Brewers Minor League Link Report (6/21): Do You Like Triples? Because We Have Triples!

Transactions: 

• OF Garrett Mitchell returned to Milwaukee's 10-day injured list
• LHP Caden Vire placed on Low-A Carolina's full season injured list
• RHP Chang Tzu-Chun Lin assigned to DSL Brewers Blue
• RHP Jesus Molina activated by DSL Brewers Gold from restricted list

Mitchell's oblique strain rehab stint does not end well with a new shoulder injury 

Vire exited his 5th relief outing of the season on May 15th, He was shaking his elbow as he came off the field that game.

The signing of Lin was first mentioned Friday in an "X" thread linked here.

Molina is a 6'0" 20-year-old who was signed in April out of Venezuela. His restricted status may have been visa or other paperwork related. His first outing will be his pro debut.

Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes
Final: Nashville 7, Iowa (Cubs) 4
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:

Nashville Takes Control of Series with Win Over Iowa - Six Pitchers Combine to Allow Two Hits

That Nashville write-up is packed as usual, among the tidbits are details on Jeferson Quero's four bases on balls.

For just the third time in 33 games with the Sounds, Bobby Dalbec and his .921 OPS played third base. 

Anthony Seigler (.919 OPS) played second base.

I find Nashville box scores and lineup construction fascinating these days. Neither Dalbec nor Seigler have 40-man roster status but would be clear options at the big-league level should anything interrupt the heater the Brewers are currently on (with home series upcoming with the Pirates and Rockies this week). Both players were productive Saturday night, as Seigler stole his 19th base. In an attempt to "keep up", Dalbec swiped his 2nd.

Meanwhile 40-man roster holders Tyler Black (played LF again, 0-for-4 with a walk, .433 OPS in seven games with Nashville) and Oliver Dunn (played shortstop, 0-for-4, season-long OPS of .595) struggle. Dunn batted 8th while non-roster 1B Ernesto Martinez, Jr. batted 9th, something no one envisioned typing in 2025, or any time, for that matter.

40-man roster RH relievers Elvin Rodriguez and Elvis Peguero had poor outings here and have not overwhelmed.

Andrew Vaughn and Freddy Zamora were idle for this contest.

It's as if "up is down and down is up" with the fringes of the 40-man. If circumstances forced the Brewers to shake things up in a significant way for the MLB team, there could be a cyclone of moves and they would all make sense, causing nary a batted eye. This is going to make for a fascinating few months of armchair GM'ing, but only if things start to blow up in a troublesome way for the parent club.

Speaking of recent roster shakeup:

Oh yes, this game, that's what the linked game summary is for this AM, and there are multiple highlights via the Nashville "X" feed, including Jared Oliva's triple. That three-base knock will be an ongoing theme in this report.

Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes
Final: Knoxville (Cubs) 4, Biloxi 3
Box Score and Game Log

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

Vargas Ties Season-High with Three Hits in Shuckers Loss to Smokies - Mendoza records three shutout innings in relief

Absolutely nothing personal towards recently-turned 22-year-old Jheremy Vargas and veteran RH reliever Abdiel Mendoza, a 26-year-old who made his pro debut in 2016, but when the game is a defeat and they are the two prominent headliners, then it wasn't an inspiring night for highlights.

However, we can report this - double, single, walk and 17th stolen base in 20 attempts for this guy:

As they say on Sesame Street, the theme for today's show is the Number 3, as Zavier Warren confirms here.

Pretty sure I expressed this in 2024, but I didn't see the real benefit of pushing RHP Brett Wichrowski so aggressively to Biloxi in 2024 after just four Timber Rattlers starts to kick off his pro career. It was as if Brewers brass couldn't get the then-99-to-100 MPH heaters in a single big league spring training relief inning out of their heads, velocity we haven't quite seen replicated since, and certainly now when assigned a starting role. Keep in mind Wichrowski has already allowed 11 unearned runs to score - not a black mark on his ERA of course, but sometimes you have to pick up your mates and stop the bleeding. Ironically, Wichrowski's own fielding error (dropped catch) led to two unearned runs here, tough given the final score.

