Ro Mueller

We wanted to give some send-off messages to three recently released minor leaguers (Tyler Gillies, Zach Mort, Christian Tripp), while adding a bit more color on Caden Lemons' late September release: 27-year old Canadian RHP Tyler Gillies signed with the Brewers in April 2019 after going undrafted out of the University of British Columbia in 2017 and spending 1.5 years in Canadian independent ball (Quebec, Brantford). Almost 24 years old at the time, Gillies went straight to then-Low-A Wisconsin and was terrific: 3.17 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 10.8 K/9, 5-2 record in 54 IP (all in relief). However, he was diagnosed with cancer (Hodgkin’s lymphoma) in December 2019, underwent chemotherapy in early 2020 and then had a re-occurrence in August 2020. More chemotherapy followed, then a bone marrow transplant in January 2021. Amazingly, Gillies returned to the mound at High-A Wisconsin in April 2022, making 23 relief appearances this year (6.58 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, 10.0 K/9). Tyler’s obviously one heck of a fighter, which we know will serve him well in his long life ahead. 25-year old Virginian RHP Zach Mort joined the Brewers in January 2021 after being an 8th round pick of the Cubs (George Mason University) and playing the 2018 and 2019 seasons with them. Over 2021/2022, Mort threw 32 2/3 IP at Low-A Carolina and 143 2/3 IP at High-A Wisconsin, producing a combined 5.67 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and 8.9 K/9. He seemed to find his groove as a reliever in 2022 (2.77 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 6-1 record), but struggled mightily in six spot starts (10.13 ERA). We wish Zach the best of luck in his next adventure. 25-year old Texan (though born in Ohio) RHP Christian Tripp signed with the Crew in July 2021 after being a 13th round pick of the Mets (University of Nex Mexico), playing the 2018 and 2019 seasons with them, getting a May 2020 Covid release and pitching for two clubs in independent ball. Over 2021/2022, Tripp pitched 10 2/3 IP in the Arizona Complex League, 50 IP at Low-A Carolina and 26 1/3 IP at High-A Wisconsin, delivering a combined 4.03 ERA, 1.41 WHIP and 10.2 K/9. He was actually quite good at Carolina in the first half of 2022 (3.28 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 11.7 K/9), but perhaps the Brewers didn’t see enough at Wisconsin (5.47 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 6.5 K/9) to stick with him. Good luck to Christian on his next opportunity. Now-24 year old Alabaman RHP Caden Lemons was a 2nd round pick (46th overall) of the Brewers in 2017 out of Vestavia Hills High School. He pitched 32 1/3 innings in 2017/2018 in Arizona and Helena (combined 4.46 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 7.6 K/9), missing the first half of that 2018 season in an unfortunate prelude of things to come. Lemons lost the entire 2019 and 2020 years to injuries and the Covid wipeout, only returning to action in May 2021 for 4 games at Low-A Carolina (9.53 ERA, 2.56 WHIP, 11.1 K/9 in 11 1/3 IP) before going back on the shelf. Caden made no appearances in 2022. Still quite young, we wish him abundant success in the years ahead.

Winker hit lefties well this year after struggling against them most of his career. I’m just bummed if this means we’re delaying Frelick. Still need a true RHH power bat, with starting catcher being the main spot available (announce trade for Danny Jansen!). Good news for Brice Turang though!

Jansen seems like the logical guy. We need a catcher and RHH power bat. He’s from Appleton West. Make the move, Mr. Arnold.

To me, this is essentially David Stearns' parting gift to the rest of us. Most likely we won't win anything (lump of coal), but if we end up with a pick in the Top 6 we may just have to hail him as a genius (plastic candy canes filled with seemingly unlimited chocolate).

