Ro Mueller

AA Biloxi scored 19 runs yesterday to take a 2-0 home series lead over Montgomery, 22-year old RHP Logan Henderson starts tonight’s series finale, aiming to bounce back from a rough last start (6 ER, 3 IP).

The AAA Sounds won their first game of the day to tie their series 1-1 in Norfolk, so now it’s time for the series-deciding finale. LHP Aaron Ashby gets the start, while SS Vinny Capra, 1B Wes Clarke, C Francisco Mejia and DH Brian Navarreto enter the lineup.

Carolina takes an early lead in Game 2, without the benefit of a hit. Cooper Pratt can motor.

The Mudcats held on for a 2-1 win in their first game of the day, with RHP Jeferson Figueroa working out of a 5th inning jam and RHP Tyler Bryant closing the door for his 2nd save. Josh Knoth was the big story of course: No Hits in 4 innings, with 1 BB and 3 Ks.

The Low-A Mudcats can sweep today’s home doubleheader against Lynchburg with a victory tonight behind RHP Jesus Rivero (5.40 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 11.8 K/9 in 46.2 IP. 3B Daniel Guilarte, 1B Satchell Norman and 2B Miguel Briceno enter for this Game 2.

High-A Wisconsin lost a close one at Cedar Rapids yesterday, so needs a victory behind solid 23-year LHP Tate Keuhner (3.02 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 10.4 K/9 in 59.2 IP) tonight to even the series. 3B Luke Adams has a 19-game on-base streak.

SS Eric Brown Jr. gets his first game action since July 11 and 21-year old RHP Brett Wichrowski (3.97 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 8.8 K/9 in 59 IP) starts for AA Biloxi, which aims for a 2-0 home series lead over Montgomery.

AAA Nashville is down 1 game to 0 in their short series at Norfolk, with LHP Aaron Ashby (7.66 ERA, 2.05 WHIP, 9.1 K/9 in 69.1 IP) getting tonight’s start. RF Brewer Hicklen is 4th in homers (19) and 3rd in stolen bases (26) in the 20-team International League.

That’s 11 straight hitters retired by Josh Knoth, who’s needed only 47 pitches to get through 4 innings. Sweet! But Carolina only leads 1-0. The Mudcats left the bases stranded in the 1st inning, then Filippo Di Turi singled in Juan Baez (who’d doubled) in the 3rd inning.

Low-A Carolina hosts Guardians’ affiliate for 2 games today, with 19-year old 3B Juan Baez (.759 OPS in 184 PAs) returning from injury and 18-year old RHP Josh Knoth (4.01 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 10.8 K/9 in 58.1 IP) starting the opening game.

It doesn’t look like 19-year old LHP Bjorn Johnson will make it a 3rd straight solid ACL start: 3 runs, 4 hits, no Ks in first inning to the Dodgers. I’ll also note that C Edgardo Ordonez hasn’t played since July 5 (and is not in the lineup today), when he exited after 5 innings (out at second on a double play ball).

I'm assuming the team hopes Wiemer shows enough offensive capability (particularly against LHP) to justify a September MLB roster spot -> CF defense when a LHP is on the mound. (I'm not fretting recent defensive lapses, since the focus is on getting back to an MLB level of hitting at the moment). Otherwise Hicklen is the no-brainer as a high quality pinch hit bat who also runs well, though they wouldn't likely put him in CF.

Just a multi-tasking screw-up on my part. Thanks

AA Biloxi (42-43) gets its 3rd chance to claw back to a .500 record, hosting Rays’ affiliate Montgomery (48-39) for 3 games. 2B Adam Hall has hit safely in 12 of 13 games. 24-year old RHP Shane Smith (3.34 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 10.9 K/9 in 62 IP) makes his 11th start (20th appearance).

High-A Wisconsin (56-30) has won 6 straight games and has the top full season record in the Midwest League by 5 games. They play at Twins’ affiliate Cedar Rapids (50-35) this week, with RHP Stiven Cruz (4.40 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 7.2 K/9 in 28.2 IP) making his first start since August 2023.

AAA Nashville (49-44) opens their 3-game set at Orioles’ affiliate Norfolk (44-48), with rehabbing RHP Joe Ross and DH Gary Sanchez featuring.

