Joseph Zarr

A couple days post-Mudcats. A day post-Shuckers. Still licking those fandom wounds. Not going to lie: those close losses stung. AND, we were with you, gentlemen, every step of the way. Hold those heads high, take those much needed breaks, and then get back to it as thirsty as ever. I am grateful for the joy you've all brought to the greater fanbase this season and for future seasons. It has been an absolute pleasure to watch on a near nightly basis. Let's go out strong, Shuckers and Sounds. We will be rooting you on.

Man I needed that moment after the past two days of Brewers Minor League baseball fails. Thank you Mr. Canha.

Said the exact same thing as he went to the dish. Kahle has had some nice AB's in 2023 no doubt. But, they are few and far between and this was his second AB in some time and this was your season on the line. Martinez plays lefty bat to RH hitter there to boot. I can only wonder what Mike Guerrero would have done in the same situation given he fought hard for his player and was booted after that blown call at 1B. Tough tough way to end your season. AND, it really came down to Collins and Chourio failing to put meaningful wood on the ball in the 8th. Those are your money bats. They fell flat in that crucial moment.

A first pitch belt high curve. Kahle hacks and gets under it and sends a sky high pop up just behind the pitcher's mound. The Shuckers season is over after tomorrow's tilt. They had the runner on 3B in the 8th. They had Chourio to the dish. He was incapable of delivering in the biggest moment of their season tho he did manage a 2-for-3 game overall. The Biscuits will be in the post-season for the ninth year in a row (they have nothing to show for this streak). Frustrating loss. Sleepy bats. Pitching deserved much better.

Down to their last strike, Zavi Warren reach shot a liner down the RF line. He grabs a dub. Ernesto Martinez is pinch running. It will be up to Nick Kahle in just his second AB since coming off the IL Tuesday.

Chourio grounds out weakly to 2B. That was the moment. We are on to the 9th. 2-1 Biscuits.

Collins fouls off two heaters - the second one was a meatball and he regretted getting under it. He then goes down looking on a dead center curve. EBJ takes second and the throw goes into CF. Now on 3rd. Two down. Chourio to the dish.

Zamora pop fouls a first pitch curveball into shallow 1B territory. Murray swings and misses (well behind) two mid 90's heaters then hits a weak grounder to Caminero at 3B who bobbles it off the heel of his glove and then throws wide of 1B. Murray is safe. EBJ is pinch running now.

Meeker has now pitched 3 scoreless innings in relief. It is still 2-1 Biscuits and we head to the bottom of the 8th frame. Come on bats WAKE UP! WAKE UP! Time to get out of bed and hit the base paths!

Shook's only mistake of his evening was a first pitch two-run HR jack in the 4th to the Biscuits' Mason Auer. It was a rocket over the LF wall. He jumped on a dead center heater.

Shuckers harmless three up and three down seventh. 1-for-18, now, for the 3-through-9 of the batting order. Just brutal so far. Warren liner to LF. Kahle reach bloop fly out to LF. Rodriguez chopper to the far 3B line and Caminero once again making it look easy - he's a very good defender at 3B to boot? Heck of a prospect.

And, in Charlotte, after RHP Caleb Boushley had already surrendered two runs in the bottom of the 4th to make it a 5-0 Knights lead, he walked the bases full and was pulled. In came RHP Luis Contreras with the bases juiced. He proceeded to give up the 0-1 grand salami. No bueno. Certainly doesn't look like Navs was calling for this location: Sounds get walloped 9-3.

So it would appear both C Jeferson Quero and manager Mike Guerrero were ejected after a groundball out (Quero to 3B) in the bottom of the 4th. The 3-through-9 portion of the Shuckers line up are a miserable 1-for-15 on the game so far. Top of the 7th. Shuckers trail 2-1. Watching the play, I can tell you this: 1) Caminero made a heck of a barehanded charging play and Quero was safe. It was a classic tie goes to the runner situation. And the ump rewarded the barehanded throw but tanked the call. 2) Quero injured his groin on the play so it's understandable why he was even more animated 3) The ump gave him an awfully quick hook 4) Mike Guerrero got his piece and then some into the ump. I don't think I've ever seen him that ticked off. 5) UGH. Quero is one injury after the next these past three month. It absolutely looked like he hurt his groin on the play and left with a noticeable limp.

