Jim Goulart

Transactions: The organization continues to give temporary placements to the "Development Squad" (sounds like a 70's-era TV police show) in order to get down to MILB's roster limits. That means, for the time being, these players are essentially on a taxi squad. Biloxi - RHP's James Meeker and Robbie Baker, C Jason Lopez Wisconsin - C Jose Sibrian Carolina - RHP's Jacob Misiorowski and Alexander Vallecillo Keep in mind that only the Biloxi names above have been listed officially by MiLB. Other names were deduced by analyzing roster updates released by the respective affiliates. It's going to be exceedingly rare that the Brewers provide injury updates, but occasionally a regular visitor to our Minor League Forum has provided news based on his own reach-outs with players. His latest post has news on 2022 10th round Rutgers LHP Brian Fitzpatrick and heralded 2021 4th round RHP Logan Henderson, currently #25 on the Pipeline list. Final: Nashville 3, Memphis (Cardinals) 0 Via the Sounds' site, game details, and we encourage readers to review each of the affiliate write-ups as part of your season-long Link Report routine: Sounds' Gloves Shine in Shutout Win - Defensive gems all around the diamond back a Colin Rea/Janson Junk combined shutout Pre-Game Media Notes Box Score / Game Log Did we mention all four affiliates were on the road for their current Easter weekend series? Thankfully, the Brewers teams gave the opposition social media crews little reason to promote themselves. (Memphis' online presence, by the way, is nearly invisible, including their own site. Be thankful for the spectacular work done at the Crew's outposts!). Not sure how one fumbles this play, but Sal Frelick sure did not, even if the Redbirds' announcer did: Seems there's little doubt RHP Janson Junk would be Milwaukee's first reach for a starting pitcher. though he was the back half of a tandem here with veteran and former big-league Brewers RHP Colin Rea. Junk's 40-man spot (and effectiveness thus far) give him the edge over LHP Robert Gasser. You truly can't have a more Keston Hiura early-season line: 6-for-19 with a HR, .316/.435/.474 (.909 OPS) yet with seven K's. The Phillies continue to get ravaged at first base, pick up the phone already, Dave Dombrowski. Final: Biloxi 3, Mississippi (Braves) 0 Via the Shuckers' site: Myers Strikes Out 11, Chourio Tallies Multi-Hit Night in 3-0 Opening Day Win - Biloxi pitching strikes out 16 in shutout win over Mississippi Pre-Game Media Notes Box Score / Game Log It's not easy to distract from and even upstage the 2-for-4 with two RBI performance of Baseball America's #1 MiLB prospect, but the Biloxi arms did so here. RHP Tobias Myers won't even turn 25 until August, yet he saw time with five organizations prior to Milwaukee signing him last November. His 2022 included a series of trades and DFA's that was both dizzying and spoke to his potential. Check out his transactions journey at the bottom of his MiLB player page, but cover your eyes when you review his numbers last season. No sugarcoating, they're hideous, yet an outlier season within his career path as a 6th round pick by Baltimore out of a Florida high school. Intriguing after night one, to say the least. We saw it this spring, and let's just hope the organization entrenches Tyler Black at third base and he thrives there. We know he can play elsewhere (we didn't say excel), but we know the bat is real and wow, would that fill a long-term void at the MLB level. The RH reliever trio of Justin Yeager, Ryan Middendorf and Abner Uribe already gives us the googly-eyes. So sweet. There will be no shortage of legitimate bullpen arms in the next year or two, another reason to be optimistic for the Crew's sustainability hopes. Oh yeah, the Chourio kid: Final: Wisconsin 4, Beloit (Marlins) 2 Via the Timber Rattlers' site: Rattlers Win Season Opener with 4-2 Victory at Beloit - Four pitchers combine for 14Ks while holding Sky Carp to three hits Pre-Game Media Notes (Download Link) via the team's Virtual Press Box Box Score / Game Log 2022 California League Pitcher of the Year Joe Hernandez was the return for RH reliever Justin Topa, who was assigned to AAA by the Mariners to begin this season. Getting the Opening Night honors is a promising sign about his work in spring camp. Hernandez' effort was solid enough, but it was the non-drafted 2022 RHP Ryan Brady (Brigham Young University) who dazzled here. Brady only pitched four innings in Maryvale last summer, but his age (just turned 24) and