sveumrules

The Brewers have played Black exclusively at 1B this year aside from one game at third where he made two errors. If the plan were to play Black all around the infield at some point down the road, he’d be getting reps at those positions. That he isn’t getting reps at those other positions seems to imply the Brewers don’t believe he is up to their defensive standards as a 2B/3B.

Enjoy your contributions so far Mr. Irrelevant. Keep em coming.

Mike Maroth went 9-21 for the 2003 Tigers. Closest since then has been Chris Archer and James Shields, who both lost 19 games in 2016.

I had Barrios at #16 on my last BF Top 20 ballot due to the contact skills, defense, speed and performance as one of the younger players in the Midwest League. Big things holding him back are lack of power and rarely walking to this point, that puts a lot of pressure on the hit tool if he’s ever going to be more than a backup SS, but still a pretty safe high floor kind of profile. As much as I liked his game, he’s the perfect kind of depth to deal in a move like this with Turang and Ortiz already producing in MLB, Cooper Pratt having a higher ceiling and then the various DSL infielders off to hot starts this summer.

Obviously arbitrary endpoints and all that, but the offense was firing on all cylinders for the first quarter or so of the season and has been decidedly more average since then... thru May 15th 118 wRC+ | 5.19 R/G since May 17th 100 wRC+ | 4.50 R/G Between this essentially being the first year of a new window, the amount of perceived ground between the Brewers and teams like the Phillies/Dodgers/Braves atop the NL, and the lack of impact talent with long term control likely to be dealt at the deadline, I'm not sure the circumstances are quite right yet for the Brewers to push all their chips in.

& Middendorf goes E5, strikeout, groundout, groundout. Nashville wins.

Janson Junk came back out for a scoreless 7th (2 K) and Harold Chirino followed with a scoreless 8th (2 K). Ryan Middendorf now on the mound trying to nail down the 6 to 1 Sounds victory.

Zona Crew down 9 to 2 through four innings but Anthony Flores struck out four guys in the second inning so there’s that anyway.

Patricio Aquino finally gave up a couple hits and an unearned run, but finishes with 6.0 IP | 2 BB | 6 K in the 11 to 1 TRats trouncing.

Craig Yoho on bottom of nine and he goes groundout, single, strikeout, “soft ground ball” single, then works back from a three oh count to get the game ending groundout and secure his first Shuckers save.

Biloxi bullpen has been aces since Sam Carlson came into a two on, one out fourth inning jam with three runs already across and retired both batters to stop the bleeding. He pitched another scoreless frame after that (1.2 IP | 1 H | 2 K), with Russell Smith (1.0 IP | 1 H | 1 K) and Justin Yeager (2.0 IP | 1 H | 2 K) following suit to leave Biloxi three outs away from the win.

Nashville notched a sixth run top of seven on Yonny Hernandez’s second long ball of the year.

Nashville goes off for four runs top of five to take a 6 to 1 lead. Here’s how it went down… Yonny Hernandez single, Brian Navarreto walk, Patrick Dorrian single, Tyler Black single, and Vinny Capra double. Meanwhile, McKendry retired the first two batters of the bottom half (1 K) before giving up a single and being relieved by Janson Junk who gets a groundout to end the inning.

Eduardo Garcia walk, wild pitch and a Ramon Rodriguez single netted Wisco their 11th run top of seven. Aquino went walk, flyout, 4-6-3 double play in the bottom half.

Biloxi has evened the score at five apiece here in the bottom of six. A Carlos Rodriguez double and Brock Wilken single got the run across while subsequent singles from Darrien Miller and Ernesto Martinez Jr, have loaded the bases. And a base knock from Zavier Warren plates two more giving the Shuckers a 7 to 5 lead. Two on, two out for Lamar Sparks.

Evan McKendry with a nice bounce back outing surrendering one run over five innings (84 pitches) with 3 H | 1 BB | 5 K.

Brewer Hicklen’s 14th bomb of the year ties the score at 1 to 1 for Nashville in the top of five.

Aquino goes 1-2-3 in the sixth with another K added to the ledger.

Carolina falls 3 to 2 bottom of eleven. Dikember Sanchez followed Manuel Rodriguez with two scoreless frames of 1 H | 1 BB work before Morris Austin finally succumbed to the Manfred Mann after two scoreless of his own including a 10th inning strand job. Cooper Pratt went 1 for 2 with two pair (walks and stolen bags), while Reece Walling went 2 for 5 with a double and Fillipo Di Turi walked twice.

Wisco pouring it on up 10 to 0 through five. In addition to the aforementioned Luke Adams bomb Gregory Barrios is 3 for 3, Matthew Wood is 2 for 2 with a walk, Tayden Hall drove in a pair and Eduarqui Fernandez is 2 for 3. Bullpen game going five hitless scoreless so far with Mark Manfredi (1.2 IP | 3 BB | 2 K), Tyler Wehrle (1.1 IP | 2 K) and Patricio Aquino (2 IP | 1 K) mowing em down.

