Joseph Zarr

Big Burke line drive to the left CF gap reaches the wall. That's a two-rbi dub. Yeah, Blake! Nice easy swing. Sharp line drive to that gap.

Pratt follows suit with a 1-2 oppo line drive single into RF. Two men aboard, first and second, with Burke coming to the idsh. Burke gets a round of applause from the Knoxville faithful.

Lara K's on an uncompetitive swing on a slider low and in. Pitch ultimately landed at Lara's back foot. Not a competitive AB. K's on three pitches. Boeve stays hot. Lines a single into LF.

We are on the way in Knoxville. Lara fouls off a heater to start the evening.

BUMP: 😎 Bullpen getting a massive boost in 3...2...1

That's right. Let's. GO.

Y'all, Spencer's José Anderson write-up is spot on. He's a wild horse, essentially, learning how to be broken in. AND, you can see his earnestness in the manner in which he shows these adjustments in-game. He has tons of talent but he has very little refinement in his game. Hence, because he has a cannon arm he'll over-aggressively go for an over-aggressive OF assist to 3B from deep CF and airmail the throw into the dugout (seriously, he did it last week). His jumps and overall impact in CF have/has really evolved favorably in the time he has covered for Payne. I actually think Anderson may be the better CF'er when it's all said and done, but Payne is very clearly just the better amd more refined baseball player. In the very least he is just much further along in his development arc. Payne is really more the prototypical straight-line athlete - strong and fast but not a short-space or side-to-side quickness kind of young man. Anderson appears to have a bit more elasticity. Regardless, you can see the massive difference at the plate on a regular basis. Payne had one period of prolonged slump. He took a small bit of time. He came back with a refined modified approach and reached another level. Anderson is very much a work in progress in every way at the dish. However, seeing the earnest manner by which Anderson has attempted to refine his approach and modify his game in season, while still playing games, and the fact he is evolving into a plus CF'er before our eyes gives me hope he isn't going to simply go the route of an Eduarqui Fernandez. And, saying this, there is a long road ahead for Anderson. I am extremely curious to see how he responds to the upcoming off-season of intentional work.

I think it is absolutely squarely on the table, yes. They did it with Lara, as Spencer notes. They also just did it with Baez. They also do this with extremely talented players who suffered a loss of strategic PT due to injury - Wilken, EBJ and Coleman Crow, for example. If Josh can stay healthy the rest of the year, I'm leaning 80/20 they send him. Should any issues arise physically during that short season, he'll already be in Arizona where they can address it right away.

Well, that's fun! Here's hoping. We always have hope unless we do not use it.

