Seth Stohs

Selected from the Rockies in the minor-league portion of the December 2022 Rule 5 draft, Isaac Collins spent 2023 in Double-A Biloxi. After a strong season in 2024 with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds, Collins spent the final month of the season with the Brewers. We chat with him about his season, getting The Call and much more. Image courtesy of © Benny Sieu-Imagn Images When setting up a day and time for this interview with Isaac Collins, there was one thing to keep in mind. We had to make sure that he was done in plenty of time before his alma mater, Maple Grove (MN) High School, was set to play in a Minnesota Class 6A state football quarterfinals game. We chatted for nearly an hour, but we gave him an hour to get himself ready to watch the Crimson online. Collins was a star on and off the field at Maple Grove High School. He earned five letters in baseball, three in football and one more in basketball. In his senior year, 2015-2016, he became the first person since Joe Mauer in 2001 to be a finalist for Mr. Minnesota in both football and baseball. Upon graduation, he went to Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Three years later, he was the ninth-round draft pick of the Colorado Rockies in 2019. He spent the 2022 season in Double-A, but that winter, he was left available in the minor-league Rule 5 draft. The Milwaukee Brewers were thrilled to be able to take him. He spent 2023 at Double-A Biloxi where he hit .269/.424/.431 (.855) with 13 doubles, two triples and 10 home runs. He also stole 29 bases. Last offseason, he had him on a Brewers Spotlight. In that interview, he got to know him, from his earliest baseball memories, his love of college football, his decision to go to Creighton and his pro career to that point. (Watch that here.) He spent the 2024 season at Triple-A Nashville. In 113 games, he hit .273/.386/.475 (.861) with 28 doubles, seven triples, and 14 home runs. He also had 21 stolen bases. In early September, Collins got The Call that every kid dreams of getting. He was heading to the big leagues. An early-morning flight brought him to Milwaukee where he found himself in the lineup. Making it just a little more special was the fact that he debuted against the Colorado Rockies and many of his past teammates. We caught up with him last week and discussed his 2024 season, getting The Call, his debut, first hit, being on the playoff roster and much more. Below you will find a listing of topics to help you find specific answers to go back to an listen to again later. Join us in congratulating Isaac Collins on his 2024 season and big-league debut. And in case you were wondering... the final score was Maple Grove 42, Edina 12. Show Timeline 1:30: His offseason is off to a great start. 5:15: What type of hitter are you, your approach and your strengths with the bat? 7:20: How important was it to get off to a fast start in 2024 at Nashville? 8:45: How do you keep your focus on the mental side of the game, focusing on approach and the things that you can control? 11:20: How much do you follow the big-league club, relative to being closer to the big leagues? 13:00: How do you spend your time working on hitting from the left side versus the right side? View full article