Good stuff, Davy. Enjoy your writing over at FG so was a nice surprise to see you here at BF today. Not sure if you are taking requests perchance, but something that caught my eye recently was that the Brewers and Guardians have the slowest average fastball velocities in MLB. Was curious how much of that might be intentionally seeking out pitchers with unique release points and/or movement profiles versus how much was the simple economics of velocity being expensive…but had no idea where to even really begin in trying to get there.

Yeah, Cornielle was in the last spot on the first page of the leaderboard I was pulling from and I just missed him... Alexander Cornielle | A+ | 22yo 61.0 IP | 3.10 ERA | 3.91 FIP 20.2 K% | 9.3 BB% | 0.44 HR9 Wichrowski has good scouting reports but the results just aren't there yet (4.47 ERA | 4.88 FIP). Manfredi (4.04 ERA | 4.53 FIP) should probably have better results as a 24yo in A+. Letson has the scouting reports and a nice 3.23 ERA, but the peripherals were just lagging too far behind (4.82 FIP) for him to meet the rough cutoffs I set when putting together the list. Patrick was kind of the same deal where his 2.89 ERA in the environs of the International League is impressive and makes him an interesting depth option for the big league club, but the peripherals (4.23 FIP) had him just outside where I arbitrarily drew the line for inclusion.

It's the first of the month and a day off and maybe a little past midseason for most of the affiliates, but thought now might be a good time to check in on a few things across the system. Pitchers this time... Craig Yoho | A+/AA | 24yo 31.1 IP | 1.15 ERA | 0.88 FIP 48.8 K% | 8.1 BB% | 0.00 HR9 Sam Gardner | AA | 27yo 23.1 IP | 3.09 ERA | 1.89 FIP 38.2 K% | 7.9 BB% | 0.39 HR9 Logan Henderson | A+/AA | 22yo 33.0 IP | 1.36 ERA | 1.95 FIP 39.8 K% | 4.9 BB% | 0.55 HR9 KC Hunt | A/A+ | 23yo 48.0 IP | 2.44 ERA | 2.12 FIP 38.1 K% | 5.3 BB% | 0.56 HR9 Kevin Herget | AAA | 33yo 26.1 IP | 3.08 ERA | 2.35 FIP 30.1 K% | 5.8 BB% | 0.34 HR9 Russell Smith | AA | 25yo 21.1 IP | 3.38 ERA | 2.37 FIP 29.3 K% | 10.9 BB% | 0.00 HR9 Shane Smith | AA | 24yo 53.0 IP | 3.06 ERA | 2.45 FIP 31.8 K% | 7.0 BB% | 0.51 HR9 Yujanyer Herrera | A/A+ | 20yo 58.0 IP | 3.10 ERA | 2.75 FIP 27.6 K% | 8.2 BB% | 0.16 HR9 Chase Costello | A+ | 24yo 28.0 IP | 3.21 ERA | 2.99 FIP 28.3 K% | 9.7 BB% | 0.32 HR9 Yorman Galindez | A | 21yo 40.1 IP | 2.45 ERA | 3.07 FIP 38.3 K% | 14.4 BB% | 0.45 HR9 Rob Zastryzny | AAA | 32yo 28.1 IP | 3.18 ERA | 3.07 FIP 34.2 K% | 7.2 BB% | 0.95 HR9 Tate Kuehner | A+ | 23yo 50.0 IP | 2.88 ERA | 3.19 FIP 29.5 K% | 11.4 BB% | 0.36 HR9 Aaron Rund | A+ | 25yo 32.0 IP | 1.41 ERA | 3.34 FIP 21.4 K% | 11.1 BB% | 0.00 HR9 Sam Carlson | AA | 25yo 26.2 IP | 2.70 ERA | 3.39 FIP 21.2 K% | 8.8 BB% | 0.34 HR9 Josh Knoth | A | 18yo 50.2 IP | 3.37 ERA | 3.43 FIP 28.7 K% | 14.4 BB% | 0.18 HR9 Dikember Sanchez | ACL/A | 20yo 21.1 IP | 2.95 ERA | 3.53 FIP 363.3 K% | 9.9 BB% | 0.42 HR9 Bo Bowman | AA | 27yo 38.1 IP | 2.35 ERA | 3.53 FIP 22.4 K% | 5.3 BB% | 0.70 HR9 Melvin Hernandez | ACL | 17yo 32.0 IP | 3.94 ERA | 4.10 FIP 24.0 K% | 8.9 BB% | 0.00 HR9 Manuel Rodriguez | A | 18yo 65.2 IP | 3.43 ERA | 4.12 FIP 19.6 K% | 2.3 BB% | 1.10 HR9 Jacob Misiorowski | AA | 22yo 60.1 IP | 3.58 ERA | 4.46 FIP 29.4 K% | 14.0 BB% | 1.04 HR9 Argenis Aparicio | DSL | 18yo 19.0 IP | 2.84 ERA | 3.07 FIP 24.7 K% | 7.4 BB% | 0.00 HR9 Wenderlyn King | DSL | 18yo 17.2 IP | 1.53 ERA | 3.21 FIP 28.0 K% | 1.3 BB% | 0.00 HR9 Hayden Robinson | ACL | 18yo 18.2 IP | 2.41 ERA | 3.23 FIP 36.8 K% | 9.2BB% | 0.00 HR9