Winter League Action from Tuesday, November 29 There were decent performances by six Brewers on minor league contracts, although their teams went 1-5 on the day. I’m guessing that guys like Mario Feliciano and Esteury Ruiz are done for the winter after they struggled to produce, but we’ll keep tracking them. 2B Andruw Monasterio – 2-for-5, 2 doubles (now hitting .305) – in Caribes’ 17-6 loss to Navegantes DH Jesus Chirinos – 2-for-4, walk (now hitting .292) – in Aguilas del Zulia’s 6-3 win over Lara RHP Luis Contreras – 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks, allowing 1 of 2 inherited runners to score (ERA is now 3.52) – in Lara’s loss C Jason Lopez – 0-for-2 (now hitting .419), committed an error and allowed one stolen base – in Bravos 6-0 loss to Tiburones C Brian Navarreto – 0-for-4 (now hitting .228, but with .772 OPS), picked off a baserunner and had no steal attempts against him – in Carolina’s 2-0 loss to Ponce RHP J.C. Mejia – 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K (ERA is now 3.07) – in Tigres’ 5-3 loss to Leones

Winter League Action from Sunday, November 27 Navarreto homered for the second consecutive day, while Monasterio continues to perform well for his club. C Brian Navarreto – 1-for-3, HR, walk, RBI; two baserunners stole against him but neither scored – in Carolina’s 2-0 win over Caguas 2B Andruw Monasterio – 2-for-5, double – in Caribes’ 6-3 victory over Lara

Winter League Action from Saturday, November 26 Good games for Monasterio, Peguero and Hardy, while Mario Feliciano had 3 ½ innings to forget DH Jesus Chirinos – 0-for-3, walk – his team (Aguilas del Zulia) won 3-2 in extra innings over Leones del Caracas 2B Andruw Monasterio – 3-for-5, RBI – but Caribes fell 12-6 to Lara RHP Luis Contreras – 1 1/3 IP, 2 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 3 Ks – for winning Lara RHP Elvis Peguero – 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K – in Leones del Escogido’s 3-2 win over Estrellas C Mario Feliciano – 0-for-1 – grounded into double play; 1 steal against him with none caught; his first inning throwing error conceded the first run; exited for a pinch hitter in the 4th inning – in Carolina’s 7-2 loss to Mayaguez. Was he injured or had his manager just seen enough negative plays for one day? DH Brian Navarreto – 1-for-4, HR (off old friend Braden Webb), 2 RBIs – in Carolina’s loss RHP Matt Hardy – 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K – in Caguas’ 9-0 loss to Ponce

Yeah, Biloxi's OF can get pretty crowded if we're looking at Chourio, Campbell (is he healthy?), Carlos D. Rodriguez, Ward, Doston and Gray. Either loyal soldier Gray stays behind in Wisconsin or we drop Doston down a level to give him more playing time. But if none of them are in High-A, then Ayrault may split CF starts in Wisconsin between Perez and Cipion.

I assume Mendez is one of these stud prospects that we'll just promote every year, believing he'll adjust relatively quickly to the level change. So I expect him in Wisconsin. And then Hedbert's already been in Low-A for more than a season, so the hope is probably that they fix his swing in spring training and get him to Wisconsin as well. But if he struggles in spring, they'll keep him in Carolina (we saw something similar with Micah Bello last year, if I read the starting spring line-up tea leaves correctly). I think Jesus Chirinos will also make the move to Wisconsin to start the season, thus opening the door wide for Quinton Low to make a lot of starts at first base in Carolina (pairing with Branyln Jaraba). Pretty much like clockwork, Low also pitched one inning every 7th day last year, and was quite effective (0.82 ERA, 13.1 K/9 in 11 innings) so I don't see them ceasing his mound duties either.

Winter League Action from Thursday, November 24 Only the Venezuelan League played on this day. 2B Andruw Monasterio – 3-for-7 in a doubleheader, bringing in the winning run with a single in the final inning of Caribes’ 7-5 victory over Aguilas in one game, though they lost the second game 5-1 1B Jesus Chirinos – 1-for-6 – in Aguilas’ doubleheader split C Jose Sibrian – 1-for-3, with no steal attempts against him – in Lara’s 8-3 defeat of Bravos

CheeseheadinQC has a knack for these placements, so he's probably right about Jeferson Quero being pushed up to AA, but for now I've got him pairing with Matthew Wood (hope he's healthy) in High-A. This is in part because I don't know what to do with all the AAA/AA catchers: Feliciano, Henry, Jackson, Navarreto, Miller, Diaz, Lopez, Kahle, Clarke. The main starting pitcher that I assume jumps to AAA is Victor Castaneda. I don't even think Adam Seminaris will start in AAA, given that he and Brandon Knarr were drafted the same year, promoted to High-A in the same week, promoted to AA on the exact same day and Knarr actually out-pitched him in AA in 2022. If we can push Carlos F. Rodriguez and Stiven Cruz up to AA to start the year, it'd give us a prospect-laden starting rotation in Biloxi: Rodriguez, Cruz, Knarr, Seminaris, Justin Jarvis...

