Ro Mueller

Enoli Paredes does a fabulous job, stranding the ghost runner and giving Nashville another chance to walk this thing off. We've got Isaac Collins, Yonny Hernandez and Nick Kahle due up. Poor Nick Kahle! He's caught 4 straight games and this one has gone to extra innings! Finish this!!

The Sounds are 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position, while the Saints are 1-for-8. The Sounds have 2 errors vs. 0 for the Saints. Enoli Paredes continues into the 10th inning.

...and 4 pitches later the Saints escape the inning. Hicklen ground out, Miller ground out, Dorrian fly out. Ugh. We head to the 10th inning tied 3-3.

Attaboy Tyler Black: he starts the bottom of the 9th inning by doubling the other way on a 1-2 pitch which Blewitt probably meant to throw as high heat (instead it was right down the middle).

Enoli Paredes helps himself out by striking out the next batter, then inducing a groundout and getting the lead runner caught between bases. And he induces another ground out. We head to the bottom of the 9th, tied 3-3, with Tyler Black, Brewer Hicklen and Owen Miller due up.

Weird situation (and troubling for Saints' fans) as Joey Wiemer fouls off 4 pitches with 1-on, 2-outs in the bottom of the 8th, then faces a new pitcher as Jeff Brigham exits due to injury with the count 2-and-2. He Ks on the 3rd pitch from Scott Blewit. And the 9th inning begins with the Sounds committing what may be their second costly error (Owen Miller fielding error at first base this time). Let's hope RHP Enoli Paredes can work around it.

C Jair Camargo and RF DaShawn Keirsey Jr. are the 2-man crew keeping the Saints in the game. Camargo has the clutch hits (solo HR, 2-out RBI double), while Keirsey Jr. has a double, single, stolen base, run scored and threw out Patrick Dorrian at home on an Isaac Collins double (yes, Collins continues to make the most of his opportunities) to end the 7th inning. The Sounds are out-hitting the Saints 8 to 4 and have left 10 men on base vs. 4 for the Saints. It's still tied 3-3 in the 8th inning now.

We all know that the reward for good work is more work and this obviously applies to McKendry as well, so he pitched the 6th inning and gave up his 2nd run of the game, exiting after throwing 82 pitches with the game tied 2-2. LHP Darrell Thompson has been activated and threw the 7th inning, being the unlucky victim of a Chavez Young error which allowed a baserunner to score all the way from first. 3-2 St. Paul led at that point. But Brewer Hicklen doubled (3rd time reaching base in 4 tries) and ultimately scored on an Owen Miller sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 7th inning. 3-3 affair.

LHP Darrell Thompson activated by AAA Nashville (presumably fully recovered from offseason sports hernia surgery) OF Yhoswar Garcia signed by the Brewers and assigned to Low-A Carolina 22-year old speedster Garcia was in the Phillies organization for four years, including putting up a .613 OPS with 29 stolen bases in just 146 PAs at Low-A Clearwater in 2022 before a knee injury slowed him down and he spent 2023 back in FCL Rookie ball (unimpressive .624 OPS in 151 PAs with 11 SBs).

Throwing on comparably short rest by today's standards, Evan McKendry has been a model of efficiency, giving up 1 run through 5 innings on 63 pitches (42 strikes). They're tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 5th inning.

RHP Evan McKendry makes his second start of the season as AAA Nashville looks to grab a 2-1 series lead at home over St. Paul. LF Brewer Hicklen is tearing it up in the early going: 6-for-16 with 4 extra base hits, 2 RBIs and 3 stolen bases.

Gonna have to call him Evan “Iron Man” McKendry if he goes far in this game, given that he threw 86 pitches 5 days ago. Old School me couldn’t help but imagine Freddy Peralta coming into yesterday’s game to handle 4 middle innings after pitching 5 days earlier, instead of giving him a full week between starts. Don’t mind me…

28-year old RHP Janson Junk (4.18 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 6.0 K/9 in 140.0 AAA IP in last year) and LF Chavez Young (.634 OPS in 365 AA/AAA PAs last season) each make their season debut for the Sounds, who aim to build a 2-0 series lead at home over St. Paul, facing old friend Caleb Boushley. Yesterday's hero, SS Yonny Hernandez is hitting 8th while C Nick Kahle starts his 3rd straight game behind the dish.

LHP Aaron Ashby makes his first start of 2024 as AAA Nashville (1-2) kicks off a 6-game series at home against Twins’ affiliate St. Paul (2-0). 1B Tyler Black will be thrilled to finally play in the field after DHing for 3 games.

- C Eric Haase outrighted from MLB Brewers to AAA Nashville - C Brian Navarreto placed on AAA Nashville’s 7-day injured list - C Blayberg Diaz assigned to AAA Nashville from Low-A Carolina

Old friend RHP Jake Cousins gets a chance to see his first big league action since June 3, 2023 with the Brewers.

Terrific outcome for the Crew. God are the Marlins cheap! Their catchers are a combined 0-for-13 with Zero walks. Swept 4 straight by the Pirates at home and they can’t even be bothered to claim a bat-first catcher. Hilarious! Our gain!

There’s a youth movement afoot, as four 18-year olds start the season on Low-A Carolina’s Opening Day roster: OF Yophery Rodriguez, RHP Josh Knoth (a 2023 draft pick), RHP Manuel Rodriguez and 3B/2B Juan Baez. Oh yeah, and they’ve also got five other 2023 draftees: RHP Ryan Birchard, SS Cooper Pratt, RHP Morris Austin, RHP Bishop Letson and RHP Josh Timmerman.