Image courtesy of Brewer Fanatic Transactions: OF Handelfry Encarnacion was assigned to the Carolina Mudcats from the ACL Brewers RHP Miqueas Mercedes was assigned to the Carolina Mudcats from the ACL Brewers RHP Michael Fowler was assigned to the Carolina Mudcats from the ACL Brewers RHP Jaron DeBerry was assigned to the Biloxi Shuckers from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers INF/OF Eduardo Garcia was assigned to the Biloxi Shuckers from the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers INF Ethan Murray was assigned to the Nashville Sounds from the Biloxi Shuckers RHP Shelby Miller was sent on his rehab assignment with the Nashville Sounds by the Milwaukee Brewers (more below) OF Steward Berroa was activated from the 7-Day IL by the Nashville Sounds RHP Bayden Root was placed on the 7-Day IL by the Biloxi Shuckers Final: Jacksonville (Marlins) 6, Nashville 2 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): Black Reaches Base Three Times, Sounds Drop Opener to Jumbo Shrimp - Cameron Extends OB Streak to 17 Games Box Score/Game Log Game Notes I could harp on another blow up inning for RHP Carlos Rodriguez but do we really want to go there again? I certainly don't. Suffice to say Cargo was pulled after 3 1/3 IP. He had allowed five runs of his own at that time. It was an ugly blow up inning - an inning (or two) we've grown accustomed to since his return from the IL, unfortunately. I'm pivoting to newly acquired, former Brewer mind you, RHP Shelby Miller. The addendum with Miller in 2025 is one single question: Can he stay healthy? To this question we obviously don't have the answer but he is rehabbing. We certainly hope and pray to the baseball gods he recovers with grace from tonight's shutdown work. BUT, folks, let me tell you everything I alluded to on the trade deadline day was in full wondrous display tonight in Nashville. I have wanted a splitter of Miller's caliber in the Brewers relief corps for years. It is here. And, frankly, I'm a kid in the reliever candy store. I pray he stays healthy. He pitched an inning. He struck out all three batters and it was the swinging dominant kind of strike out buffet: Three Quick Strikes: 1) Why do we encourage you to read our affiliate sponsored post-game articles? Because, they often produce juicy morsels in an instant. While Chris Mehring tends to write Rattlers articles that essentially put us in the game, the Sounds post-game articles are unmatched in their juicy tidbits. Take this 1B Tyler Black mini deep dive from within the article linked above: My opinions on Black's defensive shortcomings are known on our board. But, it's important to remind readers Black has a prospect pedigree under his belt. We never know just how challenged the return from injury can be - for various reasons and nuance players can struggle just as much as they can hit the ground running. He's had to carve out a season within a season essentially in 2025. He fared fairly well at the dish during his last call-up. He is trending in the right direction. This is a good thing. 2) On the other end of the spectrum, with the Brewers continuing their torrid run of late (what a road record they are authoring!), it's truly hard to imagine the Brewers opened their season with DH Oliver Dunn as their everyday third baseman. Dunn was given many opportunities to carve a meaningful role with the Brewers - and, hey, he still may do that some day. He's had his moments with Nashville in 2025. Tonight was not one of those as he left the clubhouse wearing a not so shiny golden sombrero: 0-for-4, 4 K batting fifth. That's not really the type of protection a manager is looking for his clean-up. 3) Speaking of clean-up, with the official release of 1B/3B/RF Bobby Dalbec in the past 24 hours we saw RF Jared Oliva get the first rep batting clean-up for the Sounds. I love me some Jared Oliva - this is known on Brewer Fanatic. He's a heck of a veteran outfielder and elite AAAA talent - a talent the Brewers are known to covet and have had immense recent success with. This being said, when I think of a clean-up hitter, despite my love for Jared Oliva's game, I do not think of Oliva. He managed a 1-for-4 evening in that role. The natural fit in this role given the current roster makeup is LF Daz Cameron. I'd give a second place price to C Jorge Alfaro. Dalbec's departure (and Vaughn's scorching hot call-up) is a major blow to this Sounds line up. Hopefully, they'll get hot and fill that void. Final: Knoxville (Cubs) 5, Biloxi 4 Box Score/Game Log Boeve Homers as Part of Multi-Hit Effort in Shuckers Loss to Smokies - Burke Reaches Three Times in Return to Knoxville Game Notes Let me first say: RHP Brett Wichrowski is an immense starting pitching talent. This being said, I find RHP Brett Wichrowski to be one of the more frustrating pitchers to watch in all of the Brewers system. He quite simply has not put it all together for any prolonged stretch of time since he's been in the system - he pulls me in and then he pushes me away, in other words. The Minor League development path is rarely linear. For Wichrowski it is very much the embodiment of a roller coaster. 3 2/3 IP of 2 H, 6 BB, 3 K, 2 WP, 1 HB, 3 ER is just not going to get it done on most nights. He needed 88 pitches and he landed 45 strikes. His outing looked exactly like that line reads: all over the map. He left with his team knotted in a 3-3 tie. He can thank RHP Zach Peek for stranding his runners on second and third base. Three Quick Strikes: 1) 11 BB from the collective Shuckers pitching staff ultimately led to 14 Smokies opportunities with RISP. After RHP Zach Peek settled things down with his 2 1/e IP of 1 BB, 4 K, 0 R work (heck of an outing!), LHP Mark Manfredi immediately came aboard in the bottom of the seventh inning and put trouble on the basepaths. His 1.0 IP of 1 H, 2 BB, 1 HB, 1 Error (pick-off to 1B) was all over the map. It reminded me of those lost outings of 2024 as a Timber Rattler. Manfredi has been pitching quite well throughout this season so we give him the mulligan here. He also escaped any further damage by striking out the last two batters he faced. However, the game was there for the taking and he'll likely lament how his outing got away from him early and often. 