Brewers Minor League Link Report (4/13): Woody Performs Well; Outcome of T-Rat Game Presaged Brewers Doom

[Jim Goulart]

Brandon Woodruff's Nashville teammates supported his effort with nice performances all around. The Shuckers and Mudcats continue to offset outstanding results (Carolina) with well, not (Biloxi). The Wisconsin game foreshadowed what we experienced as Brewer fans later in the evening. Let's dig in to Saturday's action!

Image courtesy of BrewerFanatic

Transactions:

• Biloxi Shuckers placed RHP Tyler Woessner on the 7-day injured list retroactive to April 11, 2025.
• LHP Brian Fitzpatrick assigned to Biloxi Shuckers from Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

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Final: Nashville 6, Memphis (Cardinals) 2
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:

Woodruff Strikes Out Five in First Rehab Start - Ernesto Martnez Jr. Collects Four RBI as Sounds Down Redbirds 

The affiliates are incorporating more video in their game summaries, saves us from having to double-up on them here (and makes sure you read them). Look for the double-view of Ernesto's blast there.

We'll go to Dom Cotroneo's WTMJ postgame show from Saturday night, as Dom hits all the key notes in his seven-minute audio analysis regarding Nashville names of note at the 36:00-minute mark. From Brandon Woodruff to Caleb Durbin to Craig Yoho's service time implications and Martinez, Dom doesn't miss a beat.

I'm a Journal-Sentinel subscriber, so I'm not sure if their site allows at least one free article for non-subscribers, but Curt Hogg's article dive into Woodruff's evening is well worth your time if you're able.

The Vinny Capra watch continues -

As for Yoho, it would be almost shocking if we don't see him in Milwaukee on Monday. If he pitches for the Sounds on Sunday, clearly that scenario is off. Heck, Craig may be at the Nashville airport this morning.

Here's something to watch Sunday. Why would Rick Sweet pinch-hit for catcher Jorge Alfaro with the bases loaded and one out in the 5th, and with fellow RH bat Freddy Zamora? Zamora came up big with a groundball single to the right side, scoring two, for his first base knock of the season. For MiLB.TV subscribers, you can pull up the archive at the 02:39:20 hour/minute mark. Like Voice of the Sounds Jeff Hem noted at the time, "hopefully everything is OK with Alfaro". If not, Development List catcher Ty Duvall would need to be placed on the active roster to back up Anthony Seigler on Sunday.

Box score devotees, pay homage to the quartet of relievers who followed Woody. Scoreless efforts for all, but that's not unusual for the Sounds bullpen in 2025.

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Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes (in glorious "King Cakes" purple)
Final: Columbus (Braves) 8, Biloxi 3
Box Score and Game Log

Brown Extends Hit Streak to 7 in Shuckers Loss - First inning grand slam proves to be the difference in an 8-3 loss to Clingstones

Friday Pre-Game Audio Interview with Manager Joe Ayrault

Saturday Pre-Game Audio Interview with 3B Brock Wilken

The Shuckers had 11 baserunners and Eric Brown Jr.'s third double of the season provided two-out 5th inning hope.

The Shuckers are always anxious to provide positive video vibes, but the fact that Brown's double was the only featured highlight pretty much sums things up.

Brock Wilken had the only other Biloxi XBH, as he doubled and singled, now 10-for-25 with ten K's as he fanned in his other two AB's.

LHP Nate Peterson walked 42 in 92.2 innings in 2024 (4.1 BB/9), and the six free passes in this one were clearly less than ideal. Peterson walked four of the first five batters he faced and yet was one pitch away from a scoreless inning thanks to an earlier GIDP. Then the Clingstones borrowed Javik Blake's call for their media feed -

That screenshot above again demonstrates the seismic tilt in Biloxi. Is it me, or does one simply have to walk over to the center field camera well, lift and correct the viewfinder, and everything is fixed? I promise you that the Link Report staff is looking for ways to accent positivity with the Shuckers. 

Luke Adams got his official first HBP back in the books. With that he reached base twice, as did RF Bladimir Restituyo and catcher Ramon Rodriguez, so there you go.

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Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes (download link) 
Final: Quad Cities (Royals) 5, Wisconsin 4, 11 innings
Box Score and Game Log

Rattlers Suffer Heartbreak Down by the River - Welch pitches a gem for Wisconsin but Quad Cities scores four in eleventh to walkoff Timber Rattlers

What was that, "Down by the River?"

OK, did Chris Mehring have that in mind when he posted the headline? I'm guessing yes. I immediately went to the Timber Rattlers' radio feed for this road contest upon seeing Wisconsin grab the 4-1 lead heading to the bottom of the 11th. So, confirming I was among those who watched and or listened to both of the combined final inning meltdowns of the T-Rats and their parent club Saturday night. Knowing Chris, he had a big-league late-night feed going as well. Opposite of good, as we like to say.