If I'm counting correctly, we've got 5 draft picks from last season on Wisconsin's Opening Day roster: Boeve, Wichrowski, Kuehner, Manfredi and Yoho...but no Ryan Birchard (well, he's still 20 years old). Luke Adams and Jadher Areinamo make the step up as expected, with Dylan O'Rae and Gregory Barrios joining them to add some exciting offense and defense. Adding Aquino, Rudy and Yerlin Rodriguez brings some serious talent to the pitching staff and I see Alexander Cornielle is returning. I wonder if Stiven Cruz is moving to the bullpen after not seeing his name listed as a starter in spring training. Let's hope they all thrive in the new season that's upon us.

The AA Biloxi Shuckers have rolled out a formidable 29-man Opening Day roster, including RHP Jacob Misiorowski, Brock Wilken, Wes Clarke and many other studs. Never mind that the player cap (I believe) is 28(!?):

Should we expect 2023 draftee Ryan Birchard to report to High-A Wisconsin?:

Hopefully Bradley Blalock has a terrific season ahead of him:

5’8” sparkplugs Vinny Capra and Isaac Collins led Nashville’s run-scoring barrage while starting pitcher Tobias Myers danced through four shutout innings. The pair of middle infielders reached base eight times, scored five runs, collected three RBIs and teamed up on a critical double play early in the contest. Despite the convincing Easter Sunday victory, the Sounds came up on the short end of the 3-game series, so will look for their first series win of 2024 back home in Nashville next week. Transactions: N/A Whether the Sounds officially or unofficially add a catcher before Tuesday’s home opener (e.g. Ramon Rodriguez is perhaps the logical promotion candidate, with 16 AAA games at catcher under his belt), the more important news we’re waiting to hear is the result of Jeferson Quero’s MRI: Game Action: Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes Final: Nashville 12, Toledo 0 Box Score / Game Log Via the Sounds’ website, game details, and we encourage readers to review affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine: Sounds Shutout Mud Hens For First Win of Season Score first, score often and don’t let the other team score. Each of these strategies is quite effective in most sporting contests, but it’s when they all come together at once that domination ensues. Facing their first left-handed starting pitcher of the year, Manager Rick Sweet went with a change at the top of the order and SS Vinny Capra (2-for-3, double, 3 walks, RBI, SB) delivered with flying colors. Capra walked, stole a base and scored on a ground ball out in the first inning, giving Nashville its first lead in three days in Toledo. He ultimately reached base five times. As we closed the books on 2023, we weren’t certain whether RHP Tobias Myers would remain a starting pitcher (5.07 ERA in 136 2/3 IP as a starter in AA) or shift to relief (0.00 ERA with 8 Ks in 4 IP in AA/AAA), but there’s oftentimes value (and better job security) in sticking as a starter if you can. Myers (4 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 3 singles, 4 walks, 4 Ks) faced a good amount of traffic, but consistently got the ground balls (6 of his 12 outs) or strikeouts he needed to escape. His fastball reached as high as 95mph. All nine Sounds reached base via hit or walk in this romp, with eight players driving in RBIs, seven drawing walks and six collecting hits. That, coupled with a 6-for-17 day with runners in scoring position, is how you score 12 runs without mashing any homers. After striking out his in first at-bat, 2B Isaac Collins (2-for-4, 2 doubles, 2 RBIs) made the most of his 2024 debut by contributing RBI doubles in each of the 4th and 6th innings to help blow the contest open. Take another gander at the box score to see how every Sound player contributed (e.g. batters 5 through 9 producing 8 RBIs on 8 hits). Big kudos to the Sounds’ bullpen for not even yielding a hit in five innings of work, as mentioned in the affiliate write-up link above. That includes recently-signed 29-year old RHP Nolan Blackwood (1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 Ks) who made his Brewers’ organizational debut with a 1-2-3 fifth inning, stranding Myers’ last baserunner and earning a Win for his efforts. Sounds’ Extras: Myers particularly bore down with a 2-0 lead, two-on and nobody out in the bottom of the second inning, getting the two ground outs and one strikeout he needed. The four walks may not look great, but Myers’ command was quite solid until he started waning with 2 outs in the 4th inning. The new Joey Wiemer (0-for-5, walk, but just one K) swing is evidently still a work in progress. While Nashville pounded out 28 hits over three days, Wiemer only managed to go 1-for-14 with a single. Tyler Black (0-for-2, 2 walks, RBI) was the designated hitter for the third straight game and I’m not going to pretend that this is a normal occurrence in the minor leagues. But let’s take it as a positive sign that he was healthy enough to attempt to steal a base, albeit unsuccessfully. RHP JB Bukauskas (1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K) made his season debut by closing out the 12-0 victory, thus answering the question of whether the Brewers’ final camp pitching cut (technically optioned) had joined the AAA affiliate directly or was part of a “taxi squad” accompanying the MLB club to New York. Next week’s outlook: The Sounds (1-2) return home to take on Twins’ affiliate St. Paul (2-0) for a 6-game set, with LHP Aaron Ashby expected to start the series opener on Tuesday. The Brewers’ other full season affiliates (AA Biloxi, High-A Wisconsin, Low-A Carolina) are scheduled to commence their 2024 campaigns on Friday, April 5. We hope that you enjoy the Minor League Link Report. Both the Brewers and Sounds are off on Monday before returning to action the following day. 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