2) I was asked in the game thread on the Minor League forum if CF Luis Lara is the best defensive center fielder in the Brewers system. My answer was quite simply: Yes. It's hard to impart to you readers just how dynamic he is covering the center field grass and alleys but maybe this incredible ranging full out diving snag to end the Smokies' eighth inning will give you a brief glimpse: He actually does stuff like this on the regular. He's truly a defensive savant out there. We are lucky as Brewers fans to watch his career progression. A 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB night in the lead-off spot certainly doesn't hurt the eyes either. 3) DH Mike Boeve went 2-for-5 with 2 R, 1 RBI, and 1 HR (his 5th of 2025). No strikeouts was a pleasure to watch. The long ball, as well, was even more impressive given it happened at Knoxville. The Knoxville ballpark is a notoriously difficult park to hit balls out of. This one was a wall scraper only because of the location. You can hear the barrel crack upon contact as the ball leaves at 101 mph: It's been a grind of a season for Boeve. None of us know the true extent of his injury, surgery, and recovery process this off-season. We do know this has been a rough offensive season by his standards. Let's hope he gets hot. Final: Wisconsin 5, Peoria (Cardinals) 3 Box Score/Game Log Rattlers Win As Top Brewers Prospects Debut - Peña & Made Contribute in Big Ways in 5-3 Win Game Notes Welcome to High-A RHP Travis Smith. Let's completely overshadow your solid debut with the arrival of two teenage phenoms. ? I feel for Travis - the prospect circus came to town and lost in the hoopla was the fact this was also Smith's first action in High-A. I salute @Jim Goulart for acknowledging this in his usual clever way with our Game Thread title. And, hey, given the circumstances Smith acquitted himself well all things considered: 4.0 IP of 3 H, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 WP 2 ER work. Smith gave his new skipper 73 pitches throwing 45 strikes. I would say, seeing Smith at a stiffer level of competition, one thing he will likely need to work on in the off-season is keeping runners on base. He does have a bit of a deliberate build up in getting to home plate. That's nitpicking, however. He continues trending in the right directions. We can all be quite pleased and happy for the young man after this one. Three Quick Strikes: 1) 2B Luis Peña arrived immediately. My goodness. What a moment. Off former (briefly) Brewers LHP Mason Molina, no less. I believe we call this a 'no doubter'. This gave me shades of the Boeve/Wilken homers we saw in their first games as Timber Rattlers. The difference here, obviously, is Peña is the age of a high schooler. What a season for an incredibly talented player. 2) Batting lead-off and manning shortstop with the adept agile athleticism I've grown accustomed to (spoiled!) over the past several months, Jesus Made put forth a 1-for-5, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 3B, 3 K evening. He struck out swinging on an off-speed pitch in the dirt. He struck out looking at a 3-2 heater dead center. He struck out looking at a filthy curveball that ducked to the lower portion of the zone. The transition is rarely easy. However, he also gave us an incredible 10-pitch battle that led to an RBI triple into the right field corner: The hit and the battle were extremely impressive. However, I'm landing on what I've landed on for some time now: Made's defense is elite. His agility, his hands, his athleticism...they are almost always on display. Yes, he is prone to the focus or lackadaisical error. But, when he's locked in we'd be hard-pressed to find a mover this fluid and with this good of innate feel anywhere in the system. He flashed throughout making the difficult look easy. He is a special defender. 3) I know I'm going clip heavy in these quick strikes, but, hey, the players deserve the recognition. Not only did RF Kaylan Nicasia give us a 2-for-4, 1 R, 1 RBI, 1 2B, 2 K effort in the nine-hole but he also called game and saved victory from the jaws of possible defeat with this absolute diving web gem in right field. Nicasia is very strikeout prone but he also has pop - as seen with his 0.600 plus OPS despite his 0.148 BA. His defense has always been plus and, though you don't see it in this clip, he has a cannon of an arm. That was an absurdly difficult diving back-handed catch to save victory. On a night with the light shining brightest on the young phenoms, it was truly wonderful to see a personal fringe favorite of mine shine under those ninth inning lights. Final: Lynchburg (Guardians) 6, Carolina 3 Box Score/Game Log Lynchburg Takes Series Opener from Mudcats - Mudcats Squander 15 Opportunities with RISP Game Notes With the recent string of losses, the Mudcats are suddenly a mere 1/2 G ahead of second place Fredericksburg. Oh, that not so comfortable familiar feeling from these young Cardiac Cats! And, given the Mudcats recent slide and the 0-6 series loss at Lynchburg that essentially eliminated their first half chances we can truly only hope they get their collective butts in gear and start playing winning baseball again...and soon. Now, facing a talented Guardians fourth round lefty and the manager stacking the top of the line up with three lefties (I'm looking at you Mr. Stanley) is certainly one approach. I digress. RHP Melvin Hernandez was not his typical sharp self on the mound. He gave up an unusually large number of hits. The real damage came when he hung two breaking balls. Unfortunately, both pitches were punished. It's a strange game this baseball. Hernandez surrendered only his third long ball of his season but it was a hugely damaging one as a 2-1 game turned into a 5-1 deficit. 