There are great human-interest stories in every MLB organization and likely in every walk of life, but Brewers pitching prospect Shane Smith's rise through the system the past two years certainly fits that category. We talked to him recently about his strong 2024 season. Image courtesy of Sierra Gatz, Biloxi Shuckers 24-year-old Shane Smith grew up in the Boston area and attended The Governor's Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts. A star on and off the field, Smith chose to head to Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Unfortunately, he missed the 2019 season due to injury. In 2020, he was the team's closer but only pitched in five games before Covid ended the season. He made two starts for Wake Forest in 2021 before hurting his elbow and needing Tommy John surgery. With just 10 1/3 innings under his belt over three college seasons, Smith went undrafted. He could have stayed at Wake, rehabbed most of the 2022 season, and had a year of eligibility remaining in 2023. Instead, after much deep thought and conversations with his parents and others, he decided to bet on himself. Using the Communications degree classes he had already taken, he went about contacting MLB organization after organization. It paid off. In early July, the Milwaukee Brewers gave him a chance. He continued to rehab that summer as well as into the 2022 summer. He was able to end that year with three innings over three games for one of the Brewers Arizona Complex League teams. That gave him confidence heading into the 2023 season that he could do it again. The Brewers worked on a plan with him for that year. He began in Carolina, the Brewers Low-A affiliate. He made 19 appearances and had 50 strikeouts and 10 walks in 31 1/3 innings. He moved up to High-A Wisconsin and got better. He posted a 1.37 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP over 26 1/3 innings and 17 appearances. He had 34 strikeouts to just 10 walks. He was able to end that season with two games for Double-A Biloxi where he tossed two scoreless innings. He never worked in back-to-back games all season, and if he worked two innings, he would get three days between outings. He was finally above to enjoy a "regular" offseason. In mid-January, Smith joined me for his first Brewers Spotlight. It's worth going back and listening to just to get to know him and his story, and about his pitches and much, much more. That brings us to the 2024 season. As you would expect, he began the season with the Shuckers, but the plan was a bit different. Through conversation, he was going to slowly transition to the role of starting pitcher while still being cautious with his arm. His first nine appearances of the season came out of the bullpen. One inning. One inning. Two innings. Two innings, and up to three innings out of the bullpen. When he made his first start, the progression continued; four innings, four innings, five innings. He continued to start until late in August when he made two more relief appearances for the Shuckers. Soon after, he was promoted to Triple-A Nashville where he pitched in five games out of the bullpen to end the season. He jumped from 59 2/3 innings in 2023 to 94 1/3 innings in 2024. Overall, he went 6-3 with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. He had 113 strikeouts to just 29 walks. We caught up with Shane Smith earlier this week to discuss his 2024 season. Below you will find the topics that we covered with Time Stamps so that you can come back and listen over and over again, and tell your friends about it. 2:00: What were the things that you wanted to work on last offseason after a successful return to the full season? 3:15: How important was it to just get those two games in Biloxi late in the 2023 season? 4:00: In spring training, did you have the opportunity to spend time at big-league camp for some games as an extra arm? Did you gain any knowledge from being around the veterans on the bus or in the clubhouse or dugout? 5:55: Knowing you're just two promotions from the big leagues, were those types of opportunities more stressful or important? 6:50: Were you able to work in spring training with some of your coaches and other coaches that you haven't worked with previously that you learned from? 7:45: Were you aware of the plan ahead of time that you would get work as a starter, and was that something you were able take into consideration with the offseason workouts? 9:30: With the progression of innings and pitches, and then the role change from starter to reliever, does it alter your preparation or how you pitch in a game? And how did you adjust to what you needed to do pre-game? 12:55: What was the conversation like with the coaches or coordinators as the season went on and the innings count went higher and higher? 14:30: How nice was it to get to spend about a month in Nashville? Were you expecting it? 15:45: The Communications major talks geography and what he enjoyed about playing in Biloxi, Mississippi, and then playing in Nashville, Tennessee. 17:20: Were there noticeable differences between Double-A and Triple-A on the field? Any advice received from some of the veterans? 19:30: What pitches do you throw? What is your mix? 19:45: Smith developed a pitch in-season. How does that happen? Just playing catch, or a coach/coordinator comes in and says, "Let's try something" and then how do you know it's ready to use in a game? Then we spent several minutes showing video of him pitching and showing his various pitches and what he's trying to accomplish with each. Which pitches and pitch philosophy improved for him the most throughout the season? 29:00: Can it be a challenge to trust your stuff when you move up a level? 30:30: Smith discusses some of the other very talent pitchers in the upper levels of the Brewers system. Jacob Misiorowski has "insane" stuff. Find out what makes Craig Yoho's stuff work together and make him dominant. K.C. Hunt "did the three-levels in one year which is really cool." Smith roomed with Logan Henderson for the first year they were working at the team's Complex rehabbing their injuries. He's "electric, a competitor." Brett Wichrowski is "legit." 38:00: Is there a hitter (teammate) that you didn't want to miss when they were taking batting practice? 39:50: Is there a Wow moment on the mound in the upper levels, maybe facing a big leaguer? 42:00: What are the plans for the offseason in terms of things you're working on, and what are the conversations around starting and relieving moving forward? Join us in congratulating Shane Smith on another very good season. Thanks to him for taking the time to do this. View full article

All Brewer Fanatic writers were invited to participate in the vote either by DM on site and/or by DM on Slack. There were a few other reminders on the slack channel. We'll come up with a better system moving forward.