Talk about drama. The game summary well encapsulates the escape artist evening it was - up to a point. Do we enjoy sharing opposing walk-off rallies, no we do not.  But if Chris and I had to endure it, well, you can also.

RHP Chandler Welch turned 22 in March. The 2024 6th round pick out of Tulane bounced back in a big way from his season debut start six days prior. This was only Welch's third pro appearance (one brief start with Carolina last September). Welch allowed two doubles and one single in six innings, didn't walk a batter, and K'd seven. 

RHP Aaron Rund turns 26 in June. The Brewers don't allow age to factor into their relief pitcher analyses. As you've surely seen if you're a regular follower of the organization - starting pitchers young, relievers not so young. Rund was very serviceable in a part-time closer role with Wisconsin in 2024, with a 1.21 WHIP. This was not his night, however.

LF Yhoswar Garcia now has more stolen bases (three) than hits (1-for-22, 0 BB, 7 K).

Blake Burke sat one out for the first time this season.

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Final: Carolina 4, Myrtle Beach (Cubs) 3
Box Score and Game Log

Mudcats Claim Series from Myrtle Beach 

The four Brewer affiliates are a combined one game under .500 in 2025. The 1-7 Shuckers and 7-1 Mudcats offset (thank you, Muddies!), while the Sounds are 7-6 and the Rattlers 3-5.

You'll find three Mudcat video highlights at their "X" feed, including Marco Dinges' two-RBI single and Braylon Payne's clutch go-ahead sacrifice fly late.

The Mudcats are deep enough in talent that a notable player is getting rest on any particular day. Saturday was Eric Bitonti's turn. Bitonti's OPS sits at .901. It's early - in fact, it's super-early, but behold that box score OPS column.

In his two Dominican Summer League seasons, LF Demetrio Nadal was 50-for-63 in SB attempts. He missed all of 2024 and jumped Maryvale to join Carolina this year and is now 5-for-6 in theft tries.

Is it worth revisiting 21-year-old catcher Dinges' remarkable backstory? You bet:

From June 2024:

Marco Dinges battles through rare illness last year before joining FSU baseball
Last year, Marco Dinges was fighting for his life in the hospital after being diagnosed with Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis. A year later he joins FSU baseball in the College World Series.

The Brewers surely looked at that resiliency as a positive factoring into their 4th round selection last July.

University of Kentucky. Oklahoma State. Brown University. Three 22-year-olds (RHP Travis Smith, LHP Sam Garcia, and undrafted RHP Jack Seppings) combined on the five-hitter, one BB, nine K. This was just the 2nd pro appearance for each of Smith and Garcia, the 6th outing going back to last season for Seppings.

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It's early-to-mid-afternoon action at the higher levels, while Myrtle Beach forces the Mudcats to stick around on getaway evening with a 6:05 local time start (5:05 Central). Enjoy your Sunday, everyone.

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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[Stubby66]

It is the week that the Brewers need to add Woodruff, Myers, Yoho, Martinez jr, Cameron, Durbin and Miz the big league club. Replace Rodriguez, Payamps, Collins, Capra, Anderson, Bauers, and Priester.

[ghostdrew]

1 hour ago, Stubby66 said:

It is the week that the Brewers need to add Woodruff, Myers, Yoho, Martinez jr, Cameron, Durbin and Miz the big league club. Replace Rodriguez, Payamps, Collins, Capra, Anderson, Bauers, and Priester.

No

[biedergb]

Watched most of the Mudcats game - really focused on the pitching side. Travis Smith seems to have some good stuff, but his command was not sharp again. He can be dialed like he was for his first two batters, but then it eludes him. But he must have enough to make do and get the outs, as he not walked any so far.  The announce did report two fastballs at 93, and the effort seems easy so I imagine he can sit there, or may have more velocity with more effort, but he needs to reign in the command I think.

I was impressed again with Sam Garcia. His delivery is deceptive and everything looks faster. What I liked is when he has bouts of control, he finds it within a few pitches. He gave up really the one hard hit ball for a HR. One of the "doubles" was a misplay in RF (between Alastre and Adamczewski), and the other double was opposite way grounder/liner down 3rd base line. 

Dinges looks very athletic behind the plate, but to my untrained eye needs work on the glove. He is good and did stop/catch a lot of pitches that missed, but the run scoring wild pitch could have been blocked better and he did lose track of a couple of balls that he stopped. But I still see a catcher there. And his bat seems quick in the few at bats I've watched of his so far.