5 1/3 IP of 9 H, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 5 ER work. 82 pitches thrown and 50 landed for strikes. He'll look to bounce back in his next outing as this one uncharacteristically got away. Three Quick Strikes: 1) LF Tyler Rodriguez didn't have a productive night at the dish with an 0-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 K, 1 GIDP showing. The RBI ground out is an acceptable result, yes. Defensively, however, Rodriguez was fantastic. He made a ranging leaping snare at the left field warning track to help the struggling Hernandez early. He also made a great read and relay throw into SS Filippo Di Turi for an out at home and then proceeded to tally two more OF Assists - one at second base and one at home. That's quite the defensive day! 2) It hasn't been a smooth transition to Low-A ball for one 3B Gery Holguin so we'll shine the light when it is brightest. His well hit double to the left field wall plated the Mudcats first run: Unfortunately, this was not a harbinger of things to come as the Mudcats went on to produces a paltry 1-for-15 mark with RISP. 3) Let us not forget this was RF Handelfry Encarnacion's Low-A debut. He immediately worked second in the batting order behind red hot 2B Josh Adamczewksi. Encarnacion gave us a look at his build and bat speed - he truly does have the look of a similarly built and nearly as violently swinging lefty version of Luis Peña. We can only hope we struck that gold twice! Regardless, Encarnacion impressed with his 1-for-3, 1 BB, 1 K work. I liked his approach. He looked sure footed and confident covering the right field grass as well. He continues to be a young player to keep an eye on outside the typical Top 20 Lists that adorn the interwebs. Final: DSL Brewers Blue 7, DSL Red Sox Red 6 - Final/7 innings Box Score/Game Log This one was a nail biter and the Red Sox had runners on first and second base with one down in the seventh and final frame. We can thank our lucky stars RHP Jean Rodriguez dug down deep and got the pop out fly out to end the threat. It was his first Save of the summer. DH Sharlisson De La Rosa shined brightest in the batters box with his 3-for-4, 3 RBI day batting third. LF Carlos Done led off and put forth a 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 BB day at the dish. The bottom of the order battery of 3B Moises Polanco (1-for-2, 2 R, 1 BB), RF Frandy Lafond (1-for-2, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K), and 2B Jhoanjel Saez (1-for-1, 2 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB) was also quite producitve rounding out the effort. With the victory, their second in a row, the DSL Brewers Blue moved to 24-21 overall as they push to sneak their way into the eight-team Wild Card group as the DSL as a whole shifts into post-season play in 2 1/2 weeks. Final: DSL Brewers Gold 9, DSL Cubs Red 5 Box Score/Game Log The DSL Cubs Red had pulled within 6-5 when the seventh inning finished. However, the DSL Brewers Gold had other plans - they quickly plated three atop the eighth frame and that ended up being the final tally you see above. The Cubs Red will lament their 2-for-13 mark with RISP especially outhitting the Brewers Gold by a slim 9-to-8 margin. The Brewers Gold got solid outings on the front and back ends - from RHP Raymond Sarmiento (4.0 IP, 0 H, 3 BB, 2 WP, 1 HB, 4 K, 0 R) and RHP Wandy Cabrera (2 1/3 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K, 0 R), respectively. The fact Cabrera avoided any undue damage is impressive given his season as a whole has been relatively unspectacular. He picked up the win moving to 1-1 on the summer. On the offensive side of the box score and game logs we see SS Cristopher Acosta picking up a little bit of steam with a 3-for-5, 1 R, 1 SB effort batting second. 3B Juan Martinez batted lead-off and gave us his standard solid effort: 1-for-3, 1 R, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SB. 1B Matthew Moses knocked two across of his own in a 1-for-5, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 K day batting fifth in the order. RF Pedro Tovar had a poke and two runs scored in a 1-for-3, 2 R, 1 BB, 2 K day. And, finally, Mr. Two True DSL Outcomes LF Francis Sosa knocked his sixth long ball of his summer in a 1-for-3, 1 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR day at the dish. All Sosa appears to want to do at the plate this summer is hit for extra bases or strikeout. Let's hope he can keep doing the former as these DSL Brewers Gold look to climb atop their division - one of the weaker ones in the DSL this summer. They may be third overall in the DSL Central but they are well within striking distance a mere 1/2 GB both the DSL Cleveland Goryl and DSL Pirates Gold. It appears as though it is going to a fight to the finish in the Central - the DSL Cubs Blue are a mere 2.0 GB and the DSL Rojos are a mere 3.0 GB as well. With the DSL squads shelved for the day, we turn our attention to all four full-season affiliates in the evening hours. LHP Endy Mercado will look to bounce back after a bit of a rough second outing last week. RHP Jaron DeBerry will be tasked with a Double-A debut as the Shuckers look to even their road series at one game apiece. In Nashville, RHP Chad Patrick will be back on the bump. And, in Peoria RHP Manuel Rodriguez will showcase his incredible savvy atop the mound yet again. I'm really looking forward to seeing Manuel pitch as he moves further away from his injury that shelved him on the IL for a spell. As always, thanks for reading and thanks for supporting Brewers Minor League baseball. 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He's played really well since arriving in Biloxi. The defensive uptick is what has impressed me the most. He's throwing out runners. He's catching cleaner than he ever has. It's all kind of coming together. As you note, he's also hitting better than we'd expect. I still miss my guy C Ramon Rodriguez - that was a big loss! But, we have to love what Wood is giving us on a routine basis down yonder.