It's the first of the month and a day off and maybe a little past midseason for most of the affiliates, but thought now might be a good time to check in on a few things across the system. So here's a little around the horn... CATCHER Jeferson Quero's injury was a blow right off the bat, have to wait and see how he looks next spring. Darrien Miller (136 wRC+| 38 BB | 39 K) and Matthew Wood (118 wRC+ | 29 BB | 25 K) are both having solid seasons at the plate with nice BB/K ratios, though neither hits for much power (.094 and .110 ISOs, respectively) or has had much success limiting the running game (18.3 and 23.6 CS%, repsectively). David Garcia has also been solid at the plate (117 wRC+ | 29 BB | 34 K) and does have a shinier 34.6 CS%, but he is also a year older than Wood/Miller and still in Carolina. Edgardo Ordonez has shown some thump in Arizona (119 wRC+ | 7 HR) but might not be long for catcher with 66 SB / 7 CS (9.6 CS%) in only 190 innings this year. FIRST BASE Tyler Black has pretty much been doing Tyler Black things at Nashville with a 120 wRC+ and 11 SB / 2 CS. Ernesto Martinez Jr. has come up with some big hits and even played some CF again for Biloxi, but his current 108 wRC+ at age 25 probably has the arrow pointing more toward org soldier than fringe prospect. Tayden Hall dominated Carolina (192 wRC+), but is still trying to figure out Wisco (68 wRC+). Former big bonus recipient Johan Barrios has shown some occasional signs of life in Arizona with a 112 wRC+ in the early going. SECOND BASE Dylan O'Rae put up a 120 wRC+ and 33 SB / 5 CS at Wisco earning a bump to Biloxi where his slap dash run like crazy skillset should see its first considerable challenge. Jadher Areinamo has played more second (32 GS) than short (20 GS) and has ridden his .305 batting average and paltry 11.9 K% to a 121 wRC+ with 25 SB / 6 CS at Wisco. Fillipo Di Turi was playing mostly SS in Arizona (153 wRC+ in 106 PA), but has switched to primarily 2B in deference to Cooper Pratt after his promotion to Carolina (85 wRC+ in 87 PA). 2023 15th rounder Josh Adamczewski might be next in line for promotion with a 162 wRC+ and more walks than strikeouts over his first 66 PA in Arizona. THIRD BASE Mike Boeve obliterated Wisco (255 wRC+) and has settled in nicely at Biloxi with a 121 wRC+. Brock Wilken took a fastball to the face, but has started to come around a little bit with a 144 wRC+ over 99 PA since June 6th versus an 87 wRC+ over his first 144 PA of the season. Luke Adams keeps doing Luke Adams things with a 142 wRC+ | 48 BB | 55 K and 18 SB / 8 CS at Wisco. Juan Baez was also doing Juan Baez things at Carolina (123 wRC+ | 12 BB | 12 SO | 7 SB / 9 CS) before getting injured. Eric Bitonti has been making a big noise (154 wRC+ | 6 HR) in Arizona, have to imagine he is Carolina bound in short order. SHORTSTOP Eric Brown Jr. has been injured and bad (51 wRC+) when healthy, probably needs a big second half more than any other Brewers prospect at this point. Gregory Barrios has put up a 116 wRC+ for Wisco in his age 20 season with a minuscule 9.3 K%, though an even more minuscule 5.3 BB%. Cooper Pratt has raked to the tune of a 142 wRC+ with 17 SB / 2 CS at age 19 for Carolina. OUTFIELD Brewer Hicklen (138 wRC+) and Isaac Collins (134 wRC+) are putting up big numbers as non-40 man depth for Nashville. Carlos Rodriguez (126 wRC+) has had a resurgent season in Biloxi with Noah Campbell (146 wRC+) also answering the call primarily from LF. Luis Lara has underwhelmed with only a 78 wRC+ in Wisco, but is also still only 19 playing against competition over three years older on average so there's still plenty of time there. Yophery Rodriguez (120 wRC+) has mostly held his own as an 18 year old with an aggressive placement straight to Carolina while minor league free agent Yhoswar Garcia has been a pleasant surprise with a 122 wRC+ and 38 SB / 6 CS.

Rockies always have drastic home road splits. Four gamer at Coors is no joke no matter how big of a joke the Rockies are in general. Obviously a sweep would be great but I’d be fine getting out of there with a split. 2024 H: 16-24 (.400) A: 12-30 (.286) 2023: H: 37-44 (.477) A: 22-59 (.272) 2022 H: 41-40 (.506) A: 27-54 (.333) 2021 H: 48-33 (.593) A: 26-54 (.325)