Brewers Minor League Link Report (9/20): Three Playoff Teams, but alas, No Championships

[Jim Goulart]

Link Report season is winding down, and now we know it will not extend into next week. Oh, how I miss the days of Dominican Summer League makeup doubleheaders and eight-or-nine-game dockets on the Brewers' affiliate schedule (um, actually, no, and my keyboard looks forward to its own weekend morning reprieve). But that being said, certainly we were hoping the Shuckers would take the deciding game in their first-round playoff series. It wasn't to be. Let's lay out how the evening's action transpired with a few comments and conjectures plugged in for fun.

Image courtesy of BrewerFanatic

Transaction:
 

 

• RHP Kevin Herget recalled from AAA Nashville (replaces RHP Enoli Paredes, who was DFA'd, on the Milwaukee 26-man roster)

 

---

 

Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes
Final: Montgomery (Rays) 8, Biloxi 2
Box Score and Game Log

Shuckers Eliminated from Playoffs with Game Three Loss in Montgomery - Pratt records first Double-A home run, Biscuits advance to Southern League Championship Series

Let's again recognize Manager Joe Ayrault who had to leave the team in early June. The long-time member of the Brewers' affiliate managerial crew (shout out, Brevard County Manatees!) has never been far from the minds of the organization. See you in March, Joe!

Trivia: As noted in Javik Blake's notes linked above, no Brewers' AA affiliate has won an outright league championship since the El Paso Diablos won the Texas League Championship Series in 1994. Mark Loretta would go on to be that team's most prominent MLB alumnus.

However, it should be noted the Huntsville Stars were named co-champions in 2001 when the playoffs were canceled due to the 9/11 tragedy. Many members of that Stars' team would play in MLB (in bold here), however most but Bill Hall were primarily for the "cup of big-league coffee" stint.

It never quite felt that the 2024 Shuckers were bound to break the long championship drought. Credit of course goes to the team for qualifying for the postseason. But given the nature of the split season and that there are only two four-team divisions comprising the league, Biloxi's 36-32 2nd half mark managed to do the job, though the team was four games behind these Montgomery Biscuits, who took both halves of the Southern Division schedule.

My fellow Link Reporter @Joseph Zarr summed things up last night in our forum thread:

"Well, the Shuckers season is officially over. That was a very challenging season to watch from start-to-finish. Really happy for them that they stole one in the Divisional series - really glad KC Hunt got that moment to shine. As a whole, however, the team itself was quite easily the most frustrating team in the entire system to watch on a weekly basis. There was a stretch early in the season where I couldn't even watch their games - they were mired in an awful funk, and (no fault of the players) they then had that CF camera issue. They were just so frustratingly inconsistent. Big names underperforming. Erratic mostly low-scoring offense. Starting rotation constantly shuffling - injuries and promotions. The bullpen was their strength but then they got pilfered in the starting pitcher circus."

Specific to Friday night, clearly this was the highlight, and Cooper Pratt is bound to poke a blast the opposite way one of these days. In the meantime, we enjoy this:

Outfielder Lamar Sparks turns 26 in a few days, he doubled and singled here while getting the start in center field, where he played in ten games during the regular season. It seems likely the Brewers will try to entice Sparks (.757 OPS in '24) back on a minor league deal for next year. If Sparks chooses to explore other offers, there should be affiliated options available to him. Hoping he's back.

Hello again, Chase Costello, two scoreless relief innings. Costello doesn't turn 25 until April and is just the latest non-drafted indy ball find to work his way into potential MLB bullpen plans with the Crew.

 

---

 

Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes 
Final: Nashville 5, Norfolk (Orioles) 3
Box Score and Game Log

Via the Sounds’ website, game details, and we encourage readers to review affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine:

Sounds Get Back in Win Column, Take Down Tides - Wes Clarke homers, Mitch White pitches seven strong innings in 5-3 triumph

The Mitch White late-season saga:

Last seven appearances of the season were starts. The second of those, on August 17th, was a failed to get out of the first inning disaster. But since then, well, let the game logs tell the story. 

Pretty remarkable. But White turns 30 years old in December, is importantly out of minor league options, and the front office and big-league staff still have fresh memories of what the Mitch White MLB experience was in 2024. So, look for White to enjoy his march into minor league free agency five days after the World Series. Thanks for the late-season efforts with Nashville, Mitch!

Speaking of minor-league-free-agents-to-be:

So, there are still storylines in place on the minor league front over the next several weeks and continue to follow our Minor League Forum, though I am hoping we are thoroughly enraptured by major league postseason success until these farmhand decisions have to be made.

Tyler Black sat for this one. Sadly, that doesn't generate a blip of notoriety. OPS marks of .622 in August and .526 in September will generate a yawning reaction. One of the few real bummers of a 2024 season we'll look back on.

Oh, Craig Yoho, brought in to protect a two-run lead, it was walk, wild pitch, walk, then strikeout, popout, strikeout. We look forward to the bright lights of Maryvale big-league invite spring training.

Chad Patrick is slated to get the starting nod on Saturday, as the recently-turned 26-year-old is set to scoop up all kinds of MiLB AAA hardware at season's end. Dude, if you somehow don't net your coveted 40-man roster spot this fall, then congratulations on being the first overall Rule 5 pick in December.

 

---

 

Nashville plays its penultimate game at 5:35 Central today. (We are contractually bound to use the word penultimate whenever the opportunity arises). 

