022, and Devanney has also seen time in the outfield.

Overview
The Brewers could field a not-so-horrible team that could sneak its way to 75 wins from the Sounds roster, particularly given some of those currently on the IL. But Nashville’s real purpose is to have players ready to move to Milwaukee – or make their way back.

Peguero, Erceg, Robinson, Small, Gasser, Devanney, and Frelick all could be part of the future. Claudio, Hiura, Cousins, Rea, Henry, and VanMeter are among those who have been in the big leagues in the past. There is no shortage of potential contributors to major-league success here, albeit if some are showing up, it’s a bad sign for the Brewers on the injury front.

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[Ro Mueller]

Erceg, Andrews, Miller and Peguero give us four intriguing, seemingly MLB-capable relief arms in AAA. I hope Erceg doesn’t have an early opt-out!

[Harold Hutchison]

Andrews also saw some time in CF during the 2019 season. Might be interesting to see if that comes back as well.

[sveumrules]

15 minutes ago, clancyphile said:

Andrews also saw some time in CF during the 2019 season. Might be interesting to see if that comes back as well.

Clayton will be lucky to carve out a career as anything more than an up/down optionable reliever at this point.

Asking him to face AAA pitchers after four years of not hitting professionally might be stretching him a little thin. 

[SF70]

43 minutes ago, damuelle said:

Erceg, Andrews, Miller and Peguero give us four intriguing, seemingly MLB-capable relief arms in AAA. I hope Erceg doesn’t have an early opt-out!

I like the Biloxi bullpen better. 

Uribe, Yeager, Middendorf, Thompson are a dynamic foursome that also could impact the big-club at varying points of the season. Even Chirino & Vannero with their increased velo have potential.

Of the 4 arms you mentioned at Nashville I like Andrews the best. His left-handedness, 93-94mph deceptive FB/SL combo has me quite intrigued.