Made seems very confident at the plate, and hopefully his swings will lead to more hits. He has good range and solid glove but his throws are not consistent, as he made 3 that were not great. While Pena has the hands at the plate so that is good, but he can chase a little more. Also defensively at 3rd has a good glove, but his throws are also off, as he made a great stab when infield was in to prevent a XBH, but the throw was bounced and to the right of Dinges so he had no chance to get the runner home. Bang bang play but a solid throw and he is out.

Seppings was solid. All his pitches move, and I don't know if he throws only breaking ball, or his fastballs move too. Again I stink at pitch recognition, but he definitely has movement on his pitches but not wild.

Overall solid game for the Muddies. You can see the talent and the youth. But they are not wild, but have things to work on which is what you would expect from 17-20 year olds mostly in their first year of full season professional baseball.  Adamczewski and Payne definitely stand out defensively and at the plate as mature and I can envision them moving up by end of season if I were to predict based upon about a week of baseball (then I need to remind myself that there were many players who looked amazing the first few weeks last year too).

[Joseph Zarr]

Fantastic report Jim. 

Quote

Luke Adams got his official first HBP back in the books. With that he reached base twice, as did RF Bladimir Restituyo and catcher Ramon Rodriguez, so there you go.

Did Adams not tie the Miller-vs-Adams HBP Face-Off 1-to-1 earlier in the season? They took it away?!? Blasphemy. Sadly, this is one of the only things I'm truly tracking early in Biloxi. You know how I feel on greater Shuckers universe at present so no need to harp on that here. Here's hoping they turn it around and go on a run.

[Playing Catch]

23 minutes ago, biedergb said:

But I still see a catcher there.

Hopefully! If there IS a catcher there, said catcher will need plenty of game reps before moving him off the position. Probably years' worth.

1 hour ago, Stubby66 said:

It is the week that the Brewers need to add Woodruff, Myers, Yoho, Martinez jr, Cameron, Durbin and Miz the big league club. Replace Rodriguez, Payamps, Collins, Capra, Anderson, Bauers, and Priester.

I was daydreaming about EMJ, and thinking that the Big club probably wouldn't be affected THAT much, in terms of regular season record, if they did some spring cleaning with the roster. Out with the old, in with the new...

Trade (or Release) - Freddy, Rhys, Bauers, Haase, Payamps, Peguero. I would think, collectively, you could get back some decent prospects for those guys.

Promote - Logan Henderson, Deivi Garcia, EMJ, Quero, Yoho, and Durbin/Black.

[wiguy94]

6 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

Hopefully! If there IS a catcher there, said catcher will need plenty of game reps before moving him off the position. Probably years' worth.

I was daydreaming about EMJ, and thinking that the Big club probably wouldn't be affected THAT much, in terms of regular season record, if they did some spring cleaning with the roster. Out with the old, in with the new...

Trade (or Release) - Freddy, Rhys, Bauers, Haase, Payamps, Peguero. I would think, collectively, you could get back some decent prospects for those guys.

Promote - Logan Henderson, Deivi Garcia, EMJ, Quero, Yoho, and Durbin/Black.

The only player who is going to have any trade value of that group of trade/release players is Freddy and he's our best SP who is pretty irreplaceable at the moment.

[Playing Catch]

1 hour ago, wiguy94 said:

The only player who is going to have any trade value of that group of trade/release players is Freddy and he's our best SP who is pretty irreplaceable at the moment.

Freddy has been awesome so far. But I don't have to tell you that if the Brewers are 10 games out on July 1st, and he's pitching well, he could net a significant return. I would also argue that any of Hoskins, Haase, Payamps, and Peguero could easily perform well enough to be of interest to teams that need someone of their skillset.

But my thought wasn't necessarily about maximizing each player's value, as much as providing MLB opportunities for those players I listed (Henderson, Garcia, EMJ, Yoho, Black, Durbin and Quero). I am guessing there are a number of guys in the front office that are as eager as I am to find out what those players can do in the big leagues.

[CheeseheadInQC]

It was great to see Welch bounce back from his shaky first start. While I wouldn't say he was necessarily dominant, he was in control the entire time, even in the one inning he ran into trouble, the single was a bunt and one of the doubles was one Nicasia likely would have caught had he not broken the wrong way (I don't know if it was the wind or something with the stadium, but he seemed to have a bit of trouble getting reads on balls in both games).

Sanchez got through his inning unscathed, but it felt like a better version of a rough Yerlin game. There were a few awkward swings and misses, but he also threw a chunk of non-competitive pitches. That he managed to avoid walking someone was surprising. Still, the awkward swings he induced were nice to see.

Aquino probably pitched better than the number of base runners he surrendered, but not as well as the shutout he posted on the scoreboard. 

On the hitting side, Baez probably had the most solid contact in the two games I saw. Nicasia had one die into the wind in right field, that had he not gotten under it could have been another homer. Hopefully Tayden Hall can turn some of these doubles into homers as the weather warms in the Midwest League.