Winter League Action from Tuesday, November 22 RHP Matt Hardy – 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 0 K – in Caguas’ 4-0 victory over Mayaguez DH Mario Feliciano – 0-for-3, walk, sac fly, RBI – in Carolina’s 3-2 extra inning win over Santurce C Brian Navarreto – 0-for-4. Also 0-for-2 on catching base stealers – in Carolina’s win 2B Andruw Monasterio – 0-for-4, sac bunt – in Caribes’ 8-7 defeat to Tigres

Frelick’s the best hitter of the bunch, but we weren’t willing to call him up and start his service time clock. Instead, they made us suffer through more Cutch and Hiura PAs. Last year, Frelick started 75 games in CF, 27 in LF, 3 in RF, but my understanding is that Mitchell and Taylor are better defensive center fielders. I can’t help but think we’ll see Yelich DH a lot more in 2023, allowing Frelick to man LF. Let’s see.

I see a glut of starting pitchers who could/should be in High-A, so there will be interesting decisions here: Russell Smith, Israel Puello, Carlos Rodriguez, Ryne Moore, Stiven Cruz, Alexander Cornielle, Jeison Pena, Jacob Misiorowski, Logan Henderson, Cameron Wagoner, Tyler Woessner, Edwin Jimenez, Jeferson Figueroa, Miguel Segura, Fernando Olguin... I guess we'll promote Smith to Biloxi, but I'd also love to see Rodriguez, Cruz and Cornielle get rapid promotions, if the club feels they're ready. What do we do with Misiorowski and Henderson? Is Woessner still injured?

Winter League Action from Monday, November 21 The Venezuelan league was off on Monday and I only noted two players in action in other winter leagues: RHP Javy Guerra – 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks – in Leones’ 3-1 loss to Toros DH Mario Feliciano – 1-for-2 – subbed out early while trailing 13-1 in Carolina’s 14-9 loss to Mayaguez

Winter League Action from Sunday, November 20 I didn't note as many Brewer players in action as usual on Sunday, but it was still a good day, highlighted by Andruw Monasterio's 2-on, 2-out, game-tying 3-run homer in the bottom of the 9th inning for Caribes, who ultimately won in 10 innings on Willians Astudillo's 2-run double. We'll also need to add C Jose Sibrian to the list of Winter League players: 2B Andruw Monasterio – 2-for-5, HR, 3 RBIs – in Caribes' come-from-behind 10-9 extra inning victory over Tiburones RHP Arnaldo Hernandez – 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 Ks – in Tiburones’ loss PH/DH Jose Sibrian – pinch-hit walk – in Cardenales’ 13-1 destruction of Tigres DH Mario Feliciano – 1-for-4, walk – in Carolina’s 1-0 extra inning win over RA12 C Brian Navarreto – 0-for-4, though he threw out the only attempted basestealer (1st inning) and was part of a key double play to end the 2nd inning – in Carolina’s win RHP Matt Hardy – 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K – in Caguas’ 2-1 loss in extra innings to Santurce

Brisbane won a back-and-forth 7-5 affair over Sydney on Sunday to move into first place with a 6-2 record. OF Daniel Nilsson came through with a big 3-run homer to grab a 5-4 lead in the 4th inning. DH Mitch Nilsson and 3B TJ Bennett also homered for the Bandits in the game. 2B Robert Moore - 1-for-5 (now batting .290) C Darrien Miller - 0-for-2, 2 walks, HBP (now batting .182). He also threw out the Blue Sox's only attempted base stealer LHP Justin King - 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K RHP James Meeker (3rd save) - 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K