Eric Bitonti reached base four times and Jose Anderson continued his torrid pace, but the Rookie affiliates lost three games in Arizona and the Dominican Republic. Transactions: N/A Game Action: Final: ACL Angels 8, ACL Brewers 2 (in 7 innings as scheduled) Box Score and Game Log Any dream of winning their final 6 games to climb back to a .500 record were basically dead by the 3rd inning in this game, trailing 6-0 by that point. The obvious bright spot was 3B Eric Bitonti producing a double, two singles and a walk in his four plate appearances, thus lifting his batting average and OPS to .321 and 1.019, respectively. Should we expect the 18-year old to join Low-A Carolina for its final 1.5 months plus the playoffs? Recently-turned 18-year old RHP Melvin Hernandez (3 IP, 6 R (5 ER), 1 BB, 3 Ks) started but had his second straight rough outing. He’s allowed 10 earned runs and 15 hits over his last 7 innings, but continues to limit walks while notching strikeouts. It will be fascinating to follow the paths of Hernandez and others on accelerated career paths over the next 2-3 years (e.g. Josh Knoth, Manuel Rodriguez, Enniel Cortez at Low-A level). Congrats to right fielder Angel Pereira on his first homer of 2024, a solo shot which cut the deficit to 8-2 in the final inning. 2B Josh Adamczewski also had a solid game at the plate: 1-for-3, double, walk, run scored (.915 OPS), while SS Tyler Rodriguez kept his decent offensive line (1-for-3, HBP; .813 OPS) but also committed his 10th error. 21-year old RHP Felipe De Los Santos pitched one scoreless inning (lowering ERA to 11.77), while 18-year old RHP Ismael Yanez conceded 2 runs in 2 innings to also “lower” his ERA to 13.50. The ACL Crew (now 24-31) play at the formidable ACL Rangers (34-20) on Friday evening. Final: DSL LAD Bautista 5, DSL Brewers Uno 2 Box Score and Game Log Despite registering only 5 Ks in 32 at-bats, the hits just weren’t falling in on this day, as Team Uno was out-hit 11-to-5. These few hits were all singles and the squad went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position. After falling behind 4-1 by the 5th inning, Equipo Uno watched its big opportunity come and go in the top of the 7th inning, walking the bases loaded then being mowed down on consecutive strikeouts by incoming 20-year old reliever Joldelanio De Los Santos. 19-year old LHP Wande Torres got the start, facing 8 batters over 1 2/3 scoreless innings (0 R, 2 singles, 1 BB, 3 Ks). It appears that he’s still ramping up activity after losing the 2023 season due to injury. The main damage came against RHP Joshua Quezada: 3 IP, 4 R (3 ER), 2 HR, 3 doubles, 1 BB, 1 WP, 2 Ks), while RHP Carlos Canales navigated through late traffic: 3 IP, 1 R, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 1 WP, 1 K. The team did manage to bring the potential tying run to the plate in the 9th inning, but the Dodgers switched pitcher again to strike out the final two batters – yes, all 5 strikeouts for Team Uno in the game came at the most pivotal junctures at the hands of new 20-year old relievers. At the plate, 18-year old switch-hitting C Freider Rojas attempted to lead the way: 1-for-2, 2 walks. The usual Domination Trio of SS Jesus Made, 3B Luis Pena and 2B Juan Ortuno combined for a frustrating 1-for-11 day with a walk, but only one strikeout. Made was also caught stealing and had an error in the field. The young Uno men fell to 20-10 but still lead their division by one game. They play at DSL Padres Gold on Friday. Final: DSL Red Sox Blue 8, DSL Brewers Dos 7 Box Score and Game Log Team Dos fell behind early 2-0, briefly led 3-2, trailed 8-3 by the 5th inning, then chipped away but ultimately ran out of innings. After stud center fielder Jose Anderson (2-for-4, 2 R (1 ER) 1 BB, 2 Ks; 1.031 season OPS) singled in a run with one out in the bottom of the 9th inning to cut the deficit to one run, the Red Sox got a line-out and fly out to strand Anderson at 1st base in this 8-7 defeat. Anderson has been selected to play at the 2024 DSL All-Star Game which the Brewers are hosting at their fabulous Dominican Academy on Sunday. Keep in mind that there are 51(!) teams in the league, yet despite that it appears as many as four Cerveceros players will be featured: King, 18 years old, is a RHP with a 24-to-1 K-to-BB ratio (mix in seven HBP's), and shines with a 1.77 ERA. Made and Pena, each 17, have maintained OPS figures above 1.000 all season while building defensive versatility all across the three infield spots left of first base. Each of King, Made and Pena play on the DSL Brewers #1 Squad. Early in this Team #2 contest, 3B Jonathan Rangel had a bases-clearing double to grab a 3-2 lead in the 2nd inning and DH/INF Jorge Quintana had a bases-clearing double of his own in the 7th inning to cut the deficit to 8-6. However, Quintana was picked off as the team really hurt itself by running into 3 outs on the bases and committing 3 errors in the field. 2023 super-signing SS Kevin Ereu went 2-for-4 with an HBP (.783 season OPS) before unfortunately making the final out. Despite still being listed on the injured list, starting 17-year old LHP Dalvin Bodre (1 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 Ks) made his second appearance, facing six batters. RHP Christopher Peralta was the long man of the morning, unfortunately getting rocked for 6 runs (5 earned) over 3 1/3 innings with 2 HRs, 2 doubles, 2 singles, 2 walks and 2 Ks. RHP Francisco Guevara contributed the best outing on the staff: 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K – though his ERA is still an unsightly 19.06 in 5 2/3 IP. Team Dos drops to 17-15 on the season, hosting DSL Astros Blue on Friday morning. We hope that you enjoy the Minor League Link Report. Our four full season affiliates return from their 3-day break on Friday, giving us 7 Minor League games as the Brewers remain idle. Carolina (RHP Jesus Rivero) and Biloxi are hosting Lynchburg and Montgomery, respectively, while Nashville plays at Norfolk and Wisconsin (LHP Brian Fitzpatrick – Zero ER in last 11 2/3 IP) is away at Cedar Rapids. 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 View full article

