Brewers Minor League Link Report (7/10): RHP Joe Ross Elevates Rehab Pitch Count to 46 in Scoreless Start; Hicklen Rips Another Blast

Transactions:

• INF Juan Baez was sent to the ACL Brewers from the Carolina Mudcats to begin his rehab assignment - Baez had been on the 7-Day IL with an undisclosed shoulder/upper arm injury since falling covering 3B (due to opponent's slide) since May 31st. 
• RHP Joe Ross was assigned to the Nashville Sounds from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to continue his rehab assignment(s)

Final:  Nashville 11, Iowa (Cubs) 2

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):

Sounds Stay Hot, Rout I-Cubs - In First Game Back from 'DFA', Owen Miller Tallies Four Hits

Box Score / Game Log
 

RHP Joe Ross looked like he did in his first rehab outing for Wisconsin: comfortable. He came to the hill and immediately threw a 96 mph dart for a strike. His day was called at 46 pitches after recording the first and second outs of the fourth inning. The Brewers brass have to be ecstatic to see him pitching so effortlessly and accurately. He will likely record at least one more rehab outing, but, assuming he comes away clean from this second outing, he is clearly back to health and in fine form. All told, he grabbed five swings and misses amongst 18 total swings. He gave us his classic sinker and slider heavy usage as the leads in a 3 2/3 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K start. Fantastic stuff and good news for the Brewers.

Three Quick Strikes:

1) Manning the CF grass for the first time since the 2022 AFL season, Tyler Black was called on twice and made it look easy. We just may have something here, folks. Take a look at this run down sprinting grab at the deepest part of straightaway right center field:

I haven't seen Black make a tough out look this easy, well, ever? 🤭 More of this please, young man. Fantastic stuff.

2) DH Joey Wiemer continued doing damage with his bat in what has fast become a July renaissance. He did have two K's on his evening. He did seem to be showing some of those busy pre-swing hands and bat theatrics again, but, I'm not going to rain on this parade: 3-for-5 with 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B and some savvy bat control in a 1-2 reach poke single on an outside off-speed offering? I'll absolutely take it. He opened his evening with a 99.6 mph oppo double on an off-speed pitch belt high on the outer black. Wiemer is now hitting 0.364 with a 1.244 OPS in 22 July AB's. A far cry from the June slump of woe.

3) LHP Aaron Ashby gave up six hits and three free passes in five innings pitched. This isn't going to do his season-long 2.05 WHIP that many favors. However, we are building up from the bottom here. After struggling to find his form in his first two innings of work, his third-through-fifth frames were about as good as I've seen him since his injury. His sinker sat 94-96 mph his entire length of work. He earned 14 swings and misses over 38 swings total. He punched out seven. His slider was dialed throughout. When his curveball caught up, he was cooking with gas. If we can continue getting outings like this as a baseline moving forward? We're actually building a foundation for future success. 

* Special Shout-Out: Welcome back to the Nashville clubhouse, Owen Miller. He played a steady 1B. He went 4-for-5 with two runs and three RBI's? Toss a double in there. That is not an easy feat. Undaunted, you might say up North 😉. 

Final: Biloxi 11, Chattanooga (Reds) 2

Brown Jr. Records Three-Hit Night, Shuckers Use Big Eighth to Down Lookouts - Shuckers Draw Nine Walks, Tally Eight Hits

Box Score / Game Log

Pre-Game Media Notes

RHP Brett Wichrowski is impacting games in more positive ways his past two trips to the hill - this continues to be a very good sign for the second half Shuckers. And, it's funny, with a young hurler (21 years old until 8/15) with as many tools at his disposal like Wichrowski does, one can easily start looking for even finer results. It's a silly game we long-time prospect followers find ourselves playing. The good from tonight's outing? Only three hits and one free pass in 4 2/3 IP with five punch outs for good measure. The 'bad' (I use this word very loosely here)? A WP, a HB, and a general lack of flow and polish despite quite a bit more than adequate results. The rough outline of what this young man might become is starting to come into focus - and, let's be clear, there is plenty of time ahead for this young man's professional career. I would love to start seeing the corner turning to even greener pastures over the next season plus. Can he begin avoiding outings with multiple pitches sailing to the back stop? Can he corral the manner in which his heater will sail high and wide via excessive arm-side run? Some of these things are likely mechanical. Some of these recurring issues are likely pressing in a more competitive League. Some of these things <gasp> remind me of a poor man's RHP Jacob Misiorowski. You see what I'm getting at here. We have a diamond in his rough, so to speak.