His "I've just ran 100mph down the base path" look never gets old:

Extremely happy for RHP Tobias Myers. He has finished stronger than he started his season and threw aside a rough early summer. Like those first early starts of his season, he is sitting 96mph now and touching 98. That's just a huge deal for him and the Shuckers. He's gone 4-2 since early August and is dealing to a 2.95 ERA in three September starts spanning 18 1/3 innings. 24 K over that span for the Double-A strikeout king. I imagine we are going to see the talented RHP TJ Shook take the hill today. TJ os doing that thing he does and is back to a very hot month on the hill. I expect great things in the biggest game of his career.

And RHP Tobias Myers has really found something late in his season. He has been very impressive of late showing his League leading K totals are no joke.

Man that Mudcats series loss hurts. I really feel for Areinamo. He is a much better player than that small three game sample size showed. Tough way for his season to end. I feel for Chirinos to not get the chance to play. An incredible season ends in an unfortunate way. I really have no idea how a Playoff game is decided with Manfred Man Xtras. A silly silly way to play Playoffs baseball. It feels like how the Sounds got screwed over last year with a one game Divisional Championship Rd in Vegas.

That was the Sounds' Triple-A leading 9th shutout of the 2023 regular season. Heck of an achievement.

Before you begin watching any games tonight, please take the time to watch this. As Jeff Hem states, there is a high likelihood this is the best thing you'll watch today. Feels for days.

Oh dear. I had absolutely no idea this is how the Mudcats won Game 2. Lil bit of controversy! The 3B ump ruled the Wood Ducks runner had left 3B early. AND, well, we'll just have to take the ump's word for it. You know, Down East and all...no video. Thanks to @damuelle for the Scoop in his Report Last Night!

Wunderbar! Galindez has been stellar since his ACL call-up. Galindez piggy backed with Brian Fitzpatrick facing Down East on 8/31: 4 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 ER, 6 K, 1 HR. It was a two-run jack off OF JoJo Blackmon.

In the past week the Sounds have leap-frogged 4 teams in the International League standings. They are now first place in their division. AND, yet, they have not gained a single game on absurdly red hot Durham who continue to lead them by 5.5 G. It's now just annoying. 😂 And, now Montgomery is on the doorstep of kicking the Shuckers to the grandstands to watch the playoffs in the Southern League cheap seats. Salty. It just makes for a salty taste.

So INF Cam Devanney with another free pass tonight and no swing and miss punch out. One of the more intriguing developments of his 2023 season, by my eyes, is his massive adjustments at the plate from his history (just last season) of disproportionate swing and miss. His wily and extremely savvy reach poke flare RBI single to LF in a well-worked 2-2 count earlier this week at Charlotte was a thing of beauty. It speaks to a young man who is evolving his game even though he has plenty of gap power to be a swing-and-miss HR swing hitter. This is really really intriguing. His K:BB ratio on the season is now 65:41. Just last season it was 110:48. The year prior 94:31. This is a massive change in pitch recognition and approach. We are now in four straight months of really disciplined AB's. This is a big under the radar story (for me) in 2023. Couldn't be happier for the young man. He's an extremely worthy utility call-up MLB candidate at some point in the future.

Boy the Shuckers offense appears to have been unlucky early and then they got 'that' version of RHP Christian Mejias. Just happy they are on to Myers and Shook who will give them much much better odds to force a must win final game 6. Tough sledding, but then again this Biscuits team has been very good for awhile now so these kinds of results shouldn't be all that surprising. Two good teams playing for it all. They've played to a 0.500 record coming into this series. It's going to take the Shuckers best and most crips baseball of their season to win three straight against this very good Rays affiliate.

