Joseph Zarr

Mudcats 6th frame might be the one. A HBP. A walk. Men on 1st and 2nd. Nobody down. Guilarte to the dish as the pitching coach has now visited the mound.

Meanwhile, Corniel has been just as formidable. He grabs his 7th K after he completes his 6th and likely final inning. Fantastic work from the young man. In Nasvhille, Vinny Capra leads off with a rocket triple off the RF wall. AND Cargo drove both men in! 2-1 SHuckers. Hey now. Let's get those bats hitting! Line drive single up the gut found the shallow CF grass. Huge hit. Mejía poked a single into LF. 1-0 Sounds. MOAR RUNS FOREVER.

Well, Zamora with a weak AB and he ends with a weak pop fly to shallow shallow RF. Worst case AB there. Nobody advances. He swung at 2 balls in a three pitch AB. Sigh.

Boeve just moon balled a line drive off the RF wall. Dub dub. Boeve on 2nd. Miller (walk) on 3rd. Let's see if the Shuckers have a hit with men on base for a change. Come on, gents. Let's do this.

Mudcats are being no-no'd through 5 IP. They trail 1-0. They have punched out 7x now. What a difference a day makes.

Kudos to Corniel for getting out of the men on corners one out scenario. He gets the K to end it. Still trail 1-0 but a breakout inning averted.

This is just not the same Lamar Sparks in the outfield grass we've seen in 2024. He misplays a shallow liner in RF - took a very poor route - and what maybe should have been a single, definitely could have been a catch with a proper route, goes to the wall for an RBI triple. That just can't happen. AND, hence this is the 2024 Shuckers experience nearly every time I watch. Painful.

Castillo flashing that sub par defense just completely botched a line drive directly to him in middle LF. He backed up two steps and never caught it. Got to the webbing and just never transferred cleanly. Corniel now has to work with a man on base. Meanwhile, Blalock walked the lead off batter in the 2nd. He has now stolen 2nd and 3rd as Miller's throws have been an eyelash late each time - both solid jumps and bang-bang at the bags. One down. Man on 3rd. 0-0.

Mudcats have K'd 6 times now through 4 IP. The Fireflys' Arronde is dealing - mainly his mid 90's heater on the outer half. They still trail 1-0 as Corniel pitched a fantastic 3rd inning with 2 K.

The Smokies and the Shuckers (Shocker, I know) stranded two men on in the first frame. 0-0 game headed to the 2nd.

Guilarte goes down looking on an outside heater. Mudcats have K'd 4 times through 3 innings and trail 1-0 headed into the 4th frame.

It's almost a movement at this point. It's a thing.

Noah Miller is absolutely killing the T-Rats through 2 games. Unreal.

Sizzling Hawt Take: Being up 7-0 feels much better than trailing 15-3. (Don't @ Me. Actually, you can't @ Me regardless. Or, wait...)

Trailing 4-0, a runner on 3rd with two down, that's a day for Aquino. Just not sharp. T-Rats stranded O'Rae and Lara last inning on 2nd and 1st, respectively. Barrios line out to CF. Adams jam shot pop up to 2B. Wehrle on to try and keep this deficit at 4. He's inherited 6 RISP so far in 2024 and all have scored. Make that 7-of-7. This was on C Ramon Rodriguez who launched an attempted pick-off throw at 3B well into LF. 5-0 Loons. That run will be earned as well as Lara gets a poor read on a very weak shallow pop fly to CF - Lara saw it going deep in the glare of the sun and false stepped toward the wall. Couldn't make the charging catch. Definitely one of those games so far today. That runner on 3B got aboard on a bloop hit as well - the wind is all sorts of problems for the T-Rats. Another bloop flare dies onto the LF grass. Miller challenges Vargas' arm and he throws very poorly to 3B. A better throw nabs him by 9-12 feet. Yuck fest. Time to move on to other things in my day. Hopefully, they can change their sloppy playstyle while I'm away.

Aquino just surrendered another long ball. Full count blast over the wall in CF. It was a high corner heater to Newell. The ball is definitely carrying today. Rough start for the suddenly struggling talented righty.

It would appear umpire incompetence has spread to former Brewers players as well: Yikes.

Aquino's struggles are continuing early. 3 ER through 2 IP - 1 HR. T-Rats trail red hot Great Lakes 3-0 early. AND, what's more? The early damage was via the bat of one T-Rats killing SS Noah Miller. Two-run jack. Yuck.

I'm still adjusting to the reality the ACL kicks off Saturday. The Crew are facing the Dodgers right off the bat. Let's hope we can repeat!

I've discussed him on more than one occasion in my Minor League reports. For those of you who don't have access to MiLB.TV viewing potentials, here's a quick Brewers PD look at RHP K.C. Hunt (new to the system in 2024): Has a legitimate 4-to-5 pitch mix. Just a very very interesting arm to grab as a free agent and plug-and-play as a dominant bullpen arm. Given his age, I would opine he is a candidate for promotion some time in the next 3 months.