Nobody expected Dick Butkus to make an appearance in the 8th inning:

Winter League Games of Saturday, November 19 Saturday featured a rough Winter League debut for RHP Abner Uribe, but this day will be forever remembered as the Asdrubal Cabrera brawl game. Cabrera made a clothesline tackle of an unsuspecting Carlos Castro as he rounded first base following Castro’s 3rd homer of the day, which had temporarily given Tiburones a 4-3 lead over Caribes in Venezuela. I wonder if anyone will permit Cabrera to ever play baseball again. Oh my. RHP Abner Uribe: 1/3 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 BB, 0 K – thankfully he entered with Estrellas already trailing 7-1. They ultimately fell 12-7 to Aguilas (Cibaenas) RHP Javy Guerra (acquired by Brewers from Rays on Friday): 1/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 1 K – as Leones defeated Gigantes 2-1 C Mario Feliciano: 1-for-3. He was also 1-for-2 in catching base stealers, helping Carolina defeat RA12 by a score of 8-2 RHP Matt Hardy: 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 0 K – though his Caguas lost in 12 innings to Santurce 3-2 1B Jesus Chirinos: 1-for-2, walk – though Aguilas (Zulia) lost on a walk-off to Lara 6-5. Chirinos oddly was replaced in the field with two outs in the bottom of the frame, after singling and advancing to second base on an error in the top half of the inning. Hopefully there’s no injury concern RHP Luis Contreras: 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K – for the winners Lara 2B Andruw Monasterio: 0-for-4, walk – for Caribes, who rightfully lost 6-4 to Tiburones in the brawl game RHP Arnaldo Hernandez: 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K – for the victors Tiburones

Winter League Games of Friday, November 18 OF Jackson Chourio (in his final game this off-season): 1-for-4 – but Aguilas (Zulia) blew a late lead and fell to Navegantes 4-3 2B Andruw Monasterio: 0-for-3, walk – as Caribes lost 4-3 to Bravos RHP JC Mejia: 0 IP, 3 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 Ks – in a 5-1 loss for Tigres against Aguilas (Cibaenas) OF Esteury Ruiz: 0-for-1 – came on as a late substitute in Toros’ 3-2 victory over Leones DH Mario Feliciano: 1-for-4 – as Carolina was shutout 4-0 by Caguas C Brian Navarreto: 0-for-4 – also for Carolina RHP Luis Perdomo (non-tendered by Brewers the same day): 1 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 1 K – in an extra inning 2-0 win for Gigantes over Estrellas

Brisbane swept a doubleheader against Sydney on Saturday to improve to 5-2 on the season thus far, coming back to win the opener 5-3 and then dominating the second game 6-0. Max Lazar had a fabulous bounce-back outing after a rough first game last week Down Under, combining with Brannon Jordan and two other pitchers to strike out 16 Blue Sox: 2B Robert Moore - 2-for-8, RBI DH/C Darrien Miller - 2-for-6, double, walk, RBI, SB RHP Cameron Wagoner - 2 2/3 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 3 BB, 2 Ks RHP James Meeker (save) - 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 0 BB, 2 Ks RHP Max Lazar - 3 2/3 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 Ks RHP Brannon Jordan - 2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 1 BB, 4 Ks

We could add a LHP like Anthony Gose or Jarlin Garcia.

We’ve lost Hader-Rogers and Suter, so our only lefty reliever appears to be Milner, plus Ashby and Small depending how we use them. I assume that’s not enough, so I expect we’ll add one more solid lefty reliever.

Let’s hope 2023 out-of-options Guerra is as effective as 2022 out-of-options Gott. I suppose Bush will move into Boxberger’s role, but we still need a high leverage lefty reliever, in my view.

Brisbane was back in action on Friday, but fell 3-1 to Sydney despite out-hitting them 10-8: - 2B Robert Moore - 2-for-5, SB - C Darrien Miller - 0-for-3, walk - LHP Justin King - 1 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 Ks Moore’s hitting a solid .333 through 5 games. Miller’s hitting just .143 and didn’t throw out either base stealer in the game, as he looks to pick up the pace.