Gimme Brice Turang at shortstop for the next two years until Cooper Pratt is ready. Keep Joey Ortiz at third base. Get Tyler Black an opportunity at first base for awhile... Let Monasterio and Collins and others compete at second base. Chourio, Frelick and Perkins to go with Yelich in the OF. I'd lock up Contreras for awhile. He's a catcher, but he's really young and been really good and consistent. Bring in a couple of veteran hitters, professional hitters who can handle playing 3 times a week and potentially 5 days a week. Spend money on pitching. Extend Peralta.

Cooper PrattJacob MisiorowskiJeferson QueroTyler BlackJesus MadeLogan HendersonBraylon PayneLuis LaraYophery RodriguezRobert GasserJosh KnothLuis PenaK.C. HuntJadher AreinamoEric BitontiBrock WilkenEric Brown JrCarlos F RodriguezMike BoeveShane Smith

Boeve had a really nice season, hit for a high batting average when he was healthy. My vote went to Isaac Collins. I had Ernesto Martinez second.

Y'all are too kind, but it's 100% on me. I tried to provided a list of 12-15 of the top guys, and I MISSED KING... Granted, it still could have been looked up (Good job, @Ro Mueller!), but that's completely my bad.

Minor League Awards are fun to hand out because it gives us the opportunity to see which prospects are finding the most success for that time frame. There are some names on this month's rankings that have been around for a long time, but there are a lot of very interesting names of players in the organization's lowest levels too. Image courtesy of Sierra Gatz, Biloxi Shuckers There were quite a few very strong performances throughout the Brewers organization, from Nashville down to the Dominican Summer League. Share your thoughts on these Brewers prospects in the comments below. HONORABLE MENTIONS IF Luke Adams - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - 21 G, 13-51, .255/.536/.588 (1.124) with 2 doubles, 5 home runs, 15 R, 17 RBI, 21 BB, 15 K. IF Juan Ortuno - DSL Brewers - 18 G, 21-56, .375/.463/.554 (1.016) with 3 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, 12 R, 12 RBI, 9 BB, 7 K. OF Lamar Sparks - Biloxi Shuckers - 19 G, 28-75, .373/.392/.560 (.952) with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 2 home runs, 9 R, 13 RBI, 3 BB, 19 K. IF Josh Adamczewski - ACL Brewers - 19 G, 27-74, .365/.454/.595 (1.048) with 8 doubles, 3 home runs, 19 R, 14 RBI, 12 BB, 14 K OF Brewer Hicklen - Nashville Sounds - 22 G, 15-84, .262/.361/.524 (.885) with 2 doubles, 1 triple, 6 home runs, 15 R, 18 RBI, 12 BB, 27 K THE TOP FIVE HITTERS Number 5 - ACL Brewers/Carolina Mudcats - IF Eric Bitonti - 21-68, .309/.449/.515 (.964), 8 doubles, 2 home runs, 15 R, 18 RBI, 18 BB, 25 K. The Brewers had such an intriguing draft in 2023, particularly their ability to draft and sign some terrific high school talent up and down the draft. That includes Cooper Pratt, Bishop Letson, and Josh Adamczewski, but it certainly includes Eric Bitonti as well. He was the team’s third round pick out of Aquinas High School in San Bernadino. After signing, he played in just 12 games for the ACL Brewers, and that’s where he spent much of this season as well. In 51 games in the ACL this year, he hit .320/.451/.580 (1.031) with 17 doubles, three triples, and eight home runs. You can see that his July was just a normal month for him. He has been great all season. He hit for average, took a lot of walks, showed extra base power. When the ACL season ended last week, he was promoted to Low-A Carolina. In his fourth Carolina game, he hit two home runs. He will certainly be fun to watch moving forward. Number 4 - Nashville Sounds - OF Joey Wiemer - 20-60, .333/.494/.517 (1.010), 5 doubles, 2 home runs, 12 R, 11 RBI, 18 BB, 12 K. Wiemer has found himself on several of these monthly lists since the start of Brewer Fanatic. He’s been a terrific minor-league player over his full Brewers years. Now, we can acknowledge that his transition to the big league hasn’t gone well, but Wiemer has some of the best tools that you’ll find. And now, he’ll bring his tools to the Cincinnati Reds. He