I knew LHP Mark Manfredi had successfully migrated to a relief role this year, but hadn't realized none of his 22 appearances had extended more than two innings, and he's only gone past one frame on three occasions.

Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes (download link)
Final: West Michigan (Tigers) 4, Wisconsin 1
Box Score and Game Log

Miller Time for West Michigan against Wisconsin 

Blake Burke sat this one out, and given the Brock Wilken and Luke Adams injuries in Biloxi, that of course will lead to speculation. These Saturday and especially Sunday lineup absences tend to send us in that direction, as you rarely see transfers happen mid-week, nearly all are timed to line up with coming off the Monday off-day. Burke hasn't been on a scorcher, just 5-for-30 since June 10th (it's so unfair to cherry-pick dates, sorry Blake).

Theme night:

3B: Nicasia (1, Miller, Jo).

However, as the game summary painfully cited: "Kay-Lan Nicasia started the Rattlers seventh inning with a triple, but Miller stranded him there by retiring the next three batters."

RH starter Ryan Birchard's WHIP of 1.54 somewhat reflects the nine baserunners allowed in four innings here.

The Timber Rattlers are about to begin a stretch of 15 of 18 dates at home, so it would be sweet to end this extended two-week road trip Sunday with a win, but dang, that Tigers' Whitecaps affiliate is pretty ridiculous.

On that scheduling note, you're going to see shenanigans across all four full-season affiliated clubs travel as MiLB ensures every affiliate gets a packed house fireworks payday for a home game either on Thursday July 3rd or Friday the 4th. All six-game series that week become three-game home-and-away sets with hurried overnight travel that Thursday.

Carolina Pre-Game Media Notes
Final, Carolina 7, Columbia (Royals) 6
Box Score and Game Log

Bullpen Lifts Mudcats Past Columbia

Capping off Theme Night with a video barrage!

By the way, Voice of the Mudcats Chris Edwards' enthusiasm is wonderful.

You'll see even more at the Carolina "X" feed - Jose Anderson's arm (!), and my goodness, can someone find out what gymnasium Filippo di Turi went to this offseason? If you tell us your preseason bingo card had Di Turi in a tie for 3rd in the Carolina League home run race on the morning of June 22nd, only one behind leader Eric Bitonti, well, sorry, but you are a dang liar. Look for his latest blast on the feed as well.

Fireflies 2-for-18 with RISP. Heck of an entertaining nailbiter in Zebulon Saturday.

Braylon Payne last played on Tuesday. (I can't personally comment on whether Payne's been seen in the dugout, I haven't pulled up archives. I will remind folks that sometimes players have to take a leave for personal matters, such as a bereavement. I have NO knowledge that's the case here. I'm just saying speculation can bite us, and patience is a virtue.)

Final: DSL Brewers Gold 7, DSL Brewers Blue 6
Box Score and Game Log

Speaking of entertaining games, a walkoff win for the Golden Boys as both teams are now 6-8 on the season. Game played in a not-so-tidy three hours, 36 minutes.

Also, not-so-tidy? Five combined errors, five wild pitches, and four HBP's (siblings will be siblings).

Nine pitchers saw action, the one standout was 19-year-old 2nd-year Dominican RHP Wandy Cabrera, who lowered his ERA to 14.85 with 3.2 scoreless innings in his start. As you can imagine, his game log shows that his first two appearances in 2025 did not go well.

Of course we had triples, did you think we were going to ruin our theme?

3B: Martinez, J (2, Rodriguez); Rangel (4, Velasquez).

That would be seven XBH's (yes, four triples) for 18-year-old 2nd-year LH-swinging first baseman Jonathan Rangel, among his eight hits overall. The young man from Jackson Chourio's Venezuela hometown of Maracaibo now flashes a .286/.405/.750 line (1.155 OPS) through 37 plate appearances with as many walks as strikeouts. Fun!

Bonus baby Kenny Fenelon singled and walked twice to lift his OBP to .360. He also had an adventurous day on the basepaths, as your dual-sided box score perusal will show.

The four full-season clubs play Sunday, with the Shuckers first pitch coming in the late afternoon (5:05 CT), should you choose to wrap up you weekend with Javik Blake and the boys in Biloxi. Hope everyone stays safe in the heat, thanks for reading!

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