The original headline to this write-up was a tip of the proverbial cap to RHP Manuel Rodriguez. Apparently, the editor(s) desired to keep it short and sweet - understandable. That headline sentiment still stands: make a point to watch a Rodriguez start or two, if you can. At 18 years old (August 8th birthday), he pitches in a manner more reminiscent of a veteran of the affiliated ranks. He just has an innate ability to play with his Pitch Mix and locate - his ACL and DSL numbers absolutely couldn't lead us to this realization. This is another example of a young arm who is telling you velocity isn't the be all end all - he was getting swings and misses aplenty on an 89 mph 'heater'😅. Just excellent stuff in back-to-back outings now. Two-of-Four starts he has compiled 7 K. Here is a quick look at his last road start at Augusta (another 1 R, 7 K performance). Note how his off-speed movement and bat-launching deception helps his upper-80's/low 90's heater play quite a bit more effectively:

Biloxi was postponed due to an over-saturated ballpark. Meanwhile, as alluded to above, the Mudcats won game one while the Sounds were blown out by Norfolk and the Timber Rattlers couldn't hold on to their early 4-1 lead over suddenly red hot Great Lakes. I saw two fantastic LHP Robert Gasser innings and, predictably in this ongoing media-challenged 2024 Sounds Home season, then Nashville's video feed went kaput. Gasser apparently lost his bearings during that black out. Let's get into the report! Image courtesy of Brewer Fanatic Transactions: The Milwaukee Brewers selected the contract of INF/OF Tyler Black from the Nashville Sounds INF/OF Owen Miller was optioned by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Nashville Sounds RHP Yujanyer Herrera was assigned to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers from the Carolina Mudcats RHP Brett Wichrowski was assigned to the Biloxi Shuckers from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers INF Tyler Rodriguez was assigned to the ACL Brewers from the DSL Brewers 1 Unofficially: RHP Tyler Woessner appears headed to Nashville from Biloxi and is slated to pitch vs Norfolk this week Final: Norfolk (Orioles) 11, Sounds 5 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): Sounds Drop Series Opener Versus Norfolk - Tides Hit Four Homers, Take Down Nashville 11-5 Pre-Game Media Notes Box Score / Game Log LHP Robert Gasser looked absolutely fantastic through two innings pitched and then the Sounds video feed was shot for near two innings and I missed three Norfolk long balls and a sudden 4-0 deficit. 😅 So, this being said, I'll stick to the positive with Gasser: he was hitting 95 consistently on the gun. His sweeper was playing very well. Take a look at his lead-off K to one INF Jackson Holliday: That was number one - he struck out the side in the first frame. In the absolute very least, I see a MLB bullpen arm that can help the Brewers. At the very best, he can work his way into, and grab a hold of, a spot in the Brewers starting rotation. We'll simply have to stay tuned in the days and weeks ahead. Again, I didn't see the long balls. What I saw? Dominant. Three Quick Strikes: 1) I said it before this game one began, but I found it hard to believe - given the immense offensive firepower on the Tides - the Sounds had a better record. This is going to be a tough series for the Sounds given their lack of pop at the dish especially with the sudden promotion of Tyler Black. The Sounds are going to need to rely on their trusty bullpen, hope they get some solid starting pitching, and hope they can get hot or they can scrap and claw runs across the dish. This is no easy task. Despite their record, the Tides have immense firepower in the meat of their line-up. 2) With INF Patrick Dorrian benched while mired in a truly unfortunate season-long slump, INF/LF Isaac Collins kept his bat sizzling hot. 1-for-3 with 1 R, 1 BB, and 1 K (16:16 on the season), Collins continues to maintain an overall OPS north of 1.000. These aren't run of the mill bloopers and flares either. Collins is ripping the ball to all parts of the park. He remains a name to keep an eye on. What you don't believe me? From the post-game article above: Plus, let me also remind you dear readers, Collins did just take home 'International League Player of the Week' honors: 3) It would be easy to get down on Gasser and Herget after their combined nine runs allowed. BUT, perspective matters in the long game that is a baseball season: Gasser hadn't conceded three home runs in a single outing in exactly a year's time (April 30, 2023 vs Omaha). Herget hadn't conceded a single run in his last 11 2/3 IP. Sometimes, it just isn't your night despite some moments of brilliance. I'll continue to focus on what is absolutely consistently true: both men are definitively two of the better pitchers on the Sounds staff. I expect them to bounce back in impactful ways in their next outings. Biloxi and Tennessee were rained out (as mentioned above) AND we do not know when the make-up date is at this time: Final: Great Lakes (Dodgers) 6, Wisconsin 4 Loons Rally to End Wisconsin's Win Streak - Great Lakes Beats Timber Rattlers 6-4 to Open Series Box Score / Game Log Pre-Game Media Notes LHP Tate Kuehner was quite effective through 3 IP - his mix of well place off-speed pitches kept hitters honest while he could work in his heat. I've said it previously: despite his ERA (after this game sits 7.36), Kuehner definitely