was one of two players sent to Cinci in the Frankie Montas deal. This should give Wiemer more opportunities to show what he can do, and for right now, just an opportunity for a new start. His final month in the organization was very good. He showed that when he’s on, he can hit for average, he can take walks with quality plate appearances, and he does have power potential. Most months, he won’t walk more than he strikes out, but he plays hard and has a very impressive power-speed tool kit. He played college ball in Cincinnati, so hopefully he’ll have a long, successful career there. Number 3 - Carolina Mudcats - OF Luis Castillo - 17-53, .321/.431/.660 (1.091), 6 doubles, 4 home runs, 9 R, 20 RBI, 10 BB, 13 K. Ten extra bases in a month is pretty impressive. Six doubles and four home runs tells us how he reached a .660 slugging percentage. If we’re being honest, Castillo reached this lofty ranking in July because of three games against the Salem Red Sox. 7/26: 4-for-4, 2B, 2-HR, 6 RBI 7/27: 2-for-4, 2 RBI 7/28: 3-for-4, 2B, 2-HR, 8 RBI. That is about as impressive a three-game stretch as a player can have. What it does is shows the high-level of potential that he has. He is capable of three and four hit games, and two-homer games may not be a rarity for him down the line. He’s got room to grow, and he can get stronger. He’s still just 20-years-old and making himself a prospect to watch. Number 2 - DSL Brewers 1 - SS Jesus Made - 24-62, .387/.507/.597 (1.103), 3 doubles, 2 triples, 2 home runs, 23 R, 8 RBI, 15 BB, 11 K. The Brewers signed several very interesting international players this January including Made, who they signed for a $950,000 bonus. He’s already 6-1 and lean, but he’s got the room to grow. Many scouts believe that he will eventually move to third base long-term and develop into a power hitter. What’s really exciting is that such a young player not only hit .387, but to walk more than he’s struck out is very impressive for such a young player. But those doubles could turn into home runs and he develops and gets more time. And the Brewers Minor League Hitter of the Month is: Biloxi Shuckers - 1B Ernesto Martinez - 20 G, 27-71, .380/.506/.549 (1.055), 5 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, 13 R, 11 RBI, 13 BB, 11 K. If you go way back to May of 2017, the Brewers signed a then-17-year-old Ernest Martinez to a sizable $800,000 signing bonus. Martinez is a large man, standing over 6-6 which makes him a great target at first base. He grew up in Cuba and was part of a lot of national teams. As a 16-year-old, he played for France in the 2017 WBC qualifiers (his father spent time playing there). Did you know that Martinez speaks English, Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole? At least to this point in his career, Martinez isn’t a big power hitter as his size might suggest. He is a line drive hitter that makes a lot of solid contact and uses the whole field. He does have power that shows from time to time, but it hasn’t been a priority for him to add power. He’s got a really good eye at the plate and is willing to take his walks. He was involved in gymnastics as a kid and is really quite nimble and athletic around first base. He is certainly a very intriguing prospect and one to watch. In July, he led the Brewers minor-league system with a .388 batting average and a 1.085 OPS. He also led with 27 hits and two triples. His .506 OBP was second. His slugging percentage ranked third, as did his five doubles. Ernesto Martinez is definitely a name that Brewers fans will want to dig a little more deeply into. We want to congratulate Shuckers first baseman Ernesto Martinez, Brewer Fanatic’s choice for Minor League Hitter of the Month for July 2024. Feel free to share your thoughts and ask questions. View full article

Ranked ProspectsJacob MisiorowskiJeferson QueroTyler BlackCooper PrattRobert GasserBrock WilkenLogan HendersonYophery RodriguezMike BoeveJosh KnothEric BitontiLuis LaraCarlos F RodriguezLuke AdamsBrett WichrowskiJesus MadeBishop LetsonLuis PenaBraylon PayneCraig Yoho

