Brewers Minor League Link Report (5/8): Woessner's AAA Struggles Continue; Aquino Rebounds; Mudcats Drop an Insane Contest

Transactions: 

• INF Tyler Black was optioned to Triple-A Nashville from the Milwaukee Brewers 
• OF Chris Roller was activated by the Nashville Sounds 

Final: Durham (Rays) 5, Sounds 3 

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):

Grand Slam in Fourth Inning Haunts Nashville in Loss at Durham - Chris Roller has Two OF Assists

Pre-Game Media Notes

Box Score / Game Log

Well, I painstakingly went back and watched LHP Aaron Ashby's outing to open the series last night. I painstakingly watched RHP Tyler Woessner struggle mightily in just his second Triple-A start. It was almost an eerie mirror right-handed image of Ashby's issues yesterday - an inability to locate. It fell apart real quick.

Give the Sounds twitter team credit. They were bullish after 2 IP:

Little did they know! Woessner's final line reads 3 1/3 IP, 4 H, 6 BB, 3 K, 5 ER, 1 HR. The long ball was grand (for Durham). It truly all fell apart in the third frame: 

Baseball is a cruel, cruel game. Keep your head up Mr. Woessner. Miles to go. You are just getting started.

Three Quick Strikes:

1) Big kudos to the bullpen efforts of RHP's James Meeker, Blake Holub, and Abner Uribe. Big kudos to the bullpen efforts of LHP Nick Bennett. Their combined 4 2/3 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 5 K, 0 ER gave the Sounds every opportunity to make a game of this one. Unfortunately, the offense fell short in their ninth inning mini rally.

2) As the headline byline states above: OF Chris Roller came back for his first game in some time (he had been briefly rehabbing with the ACL Brewers) and he dealt out two OF assists. That's just a ridiculous amount of impact in a first game back. One at 3B. One at home plate - take that Mr. Caminero! 

3) C Eric Haase made things interesting in the ninth inning with his two-run jack. And, perhaps as a metaphor for the day ahead, this is how things ended. Just take a look. I'm not kidding. I thought it might be going to the wall or over. Nope. We were headed to the ice rink:

Final: Montgomery (Rays) 11, Biloxi 4

Shuckers Fall on Education Day to Biscuits - Despite Score Shuckers Have Many Multi-Hit Performances

Pre-Game Media Notes 

Box Score / Game Log

RHP Bradley Blalock surrendered 10 hits in his 5 2/3 IP. And, entering the sixth inning he was holding steadfast to a 4-2 Shuckers lead. That changed in a hurry:

Blalock didn't surrender a single free pass on his outing. He also punched out six and left with the game knotted 4-4. Despite conceding the four runs, his season ERA still sits at a very healthy 2.43. He'll want that two-run HR AB back, but he is still putting forth solid outing after solid outing. Let's just hope he stays healthy and keeps building. 

Three Quick Strikes:

1) I don't know what you call the seven-run Biscuits eighth inning other than a meltdown. LHP Justin King didn't record a single out before he was pulled. A 4-4 game turned into an 11-4 deficit. King dealt three generous free passes and gave up a grand slam. Nary an out was recorded in his stormy work. Quite simply, it was just a difficult stretch to watch. Actually, every Shuckers home telecast is hard to watch these days. Please, for the love of baseball gods fix that center field camera array. I beg of you, Biloxi. You can do this.

2) One month plus into the 2024 season and I am already feeling nervous about the seasons of INF's Ethan Murray and Freddy Zamora. There simply isn't enough track record of success to shrug these month-long slumps off. We know both young men have shown stretches of really good baseball - this is absolutely true. We also know they've had entire seasons of offensive futility (or injury) at the dish. Let's keep saying those baseball prayers and hope they find their sweet strokes. As is, they are both below the Mendoza Line and barely treading water with the bat in their hands.

3) INF Mike Boeve continues to find success in the batter's box no matter the level of affiliated play. He hasn't really missed all that much of a beat since his promotion to Double-A. That's truly saying something given how the jump to Double-A ball is perceived. I don't know if he'll ever hit for power - it certainly seems like there is power in his swing path, but we just don't see balls sail over the walls all that often. What he does do, however, is put the bat to ball at an absurd rate. Having watched the litany of low-scoring Brewers games through the years, I would think Boeve's quality AB's are as good as gold within the organization. If he can keep driving the ball, get just a little more loft, the rest will follow.

