Brewers Minor League Link Report (5/8): Biblical Friday - In the Big Inning(s)

[Jim Goulart]

Image courtesy of BrewerFanatic

Before a default reaction to bring back Blake Perkins (don't be out too long, Brandon Lockridge), with an open spot on the 40-man roster, is it time for Eddys Leonard's overdue big-league debut? 

Transactions:

• Milwaukee Brewers sent LF Greg Jones outright to Nashville Sounds.
• Nashville Sounds activated C Andrick Nava from the Development List.

 

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Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes (unavailable)
Final: Louisville (Reds) 9, Nashville 6
Box Score and Game Log

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

Sounds Unable to Overcome Big Third Inning for Louisville 

Following up my initial thought from the Transaction section above, copying a key section of the Nashville write-up you just read:

"Eddys Leonard recorded his ninth multi-hit game over his last 16 games played dating back to April 17th with a 2-for-4 day at the plate Friday night that included his sixth home run of the season. He's hitting .436 over his last 16 games with four homers, three doubles, and 16 RBI. His .436 AVG ranks second in all Triple-A over the span, and he ranks second in OBP (.516), third in OPS (1.225), and seventh in SLG (.709). His 15 XBH on the season lead all Nashville hitters in 2026 and are tied for the most XBH through his first 30 games of a season in his professional career. He also had 15 XBH through 30 games with Triple-A Gwinnett last season. Since the start of the 2021 season, he ranks eighth in hits (609), sixth in doubles (135), and fifth in XBH (244) across all full-season minor leaguers."

But the Brewers ivory tower might say, "oh, Perkins has four singles in his two games back in Nashville". Do the bold thing, ivory tower. Hopefully Manager Rick Sweet gave Leonard good news after the game.

Sleeping in his own Louisville bed this week has been a most-likely pleasure for southpaw starter Tate Kuehner, though it didn't pay dividends in this start.

Yes, this grounder was drilled to Jett Williams at 100.2 MPH, but it seems to me that whenever an announcer uses the phrase "right between the wickets", it shouldn't be ruled a base hit, as this was:

One batter later, Kuehner didn't leave this pitch in a favorable spot and the last of the seven runs in the frame had come across:

But wait, this is the BrewerFanatic Link Report, dang it! Emphasizing the positive since 2001! Thankfully the Sounds "X" feed did that for us tonight with five clips, including this one:

Likely just a one-game night off, but any box score minus a Luis Lara appearance gets a sad-face automatically .

Speaking of the Nashville bench, rarely does Rick Sweet have this flexibility - five extra position bodies on his bench, none an MLB rehabber. It appears Greg Jones didn't truly go live on the roster until postgame, so expect 3rd catcher Andrick Nava to yo-yo back to Development List-land Saturday.

Stop the presses, Cooper Pratt committed his very first error of 2026, a fielding error in the 2nd, though we don't believe it without visual evidence. Since it did not involve a score, there's no replay video, and as it was in the 2nd inning when Kuehner was rightfully off to a fine start and easily pitched around it, we have difficulty believing the miscue actually happened. Pratt singled in five trips but also K'd twice and grounded into a double play.

 

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 Postponed, Columbus (Braves) at Biloxi, rain 

The teams play twice on Saturday, beginning at 4:35 Central.

Catch up with the latest Biloxi pre-game audio interview archives

Actually, that archive page doesn't include the latest individual chat, found here for catcher Matthew Wood.

Plus, even though these notes ended up getting soggy, you can still read your way through multiple updates.

By the way, does that sentence look familiar? I used it in this exact spot last Saturday AM as well after a rainout. Copy and paste, baby!

 

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Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes (download link)
Final: Wisconsin 12, Peoria (Cardinals) 7
Box Score and Game Log

Via the Timber Rattlers, game details, and enjoy the four embedded video highlights within:

Big Inning Propels Rattlers to Victory in Peoria - Rattlers rally with three in tenth inning to beat Quad Cities

Is sending 14 men to the plate in an inning good? That seems good. Our Spencer Michaelis provided additional commentary on the Josh Adamczewski double you just saw. We want to thank Josh for being outstanding throughout his brief pro career. We've typed his name so often now we don't have to think twice about spelling, it just flows off the keyboard like water. Well, a wet keyboard would not be good, but you get the idea.

LHP J.D. Thompson's 2nd pro start opened walk, wild pitch, walk, home run. Ouch.

After a very strong 2nd inning for Thompson, he was in the dugout for that very long Timber Rattler offensive onslaught. Thompson opened the 3rd inning, allowed a line drive single, and was lifted. Seems a bit of an odd choice to bring Thompson out for one batter there, but it may have been about making sure RHP Travis Smith was warmed up fully.

And my, do we like Travis Smith right now. Check out his 2026 game log, with five of his six outings strong and his most recent three bulk relief appearances in particular providing Manager Nick Stanley quite the bullpen luxury.

One Smith oddity, however - 

• 2025: 102.1 IP, 1 HR allowed (wow!)
• 2026: 28.2 IP, 5 HR allowed

Shoutout to LHP Bjorn Johnson for combining with Smith on seven innings of three-run ball to otherwise spare the pen.

This Wisconsin season has been all about the top of the order, and indeed there were good moments there Friday (two singles, no K's for Andrew Fischer among them), but how about the bottom four - Tayden Hall, Juan Baez, David Garcia, Luiyin Alastre - reaching base nine times with Baez adding a sacrifice fly.

