Ro Mueller

Struggling for any semblance of an offense thus far in the young season, Biloxi still managed to score in the 1st inning in Mississippi. Without a hit, of course. Eric Brown Jr. walked, stole second and scored on an Ernesto Martinez sac fly.

After a relatively uneventful first 3 1/2 innings of the 2nd game of their doubleheader, SS Daniel Guilarte starts off the bottom of the 4th inning with a BANG: solo shot to right field. RF Kay-Lan Nicasia then walks, steals 2 bases and scores on a CF Yhoswar Garcia single. But then the unthinkable happened: Garcia was caught stealing. Better check the replay on that one. 2-0 Mudcats through 4 innings. Hold on and Win!

I think nerves hurt his command in his first 2 starts, then he let bad luck get to him in his one bad inning today. I was thinking how Ethan Small was stunted at this level, but CF Rodriguez is much younger and has more pitches in his repertoire. There’s time to keep developing him into that eventual reliable number 4 starter.

Thank God the Cubs suck at all levels. Down 1-0 to the Timber Rattlers in the final half-inning, facing wild and nasty RHP Yerlin Rodriguez, the leadoff batter swings at the 2nd pitch (groundout - did he not read the scouting report?), the 2nd hitter singles and gets to 2nd on a wild pitch only to be caught stealing 3rd (well done Matt Wood). Then Rodriguez walks 2 batters and finally escapes via force out. Whew! 1-0 victory!

Still clinging to that 1-0 lead (thank you Will Childers for 2 scoreless innings), Wisconsin finally collects its 2nd hit in a the final scheduled inning (Jadher Areinamo double here in the 7th), but doesn’t score. It’s nerve-wracking in South Bend!

Bishop Letson exits at exactly 50 pitches (34 strikes), facing 11 hitters over 2.2 scoreless IP (1 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks). Still scoreless between Carolina and Down East in their 2nd game of the day.

Memphis cashes in with a 2-run double hit a whopping 64.5mph. I guess this is what can happen when you put the ball in play with runners in scoring position. Then a walk, an RBI single, a run-scoring balk and a crushing 2-run homer. Sorry Carlos F. Rodriguez. Things can go sideways in a hurry at this level. Memphis 6, Nashville 0.

Okay, this is getting out of hand: the Cublets have 3 doubles off of Brett Wichrowski in 4 innings. Of course, they can't score off of him. Wisconsin leads 1-0 through 4 innings, but I'd suggest we add some runs because Brett may be done at 59 pitches.

Bishop Letson starts his Brewers' career with 2 Ks...then 2 walks...then a ground out. One scoreless inning. Go Carolina Mudcats!

Hitless through 3 innings, Memphis gets a first-pitch single (credit their change in approach) off Carlos F. Rodriguez to start the bottom of the 4th inning, followed by a bunt going horrifically awry for Nashville (single, Haase error). The Sounds will struggle to keep it scoreless here and will rue being 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

Credit 1B Mike Boeve with a key play to help out Brett Wichrowski in the bottom of the 3rd inning. After a leadoff double (Do the Cubs really think they can score?), he caught a liner in foul territory for the first out of the inning, which Wichrowski eventually escaped unharmed (K, fly out). Wisconsin leads 1-0 going into the bottom of the 4th inning.

6'4", 19-year old RHP Bishop Letson (11th round selection in 2023 out of Floyd Central high School in Floyd Knobs, Indiana) makes his official Brewers' organizational debut, starting Game 2 of Low-A Carolina's home doubleheader against Down East. SS Cooper Pratt is absent, so he's probably nursing a knock after departing the Game One victory early. Burner Yhoswar Garcia (6 SBs in 6 attempts in 4 games, with an .819 OPS) starts in center field.

I'd post the Low-A Mudcats lineup graphic for Game 2 of today's doubleheader, but it's identical to the one from Wednesday's game. As much as I believe in RHP Daniel Corniel, there's no way that he's starting 2 games in 3 days.

22-year old RHP Carlos F. Rodriguez is a new man/pitcher, unshackled from the weight of expectations after 2 rough outings to start the year. No runs, no hits, 1 walk, 1 K through 2 innings. It's scoreless as they enter the 3rd inning, the Sounds failing to cash in with the bases loaded and 1 out last inning (a crushing Chavez Young K for the 2nd out, making me hope that absent Chris Roller is okay after leaving yesterday's game early).

It's fun knowing the Cubs can't possibly score off of Brett Wichrowski (3 Ks through 2 scoreless frames, although there was a ground ball double). I just hope the Timber Rattlers give the bullpen some wiggle room. Good guys lead 1-0 (Boeve walk, Wood single, Areinamo sac fly) through 2 innings.

As pure speculation in the wake of Wilken's injury and expected facial surgery, I'd guess that INF/OF Isaac Collins is more likely to be demoted from AAA than Mike Boeve is to be promoted from High-A. They'd give Collins the "Andrew Monasterio was given a similarly undeserved demotion in 2022 and has thrived since" speech. We'll see...

