Brewers Minor League Link Report (6/1): Bitonti, Clarke, Crow Star in Sunday Sweep for Affiliates

[Ro Mueller]

Image courtesy of Biloxi Shuckers

For the week, Wisconsin (5-1) and Carolina (4-1) were series winners, while Nashville (2-4) and Biloxi (2-4) ended up on the short end.

Transactions:

• There were a whopping 32 moves involving Dominican Summer League players in advance of their season commencing on Monday, June 2. Of particular note are the roster placements of OF Kenny Fenelon and SS Cristopher Acosta (both on DSL Brewers Gold), plus OF Brailyn Antunez (DSL Brewers Blue)

Game Action:

Final: Nashville 11, Indianapolis 1
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: Clarke's Multi-HR Game Propels Sounds in Series Finale

23-year old starting RHP Logan Henderson’s first outing since his latest Major League stint ended on May 25 was a relatively short one, delivering a solid 3 innings: 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks in 57 pitches (40 strikes). I’d venture to guess the early exit was planned, as none of the 5 subsequent Nashville relievers had pitched since Thursday.

1B Wes Clarke (3-for-4, 2 HRs) drove in runs in the 2nd, 3rd and 7th innings in his best day of 2025 thus far:

 

You’ll find more highlights of Clarke, 2B Ray Delgado (2-for-5, 2 RBIs, SB) and C Jorge Alfaro (1-for-4, double, walk, 2 RBIs) at the Sounds’ Twitter/X feed.

Sounds’ Extras:

• Three relievers on the Brewers’ 40-man MLB roster saw action: RHP Easton McGee (2 IP, 0 R, 1 K; 94.8mph peak), LHP Bryan Hudson (1 IP, 0 R, 0 Ks; 91.6mph peak), RHP Elvis Peguero (1 IP, 1 R, 1 K; 97.6mph peak).
• If Christian Yelich’s hand injury were serious, DH/OF Eddie Rosario (2-for-5, double; 7-game hitting streak) and 3B Anthony Seigler (1-for-4, walk, RBI, SB; hit safely in 19 of last 20 games) may have been candidates for a call-up.
• Eight Sounds’ contributed their 15 hits, but SS Oliver Dunn (0-for-6, 4 Ks) will have to find other days to make his mark at the plate. At least OF Jimmy Herron is pulling himself out of his early season funk (3-for-5, walk, SB).

Next week’s outlook: Nashville comes back home to battle Braves’ affiliate Gwinnett for 6 games, commencing on Tuesday. Rehabbing Brandon Woodruff is the expected starter for Tuesday’s series opener.

Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes
Final: Biloxi 5, Rocket City 1
Box Score and Game Log

Via the Shuckers’ website, game details: Crow's Dominant Return to Toyota Field Leads Shuckers to 5-1 Win

Starting RHP Coleman Crow delivered a phenomenal performance on the road (5 IP, 0 R, 4 H, 0 BB, 9 Ks) even as he’s still building up innings after a long injury layoff. His 73 pitches marked a season high, which he achieved while striking out the final 4 batters he faced.

Verified Member @wiguy94 summarized Crow’s dominance in the Minor League Forum: 73 pitches, 51 strikes, 15 called strikes, 14 whiffs, 38.9% whiff rate, 20.5% called strike rate, 19.2% swinging strike rate.

After struggling for runs all week and seeing their first 7 hitters go down in order in this contest, #8 and #9 batters OF Bladimir Restituyo and 2B Jheremy Vargas (3-for-4) sparked the offense via a one-out single and double in the 3rd inning, setting the stage for DH Mike Boeve and SS Cooper Pratt to push 4 runs across:

Shuckers’ Extras:

• LHP Mark Manfredi (2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K) RHP Will Childers (1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K) continued Crow’s theme of pounding the zone, throwing 32 of 45 pitches for strikes.
• 1B/3B Luke Adams was absent from the Sunday lineup after being a late scratch on Saturday. Hopefully we’ll see him back in action next week.
• Every Biloxi offensive player reached base via hit or walk, though I’m sure that 3B Brock Wilken would love to have collected a hit (now 2 for his last 34 at-bats). OF Luis Lara was caught stealing for the first time in 2025, after 19 consecutive thefts.

Next week’s outlook: First place Biloxi comes back home for a massive 6-game set against second place Montgomery (the Rays’ AA affiliate). 23-year old RHP Alexander Cornielle (2.30 ERA, 41 Ks in 43 IP) is likely to start the opening game on Tuesday.

Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes
Final: Wisconsin 8, Peoria 6
Box Score and Game Log

Via the Timber Rattlers’ website, game details: Rattlers Rally Past Peoria for 8-6 Win

Wisconsin’s media team did a great job putting together video highlights of the exciting comeback victory:

And we’re also thankful for the 26-minute Mehring/Lobner post-game podcast, featuring LHP Jesus Broca, SS Daniel Guilarte and Manager Victor Estevez.

Despite trailing 4-2 and being out-hit 10-2 by the middle of the 5th inning, Wisconsin hung tough, with OF Luiyin Alastre (2-for-4, 2 RBIs), 3B Juan Baez (3-for-5, RBI) and SS Eduardo Garcia (2-for-4, RBI) combining on a 7-for-13 afternoon to lead the comeback.