It sure seems at this point the next Luis Pena update from the organization will come next week - maybe we'll get a surprise appearance this weekend, no IL stint at this time.

If you need to activate your ears as well as your eyes this AM, enjoy the full pod, but Spencer's "Minor League Sandbox" commences approximately at the 01:21:00 hour/minute mark.

 

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Wilson Pre-Game Media Notes
Final: Wilson 10, Fayetteville (Astros) 4
Box Score and Game Log

Warbirds Slug Way Past Fayetteville - Four Extra Base Hits Lift Wilson

Hey, this Warbirds squad may provide us with more entertainment than we thought! Looked rough there for a couple of weeks, didn't it?

Not only have the boys won five of seven, but they have also scored double digits in three of those wins. 

Well, at the plate, it's still a strikeout factory, 17 times in this contest. But the slug as of late has been consistent (four XBH's here, as the game summary noted), and Wilson stole ten bases in 11 tries with some double-steal fun along the way.

How many box scores do you see where four players had multiple stolen bases? When it comes to defensive catcher statistics, it's so inherently unfair that catchers get charged with allowing two stolen bases on plays like that above, skewing their season-long throwing percentages. At least the good guys were on the proper side of justice for this game.

More bottom-of-the-order production! Filippo Di Turi, Luis Lameda, Pedro Ibarguen and Jadyn Fielder were on base a combined 12 times, with Fielder (thrice) and Ibarguen (once) playing the roles of pincushion or magnet, whichever HBP-related term you prefer.

This box score had it all - pitch timer violations, three errors for each squad, three outfield assists (Fielder being on each end once), three wild pitches, a balk, and a partridge in a pear tree.

2025 6'8" Coastal Carolina 3rd rounder Jacob Morrison has towered over seven scoreless two-hit innings in his two starts to date (3 BB, 6 K).

You know it means a lot to a struggling reliever when they can aid the cause by closing out the game with three one-hit scoreless innings while facing the minimum. Thanks to Joshua Quezada, the Clayton Andrews trade tree lives!

One final Spencer appearance:

Nice job, Warbirds media team, grabbing road game video for these blasts:

 

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Final: ACL Brewers 6, ACL Cubs 5, seven innings as scheduled
Box Score and Game Log

My fellow Link Reporter Daniel ("Ro") provided coverage for us (THANK YOU!), and I lied, yet more Michaelis contributions:

That’s a jam-packed box score for the ACL Brewers in their victory over the ACL Cubs, all in just 7 innings.

In his first opportunity in the leadoff spot, OF Kenny Fenelon ambushed the first pitch of the game for a solo homer (99mph exit velocity, 394 feet).

RHP Josh Knoth made his second start (2 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 2 BB, 1 K), as he builds up strength after missing the 2025 campaign. His velocity peaked at 97.8mph, tossing 33 pitches (22 strikes).

2B Juan Martinez (1-for-2, walk, 2 SB) singled and scored on an error to grab a 2-1 lead in the top of the 5th inning, followed by DH Malachai Halterman’s 105.7mph RBI single to center. 1B Jonathan Rangel (1-for-2, HR, walk, 3 RBIs) clubbed a 2-out, 3-run shot the next inning to extend the advantage to 6-1.

The game featured a professional debut (and win) for 2025 eighth round pick, 18-year old RHP Hayden Vucinovich, who didn’t allow a hit against 11 batters faced (2 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 3 BB, 3 Ks), as well as stateside debuts for RHPs Jhosep Ospino (1/3 IP, 1 K) and Bryan Regalado (2/3 IP, 4 R, 4 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks).

Regalado’s struggles allowed the Cubs to cut the deficit to 6-5 with 2 baserunners on in the penultimate frame, but Manager Rafael Neda called on RHP Cesar Espinal to escape the inning (ground out) and ultimately deliver a 4-out Save (3 straight Ks). The 20-year-old Espinal is already on his 3rd MLB team in his 5th MILB season, so Promotion Watch definitely applies to him.

As with life, the team balanced the good (4 stolen bases, 2-for-5 with RISP) with the not-so-good (2 errors, 12 strikeouts). C Freider Rojas (1-for-2, walk) made his 2026 debut and is the fourth catcher the squad has used in 5 games played. The team (3-2) is right back in action at 1:00 PM CST on Saturday, hosting the ACL Guardians (3-2).

Bonus from Thursday's game:

 

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Six games on tap Saturday with the lone early start in Maryvale for you rookie league box score breaker-downers (is that a word?), although the Biloxi twinbill gets underway at 4:35 Central. Enjoy your spring day, 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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[Jim Goulart]

 

[MudcatsfaninBrunsCO]

10 minutes ago, Jim Goulart said:

 

 

I think its about time to call up Handlefry

[Jim Goulart]

9 minutes ago, MudcatsfaninBrunsCO said:

I think it's about time to call up Handlefry

Turns 19 in a month. Golden sombrero Friday night, Batting average isn't really a thing these days, but .209 is .209. Love the enthusiasm, but an odd time to blurt this one out. Folks do love promotion ideas, though.

[MudcatsfaninBrunsCO]

1 hour ago, Jim Goulart said:

Turns 19 in a month. Golden sombrero Friday night, Batting average isn't really a thing these days, but .209 is .209. Love the enthusiasm, but an odd time to blurt this one out. Folks do love promotion ideas, though.

Ah ok.