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Brewers have signed Jadyn Fielder, an infielder from the TNXL Academy in Florida as an Undrafted Free Agent. The 19-year-old infielder is the son of former Brewers 1B/DH Prince Fielder. Image courtesy of © H. Darr Beiser-USA TODAY While doing a little research for this article on a number of topics, one struck me harder than anything else. Did you know that Prince Fielder is only 40 years old? His final big-league game came in July of 2016, eight years ago, and obviously due to the tremendous pain from his neck injuries that required two surgeries. Prince Fielder was the Brewers first-round pick, seventh-overall in the 2002 MLB draft out of high school in Florida. He debuted in 2005 with the Brewers. He spent parts of seven season with the Brewers before getting a huge contract from the Tigers (9 years, $214 million). He was there for two years before playing three seasons with the Rangers. In his time with the Brewers, Prince Fielder played in 998 games. He hit .282/.390/.540 (.929) with 200 doubles and 230 home runs. Over his 12-year, big-league career, he had a total of 321 doubles and 319 home runs. Ironically, that is the exact number of MLB home runs hit by his father, Cecil Fielder who starred for the Tigers in the late '80s and then played for several teams throughout the '90s. In his time with the Brewers, Prince Fielder was a three-time All-Star, three-time Silver Slugger, and he finished in the Top 5 in MVP voting three times. At his best, he was one of the most-feared hitters in the game. He is already in the Brewers Wall of Honor and in their Walk of Fame. According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the Brewers have signed Jadyn Fielder , the 19-year-old son of Prince (and grandson of Cecil) as an undrafted free agent. Before we jump to more about Fielder, a little bit about TNXL Academy. There are more and more baseball academies popping up around the country, but TNXL has grown. Most have heard of IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. It has been around for a long time and works with athletes from a ton of different sports. The P27 Baseball Academy in South Carolina has seen several players get drafted in recent years as well. TNXL Academy is only about a decade old, located in Ocoee, Florida. The general idea is to shorten to school day and lengthen the baseball work out time. They have experts and coaches working with players on their strength and conditioning, baseball skills, and more, along with expecting the kids to complete their academic requirements. Generally speaking, the 'students' are enrolled in an approved online high school program and curriculum. Many of the kids are able to not only complete high school (which they need to be drafted) but also can start taking college courses as well. Since its inception in 2014, all of the seniors have committed to a college and seven have been drafted. They don't play a typical high school schedule. They play in tournaments and also get games against junior colleges and D2 teams. Each day, the athlete's will get between four-and-a-half hours of specialized baseball training depending upon their position and individual needs. That happens Mondays through Thursdays and Friday is optional. They also have all of the new technology and data and test players six times per year to see how they are progressing and to update their individual programs. Oh yeah, there have to get their homework done too. Now to Jadyn Fielder. About the only similarities between Prince and Jadyn include batting left handed and standing just under 6-0 tall. Jadyn is about 200 pounds, with room to grow. Prince was a first baseman and DH. Jadyn has played second base, third base, and shortstop, though he's not likely to remain at short. Jadyn has been playing at Perfect Game events going all the way back to 2016 when he was 5-1 and 112 pounds on a 12U team. Young Fielder is already 19 years old. He went undrafted despite his genetic lineage. He was committed to Division I North Florida, but he's not a top prep prospect of this year either. However, it's completely worth the flyer for the genetics alone. He's got some size and strength. He's not the greatest athlete, but is is capable of being more than a first baseman or DH. Clearly he knows the game and likely has a strong baseball IQ. And he can really swing the bat well from the left side. He has quick bat speed and ends his swing with great extension. He can put up some big exit velocity numbers but he's been inconsistent. He's a solid infielder with OK range, and an arm that can probably play at third base. Like his father, he seems to take a lot of good ABs and knows the strike zone. Personally, I like it. He's not committed to a Division I power house. He may not get drafted in three years or four years. So get the career going, make some money, and do it with an organization that you're at least familiar with. There has to be a confidence that the organization will keep him around through at least four years. They'll be patient and who knows, is 2-3 years, the money they gave him to sign now may look like quite the deal! Fielder has been playing for the Frederick Keys in the MLB Draft League this summer. In 22 games, he has hit .208/.374/.306 (.680) with two doubles, a triple and a home run. In 92 plate appearances, he has 15 walks and 20 strikeouts. His manager was 10-year big leaguer Jacque Jones, and the hitting coach is six-year MLBer Anderson Hernandez. The odds of any drafted player to make the big leagues is very low, and that percentage is even lower for undrafted free agents. So this signing, at least for now, is more about the fun story and the family ties. At the same time, because of the family and genetics, it sure seems like a reasonable, very low-cost risk. Get him in the system, working with the Brewers player development group, let him mature and play and improve and see what happens. Keep up with other Brewers draft news and signings in this forum thread and on the Brewer Fanatic Draft Tracker. View full article

