Brewers Minor League Link Report (7/21): Brewers' Rookie Ball Squads Bust Out the Bats in Flawless Monday

Transactions: None

Game Action:

ACL Brewers 11, ACL Reds 7

Box Score

Through the first three innings of the Brewers' Arizona Complex League game on Monday, it looked like the Brewers' bats were not going to muster much of a fight. The offense managed just one single in their first 10 at-bats and then fell behind 2-0 when the Reds opened scoring in the bottom of the third. Everything turned on its' head in the Brewers' half of the fourth inning when the team rallied for six runs.

The inning began with a double from Luis Castillo, then three consecutive singles from Jorge Quintana, Frederi Montero, and Jadyn Fielder set the stage for Demetrio Nadal's three-run blast. Roderick Flores then followed with a solo shot of his own and the Brewers offense was cooking with a 6-2 lead. Both Nadal and Flores would hit homers later in the game to help preserve the lead as the Brewers and Reds matched each other run for run in the sixth through eighth innings. Quintana also added a late solo homer.

The Brewers ended up pounding out 15 total hits in the game, with six players producing multi-hit games. Leadoff man Handelfry Encarnacion was on base three times and also drove in his 36th run of the season, which is tied for eighth in the ACL. Nadal and Flores combined for seven RBIs out of the sixth and seventh positions in the batting order. 

DSL Brewers Gold 18, DSL Cubs Blue 3

Box Score

The DSL Brewers Gold put on some kind of offense show on Monday, pounding out 14 hits, drawing 16 walks, and striking out 13 times on the way to an 18-3 obliteration of the DSL Cubs Blue. The Brewers did all their scoring in just four innings worth of rallies, hanging crooked numbers of four, seven, three, and four runs on the Cubs.

A few of the highlights:

•  Both Brewers catchers homered in the game with Isais Chavez going yard in the third and Roniel Paulino entering as a defensive replacement in the eighth and hitting a grand slam in his only plate appearance. For the 17 year-old Paulino, it was his first professional homer.
• Kenny Fenelon ended a 30 game homer drought, with his second long ball of the season. For Fenelon, the top rated signee in the Brewers 2025 international class, it was his first homer since the first game of the DSL season.
• The trio of seventeen year-olds Cristoper Acosta, Eryks Rivero, and Cristian Montilla filled up the box score with multi-hit/multi-run efforts. Acosta and Rivero each reached based four times and Montilla collected three hits.
• Jonathan Rangel, fresh off his appearance in the Dominican Summer League All Star Game, drew five walks in six plate appearances.

Raymond Sarmiento did the heavy lifting on the mound to earn his first professional victory. Sarmiento came on in relief in the third inning and worked five innings, allowing two runs and striking out three.

DSL Brewer Blue 5, DSL Dodgers Bautista 4

Box Score

The Brewers jumped out early in this one, then had to rally midway through, and finally held on to a slim margin in the final inning to mimic their parent club in a 5-4 victory over the Dodgers on Monday.

In the top of the first inning, the Brewers got a two-out RBI single from third baseman Moises Polanco to grab an early 1-0 lead. Polanco now leads all DSL Brewers players with 27 RBI and is second among all Brewers’ DSL players with a .924 OPS.

The Dodgers rallied for solo runs in the second and third, before the Brewers came back with a three run rally in the top of the fourth. Frandy Lafond had an RBI single in the frame and Jhoanjel Saez knocked in two with a double to make it 4-2 Brewers. In the fifth inning, Leonard Rijo made it 5-2 Brewers with an RBI groundout. Rijo was a demon on the basepaths with three steals to tie him for the DSL Brewers’ team lead with Juan Martinez at 15.

On the mound, 19 year-old Josue Toledo couldn’t make it through five innings to deny us box score symmetry, with five hits, five walks and five strikeouts in 4.2 innings. Justin Lugo (not to be confused with teammate Yoneiker) cleaned up the final 2.1 innings to lock down the seven inning contest. Lugo did allow a two-out, two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh, but then struck out the final hitter to seal the victory.

Elsewhere around the organization:

The Carolina Mudcats swept all three games at Delmarva over the weekend to improve to 15-7 in the second half. The Mudcats maintained their first place position, just one game ahead of Fredericksburg in the Carolina League North.

Pedro Ibarguen, who turned 19 earlier this month, hit his first homer at Carolina on Sunday. Ibarguen has hit safely in all eight games since being promoted from the Arizona Complex League to Carolina at the end of June. He’s now slashing .357/.455/.464 for the Mudcats.