Three Quick Strikes:

1) Hey, a 2B Dylan O'Rae fly ball went to the deep part of a park and it wasn't caught?!? Indeed. He just needed to pull out his left field oppo slice from his hitting grab bag to finally get a fly ball to drop near the Warning Track:

In all earnestness: that had to have felt fantastic for the young man as he continues to try and carve a path in the Double-A ranks. 1-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 2B, 1 HBP, 1 K in a disruptive evening on the basepaths and in the batters box despite some frustrating ground outs.

2) The collective bullpen work from RHP Sam Carlson, LHP Russ Smith, and RHP Will Childers was very good. Special mention goes to RHP Sam Carlson, however. He came aboard in the fifth frame inheriting WIchrowski's runner at second base. He very calmly, and with vigor and poise, struck out his batter on five pitches. He wasted no motion. He pitched with fire and power. He came back to the bump in the sixth frame and pitched a clean inning with another punch out. It set the tone and held serve. The Shuckers bullpen as a whole continues to hit their stride and then some to start this second half.

3) As the headline of the Shuckers post-game article indicates, SS Eric Brown Jr. led the Shuckers offense with three hits on the evening. None of these knocks were particularly eye-opening - they were essentially all shallow liners onto the outfield grass. However, a 3-for-5 night with 2 RBI and, more importantly, zero strikeouts in a winning effort is cause for celebration as this young man looks to keep turning the corner in hopes of salvaging his season from a woeful first half. The steps are being taken. After hitting 0.136 in 88 May AB and after hitting 0.197 in 76 June AB, EBJ is now hitting 0.367 with a much more palatable 0.877 OPS in July. The deep line drive gappers are still mostly absent, but, we are working our way up from the bottom. The 4:2 BB:K ratio in these same 30 July AB gives us a runway to see a possible take-off. Let's keep our fingers crossed this talented young man is starting to find the first steps of his second half stride.

Final: Wisconsin 7, West Michigan (Tigers) 0

Wisconsin Blanks West Michigan, 7-0 - Kuehner & Fitzpatrick Combine on One-Hitter

Box Score / Game Log  

Pre-Game Media Notes

Two consecutive shutouts. An 11-0 cumulative scorecard. Only four pitchers used.

Manager Victory Estevez is strolling down 'Easy Street' through two games of the ongoing series versus the Tigers' West Michigan Whitecaps. Before I get into the game itself, let me briefly step atop my Brewers Minor League podium and head to the lectern <clears throat>: Did I not share with you Estevez is a rising star in the managerial ranks? Did I not also opine, with Estevez at the helm, the Timber Rattlers were in for a vastly different season in 2024? On more than one occasion I've called Estevez the prized jewel of the Brewers Minor League managerial staff. My opinion of him has only strengthened in 2024. Thank you for listening to my Timber Rattlers TED Talk. On to the game at hand.

LHP's Tate Kuehner and Brian Fitzpatrick did what they've done for quite some time in the Midwest League: dominate. Kuehner didn't get the swing and miss he typically earns, but he certainly got the results he was after. Part of the reason for this discrepancy today was he wasn't getting the chases he typically does. This resulted in a 43 strike performance in 74 pitches. Certainly not an excessive pitch count whatsoever for six innings pitched - I am merely giving you the context of what I saw upon review. All told, Kuehner gave us a Quality Start with 6 IP and only 1 H, 3 BB, 2 K, 0 R. He lowered his season ERA to 3.02 in the process. His season WHIP of 1.29 is largely due to his first month of High-A action. If we take a bird's eye view, we see that over the past three months of work opponents are hitting Kuehner to a woeful 0.190, 0.133, and 0.161 (so far in July) BAA. Like so many pitchers in the Brewers system in 2024: the arrow is pointing straight up. 

