Joseph Zarr

A-Rob gave me the update copium I needed HERE. Long and the short is he's currently pitching off a mound and a late May/June return could potentially be on the late side of a full-season return.

May the Hedbert Perez dream never die! Woot woot! I tend to place Perez with Eduardo Garcia in the same confounding verbose spontaneously crafted category of: As each season passes I wonder a wee more loudly if he'll ever get it. What both young men truly lack is day-to-day in-game consistency - on both sides of the ball. They still play like very young professionals and in an org increasingly more talented at the youngest levels, and as aging prospects (a hilarious proposition from my latter half of my 40's opinion post), that is going to be and already is a major obstacle for them. AND, all this being babbled, they both reside in that area of the broader depth of the system (that borderline High-A/Double-A grouping) that lacks any semblance of stacked depth - ie they continue to have a massive opportunity in front of them. Both had solid Winter Leagues but as I've opined before this very winter I don't know if we can invest too heavily there as it very well could be a by-product in playing in a more comfortable environment. Obviously, we'd rather they play healthy and well, but I personally am very much in the camp of I need to see this for a significant portion of a healthy full-season affiliate before I get realistically 'excited'. Both have a wealth of talent. Both have been very flawed players in full-season affiliated ball. As to Hedbert, specifically, despite the K issues I still absolutely believe in that smooth lefty swing. He absolutely has line drive power in there. I still absolutely know he has mobility and a decent cannon from the corner OF spots (ie this isn't a Tristen Lutz issue). It is the consistency of availability and game output and it is the mental lapses. Gotta shore those up. Still absolutely believe in the talent. You know how I feel about LHP Wande Torres. And you know Ibarguen was distinctly one of my 'He is not the player his woeful ACL season suggested '. So great to see you joining us in writing Minor League articles! Man, our greater ✍️squad is stacked.😅

(I hope I haven't lost your greater point. I started this reply at my daughter's indoor swimming lesson and had to shelf it overnight😅) I would agree with you here but, in general, and I know I beat this like a dead horse, the rankings just do not mean much. They are fun things to do and fun things to talk about BUT teams value their players in the ways they value their own players. No amount of Baseball America, Fangraphs, Baseball Prosepctus etc rankings are going to dictate how a player evolves in his respective career or who or what he becomes in a given organization. The Brewers invest quite actively in those prototypical AAAA guys - as ML Rule 5's and ML FA's - for example, and they've found really solid success there as a means of adding an influx of close to MLB ready talent. To your earlier thoughts, I think it could be as simple as a possible organizational shift to recognizing a 'need' (more than likely just a strategy) to marry younger upside arms to their younger absurdly deep pool of upside offensive talent - especially with a vastly improved International FA standing with the new Dominican Academy. It could also be as simple as the organization and the talent evaluators and scouts simply see more upside with these younger arms and they are comfortable their lab can maximize that upside. TJ or no TJ, I don't think that is ultimately that big a factor. Pitchers get injured. It's the nature of the physics over time on their bodies. Rankings aren't going to catch up here because they haven't seen these young men pitch in competition at the professional levels. Unless, of course, a player is putting up Made type peripherals through a season or touching 97-100 as a 17-18 yo with massive K rates. This goes back to why I personally only really invest value in that top 3-5 guys and then as a general rule think of the greater depth of players in 'Tiers and Tools' categories, if you will.

Not a registered Transaction as of yet but posting this now should anything come of this. RHP JB Bukauskas can not catch a break:

I do believe my scouting report was spot on at the Deadline here. I mean he is electric to the basket. Of he ever reclaims his one time decent outside stroke this could legit be a heist.

BUT it paved the way for what will be remembered as 'The Jericho Sims Era'. 1-0 baby. KPJ for Marjon is an unbelievably good basketball trade by the Bucks. Hard to fathom swapping Marjon's level of talent for a guy with KPJ's handles; footwork; finishing ability; and outright athleticism. That is a steal.

Can you copy and paste the text instead of the quote box? It is really hard to read and you can really only read it when you quote what you posted and even then it is white text on gray background.

The September call up is likely a bit aggressive here imho but I can personally certainly see a path where he is pitching late season innings for Biloxi. Super duper bullish for me is Nashville innings. My main thing with this season for Jason is quite simply: stay healthy and pitch more innings. Gotta get that strength and endurance up effectively. Given his pitching toolkit, the rest will absolutely take care of itself over time.

