Brewers Minor League Link Report (9/9): Made's First Double-A Hit is an Impressive Triple; Burke Continues to Mash in the Southern League

[Joseph Zarr]

Image courtesy of Brewer Fanatic

Transactions:

• RHP Chad Patrick was recalled by the Milwaukee Brewers from the Nashville Sounds
• RHP Carlos Rodriguez was optioned to the Nashville Sounds from the Milwaukee Brewers
• INF Luke Adams was activated from the 7-Day IL by the Biloxi Shuckers
• INF Eric Brown Jr. was activated from the 7-Day IL by the Biloxi Shuckers
• OF Hedbert Perez was transferred to the Development List by the Biloxi Shuckers
• C Victor Torres was transferred to the Development List by the Biloxi Shuckers
• C Nick Kahle was transferred to the Development List by the Nashville Sounds
• RHP Alexander Cornielle was assigned to the Nashville Sounds from the Biloxi Shuckers
• RHP Bishop Letson was (officially) assigned to the Biloxi Shuckers from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
• INF Anthony Seigler was optioned to the Nashville Sounds by the Milwaukee Brewers
• (9/8) RHP Craig Yoho was optioned to the Nashville Sounds by the Milwaukee Brewers
• (9/8) INF Jesús Made was assigned to the Biloxi Shuckers from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

Naturally, that last transaction you see there made the headline news yesterday:

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Final: Nashville 8, Gwinnett (Braves) 1

Via the Sounds website, please be sure to click and read each of the affiliate write-ups as part of your season-long Link Report routine (believe me, it's worth it):

Zimmerman Spins Quality Start, Sounds Hook Stripers 8-1 - Urias Drives in Three; EMJ Extends Hit Streak to Eight Games

Box Score/Game Log

LHP Bruce Zimmerman, yet again, delivered the goods. He brought a 'No-No' into his sixth and final frame. He surrendered a solo jack over the left field wall with his team ahead 7-0. We live with it. 6.0 IP of 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR, 1 ER work. The savvy lefty threw just 78 pitches to complete the six frames with 47 landing for strikes. Tonight, the curveball was particularly zesty and the four-seamer also managed to get a punch out. I truly hope you've seen Zimmerman hurl it in 2025 - he is the very consummation of a savvy vet. He knows who he is and he has an expansive tool kit to draw from. Zimmerman exemplifies the fact you don't need mid to upper 90's to impact high level games of baseball.

Three Quick Strikes:

1) All INF Luis Urias has done since signing his Minor League contract with the Brewers is knock in runs. In tonight's 1-for-3, 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 K he managed to knock his 5th, 6th, and 7th runs across. That's 7 RBI already in just five games played as a Sound. He has four XBH in 18 PA's. This is the very definition of a meaningful insurance policy for the Brewers infield should they need it. Despite how it ended in Oakland, Urias can very much still impact MLB baseball games.

2) 1B Ernesto Martinez Jr. has gotten on a little heater as the Sounds season comes down its home stretch. Tonight, he extended his season best hitting streak to nine games. Officially, he was given a 1-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI line. I would politely opine he was deserving of two knocks as his other poke up the middle of the infield was ruled a fielding error. Either way, in a season that was interrupted by early injury and then further interrupted by veteran pick ups, it's nice to see EMJ reclaim meaningful value in the end. His single into right field was 103 mph off the lumber. Oddly, this poke was not ruled an error (not that it should have been but it was not all that much different than the poke that was ruled an error)

3) RF Jared Oliva swiped three more bags. That's 53 on his season. As I mentioned in a game thread this past weekend, this is especially impressive given he missed over a month of time just as his season was getting into full swing. As a matter of fact, Oliva became just the fourth Sound in the history of the organization to reach the 50 SB mark and he's the first to do it since the 1980's! We've seen a number of solid outfield veterans don Sounds jerseys the past several years. Oliva absolutely ranks up there with the best of them. He is such a vastly underrated player. I sincerely hope he gets his MLB opporunity once again - if not with the Brewers with another organization in the near future. 