Luis Pena collected five hits to go along with two steals in the three game series. Here's a not-so-bold prediction: fans will see Pena in Appleton very soon. Josh Adamczewski returned to Carolina this weekend and picked up right where he left off with three hits to raise his batting average to .350. Braylon Payne saw his ten game hit streak snapped on Saturday, though he did draw two walks and scored twice in that game. Payne continued his torrid July on Sunday with two more hits, giving him a July slash line of .395/.531/.711.

On the mound, the Mudcats got stellar outings from Bryce Meccage (5IP, 2H, 1R, 0BB, 6K) and Travis Smith, (5IP, 2H, 0R, 1BB 5K) who bookended the weekend with wins.

The Mudcats host Kannapolis for six games this week. The Cats took four of six from the White Sox affiliate back in May.

The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had a tough weekend, getting walked off in the tenth inning on both Friday and Sunday, with the two losses sandwiched around a thorough 10-0 blowout of Cedar Rapids. Infielder Jadher Areinamo started games at shortstop, second, and third in the series and pounded out seven hits (two homers) for 13 total bases in the three game series.

This Aerinamo homer was in the air so long they served a meal on the flight:

In case you missed it, the T-rats acquired a new catcher, Andrick Nava, last week. The twenty-three year old backstop acquitted himself nicely with three hits in two games. Nava was one of five Rattlers players with a multi-hit game in Saturday’s decisive victory. Blake Burke had three singles in that game and Tayden Hall had his first ever two homer game.

Manuel Rodriguez was the star of Wisconsin’s pitching staff over the weekend with a his longest outing since the beginning of April. Rodriguez needed just 63 pitches to deliver five scoreless innings while allowing just one hit, with two walks and three strikeouts. Rodriguez, who turns 20 in August, has a 1.99 ERA and 35:9 K:BB ratio in 40.2 innings for Wisconsin this season.

The Timber Rattlers are now 7-17 in the second half and head to Quad Cities for six games with the Royals’ affiliate this week.

In AA, the Shuckers took two of three from Montgomery over the weekend. Former fourth round draft pick Matthew Wood was on base seven times in the series, with four hits and three walks. The 24 year-old Wood is sporting a .802 OPS in 29 games with Biloxi this season. Garrett Spain hit safely in all three games this weekend, including his ninth homer of the season. In case you missed it, Spain also went semi-viral this weekend with this juke move that undressed the Biscuits’ catcher:

If this baseball thing doesn’t work out for Spain, perhaps he has a future playing running back on Sundays.

Tate Kuehner continued his impressive work with 5.2 more scoreless innings and six more strikeouts. Kuehner now has 13 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.

Brett Wichrowski struck out five in four one-run innings on Friday night to lower his ERA to 2.40 on the season.

The Shuckers are still in last place in the second half standings, but will look to fatten up when they host Rocket City, the Southern League’s worst team, this week.

Finally, the Nashville Hot Chickens took two of three games from first place Indianapolis over the weekend, meaning three of four Brewers’ affiliates secured winning weeks coming out of the break. Daz Cameron continued to dazzle us atop the Nashville lineup, with seven hits and two home runs over the weekend. Cameron has a ludicrous 1.358 OPS with 10 homers in just 18 games with Nashville this season. Check out one of his two blasts here:

In case you missed it, Tyler Black was recalled by the Brewers on Sunday to fill-in for the ailing Jake Bauers. It’s been a grind for Black this season, but he did hit safely in his last six games in Nashville with a .286/.364/.429 slash line in 49 at-bats in July. However, Pat Murphy’s bench sees less action than a COVID-era home gym, so it remains to be seen if Black gets any playing time in his return to The Show.

On the mound at AAA, Nestor Cortes threw 80 pitches over 5.1 innings of one-run ball to earn the win on Friday. Cortes is nearing a big league return, so something will have to give in the Brewers’ rotation soon. Chad Patrick pitched well on Saturday, with two earned runs in five innings, and former Brewers Bryan Hudson, Elvis Peguero, and Craig Yoho all worked scoreless relief outings to lock down the win. Yoho has just three earned runs allowed in 31 innings at Nashville. Logan Henderson took the loss on Sunday and now has allowed 12 earned runs in 18.2 innings in July.

Nashville is 11-10 in the second half and will host 11-9 Charlotte for six games this week.

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!