Team Trade Down always seems to have plenty of ammo every draft given the Packers are rarely picking above 20. This year feels like a classic edition. I'm going to be attending Round 1. IF the Packers don't get one of those surprising draft day drops for one of those elite guys, I'd be entirely fine if they traded down to acquire another Day 2 pick. Part of me would be equally invested in seeing the massive groans and bios across the Packers fans in attendance - as if hosting the draft precludes the team from making the most sound decision for the football roster. I would laugh heartily with joy.😅

Robinson was extremely appealing in terms of how he spins multiple off-speed offerings. Birchard is entirely about controlling his stuff and controlling the zone. He has the stuff but it was a major struggle in terms of repeated precision of any kind. Fell behind entirely too much. Walked entirely too many guys. But still has the tools to put an impressive pitcher together. Woodward was legitimately one of the highlights of my viewing season. He has extremely tantalizing stuff. Everything had a tightly wound violence to it as it left his hand. His oblique/lat injury (can't recall exactly what it was) late in the Mudcats season was a real downer. I have him pegged as one of my 'likely to surprise and move quickly' if he stays healthy. The tools are too good to ignore. I think all three college pitchers taken early in last year's draft - Deberry, Holobetz, and Welch - have legitimate chances to impress in 2025. All three are different. All three can dominate innings if their bodies and stuff are right. This doesn't even touch on the pitcher I may be most interested in seeing in early 2025 in one just turned 20 years old LHP Wande Torres. We will likely see him for the first time on any semblance of a consistent basis on the Mudcats' mound. Words can not describe how patiently I've been awaiting his arrival. 😅

I know this news deserves a dedicated article given how much hope we (and the Brewers) have invested in this young man's career arc but, for some reason, it is somehow passé for writers on this site to cross-reference the forums these news items pertains to. I know the individuals who bring us this news are too humble to interject but I will continue attempting to bring broader exposure to the Fan Forums when it is appropriate. Heck, we even deleted @Austin Tatiouspersonal thread a couple days ex post facto because we were discussing this in the 'Transactions' thread 😅. So, fwiw, this news has been discussed in our Minor League Transactions forum since this past Saturday - @ARobsBrewCrewactually was the first person on the internets (that I am aware of) to break this news. If anyone wants to take a peak there, feel free. HERE is the original post.

This is so awesome. Armstrong is exactly the type of person I'm referring to when I laud the Brewers organizational culture throughout the calendar year. He spent June 2017 through March of 2020 as an intern with the org. Not even five years later and he is the Vice President of Domestic and International Scouting. How awesome is that?!

Me seeing Tanner Shears left out of this snippet has me all...

Good grief. This is that time of the season where the off-season not so savory news comes pouring in. Thanks for the update, ARob. Another talented young man shelved with TJ. May he come back even stronger! Losing Tanner Shears, Cameron Wagoner, Hayden Robinson and Josh Knoth to TJ's in consecutive seasons is ROUGH. My goodness. Stay strong Fanatics. Let's root these young men back to health and even stronger repertoires. The pain we feel as fans and viewers pales in comparison to the disruption and pain these men are experiencing in their young careers. **Yes, I am coping hard. Sipping the copium with a side of tears **

I knew WR drops were a significant issue this season for the Packers. And, well, it definitely was a massive issue: That's nuts. Their League leading drop rate was nearly 2x the League average. This being said, Love also misfired 43 throws in 461 total pass attempts (2 pt attempts included). That's a pretty poor 9.3% misfire rate (I don't know what League averages are here but this would appear quite high). The cumulative impacts of the passing game inefficiencies go without saying.

This one hurts. Really hurts. I can only ponder if this is one of two things: 1) Sam's injuries from last season - injuries that ended his season early - were also career threatening? He missed quite a bit of time last season with two separate official 7-Day IL stints including his final designation on August 18th that took him out of competition through the playoffs. 2) Sam asked for the freedom to seek an opportunity elsewhere - personally or career opportunity motivated. Otherwise, this just doesn't make much (if any) sense. Ugh.

2024 was mostly injury-filled for INF Christian Arroyo as a member of the Nashville Sounds as he managed to play only 30 games total. All but three of those games came in the latter portion of the season after a month's long ACL rehab stint beginning in mid to late June. Regardless, he signs with a new (and his fifth overall) organization in the Philadelphia Phillies: Best of luck in 2025, Christian. Here's hoping you make it back to the Bigs.

For those of you who 'joined' Spencer and I for our recent five part 2024 Minor League recap Opus, congratulations. You made it through the gauntlet ye brave Brewers baseball souls! It was a cathartic letting go, oddly - to last year's storylines and the majority of last year's baseball thoughts. And, though our videos ran on the longer side, the overwhelming feedback was the Minor League die hards didn't really care. You all are too kind. I thank each and every one of you for tuning in. Now that those pods are in the rear view mirror, I approach 2025 with cleaner and clearer thoughts on the Brewers system as a whole. And, well, as the sleepy part of Brewers spring training begins, I find myself both returning to the 2024 season to watch select innings of players I want more viewings of (it never ends over here) and looking forward to peripheral storylines down the side roads and into the dugouts of the upcoming 2025 season. As per usual, for myself, with all the warranted hype and hoopla for superstar prospects such as INF Jesus Made - and other prospects who find themselves discussed ad nauseum by the prospect community at large - I find myself thinking well beyond these dominant discussions. My baseball thoughts venture into the tall grasses beyond the brighter lights. I think of the players and storylines who may have fallen beyond the broader view. To that end, I simply want to highlight some of the players and stories I am already thinking about as we start seeing the Minor Leaguers head off to their spring trainings in the days and weeks ahead. Without further ado, here a handful of my thoughts that fit that bill. 1) Does RHP KC Hunt really have a knuckle ball he'll be throwing in 2025? Or is this just an off-season novelty? Hunt has been working with the Baseball Performance Center (alongside several other Brewers farmhands). In addition to reports he has really hammered away at his change-up as a primary body of work down there, he apparently has been toying with a low 80's knuckle ball. So, the question is: Is this just fun and games or is this an actual pitch Hunt is going to sprinkle into his already vast repertoire? 2) With the unexpected off-season trade of LHP Mason Molina, I simply want to remind us all of the three college pitchers taken before Molina. There is plenty to be interested in when it comes to RHP Jaron Deberry, RHP John Holobetz, and RHP Chandler Welch. Of the three, we actually saw some affiliated work for RHP Chandler Welch when he pitched 1 2/3 innings versus the Delmarva Shorebirds last September 8th. Welch's breaking ball really stands out - he can essentially use the pitch in any count throwing it a couple different ways and different impacts. In his first professional appearance he struck out a lefty lead-off on three straight pitches. Two high-riding four-seamers followed by an inside swooping ducking breaker for the swinging K. He also showed great mound presence picking off a runner leaving second base early in his first frame of work. There is plenty to be excited about here given he also throws two heaters (at present) and has a gyro slider and a sweeper in addition to the very plus breaking ball. I am chomping at the bit to see how Welch is pitching (most likely in Wisconsin) after one full off-season of developmental work. Holobetz, like Hunt, is working with the Baseball Performance Center and is reportedly touching 97 mph and has the look of a potential fast riser according to their staff. And, it's hard not to be excited to see the analytics darling that Deberry was and is coming out of that very successful Dallas Baptist pitching development outfit and into the Brewers pitching lab. We could have some diamonds in the rough here. Be sure to tune in early and often to see how these young men look when they take the mound. 3) We haven't seen LHP Brandon Knarr, RHP Cameron Wagoner, and RHP Tanner Shears pitch in over a year as each young man has grappled with serious injury and the ongoing recovery processes therein. All three hurlers have given us exciting spurts of impactful mound work in their young careers. BUT, when you miss as much time and competitive developmental innings as they have, it's as if they have to reestablish their professional standing. Will these young men be pitching early in 2025? Are they fully recovered? Can they hit the ground running? It's no secret, Tanner Shears' splitter is one of my favorite pitches in the entire Brewers system. Losing him before the 2024 season started was a massive blow for me personally as a report writer and fan. Given Wagoner's incredible bounce back second half to 2023, losing him before the 2024 season also stung quite a bit. Despite getting a few rehab innings in with the ACL Brewers, we haven't seen a healthy Brandon Knarr pitching since early 2023. That's a long hill to climb to get back to full season ball! I am hoping each young man has the opportunity to begin 2025 fresh and healthy. 4) Will the real INF Eric Brown Jr. please stand up? It's hard to fathom a harder or faster fall from upper-tier prospect heights than the plummet Eric Brown Jr. experienced in 2024. You'll be hard pressed to find EBJ's name even mentioned in prospect rankings at this point. This is understandable on one hand given the very very real offensive struggles at Double-A Biloxi in 2024. It wasn't even a slump, really. It was a player who consistently looked utterly lost in the batters box. On the other hand, I think it is very reasonable to propose this may have simply been a case of an extremely talented player who lost his way and then overcompensated to try to find his paths back to success. Let us not forget the successes EBJ experienced at High-A Wisconsin and in the AFL. This being said, it isn't often you see a player completely change their batting stance and set up more than once in a given season. With EBJ, I saw him tweak his entire batting stance and set up three times in 2024. By season's end, he had gone back to a very traditional stance - a stance I am personally hoping he worked from to create 2025's foundation this off-season. I've touted his underrated defensive acumen since he's been playing innings as a Brewer. However, for EBJ's professional sake he can not afford another season like he had in 2024. Perhaps no other player in the system needs a meaningful start to his 2025 season than this young man. In the very least, if he starts slow, he can't afford that slow start for all that long. I am sending out the prayers to the baseball gods he rediscovers how great he can be. I still believe in this young man's game but my belief means very little in the grand scheme of things. 5) It seems as though the Brewers have created a new pattern over the past four to five seasons of finding Minor League free agent diamonds - free agents who become meaningful contributors at the MLB level. The pitchers dominate in this department (as one might expect) but we've also seen meaningful roles and roster spots filled by OF Blake Perkins, INF Andrew Monasterio, INF Vinny Capra, OF Brewer Hicklen, and INF/OF Isaac Collins. To a man, each and every one of these men was a Minor League free agent signing (in Collins' case, he was a Minor League Rule 5 add - to that, I say "Potatoes. Potatas!"). To celebrate this incredible collective feat, I am going to go out on a limb to preemptively tout an early Minor League free agent signing from this past off-season. The Brewers dipped back into the Rockies free agent pool (of all things) and signed OF Jimmy Herron on November 15th. Primarily a corner outfielder, Herron can also cover in center. Herron is about as ready-made for the coveted MLB next step as they come. He has improved his plate discipline measurably over the past several season. He hits for a little bit of power, has some speed on the base paths, and is known as being an extremely steady player and athlete. At 28 years old, and approaching 29 by mid summer, I would be entirely unsurprised if Herron plays his way onto the 40-Man at some point in time this season. He's a player I will be watching closely in the spring training games and in the early months at Nashville. I see him as very real competition for Brewer Hicklen. May the best man (and player) win. 6) Speaking of sneaking onto the 40-Man roster, will we see yet another step by 1B Ernesto Martinez Jr. in 2025? We've seen immense growth in this young man's game over the past two seasons. He has now become a consistent contributor on a game-by-game basis and that is now the floor of what we expect as fans. Martinez will face Triple-A pitching for the first time in 2025 and he will share 1B duties with veteran Jake Bauers and second-year Sound Wes Clarke. We've been on the EMJ ride since he was a teenager. He is one of the more remarkable stories in the entire system and he is one of the more remarkable personalities. Here's hoping he takes another step in 2025! I still can see a future where EMJ plays first base as a Milwaukee Brewer. I can't help but think that at a certain point in time these one year Minor League deals will need to evolve into something a little sweeter lest EMJ head to other baseball pastures. For the time being, however, I'm simply going to keep enjoying the ride. 7) As Spencer and I touched on at length in our pod series, the middle infield depth at the lower levels is currently a wealth of untapped riches. Who separates themselves in 2024? Do Pena and Made fulfill or exceed their hype stateside? Does Adamczewski return healthy at 2B with his extremely tantalizing bat? Does Daniel Guilarte build off his solid ending to 2024? Who distinguishes themselves in the pack of Tyler Rodriguez, Demetrio Nadal, Luiyin Alastre, Jorge Quintana, Juan Ortuno, Juan Martinez, Kevin Ereu and Moises Polanco? There are many open ended questions in this area of the Brewers farm but that is because the talent pool is so young and so deep. 8) Who will fill out the outfield depth chart in Biloxi? As of today, the only listed outfield on the Shuckers roster is one Adam Hall. We know Dylan O'Rae will get plenty of burn on the CF grass. We know Casey Martin can fill in on the outfield grass despite his glaring inefficiencies at the dish. Will OF Luis Lara get the call up? Is another free agent - <cough> Lamar Sparks is still a free agent - in the cards? If Lara is promoted who gets the nod from Carolina? We know Jheremy Vargas can step into a role at the corner outfield spots for the Timber Rattlers but that isn't an everyday proposition. Given his age and skillset, I would think Yhoswar Garcia gets the first nod for the northbound High-A bus but I've learned nothing is at is seems with the talented Garcia. Regardless, as it stands today the outfield depth in Biloxi is too thin by my eyes. 9) Despite a surprising and unannounced complete absence in the Australian Winter League, the Brewers did have a handful of players compete south of the border in the various winter Leagues in the Western Hemisphere (@Ro Mueller had us all covered and then some over HERE). Can INF Eduardo Garcia and RHP Justin Yeager build off very successful Winter League bodies of work? Can they rest and repair, in the interim, while carrying over much deserved momentum? With Garcia, in particular, that is a fairly lasting question. I think it's fair to say we haven't seen that length of competitive offensive output in Garcia's entire tenure as a Brewer. As a general rule, he has been extremely streaky with a penchant for the swing and miss on off-speed pitches low and away. It's fair to be skeptical of output in a League Garcia may simply find more comfort playing in. However, if he were to use his winter body of work as a catalyst for improved play stateside that could be a completely surprising organizational depth discovery. Can RHP Justin Yeager use his extremely competitive closer work (despite a few late season hiccups, it's very fair to say Yeager's overall output was grand) down south to catapult him into a Triple-A conversation? I personally throw Yeager into that fringe MLB reliever group with RHP's Blake Holub and Ryan Middendorf. Each young man has a bevy of impressive tools. Each young man definitely competes in high leverage scenarios. Yet, I'm consistently wondering if they can take those coveted next steps to enter a call-up discussion. Yeager made the right impressions, regardless, this winter. 10) What happened to INF Ethan Murray in 2024 and where does he go from here? Like EBJ, I would personally toss Ethan Murray into the arbitrary category of 'Most Disspointing 2024 Seasons'. All the bullish momentum created in 2023 was essentially tossed out the dugout with an extremely uninspired overall performance in 2024. I've opined on more than one occasion that it looked as though Murray was playing out of shape or injured as the season came to a close. I just didn't see the same consistent movement and agility I'd come to love in earlier seasons and this was fairly pronounced by season's end. So, was he playing injured or banged up? It's hard to read the tea leaves. Just as Murray was leaving the slumps of April and May with a torrid start to June, he missed over a month and a half due to injury. What we do know is Murray was in good standing within the organization after the 2023 season. That much was certain. However, when you are knee deep in the organizational numbers game you can not afford many seasons like Murray just had lest you go the route of the Sounds Patrick Dorrian who is currently still a free agent after last season's massive slump(s). These are just some of the many questions I have concerning the greater depth chart of the Brewers system. What questions do you have pertaining to the greater depth of talent across the many levels of Brewers baseball? What players do you find yourself randomly thinking about in these early days of spring training? Let's continue our musing togethers in the comments below. We are less than two months away from the Sounds opening three-game home series versus Jacksonville. Here's hoping 2025 is yet another season where the Brewers, as a whole, continue to defy the odds at the MLB level while the Brewers as a greater system continue validating the industry-wide sentiments their Minor League system is one of the deepest and worthy of accolades.

