Brewers Minor League Link Report (7/18): Bitonti Shines but Rookies Have Rare 0-for-3 Day on Thursday

[Ro Mueller]

Eric Bitonti reached base four times and Jose Anderson continued his torrid pace, but the Rookie affiliates lost three games in Arizona and the Dominican Republic.

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Game Action:

Final: ACL Angels 8, ACL Brewers 2 (in 7 innings as scheduled)
Box Score and Game Log

Any dream of winning their final 6 games to climb back to a .500 record were basically dead by the 3rd inning in this game, trailing 6-0 by that point.

The obvious bright spot was 3B Eric Bitonti producing a double, two singles and a walk in his four plate appearances, thus lifting his batting average and OPS to .321 and 1.019, respectively. Should we expect the 18-year old to join Low-A Carolina for its final 1.5 months plus the playoffs?

Recently-turned 18-year old RHP Melvin Hernandez (3 IP, 6 R (5 ER), 1 BB, 3 Ks) started but had his second straight rough outing. He’s allowed 10 earned runs and 15 hits over his last 7 innings, but continues to limit walks while notching strikeouts. It will be fascinating to follow the paths of Hernandez and others on accelerated career paths over the next 2-3 years (e.g. Josh Knoth, Manuel Rodriguez, Enniel Cortez at Low-A level).

Congrats to right fielder Angel Pereira on his first homer of 2024, a solo shot which cut the deficit to 8-2 in the final inning. 2B Josh Adamczewski also had a solid game at the plate: 1-for-3, double, walk, run scored (.915 OPS), while SS Tyler Rodriguez kept his decent offensive line (1-for-3, HBP; .813 OPS) but also committed his 10th error.

21-year old RHP Felipe De Los Santos pitched one scoreless inning (lowering ERA to 11.77), while 18-year old RHP Ismael Yanez conceded 2 runs in 2 innings to also “lower” his ERA to 13.50.

The ACL Crew (now 24-31) play at the formidable ACL Rangers (34-20) on Friday evening.

Final: DSL LAD Bautista 5, DSL Brewers Uno 2
Box Score and Game Log

Despite registering only 5 Ks in 32 at-bats, the hits just weren’t falling in on this day, as Team Uno was out-hit 11-to-5. These few hits were all singles and the squad went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

After falling behind 4-1 by the 5th inning, Equipo Uno watched its big opportunity come and go in the top of the 7th inning, walking the bases loaded then being mowed down on consecutive strikeouts by incoming 20-year old reliever Joldelanio De Los Santos.

19-year old LHP Wande Torres got the start, facing 8 batters over 1 2/3 scoreless innings (0 R, 2 singles, 1 BB, 3 Ks). It appears that he’s still ramping up activity after losing the 2023 season due to injury. The main damage came against RHP Joshua Quezada: 3 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 2 HR, 3 doubles, 1 BB, 1 WP, 2 Ks), while RHP Carlos Canales navigated through late traffic: 3 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 WP, 1 K.

The team did manage to bring the potential tying run to the plate in the 9th inning, but the Dodgers switched pitcher again to strike out the final two batters – yes, all 5 strikeouts for Team Uno in the game came at the most pivotal junctures at the hands of new 20-year old relievers.

At the plate, 18-year old switch-hitting C Freider Rojas attempted to lead the way: 1-for-2, 2 walks. The usual Domination Trio of SS Jesus Made, 3B Luis Pena and 2B Juan Ortuno combined for a frustrating 1-for-11 day with a walk, but only one strikeout. Made was also caught stealing and had an error in the field.

The young Uno men fell to 20-10 but still lead their division by one game. They play at DSL Padres Gold on Friday.

Final: DSL Red Sox Blue 8, DSL Brewers Dos 7
Box Score and Game Log

Team Dos fell behind early 2-0, briefly led 3-2, trailed 8-3 by the 5th inning, then chipped away but ultimately ran out of innings.

After stud center fielder Jose Anderson (2-for-4, 2 R (1 ER) 1 BB, 2 Ks; 1.031 season OPS) singled in a run with one out in the bottom of the 9th inning to cut the deficit to one run, the Red Sox got a line-out and fly out to strand Anderson at 1st base in this 8-7 defeat.

Anderson has been selected to play at the 2024 DSL All-Star Game which the Brewers are hosting at their fabulous Dominican Academy on Sunday. Keep in mind that there are 51(!) teams in the league, yet despite that it appears as many as four Cerveceros players will be featured:

King, 18 years old, is a RHP with a 24-to-1 K-to-BB ratio (mix in seven HBP's), and shines with a 1.77 ERA. Made and Pena, each 17, have maintained OPS figures above 1.000 all season while building defensive versatility all across the three infield spots left of first base. Each of King, Made and Pena play on the DSL Brewers #1 Squad.

Early in this Team #2 contest, 3B Jonathan Rangel had a bases-clearing double to grab a 3-2 lead in the 2nd inning and DH/INF Jorge Quintana had a bases-clearing double of his own in the 7th inning to cut the deficit to 8-6. However, Quintana was picked off as the team really hurt itself by running into 3 outs on the bases and committing 3 errors in the field.

2023 super-signing SS Kevin Ereu went 2-for-4 with an HBP (.783 season OPS) before unfortunately making the final out.

Despite still being listed on the injured list, starting 17-year old LHP Dalvin Bodre (1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 Ks) made his second appearance, facing six batters. RHP Christopher Peralta was the long man of the morning, unfortunately getting rocked for 6 runs (5 earned) over 3 1/3 innings with 2 HRs, 2 doubles, 2 singles, 2 walks and 2 Ks. RHP Francisco Guevara contributed the best outing on the staff: 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K – though his ERA is still an unsightly 19.06 in 5 2/3 IP.

Team Dos drops to 17-15 on the season, hosting DSL Astros Blue on Friday morning.

We hope that you enjoy the Minor League Link Report. Our four full season affiliates return from their 3-day break on Friday, giving us 7 Minor League games as the Brewers remain idle. Carolina (RHP Jesus Rivero) and Biloxi are hosting Lynchburg and Montgomery, respectively, while Nashville plays at Norfolk and Wisconsin (LHP Brian Fitzpatrick – Zero ER in last 11 2/3 IP) is away at Cedar Rapids.

Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores
Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth
Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth

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