has weapons to work with. I'd personally like to see more deception in his delivery. Because he is working from a conventional lefty arm slot and isn't a blazer (though he can touch 94-95 mph), he relies on impeccable location and mix and changing eye levels. When he runs into trouble it's typically because his mistakes are a bit tastier to hitters. Regardless, 4 IP of 5 H, 1 BB, 1 HR, 4 K baseball is not a bad outing. It simply wasn't quite good enough. Post-Game Full Highlights: **Note: Because the T-Rats play a matinee affair tomorrow, there is no post-game Podcast** Three Quick Strikes: 1) This game likely should just be subtitled 'The Noah Miller Game'. He may not be on the Cedar Rapids Kernels any longer (traded to the Dodgers organization late this past February), but Miller is clearly still impacting the Midwest League. The T-Rats staff had trouble with Miller all evening: 3-for-5, 2 R, 3 RBI, 1 HR. More importantly, he got the Loons rally going and the Loons have now won seven straight. 2) I've previously spoken at length on the defensive of prowess of both OF Luis Lara and INF Jadher Areinamo. They are absolutely defensive dynamos on the baseball diamond. Let's appreciate a good look at the two working together to squash further threat on the basepaths after Kuehner had conceded his third run of his outing: 3) INF Gregory Barrios stayed sizzling hot. He smacked his 10th double (!!) and hit to a 2-for-4 evening - 1 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB. Having watched his struggles at the dish all last season in Zebulon, I can't really describe to you how absolutely awesome this run of play is to witness. With Guilarte beginning to really come on back with the same Mudcats, it's very clear to see: the middle infield depth remains extremely solid at the lower levels. Let's pray these young men stay healthy! Final: Carolina 8, Columbia (Royals) 3 Mudcats Claim Opener from Fireflies Box Score / Game Log RHP Manuel Rodriguez not only tied his season high with 7 K, but he looked masterful in doing so. This is becoming a pattern. This young man absolutely pitches years beyond his mere 18 years of age. He is controlled, poised, and dialed on the bump. Spinning his high 80's/low 90's heater in the 2700-2800 realm helps but, tonight at least, it was all about the bevy of curves and breaking balls sprinkled with an adept change-up to keep hitters honest. Rodriguez has a plan. He knows his tools. And, quite simply, he knows how to pitch. He's fast becoming one of the early surprises of 2024 as month one comes to a close. Three Quick Strikes: 1) I alluded to INF Daniel Guilarte above when discussing INF Gregory Barrios. The two were infield stablemates last season in Zebulon. Guilarte, much like Barrios now, was hotter than New York City pavement in July in the early going for the Mudcats in 2023. However, injuries quickly derailed what was a promising season. He's back now and fully healthy. Tonight, we got a glimpse of his full potential. He began things with a 103 mph lead-off triple deep of the right center field wall. He ended his evening 2-for-4, 4 R, 1 BB. He played fantastic defense at second base. He was a problem. We know the talent is there. Let's see if he can take off. 2) OF Kay-Lan Nicasia not only stole three more bags - 9-for-9 in 2024 - and he gave us his patented fabulous all out defense to end the sixth frame (replay at 2:34:34). I'm going to keep pounding this drum: Yes, he's streaky, but the bat is ascending. The power stroke has sneakily snuck onto the doorstep. He makes good pitch decisions regardless of the results. The defense is always plus and the arm follows suit. What's more, he impacts the base paths. Nicasia is a classic case of a player who likely flies under the vast majority of prospect followers' radars but always finds a way to stay on it when you watch the games. Tonight was again no different. 3) RHP Harrison Durow picked up his fourth Save in as many tries as he held down the fort for 2 IP of 1 H, 1 BB, 0 R ball. Paying a bit more close attention in tonight's outing, I can share with you: his impact relies heavily on his 3,000 + RPM curveball. With 6'3" - 6'5" extension on the mound and that type of spin? It's fair to say, Low-A hitters are having to make decisions faster than they would like to. Given the very plus nature of that offering alone, this is an arm to absolutely keep an eye on in this wild n' wooly year of Brewers pitching ascension. ** Special Shout Out to INF Juan Baez and this highlight where he isn't thrown out on the base paths (😅) Baez is electric in the batters box with his gifted bat-to-ball skills. He's a much better 3B defender than advertised (seriously, he can handle the hot corner). But, man oh man, he gets thrown out at a ridiculous rate on the base paths. We discussed it briefly in our game thread HERE A reminder we have a Wisconsin matinee mid day slate tomorrow. RHP Patricio Aquino will look to bounce back while also trying to end Great Lakes' seven game winning streak. RHP Bradley Blalock will look to get back to scoreless outings for Biloxi. LHP Aaron Ashby will look to get his ERA below single digits - let's start there for Mr. Ashby (yeeeesh). We have yet to learn who will take the hill for the Mudcats. As always, thanks for reading and thanks for supporting Milwaukee Brewers Minor League baseball and the many players deserving of our time and recognition. 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