I just pulled up the MILB box scores and I'm confused. Is it still 2024? Both DSL teams losing? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no

That’s a fun ACL box score: Bitonti, Baez, Gardner, Flores, Birchard, etc. Woo hoo!

Super secret, pre-agreed deferred signings which don't get announced until October? That's something to look out for, but then those players would presumably miss out on the first-ever (unofficial) Extended Summer League. But I think non-drafted players will be rather desperate to sign and smart clubs will happily scoop them up. I'm curious how many releases we'll see across the MILB landscape over the next 4 weeks - perhaps a slew of 6th and 7th-year minor leaguers.

I'm reviving this thread since we're getting into the heart of 165-stateside MILB player limit compliance. How will we integrate 22 draftees (okay, maybe 18 will sign), along with non-drafted signings (e.g. 6 last year: Hunt, Jackson, Whiting, Root, Durow, Alejandro Rodriguez)? We also have 4 pitchers which may be activated from long-term injured lists soon: Jason Woodward, Gerson Calzadilla, Easton McGee, Ryan Birchard.

Maybe we were reading too much into it, but in the 2023 ACL Playoffs, the team went with then-19-year old Edgardo Ordonez at catcher in 3 games and Alejandro Rodriguez in the 4th game, with then-21-year old Satchell Norman only DHing despite his terrific season OPS. Norman threw out 4 of 42 baserunners (10%) in that campaign, with 9 passed balls and 2 errors in 147 innings, while Ordonez threw out 9 of 29 (31%) baserunners with 2 passed balls and 2 errors in 165.1 innings. While Norman has improved in some areas in 2024 (24% CS rate, only 2 PBs), he does have 6 errors and his bat is letting him down (.515 season OPS). Oddly, Ordonez has seriously regressed in 2024 in the limited defensive metrics we have access to (12% CS rate, 6 PBs, 7 errors), but he's also hit 7 HRs in the Arizona Complex League (vs. 1 in 2023).

- RHP Ryan Birchard of Low-A Carolina sent on rehab assignment to ACL Brewers - RHP Jesael Cabrera of DSL Brewers retired

I’d been thinking we may need to draft more catchers, but just realized the DSL foursome of Luis Corobo, Kevin Garcia, Freider Rojas and Yoneiker Lugo may already have us quite excited for the future. What a year for our DSL squads.