Starting LHP Anthony Flores had thrown 57 pitches on Tuesday, but the team needed him to give what he could to help save arms for next week: 4 IP, 4 R, 9 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks – in 77 pitches (53 strikes).

Timber Rattlers’ Extras:

• It was nice to hear LHP Jesus Broca on the podcast, as he came through in a big way to bridge the middle innings: 3 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks in 41 pitches.
• Handed an 8-4 lead after SS Daniel Guilarte’s 2-run homer in the 7th inning (Guilarte was 14-for-120 with 2 doubles and 12 singles before that blast), RHPs Yerlin Rodriguez and Aaron Rund closed it out in somewhat rough fashion: combined 2 IP, 2 R, 1 H, 3 BB, 1 WP, 1 K.
• Chris Mehring and Kyle Lobner highlighted that this was super SS/2B Jadher Areinamo’s first rest day of 2025 and also listed out expected starters for next week, but we didn’t hear when we might expect to see RHP Bishop Letson (last pitched May 8) back on the mound.

Next week’s outlook: Wisconsin extends its homestand and will host Twins’ affiliate Cedar Rapids for six games, with RHP Ryan Birchard (4.66 ERA, 43 Ks in 36 2/3 IP) scheduled to start the opening game on Tuesday.

Carolina Pre-Game Media Notes
Final: Carolina 4, Salem 2
Box Score and Game Log

Via the Mudcats’ website, game details: Longball Propels Mudcats to Sunday Victory

1B Eric Bitonti’s second straight 2-homer game powered the Carolina offense and suddenly puts him atop the team’s leaderboard with 7 dingers on the season.

22-year old starting RHP Chandler Welch stacked a 2nd decent start, though he exited relatively early leading 2-1 after 4 innings and 56 pitches (30 strikes): 1 R. 1 H, 2 BB, 5 Ks. LHP Sam Garcia (3 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks) did well to work around a sixth inning 1-out double (K, BB, groundout) with the game still tight at 2-1.

The two teams combined on 9 hits, 6 of which were solo homers. The Mudcats’ only non-homer hit was SS Luis Pena’s 6th inning single, after C Yannic Walther and Bitonti had both gone yard earlier in the frame. For Walther, that’s his first homer since June 2023 in the Dominican Summer League, though he does only have 204 career at-bats.

Mudcats’ Extras:

• LHP Anfernny Reyes’ first 3-up, 3-down inning since April 27 had to feel nice in the 8th inning.
• RHP Jack Seppings made the home crowd a bit nervous by loading the bases in the 9th (single, 2 walks). A called strike 3 gave Seppings his 2nd K of the inning and 4th save of 2025.
• Excluding the homer trio, the rest of the team was 0-for-19 with a walk, and even that walk (OF Reece Walling - Carolina League leader in that category) was eliminated via a caught stealing.

Next week’s outlook: Carolina gets to stay home, this time hosting Rays’ affiliate Charleston for 6 games. The pitching staff is suddenly looking quite fresh, thanks to Saturday's rainout.

We hope that you enjoy the Minor League Link Report. On Monday, the Dominican Summer League commences with DSL Brewers Gold playing at DSL Orioles Black, while DSL Brewers Blue hosts DSL Rojos (Reds) – both games start at 10:00am CST. The Milwaukee Brewers also play in Cincinnati at 6:10pm CST, while the 16-5 ACL Brewers host the 13-8 ACL Mariners at 8:00pm CST.

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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[Jim Goulart]

Via the Sounds' game summary:

"Since the start of the 2023 season, Wes Clarke has 53 home runs to lead the Brewers farm system and has 19 more than the next closest player in the organization."

Would many have guessed Clarke? Sure. But a 19-HR gap? Wow.

 

[Jim Goulart]

When was the last time as many as a combined six solo home runs account for all the runs in a game (the Mudcats' 4-2 win Sunday)?

Baseball!

[sveumrules]

1 hour ago, Jim Goulart said:

Via the Sounds' game summary:

"Since the start of the 2023 season, Wes Clarke has 53 home runs to lead the Brewers farm system and has 19 more than the next closest player in the organization."

Would many have guessed Clarke? Sure. But a 19-HR gap? Wow.

 

Checking that 2023 to present leaderboard it looks like Clarke has an 89 strikeout gap over Eduardo Garcia in 2nd place, but trails Luke Adams by 17 walks for the top spot in the BB column.

Like Meatloaf sang, “Two Out of Three (True Outcomes) Ain’t Bad.”

[Playing Catch]

Is Pena's floor higher than Made's?

[jay87shot]

1 hour ago, Playing Catch said:

Is Pena's floor higher than Made's?

I think Made still has a higher ceiling, because of the power potential. However as Pena is showing more power everyday it is getting close. Pena is definitely further ahead right now. I would put the odds of him staying in Carolina through June at slim to none.

[Trax]

Great stuff and the only way many of us can follow these multiple prospects.  Keep it coming!

[Ro Mueller]

3 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

Is Pena's floor higher than Made's?

Maybe not, since he doesn’t play as much shortstop or walk as much.

But Pena’s got the edge in hitting for average and stealing bases. Hopefully he can keep doing enough to force the team to give him time at shortstop,