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Final: Biloxi 9, Birmingham (White Sox) 4

Made, Burke Blast Shuckers to 9-4 Win Over Barons in Opener - MLB's #3 Overall Prospect Records Triple in Double-A Multi-Hit Debut

Game Notes

Box Score/Game Log

I continue to have questions about RHP Brett Wichrowski's multi-tool profile. For a talented young pitcher with so many tools at his disposal, my personal opinion is he's going to continue having inconsistent outings if he can't develop a better fastball. At arms length, you might see he sits 95-96 mph on the four-seamer. You might notice the pitch can touch even higher. However, it isn't a particularly impactful pitch as a whole - the shape leaves a lot to be desired and the location is erratic. When I struggle to understand Wichrowski's oddly middling results, I start here. This is a young arm who has plenty of room to grow and plenty of tools to grow with. He has a legitimate five-pitch mix but he simply has yet to put it all together for any meaningful stretch of games. We get brief flashes. Wichrowski gave his team 4.0 IP of 5 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 ER work. He threw 76 pitches total with 45 landing for strikes. I would also share he had runners on the base paths in every inning. He avoided further damage when a two out double bounced high over the strange eight foot section in Birmingham's deepest alley. A little luck was definitely on the Shuckers side.

Three Quick Strikes:

1) The raw strength and bat speed through the zone was absurdly apparent on Made's triple to right center field. I still have no idea how he hit this pitch that far:

Talk about putting a crazy part of the barrel on to a very challenging pitch. This just in: most players don't hit that pitch to that location. He can do it from both sides of the dish. Like Blake Burke (more below), Made is showcasing he is more and more ready for each successive full-season challenge.

2) 1B Blake Burke. All we seemed to circle back to when Burke was playing first base as a Timber Rattler was his strange lack of power knocks. Well, that is most definitely not a problem in the Southern League. Power is coming in fits and starts in nearly every series:

That was his ninth long ball in just his 33rd game as a Shucker (for reference sake, he hit 5 long balls in 95 games as a Timber Rattler). I think we can very much get used to that type of production. 

3) C Matt Wood continues to be every bit the revelation in Double-A. I don't really even know what more to say at this point. 1-for-2, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 2B, 1 K. He also picked off another runner attempting to swipe second base. That's a 30 % CS clip in 80 SB attempts. This is the very definition of re-establishing your prospect status within an organization. Wood's arrow is pointing straight up after this opening 56 game Double-A stretch. We sadly lost C Ramón Rodríguez to his achilles injury early in the Shuckers season, but we very much gained a revitalized C Matt Wood in the process. 

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As we wind down this regular season, we will once again see Biloxi and Nashville only tomorrow night. At the time of publish we are 'TBD' for both the Sounds and Shuckers as to starters tomorrow night. 

As always, thanks for reading and thanks for supporting Brewers Minor League baseball. 

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[Ro Mueller]

One of the biggest offseason moves: 

 

[eklinka]

Can't say i was fully disappointed in Burke this season. His hit tool was much better than expected, but i always feel like if you're slow on the basepaths you need to have power. I will eat all the crow in the world if he continues this into next season at AAA. 😂

[jay87shot]

Is it time to think about switching Pratt to 3B or with Made moving up so quick do we just trade Pratt to sidestep an issue. I don't have an issue with Made playing 2B the rest of the week but he would seem to have the best path to the bigs and maximum value at SS (unless Turang moves to SS, not against). Pratt defensively is better but Made's bat probably will force the organization to figure out the IF configuration future sooner than later.

[sveumrules]

55 minutes ago, jay87shot said:

Is it time to think about switching Pratt to 3B or with Made moving up so quick do we just trade Pratt to sidestep an issue. I don't have an issue with Made playing 2B the rest of the week but he would seem to have the best path to the bigs and maximum value at SS (unless Turang moves to SS, not against). Pratt defensively is better but Made's bat probably will force the organization to figure out the IF configuration future sooner than later.

Would guess Pratt will be the full time SS at Nashville next year with Made behind him as the full time SS at Biloxi.

Unless Jesus really pushes the issue shouldn't be much of a logjam until we are going into the 2027 season with both of them potentially ready for MLB action.

[Joseph Zarr]

This is more like it. When Javik said 385 on the broadcast I was like "That was half way up the grass in straightaway CF." Turns out my thoughts were accurate: