Joseph Zarr

SHUCKERS ADD RODRIGUEZ FROM WISCONSIN AHEAD OF REGULAR SEASON FINALE BILOXI, MS – The Biloxi Shuckers and Milwaukee Brewers have announced that RHP Manuel Rodriguez has been promoted from High-A Wisconsin and RHP Stiven Cruz has been transferred to High-A Wisconsin. The active roster now stands at 28 players. Rodriguez has been assigned No. 48 and will make his Double-A debut today (9/14) in the Shuckers regular-season finale against the Birmingham Barons. Rodriguez is set to become the youngest pitcher to appear in a game in franchise history.

There are very few things happening, in the many MiLB broadcasts I watch in a season, I dislike more than when an announcer leads a player's appearance telling me where he's ranked in the MLB Pipeline pantheon of player evaluations. I understand the why - brand consistency; eye candy and allure for fans. I just really don't appreciate it at all. I'm definitely the old farmer on the rocking chair on the front porch swinging his clenched fist at the clouds on this one 😅. Let the players speak for themselves, I say. Let their play on the field speak for itself.

Man, Sammon was such an incredible feather in the Brewers beat writer cap when we had him. He offered so many juicy details like those morsels you share above. When he left, and the absolute disregarding manner in which the Athletic at large handled the entire departure and 'transition' (if you can call it that) for Brewers fans and readers, it was an immediate cancellation of my Athletic subscription. Don't regret doing that for a single moment. Just an embarrassingly indifferent media house for baseball small markets. Holguin still played plus defense at the hot corner despite scouts thinking he was a shortstop. Unfortunately, he couldn't really hit a lick at that Low-A level in his brief stint there this summer. When a player flashes leather like he did, however, with other players struggling to hit in that Low-A and High-A level like we witnessed this season, I do wonder what the deeper story is. We'll likely never know. I wish him all the best in the interim as he contemplates his next moves in baseball and in life.

Glad you mentioned Cruz's work. So happy for him to return after a solid if unspectacular re-assignment at Wisconsin. He kept his head down after the early season struggles that led to his re-assignment. It's very easy for fans to forget he was actually very good at Biloxi through his first nine outings - if you remember at that point of his season he was essentially sitting 94-95 mph in his brief relief stints. I don't know what happened for him to tailspin in the manner he did after that, but at this point it's a moot point. Glad he's back at Biloxi and glad his first outing was roses.

Ummmm

I was just coming to post this. 😅 We can all look back at that RHP Chad Patrick outing versus Jacksonville when Wiems hit two long balls for and tallied 5 RBI as the launchpad. He went 3-for-3 that night with a walk. He went 8-for-17 on that entire Sounds series with 3 2B in addition to the game one 2 HR. 9 RBI, 5 BB, 5 K. Just an incredible series. Despite the K rate, it's really great to see Wiems experience some semblance of solid success back at the MLB level!

I commend you for your public transparency. Your process laid out before us here is akin to Babe Ruth sharing how he hit all those homers. Also, as a dad of two, on behalf of bad dad jokes everywhere, I have to ask: is there really such a thing as a forced poor pun? (this is a rhetorical question...no need to reply...of course we all know there is no such thing as a 'forced poor pun' 🤭)

Don't look now but the Sounds have gained 2.5 G on first place Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. They've leap-frogged 2 teams in the process. Now only seven teams remain ahead of them in their 'improbable' quest for the One seed. They are 9 GB with 8 games remaining. Do you believe in miracles?

Well, the good thing is the Packers don't have to worry about J-Love facing the Packers defense behind the Washington O-Line. The Commanders have check-mated themselves into a rookie RT, in the midst of a position change no less. Meanwhile, the Packers tried their rookie lineman at RT. After one series, and a costly holding penalty on the stunt action, they pulled Him for their recently acquired trade asset. I didn't notice all that much pressure coming from Love's right side. Regardless, the Commanders have a very mobile absurdly cool and calm uber-talented QB. The Packers know their QB thrives on platform throws. Two different offenses built around two very different QB's.

Likely managed by Gilbert Gómez. Gómez has the Mets High-A - South Atlantic League or 'Sally League' - Brooklyn Cyclones in the championship Series vs the Rangers' Hub City Spartanburgers. This is the Cyclones first ever such appearance since joining the League in 2021. Hopefully, it's a great experience for Made.

I mean you can do far far worse than McLaurin, Deebo, Brown, Ertz, and Ekeler. Granted, Ekeler is obviously out but he wasn't for the majority of the game. Daniels is an incredible talent but I think you are short-selling just how incredible this GB Hafley defense is. That was the real takeaway last night

Sherman said, post game, Nixon had more PBU's in that game (5 Total) than any DB has in the NFL. Pretty incredible performance.

If I remember correctly, please correct me if I'm wrong, he improved the deep ball significantly last season? Even with the nagging injuries? I think it's important we remember it's very early. Those deep throws he missed last night were literal inches from decent completion percentage opportunity. But, man, if he hits those with any semblance of regularity with how comfortable and poised he looks in the pocket as a whole behind this O-Line? Wr could be in for some excitement. I do find it mildly hilarious, however, he has shown he will out-throw both Watson and now Golden. Those are two absolute burners. Put some more loft on those balls and they'll go get it.

Opens Minor League forums. Reads Jim's thread title...

I mean, and I'm serious here: what has happened to 'Tie Goes to the Runner'? I swear it doesn't exist in Minor League baseball. The confident manner in which the vast majority of ML infield umps are looking to call the bang-bang play 'Out' is wild to me. I'd very easily guesstimate they go 95/5 calling that type of play Out which is, well, it's perplexing to me. Also, how can you not be romantic about Rick Sweet the manager? He is such a legend. When he is trucking onto the field like that you absolutely know a lil fire is going to he spittin'.

He is out 6-8 weeks and was moved to IR, fyi.

Also it has likely been touched on multiple times but what a game by Keisan. Incredible performance.

Hard to complain about much given this 2-0 start to the season. BUT, if we are going to be great there are a couple nagging issues amd why not nitpick toward greatness : - Run Game (could be due to shuffling injured O-Line) -J Love and the long ball - come on, Jordan. Let's dial it in. - What the heck was that 3 and out sequence when we could have gone for a dagger drive? - ST coverage was pretty poor but we were missing two key gunner guys in Anderson and Melton

Really nice immediate bounce back performance from LHP Mark Manfredi. Love it.

Hey I'm just glad it wasn't catching interference on Miller. 🤭

Oh, hey C Matt Wood did indeed get the night off. Nostrazarrmus strikes again!

SHUCKERS REINSTATE ROOT FROM IL, VARGAS PLACED ON DEVELOPMENT LIST BILOXI, MS – The Biloxi Shuckers and Milwaukee Brewers have announced that RHP Bayden Root has been reinstated from the 7-Day Injured List and UTL Jheremy Vargas has been placed on the Development List as of September 10. The active roster now stands at 28 players.

Image courtesy of Brewer Fanatic Transactions: LHP Nate Peterson was transferred to the Development List by the Nashville Sounds (the corresponding move to the INF Anthony Seigler official option) Final: Gwinnett (Braves) 7, Nashville 4 Via the Sounds website, please be sure to click and read each of the affiliate write-ups as part of your season-long Link Report routine (believe me, it's worth it): Lockridge's Four-Hit Night Not Enough in Sounds Loss to Stripers - Cornielle Strikes Out Seven in Triple-A Debut Game Notes Box Score/Game Log RHP Alexander Cornielle started out quite well, honestly. He was ahead 0-2 in his inaugural Triple-A count and then 3B Luis Urías (who had an inexplicably poor night throwing to first base) short-armed a very routine ground out opportunity. The runner reached via the throwing error. Cornielle proceeded to walk the next two batters in eight pitches. It's a testament he only allowed the two runs - one earned. From there, he was mostly very good through 4 2/3 IP of 3 H, 4 BB, 7 K, 2 R (1 ER) work. Those random AB's, however, when Cornielle absolutely loses the zone remain a problem. This isn't a new to Triple-A phenomenon. Lastly, I'll just add Cornielle - as a general rule to his approach and execution - wastes too many two strike pitches for my liking. Those high and way away four-seamers? Yeah, it would be nice if he could find or execute a better chase pitch than that. I would opine the slider was his most impactful pitch his entire evening as a whole and the 15 whiffs in 40 total pitches is a very solid first mark. Moving forward, I would imagine the Brewers wil look to develop more of his secondary offerings - in particular, the changeup which was only thrown once his entire evening in 88 total pitches. Three Quick Strikes: 1) I personally questioned the optioning of RHP Craig Yoho when the Brewers did. He belongs in the Milwaukee bullpen in my humble opinion given the adjusments he made in his prolonged time back with the Sounds. His first 10 pitch, 7 strike, 2 K outing proved it - even though manager Pat Murphy clearly doesn't trust his young high-leverage candidate. I will also continue to question why LHP Robert Gasser isn't with the Big Club until he is given his rightful opporutnity. I'm not going to gauge anything from the final results of tonight's outing. Gasser did give up a 110 mph hard hit single, yes. The two other pokes were very weakly hit - including another poor throw from 3B Luis Urías that nearly injured 2B Anthony Seigler on a sac bunt up the 3B line. I say this about Gasser based on what I'm seeing - he's regularly hitting 94-95 mph on his heaters. His sweeper and his breaking ball are as good as they've ever been. He ran into some bad luck tonight but he also showed his stuff is MLB caliber today. Right now. We've seen it work at the MLB level previously. He has not fallen off post-TJ. Make the call. 2) SS Ethan Murray continues to look mostly uncomfortable at the Triple-A dish. It hasn't been a smooth adjustment. Am I overly concerned? No. Am I mildly disappointed? Truthfully, yes. But, mostly, these early results are just information for Murray moving forward as he looks to learn from this brief exposure for his upcoming off-season. Tonight's 0-for-4, 4 K night at the dish was not particularly competitive. He was off-balance and out of sorts in nearly every AB. That's now a 28-to-9 K:BB ratio in just 86 Nashville PA's. Much much work to do for Murray to rise to this new challenge. 3) How did 2B Anthony Seigler fare in his first action since being optioned back to Nashville? Quite well. Quite well. Despite what a bevy of Brewers fans opine on social media, Seigler is a heck of a baseball player. His small MLB exposure does not change that fact. Seigler managed two pokes and he swiped two bags. Special shout-out to RF Brandon Lockridge and his four knock evening - 4-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 1 SB, 1 K. Final: Biloxi 8, Birmingham (White Sox) 7 Four Different Multi-Hit Nights Lead Shuckers to Extra-Innings Win - Lara Reaches Five Times, Letson Strikes Out Six in Double-A Debut Game Notes Box Score/Game Log Our man @Spencer Michaelis had you all covered once again. Here is his full twitter clip package of Letsons strikeouts: While you're at it, go give Spencer's write-up on the Brewers AFL roster selections a read - HERE. As per usual, his analysis is spot on. Vetted by his eyes and expertise. Double vetted by my eyes telling you: "Yeah, I've watched the games too. What he said." Expert analysis on my end here. Letson was absolutely cruising until the a third inning two out walk (his second of the frame) led to a bases loaded scenario. He then threw one too many sweepers as the Barons' DJ Gladney absolutely crushed a ball over the left field fence - that's two extremely hard hit balls by Gladney through two contests. Really, this was a case of one too many sweepers tailing directly over the heart of the plate belt high. All in all, however, I consider this a very successful Double-A debut for 20-year-old Letson: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 6 K, 4 ER, 1 HR. Without the grand slam, his bottom line obviously looks quite a bit better. 67 total pitches thrown. 38 landed for strikes. Most importantly, he showed he can hang in Double-A. Three Quick Strikes: 1) In a season where we've lost many a talented player to IL stints, tonight was apparently SS Cooper Pratt's turn. In his first AB of the very first inning, Pratt took a heater up and in off his throwing hand - he appeared to be pointing to the inner portion of his right thumb when the trainer and manager Joe Ayrault went to check on him. It certainly didn't look ideal. It was a 99 mph pitch. There's not much we can do but hope (and pray to the baseball gods) he avoids anything major. This is obviously especially unsettling with the post-season match-up with Montgomery beginning next Tuesday. 2) A night after lauding C Matt Wood for his ongoing improvements throwing runners out on the Double-A base paths, the Barons go ahead and swipe eight bases on Wood and his pitching battery. Several balls were dropped on transfers. No plays at second base were particularly close. This was a flashback to his High-A days. Was he tired? Was it one of those nights? I can't tell you with any amount of certainty. I can tell you, however, if I were a betting man I'd prop bet Wood getting a night off tomorrow. Despite the struggles grappling with runners on the base paths, Wood absolutely kept it going on the dish in a 2-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB night at the dish. 3) CF Luis Lara continues to do it all for the Shuckers. We've talked about his understated but extremely impressive season on more than one occasion - in my reports in our Minor League forum threads. Tonight, once again in lead off, he got on base five times in a 3-for-4, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 2B, 3 SB (!!) night. That's now 44 stolen bases on his season. He set the tone. He set the table. His impact on this game was felt throughout. Special Shout-Out: The power stroke certainly hasn't come back all that willingly since his return (hey, we did see a deep fly out just shy of the center field warning track - this is a start), but in his 1-for-4, 2 RBI, 1 BB night 3B Brock Wilken's defense really stood out. He made several solid plays at the hot corner showcasing why I continue to tout him as an underrated defender at the hot corner. No play was more important than the game-ending two-out snare of a liner in the 10th and final inning with a runner at third base. So fast, you can barely see it: With the Shuckers out to a 2-0 series lead, RHP Jaron DeBerry will take to the mound. In Nashville, as they look to bounce back from their game two loss, RHP Garrett Stallings will be tasked with setting the table. These will both be evening tilts. As always, thanks for reading and thanks for supporting Brewers Minor League baseball. Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scores MiLB Audio Links Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth View full article