It's been two months, and the draft has brought new players into the organization. It's prospect voting time! A rundown of the rules again: 1. You must have an account and be logged in to vote. If you don't have an account, click here. It literally requires 60 seconds to create an account. 2. Review our current top 20 prospect list, catch up on stats, rankings, etc. (you can do so from the voting page link below) 3. Have your prospect list in your dirty little paws? Then flip on over to the new prospect voting page (after reading the rest of this, please). https://brewerfanatic.com/prospect-voting 4. Voting is super simple, you drag and drop players in the order you wish them to be. After you move a prospect, the list automatically renumbers so you don't lose track of the order. This works on mobile devices but it's a *vastly* better experience on desktop. Sorry, that's just how this kind of thing works. There's no great way to make something like this be as awesome on a phone screen. 5. Each prospect has a comment section where you can add any commentary you have on that player. At the bottom of the list, there is a general comment section to explain over-arching things you wish to mention. 6. Don't see a prospect you want to put on the list? Just pop back here and give me a mention (in a comment, start typing @Brock Beauchamp or @Seth Stohs as they appear). Mention the prospect you want added and I will do that asap. 7. Once you're done with all of it, click Save. You've now voted! 8. When the voting closes, a new thread will automatically generate in this forum with all of your rankings and comments for everyone to read and talk about. 9. You can only vote once. If you have voted in error, pop back here and tag Brock, asking to have your vote deleted. It will be removed and you can vote again. Voting will close at end of day Wednesday, July 31st!

In May, 24-year-old Craig Yoho was incredible for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. For the month, he made four starts and went 0-0 with a 0.73 ERA. In 12 1/3 innings, he gave up one run on 5 hits, 4 walks and he struck out 21 batters. Opponents hit just .122 off of him. He was promoted to AA Biloxi before the end of the month and made his first Shuckers appearance in June (2 IP, 5 K). Overall this season, in 17 games, he is 1-0 with a 0.40 ERA and a 0.63 WHIP. In 22 1/3 innings, he's give up on earned run on eight hits, six walks and he's got 42 strikeouts. He grew up in Fishers, Indiana, a northeast suburb of Indianapolis. He spent two seasons as a hitter at the University of Houston. Then he transferred to Indiana and missed the 2021 and 2022 seasons due to Tommy John and knee surgeries. He was the Brewers 8th round pick in 2023 out of Indiana University. Find out what has made him so successful as a pro pitcher when it's still something so new to him. He has certainly overcome a lot to get to this point and looks forward to continue to move up. Find out much more about Craig Yoho the pitcher and the person in this conversation with Seth Stohs. View full video

Each month at Brewer Fanatic, we pick our Brewers Minor League Hitter, Starting Pitcher and Relief Pitcher. This month's starting pitcher of the month is Alexander Cornielle of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. In four May starts, he went 2-0 with a 0.76 ERA. He gave up just two runs over 23 2/3 innings. In his first three starts of the month, he went six shutout, seven shutout and then 5 2/3 scoreless. He gave up just 10 hits all month. He signed with the Brewers from the Dominican Republic in June of 2019. We caught up with him on what went well for him in May, what he wanted to work on in the offseason, and his goals for the rest of the season. Does he miss hitting? Why did he decide to sign with the Brewers? It might surprise you to hear which former big league pitcher he watched most every time he pitched. View full video