With Carolina on the road headed to Down East for game two of their divisional round, it was the Sounds and Shuckers adorning my screens. What a luxury it is to zero in on a mere two Minor League games. It was a Gasser and Rodriguez double-billing and I'm here to tell you about it. Let's get into the report! Image courtesy of Biloxi Shuckers & Mike Krebs - Carlos F Rodriguez Pictured Game Balls: 3B Brock Wilken homered again? Yes. He has two long balls in his first two Double-A games and 6 RBI. Joyous. Oh, and it was another 100 mph line drive. "This young man only drives 100, officer. So, no, he will not slow down." RHP Max Lazar gets the nod for rescuing RHP Ryan Middendorf from his extremely rough 0 IP (three singles to load the bases) outing. Lazar got the strikeout and a savvy Wilken initiated DP to end the threat: LHP Fernando Abad gets some love for shutting down any thoughts the Charlotte Knights had of a big 10th inning of their own. He cooly stepped to the hill and struck out the first batter on three consecutive off-speed pitches. It was a much needed effort for Abad. It was wonderful to witness. The 37-year-old Dominican also picked up his second save for the Sounds in the process in only his second opportunity. Hopefully, this is the version we get moving forward! LHP Robert Gasser was poked around (albeit fairly pedestrian contact) some in his final inning but other than the early long ball (only the 12th he's surrendered all season) I liked what I saw overall. His sweeper curve was straight butter throughout. He gets the nod from me as he continues to fine tune his arsenal and mature as a pitcher. It's important to note, we really shouldn't take Gasser's historic season for granted. I don't know how he flies so far below the radar (from the affiliated post-game article linked below) I mean, that's a lot of swing and miss folks. He leads the International League strikeout leaderboard by 22 punch outs. AND, he has done it in 15 fewer innings. Do not sleep on this talented young man. 2B Abraham Toro gets the nod from me if simply for his home run in the 2nd inning. With RHP Nick Castrini pounding the Sounds hitters with change-up after change-up, it was Toro who finally broke through with a smash to RF and it opened up the gates for the Sounds hitters. It was a classic case of making an adjustment in the same AB. It was lovely to witness from one of my personal favorite watches in 2023. Transactions: NONE Final: Nashville 9, Charlotte (White Sox) 6Box Score / Game Log Via the Sounds' site, game details, please visit and review: Sounds Overcome Charlotte Rally, Win in Extras It was my first time seeing recently promoted (Lance Lynn trade) RHP Nick Nastrini in his third International League start for the Charlotte Knights. By my eyes, early at least, he was pitching with two primary pitches - a heater and a change-up. Meanwhile, LHP Robert Gasser got the start for the Sounds and early he was masterful with his sweeping curveball. It was really really sweeping up air. Gasser was sitting 92-93 mph but it was the off-speed and the cutter that was doing the heavy lifting. The Sounds managed to pull the game out in extras after they gave up two tying runs in the eighth inning, but with Durham having played a century of baseball with not a single loss it certainly seems as though the Sounds are playing for second place and personal pride. We will root them on, regardless. Three Quick Strikes: 1) INF Tyler Black has been putting together better and better AB's at Triple-A Nashville. He lined out very sharply to center field early and was put out by a ridiculously good full sprint shoelaces grab. It was a good sign. He drew two walks. He also singled to right field in the middle innings. Black will likely always live and die by the bat, his pitch recognition, and his speed and savvy on the base paths so it is quite refreshing to see him piece these very advanced qualities back together in Triple-A. 2) INF Patrick Dorrian managed to draw two walks and he also hit a key two-run flare single to plate two crucial runs in the tenth and final inning. It's always refreshing to see the extremely talented Dorrian rediscover success at the dish - he has vastly underrated power and line drive punch when he is dialed in. However, as much as I like the player Dorrian is, it's absolutely fair to say: he just hasn't played a very good shortstop in 2023. His error in the sixth inning absolutely can not happen given the setting and situation and I think he would admit so himself. I won't belabor the point any further but, suffice to say, it is my personal opinion he is a second baseman and third baseman first and foremost. He's also demonstrated, when needed, he can play a very solid first base in a pinch. I just haven't seen any semblance of meaningful consistency in his 22 starts at short to think he would be anything other than a 'break glass in case of emergency' shortstop at the MLB level. And, I could certainly be wrong. 