Final: Wisconsin 5, Quad Cities (Royals) 4

Bats Rally and Defense Secures Wisconsin Victory - Timber Rattlers Beat Quad Cities 5-4

Box Score / Game Log  

Pre-Game Media Notes

On a night where pitchers were melting down and teams were losing left and right in the organization, thank the heavens for a Victor Estevez managed squad pulling out a victory. RHP Patricio Aquino bounced back from consecutive rough starts and steadied his ship: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 ER. He handed the ball over to LHP Mark Manfredi after his 80 pitches. Manfredi certainly wasn't as sharp as he has been most of the season - three runs surrendered came via the long ball and he was fighting his location - but, in the end, he did enough to hand the ball over to RHP's Aaron Rund and Yerlin Rodriguez. The T-Rats squeaked out a victory.

Three Quick Strikes:

1) The Timber Rattlers lead numerous offensive categories in the Midwest League. Regardless of what these statistical numbers say, I will simply share they are opportunistic and have a penchant for timely hits. In baseball, opportunism and timely hits leads to victories. The seventh inning three-run rally was very representative of this. A bevy of seeing eye singles. A sac fly. A looping line drive double. Pay dirt. 5-3 T-Rats lead.

1) INF Jadher Areinamo and OF Luis Lara may not wow you with power. They may not take a ton of free passes. But I will take their winning style of baseball any day of the week. They do so many little things on the baseball diamond that don't show up in the box score. They are both elite defenders. They both have speed. They both have incredible hands. And they both fight at the dish. Both young men, once again, impacted the game tonight in more ways than one. We are extremely lucky to have these young men in the system.

3) OF Terence Doston once again made a winning baseball play. He hit the game-tying sac fly in the seventh frame - a sac fly hit so high and deep it advanced the runners to second and third base as well. I say it time-and-time again: Doston makes winning plays nearly every time he plays. I continue to appreciate who he is. It was nice to see him get game action for the second time this week.

 Final: Fayetteville (Astros) 12, Carolina 11

** As of publication time there was no post-game article posted by the Mudcats **

Fayetteville's Summary:

PM Turns AM as Woodpeckers Walk-Off Mudcats in Wild 10-Inning Marathon

Box Score / Game Log

I kid you not when I tell you this was one of the most insane baseball games I've ever witnessed. After a two-hour rain delay, we witnessed seven lead changes and five separate ties. After the Mudcats jumped to a 3-0 first inning lead, RHP Jesus Rivero quickly gave it back and then some. The Mudcats trailed 5-3. Rivero had been solid for the majority of the early 2024 season until tonight. We'll give him the mulligan here and hope this was simply an unfortunate byproduct of having to change his pitching mindset from the piggy-back man to starter due to the inclement weather. 

Three Quick Strikes:

1) OF Luis Castillo needed a game like this. It was awesome to see him performing at the dish. How bad has it been? Even after his 3-for-5, four-RBI evening, he is still below the Mendoza Line with a mere 0.606 OPS. Regardless, let's celebrate his fourth long ball of 2024. It was a banger:

2) SS Cooper Pratt looked absolutely fantastic throughout the contest on both sides of the ball. Clean exchanges in the field while seeing the ball expertly at the dish. He just looked like the total package. Four free passes and an absolute moon-shot triple off the wall in deep left field (I still don't know how that ball didn't leave the park). I've been waiting for an outing like this. I was beyond ecstatic to get it:

3) OF Yophery Rodriguez had a golden sombrero going deep into this contest as he had accumulated four strikeouts - three of them looking. However, even when I witness games like this from the young Dominican center fielder, I still see 100% effort and impact beyond that batter's box. We've already seen big moments at the dish in key spots in 2024. But the hustle defensively is what really stands out in a game like this. His chase down of an inexplicably poor throw to second base by RHP Morris Austin was a thing of absolute beauty. I detailed it at length in the game thread HERE. Suffice to say, it was one of the craziest relay throws for an OF assist I've ever seen. Make a point to seek it out and watch it if you do have an MiLB.TV viewing ability (I timestamped the play in the same game thread).

** Special Shout Out to RF Reece Walling. His first AB of his Low-A and affiliated career was a ripped ground double to the deepest part of the ballpark. His defense and arm certainly look plus. He'll need to continue working on identifying off-speed deliveries, but this was a very successful debut**

It was a fairly ugly 1-4 day within the Brewers organization as a whole. Let's hope tomorrow evening's slate of games brings more marks in the win column. The ACL Brewers will be back in the fold looking to grab their first victory of their young season. 

As always, thanks for reading and thanks for supporting Milwaukee Brewers Minor League baseball and the many players deserving of our time and recognition. I now pass the baton to Daniel and Jim for the remainder of these ongoing series.

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