Jeff Hem is the play-by-play broadcaster of the Nashville Sounds, the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. We briefly discussed his background and the unique level that Triple-A can be before discussing several of the players who are just a call away from being called up. Image courtesy of © Mike DuBose / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK (The massive new guitar-shaped scoreboard at Greer Stadium almost overshadows the action on the field during the Nashville Sounds 7-5 victory over the Omaha Royals April 12, 1993.) Before the 2012 season, Jeff Hem was named the broadcaster for the Nashville Sounds. Over his dozen seasons behind the mic, he has seen some very good teams and some players who have helped the Brewers find a ton of success. On Friday, we discussed his time with the Sounds but also where he called games before that. The University of Iowa grad talked about his career goals when he went to college, and how he joined the world of play-by-play broadcasting. He discussed the uniqueness of Triple-A ball with the variety of player types found at the level. And then we talked about several players on the current team. There is a ton of depth ready to help the Brewers when needed, and there are a few prospects who are likely to be a part of the future of the ball club. Below the video, you can find the timeline of the interview so you can look back and more easily find where players or topics were discussed. Of course, you can also click on the Video link above to watch more Brewer Fanatic videos. 1:00: Introduction and background of Jeff Hem's career. Before coming to Nashville, he was the voice of the Kane County Cougars of the Midwest League. 3:00: What was your educational path to a career in sports broadcasting? Like the path of most prospects, Jeff's journey to broadcasting was not linear, with several potential career options before realizing this is what he wanted to do. 6:40: How does called play-by-play effect how you call baseball? How does the job differ from sport to sport. Each can provide some unique challenges. 10:00: In baseball, you never know what will happen with each pitch, and 'the big play' of any game can present itself at any time. 12:45: The Sounds are managed by Rick Sweet, who is one of the most respected managers in the game. What makes him such a successful manager, particularly for the players in the highest minor-league level? In addition, he just loves talking about baseball and welcomes questions which is great for the broadcaster, and ultimately great for the fans who listen. 18:00: Pitching Wins! Let's talk about it! Jeff discusses the starting regulars this year. Carlos Rodriguez is a legitimate prospect with a big future. Chad Patrick's flown to Triple-A under the radar, but he's pitching really well. Aaron Ashby is working his way back from his surgery and missing the entire 2023 season. Tyler Woessner came up from Biloxi early and done a good job. But others such as Janson Junk, Robert Gasser, Jared Koenig, Enoli Paredes and others have spent time in both levels. 24:00: Let's talk about the hitters. Again, there are a couple of players who are a little bit older and maybe their development time took a little while, but they're now at Triple-A, continuing to contribute and putting themselves into at least some consideration for call ups. 28-year-old outfielder Brewer Hicklen is one such player. Vinny Capra is another. Isaac Collins is 26 and came to the Brewers in the minor-league Rule 5 draft in December 2022. He's been fantastic for two full months this season. 29:16: "It's just not your turn." Because of the current big-league roster, there are several players doing very in Nashville, but right now, the roster is difficult to crack. But if the player is able to maintain positivity and keep working and performing, there may be another opportunity later. 32:00: Tyler Black can hit and he can run, but does he have a defensive position that he could fill? 35:15: Are there a couple of under-the-radar hitting prospects to watch? 38:55: The Last Word: Be sure to check out his blog at JeffHemPBP.wordpress.com where his pregame interviews with players and coaches. They are also available in podcast form by searching "Nashville Sounds Rounding Third." Thank you to Jeff Hem for his time and willingness to share information, stories and so much more. Join me in the comments to thank him for taking the time, but also feel free to ask additional questions as well. View full article

Seth chatted with Jeff Hem. He has been the play-by-play broadcaster of the Brewers Triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds since the 2012 season. Get to know a bit about Jeff and his background in broadcasting. Then we talk about what he finds most intriguing about following the players at the Triple-A level. We talked Carlos F. Rodriguez, Chad Patrick, and Aaron Ashby's comeback. But Also Robert Gasser and Tobias Myers and others. He highlighted a couple of relievers that have done well and the great stories that they have become. Likewise, a couple of unlikely hitters have emerged early this season. Does Tyler Black have a defensive position? And, of course, much more. View full video