Enjoy your Saturday everyone, as we all navigate this grayish week of anticipation on the big-league Brewers front.

Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores

MiLB Audio Links
Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth
Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth

View full article

[Stealofhome]

Another story line I'm interested in for next year is Cooper Pratt and Eric Brown Jr.'s placement. Does Pratt usurp EBJ's spot at SS in AA?

[biedergb]

3 minutes ago, Stealofhome said:

Another story line I'm interested in for next year is Cooper Pratt and Eric Brown Jr.'s placement. Does Pratt usurp EBJ's spot at SS in AA?

EBJ will likely move to AAA - he MLB caliber defensively. And I believe the Brewers will not block Pratt who looks like a sure fire top-3 prospect for the team.

Whether he starts at high A next year to get more ABs, or is placed in AA with Areinamo, Adams, Lara among others as that core of the ‘23 Mudcats continue to climb the ladder together.

[Stealofhome]

4 minutes ago, biedergb said:

EBJ will likely move to AAA - he MLB caliber defensively. And I believe the Brewers will not block Pratt who looks like a sure fire top-3 prospect for the team.

Whether he starts at high A next year to get more ABs, or is placed in AA with Areinamo, Adams, Lara among others as that core of the ‘23 Mudcats continue to climb the ladder together.

Ah yes, good point. Just such a rough offensive season for him, I wonder if they just hope he can handle another step up in pitcher quality or let him take it easy and prove he can hit.

[sveumrules]

Pratt only got 95 PAs at Wisco and didn't exactly set the MWL ablaze with a 221/258/442 (94 wRC+) triple slash paired with a 4.2 BB% and 25.3 K%. Not sure I would personally be in any rush to open him at Biloxi straight away. Let him have some success in A+ before sending him to the wolves in AA. 

[biedergb]

26 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Let him have some success in A+ before sending him to the wolves in AA. 

Right. But the Brewers haven’t been averse to aggressive promotions.

i think he either starts at high A and if he holds his own after a month goes up, or maybe they see something during off season and pre-season to send him up there for the start of the year. I agree the former is more likely, but he still pushes EBJ to AAA to see if he can turn into a defensive stalwart who can be a pinch running, cover any spot in the IF type of utility-layer.
these are among the fascinating things to watch out for next year.

[brewmann04]

Kinda disappointing 

[James Zumstein]

I think at this point EBJ's best shot at being a major leaguer will be as a utility player, not as a starter.  With this in mind, I'd like to see him getting some opportunities in the outfield next season at Biloxi.  He has more than enough speed to handle CF, and he and O'Rae could tandem up at covering CF, along with their respective MIF positions alongside Arienamo.  This leaves Pratt down at A+ until he's absolutely ready for AA.

[Ro Mueller]

1 hour ago, James Zumstein said:

I think at this point EBJ's best shot at being a major leaguer will be as a utility player, not as a starter.  With this in mind, I'd like to see him getting some opportunities in the outfield next season at Biloxi.  He has more than enough speed to handle CF, and he and O'Rae could tandem up at covering CF, along with their respective MIF positions alongside Arienamo.  This leaves Pratt down at A+ until he's absolutely ready for AA.

Luis Lara may start the 2025 season as the center fielder at AA Biloxi, after stealing 45 bases with top-notch defense at Wisconsin.

Interesting 2025 placement decisions certainly loom for many players. My guess is Burke and EBJ stay at their current levels and AA Biloxi initially looks like this:

1B - Adams
2B - Areinamo
3B - Wilken
SS - Pratt
CF - Lara
Everyday UT - O’Rae, EBJ
C - Miller, Wood
Gap pluggers: Murray, Warren, Garcia, Martin, Hall (assuming 16-month deal)
Injury depth: Kahle, Metzinger
 

[Playing Catch]

On 9/21/2024 at 10:42 AM, sveumrules said:

before sending him to the wolves in AA.

I feel like I used to be able to find ballpark factors for AA. Does Biloxi, itself, still present issues for hitters?

[sveumrules]

41 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

I feel like I used to be able to find ballpark factors for AA. Does Biloxi, itself, still present issues for hitters?

Not sure.

Believe either BA or BPro does minor league park factors, but I’m not a subscribe to either.

[Joseph Zarr]

55 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

I feel like I used to be able to find ballpark factors for AA. Does Biloxi, itself, still present issues for hitters?

Ballpark factors meant very very little in EBJ's 2024 offensive struggles. By my eyes, I saw three swing changes in-season. The second being the most egregious as it had nuanced moving parts needing to synch like a finely tuned Swiss watch to simply put a barrel on the ball. Before he had moved to the 7-Day at season's end he had completely simplified his pre-swing load to a basic bat on shoulders-like approach - 'See ball. Hit ball'. Off the top of my head, this happened over the final 2 weeks (?) This is likely where he will want to continue working and tweaking his mechanics.

This is all a long-winded way of saying: his old swing didn't work at Double-A. His new swing definitely didn't work at Double-A. I have hopes his simplified swing will, in the least, give him a chance to find some success. I don't have the data in front of me, but I recall EBJ hitting far too many pop-ups with fairly weak exit velo throughout his second half (I'm too old n wearied to think back to the Shuckers first half - OR maybe I conscientiously chose to forget that half entirely <shivers uncontrollably>😅).