PSA: Nobody talks about him. And, I mean nobody. Nobody ranks him. And, I mean nobody. BUT, fwiw in this early sleepy time of ST... Of all the college arms who actually pitched innings out of last year's draft you'd be hard pressed to find better mound presence; sneak peak of tools; and successful outcome than the 1 2/3 IP of work for sixth rounder RHP Chandler Welch vs Delmarva September 8th. I'm telling you, that breaking ball of his is every bit a weapon - he can kind of slurve it or go classic Uncle Charlie. Has two fastballs. A sweeper. What looks like a gyro slider - a pitch I think the Brewers may ultimately turn into a cutter (at least this shouldn't surprise us). Was touching mid 93's with life and ride in the outing. Just re-watched said outing and, well, I am simply whispering this is a young arm we'll want to watch in the early portion of 2025. That is all.

- RHP Luis Aguayo has apparently been placed on the Restricted List by the DSL Brewers #2

Let's talk about THIS: Do not limit the ceiling on this young man's game. Sky is the limit!

Boeve had labrum surgery in October. SO, don't be surprised if he has limited reps or begins completely restricted or is very slowly ramped up. Whatever side of the complex he is playing in it will be a bonus.

What is this absurdly reasonable take?!

Shemar Stewart sure fits that classic Gutey uber-athletic under-productive profile he seems to absolutely crave on the roster with his premium picks. 4.5 total Sacks from a 'pass rusher' over three years but with major athletic projections feels like a classic Gutey Packers 1st Rd pick. Frankly, it makes me nervous.😅 I personally keep hoping, of the realistic pass rushers in the Packers area, James Pearce Jr. falls to us. I could get quite excited about adding him to the pass rush group. He's a stud.

Not going to lie, I feel like this article (albeit, an entirely different article) 'should' be titled: "Why we need to pay close attention to 99% of the Brewers 40-Man Pitching Staff this Spring"...Just sayin'. I look at the current staff and I have questions or curiosities about every single pitcher not named Freddy Peralta...who I still have questions about. If there ever was a time for blind faith in 'The Lab' that time is now.