Full Game Highlights:

Post-Game Podcast:

Three Quick Strikes:

1) I brought this up in our daily Minor League 'game thread' (HERE) - and, hey, please do join us our little community is growing - INF/OF Jheremy Vargas is very quietly putting together a solid bounce back season. As we get caught up in the hoopla of the 'Top Whatever' lists, we so often let young players like Vargas fall through the cracks. As someone who watches the games regularly throughout each week of the season I can attest: Vargas is on the verge of re-entering the chat. After today's 2-for-4 performance with his fifth long ball of his season (2 R, 1 RBI, 1 HR), he is back at a familiar place: can he now maintain a BA above 0.220?  Plenty of work to do, but Vargas no longer looks like a misplaced prospect in the Midwest League. He looks the part of a savvy veteran in 2024. This does not go unnoticed for these eyes. Keep on trucking, young man. You are raising your floor!

2) The T-Rats 'X' feed doesn't have a direct clip of 'The Jadher Areinamo' play at 3B. Chris and Kyle definitely discussed it at length in the post-game pod. But, you have to see it to believe it. Just an unreal play from the player I have repeatedly shared is a defensive savant - Fangraphs projections absolutely be damned (A 30/40 grade?!? Just sit down and quit that nonsense). I have timestamped the play for you here from the Full-Game highlights above. It is an absolute, "...maybe you see this once in a High-A season?", web gem. Speechless on the accuracy of this cross-body Hail Mary:

3) In a game where CF Luis Lara, SS Eduardo Garcia, and 2B Jheremy Vargas all tallied two hits, I'm going straight to the knock that broke it all open. What would a Brewers system highlight be in the year 2024 without a grand slam - tis the season, afterall. LF Felix Valerio took it yard and a 1-0 lead turned into 5-0 in a hurry. The Timber Rattlers never looked back:

Final: ACL Padres 3, ACL Brewers 2
Box Score / Game Log

I had to blink twice when I revisited this scheduled seven-inning Game Log in the late innings - the Brewers were clinging to a 1-0 lead. This just isn't common place for this season's very young pitching staff. RHP Caden Vire has now pitched consecutive outings without surrendering a run for the first time in his professional career - congratulations, young man! He pitched a very effective 1 IP with 0 H, 1 BB, and 2 punch outs. Rehabbing RHP Easton McGee pitched an effective opening two frames with two knocks and two punch outs in a scoreless bit of work. The real troubles came along for young RHP Jesus Flores in his third and final inning of work when the Padres plated three. RHP Felipe De Los Santos gave his team a final opportunity with a very clean two strikeout inning of relief, but after DH Eric Bitonti walked in the Crew's second run SS Luiyin Alastre flew out to left field and the bases were left dripping. Oh, what could have been! Rehabbing 3B Juan Baez returned in the two-spot and managed an 0-for-2 debut. 1B Johan Barrios will want a reset after an 0-for-3 evening with 2 K and two fielding errors at first base (one throwing and one missed catch). Finally, 2B Josh Adamczewski led off with a 2-for-4, 2 2B, 1 R, 1 K effort. With all the talk of young and talented 3B Eric Bitonti in the 2024 ACL season, I offer you a poignant little reminder: don't sleep on Adamczewski. The 19-year-old (5/10 birthday) is now up to a 0.347 BA with a 0.975 OPS in 75 AB. That's a solid output in a decent sample size. I'm absolutely paying attention and have a distinct feeling we will be seeing him in Carolina later this summer. The Crew fall back to seven games under 0.500 at 21-28.

That is once again a wrap for my reporting duties this second week of July. We've been enduring a high mountain 100 degree heatwave the past several days. Low 90's on the horizon are a welcome sight for this old farmer. As to the games ahead tomorrow, we're looking at an eight-pack due to the Mudcats make-up double-header. Both DSL squads will hit the early morning grass looking for victories. We know RHP Enniel Cortez will start one of the two Mudcats affairs. In Wisconsin, dominant RHP KC Hunt will look to keep the well-oiled Timber Rattlers machine humming. In Biloxi RHP Shane Smith will look for a more controlled outing than his past time on the bump. And, finally, in Nashville RHP Chad Patrick will look to continue making his case as the Sounds Ace.

As always, thanks for reading and thanks for supporting Milwaukee Brewers Minor League baseball and the many players deserving of our time and recognition. 

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

Interested in learning more about the Milwaukee Brewers' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!