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It will be pretty cool to see the pitching at the higher levels. AAA may boast Gasser (once healthy and if not on the brewers), Rodriguez (2021 draft), Henderson (2021 draft), S. Smith (2021 UDFA), Misiorowski (2022 draft), Yoho (2023 draft), Hunt (2023 UDFA), and Wichrowski (2023 draft). And also likely R. Smith (2021 draft) and Markel (2022 UDFA). Also the AA position players next year will include at one point - Burke, Areinamo, Pratt, Adams, Lara. While A ball will feature top prospects Payne, Bitonti, Made, Yophery, Baez, Peña,

Did we know about his injury - was it oblique or muscle strain? I couldn't easily find it, but I thought it was something like that. I imagine that will mess up delivery, consistency etc. Going into the season he had a tiny bit of helium - his mound presence and his raw stuff were enticing from reports, and then his season just never got started, He had one 4 inning start and then on the IL with a rehab stint and multiple short appearances. So he could use the innings this fall to see if the hype was real.

There are a few things about the IFA rankings and signings that I think based upon some info I have come across: One is there are so many good players who are 14-16 by the time they associate with a trainer/agent/team, and the evaluation process is not perfect given the age and the competition (I am no expert at all but from hearing/reading about it some) it sounds like certain clubs/trainers play against each other so there can be some variation in how they compare. So top 10 prospect is not necessarily that much better than the 25-40 prospect, unlike the MLB draft where there is some differential in outcomes/success due to age and track history. The other is that the evaluations are on speed, power etc, and not always about the make up which agents/scouts know. Plus the big factor is the projection of 14-15 year old years to a 17-20 year old. That is very different from team to team (projection and mental make up). Finally - pitchers are so raw and under-developed that they don't sign much. In fact (from the A. Cornielle interview) it sounds like players only want to be viewed as position players since that is where the money goes. After that if you are not signed, then focus on pitching and those who have some raw stuff will get signed that year or even a year or two later. So the big names rarely are pitchers because a) players only want to viewed as position players apparently and b) teams don't want to commit to pitchers at that young age. I will say those are my thoughts from cobbling together some info from podcasts (BA and just baseball/Aram), interview (here on this website with A. Cornielle published earlier this year) and some random articles (again BA, and prospect sites). So take this with a grain of salt.

Thanks for your insight and field's eye view of the game @MudcatsfaninBrunsCO Always helps to have locals at the games who gain some input on what we can't always get from watching the games, or from the commentary during the game. (Or also what Gameday doesn't provide 😂)

Fellow minor league fanatics, it was another great year in the Link Report. Thank you to @Ro Mueller @Jim Goulart @Joseph Zarr (did I miss anyone ??) for the incredible job of getting these posts our daily, these are truly treasures. And not to mention the daily game threads, where many frequent posters are able to keep us all up to date. I mean just reading the posts I feel I was able to "watch" every game this year. What a group, and I will miss the games/posts/reports and look forward to next season already. We are living through an incredible renaissance of Brewer baseball - with a pro team that is actually winning divisions, and the minor league is full of wining clubs and a nice mix of higher end prospects as well as great depth prospects. THANK YOU ALL!

Agree. I guess I should have contrasted that approach- long term success vs the all-in approach. As a long lived Brewer fan, I’m much happier now compared to what I watched prior (1986ish on) when a good year was a winning record. Now winning division is the new standard. Hopefully we get rewarded with a WS appearance one of these years.

Right. But the Brewers haven’t been averse to aggressive promotions. i think he either starts at high A and if he holds his own after a month goes up, or maybe they see something during off season and pre-season to send him up there for the start of the year. I agree the former is more likely, but he still pushes EBJ to AAA to see if he can turn into a defensive stalwart who can be a pinch running, cover any spot in the IF type of utility-layer. these are among the fascinating things to watch out for next year.

EBJ will likely move to AAA - he MLB caliber defensively. And I believe the Brewers will not block Pratt who looks like a sure fire top-3 prospect for the team. Whether he starts at high A next year to get more ABs, or is placed in AA with Areinamo, Adams, Lara among others as that core of the ‘23 Mudcats continue to climb the ladder together.