AA Biloxi desperately needs to find some offense in Pearl, Mississippi, down 3-0 in their series despite solid starts from Woessner, Misiorowski and Peterson. Tonight, it's 23-year old RHP Bradley Blalock (5 scoreless innings with 4 Ks last week) who gets the start. Through 6 games, 1B Ernesto Martinez (.830 OPS in 22 PAs) is the only Shucker with an OPS north of .700.

After giving up a single to start the 7th inning, Yujanyer Herrera finished that game with a flourish: 3 straight swinging Ks. Final line: 4 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 9 Ks. 50 pitches (38 strikes). Smooth like butter... Carolina 6, Down East 0. Final in 7 innings. On to Game 2.

RHP Evan McKendry placed on AAA Nashville's 7-day injured list

With RHP Yujanyer Herrera being unhittable (9-up, 9-down with 6 Ks thus far) in relief of Knoth, SS Cooper Pratt has exited after 5 innings with the Mudcats leading 6-0. Pratt singled, stole 2nd and went to 3rd on a fly out in his last half-inning. Hopefully this is just a breather and an opportunity for Daniel Guilarte to play a little shortstop.

From the early April DSL releases: 20-year old C/1B Brayan Oropeza from Venezuela signed as an international free agent in July 2021, getting his feet wet in the DSL that year (.526 OPS in 42 PAs), then surging to a seemingly promising .759 OPS in 2022 (103 PAs) with 3 HRs, 13 RBIs and a 16 BB / 23 K ratio, while throwing out 16 of 47 attempted basestealers (34%). However, something obviously didn’t sit right for the Brewers, so he stayed in the DSL in 2023, falling to a .672 OPS (59 PAs) and played catcher only 30.4% of the time (vs. 69.6% of innings at 1B). We wish Brayan success as he seeks his next opportunity. 20-year old OF Irving Igualas from Panama also signed in July 2021, but didn’t debut until June 2022, struggling to a .556 OPS over 2 seasons (244 PAs). He principally played right field, which may indicate a strong arm. He also stole 8 bases in 13 attempts. We wish him well in his next endeavor. 19-year old RHP Nestor Mena from Nicaragua signed in January 2023, producing a respectable 4.55 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and 8.8 K/9 in 27.2 IP over 12 games as a reliever in his only DSL season. Unfortunately, this apparently wasn’t enough to earn a second season in the organization. We hope that Nestor finds a great landing spot. Getting LHP Pedro Quintana to the mound for his first MILB appearance was unfortunately a challenge due to injury setbacks. The now 20-year old from Venezuela signed with the Mets in January 2021 and was sent to the Brewers in the OF Billy McKinney trade in May 2021 (Matt Arnold: “He’s physical, athletic. Our guys did a really good job on him as an amateur. We've tracked him for a while. The talent is really intriguing.”) Quintana didn’t play in 2021, spent the entire 2022 season on the injured list, then finally debuted with DSL Brewers-2 in June 2023, putting up relatively encouraging numbers in 12 games out of the bullpen: 3.86 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 8.5 K/9 in 11.2 IP. Similar to Mena however, this wasn’t enough to retain a spot in the organization for 2024. We wish Pedro best of luck in whatever comes next on his path.

I guess this game started a little early for the Down East Wood Ducks, who committed 3(!) errors in the first inning to help out the Mudcats. LF Luis Castillo also contributed an RBI double to lift his average to .136 (tough start to 2024). RHP Josh Knoth worked himself into and out of a 2nd inning jam (walk, single, walk, inning-ending K) and is now through 3 innings unscathed. And now the Mudcats are threatening to blow it open in the third inning, garnering 4 consecutive hits. It's now 5-0. Go Mudcats!

Are 2 doubleheaders not quite enough for you? Well, the AAA Sounds have you covered, with RHP Carlos F. Rodriguez (6.43 ERA through 7 IP) starting Game One of their twinbill at Memphis (series tied 1-1). With his homer yesterday, C Eric Haase moved into the team OPS lead (1.040 in 21 PAs), although the Hiuresque 2 BB / 8 K ratio needs some improvement.

RHP Brett Wichrowski was terrific in his first start last week, conceding only an infield hit and a walk in 3 IP. He'll takes the hill for Game One of Wisconsin's road doubleheader at South Bend, looking to push the High-A Timber Rattlers to a 3-0 series lead. C Matt Wood is sporting a .667 OBP after 12 PAs on 3 singles, 1 double and 4 walks.

RHP Josh Knoth (3 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 1 HBP, 4 Ks last week) makes his 2nd start of 2024 as Carolina kicks off a 7-game affiliate Friday evening in Game One of their home doubleheader against Down East (series tied 1-1). 1B Tayden Hall leads the team with a 1.217 OPS through 20 PA.