Brock Wilken and Other Brewers Prospects Struggle in Week 3 of Arizona Fall League

[Jason Wang]

Though the Brewers have some of the best pitching talent in the sport, their delegation of pitching prospects have had a rough start after three weeks of play in the Arizona Fall League.

Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Game Results
Monday, 10/21 | None
Tuesday, 10/22 | Glendale 8, Peoria 1
Wednesday, 10/23 | Peoria 11, Scottsdale 10
Thursday, 10/24 | Peoria 5, Surprise 8
Friday, 10/25 | Mesa 14, Peoria 10
Saturday, 10/26 | Salt River 6, Peoria 7

3B Brock Wilken
Week: 4 G, 18 PA, 2 H, 2 R, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 6 K
Wilken still hasn’t found his footing in Arizona. After his third week of play, he’s slashing .130/.236/.261 over 55 plate appearances, while striking out 17 times. It’s hard to determine how much stock to put into his rate stats given such a small sample size, but this subpar offensive offense may be part of a larger trend that saw him post just a .477 OPS in the final two months with Double-A Biloxi. 

For now, he’s whiffing far too much in the zone. He has a low chase rate of just 10.0%, but is really struggling against breaking balls, swinging and missing 40% of the time on them. His only six hits for the Javelinas so far are against fastballs, a big weakness opposing pitchers seem to be exploiting. 

OF Luis Lara
Week: 4 G, 18 PA, 2 H, 1 2B, 4 R, 1 RBI, 6 BB, 2 K, 3 SB
Lara was a tough out this past week, notching an on-base percentage of .444 despite having just two hits. In fact, the only game in which he didn’t get on base was Thursday’s battle against the Saguaros.

He also collected his second double of the season and leveraged his on-base abilities to score four runs, second to only Andrew Pintar for the week. His plus speed was also on full display, as he took the second spot on the team for total stolen bases behind Colt Emerson (6). 

INF Juan Baez
Week: 3 G, 14 PA, 2 H, 1 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 5 BB, 4 K, 1 SB
Báez slowed down a bit at the plate, but still had an on-base percentage of .500 across his three outings. Despite having just two hits, he still leads the Javelinas in batting average (.424), on-base percentage (.537), and walks (8). 

Baez didn’t see any playing time in the first or last game of the week, which may have limited his ability to cobble together more counting stats, but more rest could also be the right course of action to maintain his current performance. His first three weeks have been a refreshing change of pace from his lukewarm season in Single-A Carolina—one that saw him achieve just a .693 OPS across 356 plate appearances.

RHP Coleman Crow
Week: 1 G, 2.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Crow likely didn’t have the week that he wanted. He started his lone outing against the Desert Dogs by giving up three consecutive hits. In his second inning of work, he gave up two more singles and a triple to Tyler Callihan before netting two more outs and departing the mound.

Crow threw 43 pitches, 33 of which were strikes. Opponents' six hits were all against pitches that were placed right in the heart of the zone, pointing to a need to expand the zone just a little more, given his fairly tepid stuff.

RHP Ryan Birchard
Week: Did not pitch

RHP Will Childers
Week: 1 G, 1 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Childers pitched in Friday’s loss to the Solar Sox. After being ahead of his first batter 0-2, he gave up a home run before getting the next batter out in two pitches. His command seemed a little shaky, with quite a few pitches left in hitter-friendly parts of the strike zone. Even the two flyouts could’ve spelled trouble if they had been hit just a little harder.

LHP Mark Manfredi
Week: 1 G, 0 IP, 0 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 0 K
Manfredi had an, uh, interesting statline, ending up with the rare zero hits in zero innings pitched. He entered Thursday’s game against the Saguaros in the bottom of the sixth inning, in a bit of jam. The bases were loaded, the Saguaros were up by one run, and the Javelinas needed just one out to escape.

He walked his first batter, threw a wild pitch to allow another run to score, walked his second batter to reload the bases, balked in a run, walked another batter to reload the bases, then walked in another run. Of his 23 total pitches, just seven were strikes. The Saguaros managed to score four runs with Manfredi on the mound and put the game out of reach for Peoria.

It has been a consistent issue so far this season. Over 20 batters faced with the Javelinas, he has walked six and struck out just three. Opposing hitters have a .650 on-base percentage, so there are definitely some kinks to iron out moving forward.

RHP Nick Merkel
Week: 1 G, 2 ⅓ IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Merkel made one appearance in Wednesday’s win against the Scorpions, being the first arm out of the bullpen after starter Patrick Monteverde needed 66 pitches to pitch just under three innings. Merkel pitched well through his first handful of batters faced, avoiding any real damage and never seeing any major trouble. In the bottom of the fifth inning, he gave up a two-run homer and completed the inning before leaving the game.

Merkel’s time as a Javelina has reflected his performance in the week. His strikeout rate of 26.9% is good, his walk rate of 7.7% is solid, and his opposing slugging percentage of .708 is unsustainable. Across 26 batters faced, he has already given up three home runs, but that's probably fluky to some extent. His xFIP of 3.72 is a far cry from his ERA of 6.35 and FIP of 8.65, but there’s definitely some upside in his game.

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