And that has even evolved. Look back at the earlier days of this run. 2018-2019, where the team was more offensively gifted, and reliant on a deep bullpen. We signed Cain and Grandal, and traded for Yelich and Moose during that time frame. Then as other teams came back to signing FAs again (after the 2016-2018 non-collusion FA downturn), the brewers pivoted to defensive players like Wong, Adames, Bradley, Petersen, and focusing on pitching development. Now it is trying to balance both via draft, trades, and player development. Currently the team is run-prevention, great bullpen and better than average hitting. And will maybe pivot again in the next few years to leverage what their internal strengths are, and maybe zig when the league zags. The big question is as fans do we wish to have this TB Rays like continuing success for nearly a decade, or a 2-3 year run with WS runs (like KC)? (And yes I realize that this analogy falls apart since TB did make a WS appearance)

And looks like Yeager getting hit. And a 2run HR by Isaac makes it a 6 run deficit again But wow Pratt first AA HR as a 2 run blast in bottom of 8 in a playoff do-or-die game 3. Kids got it.

Yikes. I'll check in later, but a 5-0 deficit seems like a mountain to climb.... unless. Unless EMJ and Wilken go off tonight. Right? Please

Need sarcasm font for me next time ;) I am a little slow

*Technically it is Joe Starkey. (https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/joe-starkey/2024/09/19/pirates-brewers-national-league-central-ben-cherington-derek-shelton/stories/202409170093) Well if it is true or not, the author of the article made that reference multiple times in the article, so that's why I included it twice n my post. ( I guess I was trying to be funny - I will learn to stick with my day job 😔 )

Please yes.

An error by Pratt to start the 9th. And Holub goes deep in the count to his next batters, but gets a fly out and a K. One out away. They are going to ride HOlub to save the bullpen for game 3. Let's get the out here. And it's a grounder to O'Rae SERIES TIED On to game 3. Let's go Shuckers!!

He is wild right now. Oh boy... But a huge ground out. Nice hustle by O'Rae to get to the ball, and make the throw to get the uber speedy Simpson. Phew 😓

Gotta get another reliever up and ready. R. Smith, Costello, Childers?

C'mon Blake Walks the first batter. Then a flare single to CF. It's now 5-1. Hunt was not scoreless after all. Blake needs to get the last out and get out of this dang inning. Don't want to give any life to this Biscuits club.

call strike 3 inner half fastball, and Taylor is out. And with that KC Hunt gets the 2nd out in the 8th!! 92 pitches. Bulldog. What a start. 7.2 scoreless innings, 0BB! Pena now goes to the bullpen - Blake Holub in.

Biloxi 45-9 this season when they score 5 runs. Pitching has been good for them, the offense when it clicks can make it so they just don't lose. When the offense doesn't click (which is a lot of the season) they struggle. I like that they put up runs tonight. Let's go Shuckers

pitch #81 (edited - sorry it was not #80) was hammered, but like most of the night, just did not get enough. And now 2 outs in the 7th. Hunt has not allowed hard contact, and just did, but the batter just missed it. I'll take it Two pitches later, it's 7 scoreless for "bulldog"

Huge inning by the SHuckers offense. Got 3 runs across. That is hopefully what we need to force a game 3. Please let's keep the momentum going Biloxi.

I think KC Hunt is close to becoming one of my favorite pitchers (Miz, Henderson, and Yoho likely make up a solid top 3), but Hunt has been a bulldog most of this season and along with Shane Smith and Manuel Rodriguez make up my next tier of pitching favorites. We have a nice pipeline of potential MLB pitchers. And I love how KC Hunt pitched in the playoff clinching game. I haven't had a chance to actually watch as much tonight, but what I did view has been classic 2024 KC Hunt

This is a very interesting read from an outsider's perspective (Pittsburgh), and really brings home how lucky we are to have had Attanasio and the Stearns now Arnold GM guidance. In case you miss it, the Brewers play in a smaller market than Pittsburgh, not sure if the write mentions that 😉 https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/joe-starkey/2024/09/19/pirates-brewers-national-league-central-ben-cherington-derek-shelton/stories/202409170093 We are lucky fans to watch this team during a 18 year or so run of success with playoffs, division champs and some amazing all star / MVP (Braun, Fielder, Weeks leading to Yelich and Adames, then Burnes/Woodruff/Peralta, and now Contreras and Chourio). By the way the Brewers play in a smaller market than Pittsburgh 😅

I like the first 4 innings that KC Hunt has provided. He has been a gamer so far this year, and this first half of this game needed that so far. He has definitely proven he is a prospect.