That's a fascinating question. It's hard to find any problems in healthy Blake Perkin's near Gold Glove winning (finalist) caliber work on the CF grass. Perkins excels with his positioning and jumps. He also has an incredible and uncanny ability to time jumps at the wall. I give Perkins the edge there and love how smooth and confidently he plays out there as a general rule. However, I can not say if Perkins can cover more ground than Lara. Lara has those young legs under him and he also has incredible reads and jumps on the regular. Lara can cover an incredible amount of ground on the center field grass. They're both absurdly talented defensively. Perkins gets the nod, however, given he's doing it consistently at the MLB level. That's my way of answering your question without really answering your question.😅

In the midst of writing tomorrow's report. Getting a chance to rewatch Lara's catch...I think he makes it look easier because he just easily covers so much more ground out there. The level of difficulty on even getting to this ball to make the catch is an 11:

I gave you your flowers a month or so ago. I even tagged you to do so. Your joy with my admission makes me happy. He's electric in the infield. Truly. You were right. Absolutely right.

To be witnessing this historic Brewers run and to now potentially have an elite splitter coming into the high leverage relief arsenal is essentially my version of MLB Valhalla. I have wanted a splitter of Shelby Miller's caliber in the Brewers Pen for yearrrrrrs. For many many long years. This is my shining moment. 😅

I was alone. On an island. When I returned, I was grasping...reaching in the darkness. Then I pressed play and soldiered on. 😜

Yes. He's electric out there. Interestingly, Jose Anderson has actually flashed some real plus prowess out there the past couple of weeks I was unsure he had. But, yes, Lara is the best pure CF by a healthy margin.

The level of difficulty on this grab is an 11. Unreal play. Unreal especially because of the context and circumstances:

Nicasia ends the game on an absolute web gem in right field to save Seppings from a potential blown opportunity. Sensational catch. Absolutely sensational. High risk. High reward play. When you are in the T-Rats position, you have to have him go for it and go for it he did. Seppings dealt with two men aboard in both frames. He will have to give a great heap of thanks to Kaylan.

I see Rodriguez's post-IL return downward spiral continues. Only made it 3 1/3 IP tonight and was booted after another blow up inning. 3 1/3 IP of 6 H and 3 BB is just not going to get it done. The struggle has been very real.

Man, Made really is a fantastic SS. His defense today - from where it was in April - is night and day. His movement skills are absolutely elite. His hands are getting more and more natural as he gets more and more comfortable. He has the arm. He's truly an elite talent at the position. Hard to be more impressed with the growth we've seen there over the past four months. He has struck out three times tonight - swinging once and looking twice - getting the bat confident and swinging at pitches in the zone consistently has been a struggle of late. Regardless, you can see all the tools at his age. Today, Peña is the better pure hitter but it's hard to sleep on the innate athletic prowess Made very clearly possesses in his body.

Lara web gem saves a two-run double with two down and runners on 1st and 2nd in the bottom of the 8th. Incredible diving catch in the left CF gap. Covered a lot of ground.

Manfredi gets another K to end his work. Brutal inning but it could have been worse. He'll likely be pulled at 30 pitches.

Follows with a three pitch swinging K. Because, well, of course! Good recovery, Mark. He is at 27 pitches with two down. Men on 1st and 2nd.