3) WIth the loss of C Alex Jackson in the trade that brought the Brewers RHP Evan McKendry, we've had to look for those mammoth blasts from the catching position mostly off the bat of C Payton Henry. He has definitely laid some wood to the eight long balls he's launched in 2023. Tonight was no different. He crushed a ball over the LF wall and onto high deck. It was a key two-run blast to open an early 3-0 lead. Henry is a more than capable bat at the catching position and he's been a pleasure to watch throughout 2023. He's a solid veteran chipping his way to a MLB opportunity and I hope he gets it. Final: Montgomery (Rays) 4, Biloxi 2 Box Score / Game Log Game Notes Via the Shuckers' site, game details, please visit and review: Shuckers Fall to Biscuits, 4-2, in Second Game of Series Shuckers Ace, RHP Carlos F. Rodriguez, gave his team all he had and for the majority of his start it was well more than enough. Ultimately, with the Shuckers bats sleeping, Rodriguez began hitting bumps in the road in the sixth and seventh innings. He did manage to toss 6 1/3 IP of 7 H, 1 BB, 6 K, 3 ER ball but he can thank RHP Shane Smith for stranding two runners at second and third base when he induced a double play liner to Ethan Murray. All three runs came in the fateful sixth frame via a two-run line drive blast over the right field wall (from old friend, OF Tristan Peters) and a run-scoring single after a wild pitch. One can't but wonder how his outing would have fared has his teammates' bats woken up. When all was said and done, the Shuckers were left knowing they now must win three of their last four games. It's a tough ask. But, it's absolutely in the cards. Three Quick Strikes: 1) Where for art thou, Mr. Chourio? In a must win series, in a series of must win series of late, the Shuckers need more from their superstar in CF Jackson Chourio. I'm going to call a spade a spade: we need the young superstar to show up and take over a game with his bat. We didn't see it in Birmingham. We haven't seen it in Biloxi. This isn't a tantrum in any way shape or form, mind you, and Chourio continues to offer plus defense throughout that center field grass. It's simply an honest observation. It is time he makes his mark at the pivotal moment of the Shuckers season. 2) One can't help but wonder what would have happened to Rodriguez's sixth inning and the remainder of his outing had RF Lamar Sparks not dropped a very catchable fly ball down the right field line. In classic scorer fashion, the drop was ruled a double. Sparks had a good get off but he took a slightly circuitous route thinking it may have traveled deeper off the sound of the bat. He quickly course corrected. He got to the ball in plenty of time. It bounced off the heel of his glove and rolled out his mitt and into foul territory. Sparks gets the mulligan - he has been phenomenal defensively in 2023. However, this led to more pitches. It led to a wild pitch. It led to the third run. 3) SS Eric Brown Jr. scored as a pinch runner in the 9th inning. Given Freddy Zamora went 0-for-4 at the dish, one has to wonder if Eric Brown Jr. isn't in store for a start come game three. It may be a stretch but I personally believe he is ready for a full game's worth of this tense atmosphere. Going one step forward, given Ernesto Martinez's 1-for-8 start to the series and quite rough September at the dish I can't help but think we'll see Zavier Warren or Wes Clarke get the chance to cover 1B tomorrow - despite all that Martinez offers as a target. Food for thought and we'll simply have to wait for the line up cards. The Mudcats will be back at it at Down East for a must win game two of their divisional round. At the time of publish, the starters have not been announced. But, if I were a betting man I would have to throw money down on RHP Patricio Aquino. He is more than deserving of the opportunity. From there, I'd fully expect RHP Jesus Rivero to be ready for meaningful innings to ensure there is a chance at game three. The chess match continues. Elsewhere, I hope to see a revitalized RHP Janson Junk in Charlotte and we are unsure of who we're seeing in Biloxi at this juncture. Given we likely won't see RHP Tobias Myers until game four (his standard six days rest). This means we are likely seeing RHP Christian Mejias. The good thing here is we know he has been much better in his two September starts. We'll leave it at that. Hopefully, we see his best! 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 Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth View full article