collegiate background netted him the jump over the Carolina League. As usual, our @Joseph Zarr had his multi-screen MiLB.TV analysis at the ready for us last night (review our entire forum thread for insights throughout, but in particular here is the duo of his Brady first impression posts). Hopefully 2022 first round SS Eric Brown, Jr.'s absence will be brief (did not play Friday). Thanks to the Rattlers drawing ten walks, six players reached more than once. Whenever you reach base four times, you should get a mention, and 3B Ben Metzinger did just that. Wisconsin was 0-for-12 with RISP, stranded 12, yet fell on the right side of the win column. Suspended after five innings: Carolina 1, Fayetteville (Astros) 1 Via the Mudcats' site: Mudcats Season Opener Suspended Due To Rain - The Mudcats and Woodpeckers were suspended due to rain on Opening Night Pre-Game Media Notes Box Score (thus far) / Game Log (thus Far) Over 3,600 in Fayetteville under damp conditions, impressive. Despite this being his age 21 season, RHP Edwin Jimenez is technically in his 5th campaign with the Crew (four minus 2020, which still counts for service time purposes). He will need to build on the 25 games (17 starts), 1.41 WHIP with the Mudcats last summer, so this was a solid start. We'll highlight more in Sunday morning's report regarding this game, though Voice of the Mudcats Greg Young Jr. hit all the right topics and notes within the linked write-up above. This was fun. Week One with just the Sounds was fine, but this report really dusted off the cobwebs for this Minor League Link Reporter. Back with you early Sunday AM with just the yellow Peeps. Enjoy your Saturday, everyone! Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scoresCurrent Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and DepthCurrent Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth

Transactions: None. The Brewers had previously released rosters for Biloxi, Wisconsin, and Carolina earlier this week. Our suggestion - if you have not been keeping up with the multiple topics on our Minor League BrewerFanatic Forum, it's a good day to catch up. In particular, we've been peppering the "Your 2023 _____" team threads with video reports from the various outposts. Final, Game One: Nashville 4, Memphis (Cardinals) 0 Final, Game Two: Memphis 2, Nashville 0 Via the Sounds' site, game details, and we encourage readers to review each of the affiliate write-ups as part of your season-long Link Report routine: Sounds Split Twin Bill in Memphis - Gasser and company shut out Memphis in game one, Redbirds return favor in game two Pre-Game Media Notes Game One Box Score / Game One Game Log Game Two Box Score / Game Two Game Log 2:04, 2:05 -Times of game (granted, seven innings apiece, and no bottom of the 7th in the opener). Game One saw a solid offensive team performance, ten base knocks including four doubles, and 4-for-10 with RISP. Leadoff man Sal Frelick led the way: Frelick played right field in both games, by the way, and stole his third base of the season. Fellow OF's Tyler Naquin (LF) and Skye Bolt (CF) were the other players to reach more than once, each with a single and a walk. So the Nashville hurlers tossed zero-run innings in the opener. The Journal-Sentinel's Curt Hogg captured a snippet of LHP Robert Gasser's evening for us: As pointed out in our always helpful Link Report-associated freeform commentary thread, Gasser wasn't in the strike zone a ton but he induced many chases as 53 of his 87 pitches generated strikes. But yeah, 87 pitches over four+ innings isn't ideal. Gasser walked the first two men he faced in the 5th, but what a to-the-rescue inning from RHP Lucas Erceg (K, force out, fly out). Erceg's breakfast is on Gasser's tab this AM, one would think. There's RHP Elvis Peguero with another eye-opening effort for Brewers brass, spanning two innings to close Game One out. Peguero is one of just five Elvis' with big-league experience, and we wonder if he visited a certain tourist spot while in Memphis. In the nightcap, the Redbirds were 0-for-9 with RISP so the 2-0 final score disguised the fact that starting RHP Caleb Boushley and LH reliever Ethan Small each walked three. Trusting one of our readers who had eyeballs on the game: Man, rough outing for Ethan Small. Velo back down to his usual numbers after being up in his 1st outing of the year and just absolutely zero command/control. What's most concerning is he isn't even throwing other pitches. He threw 27 FB and 2 CH tonight. Of his 27 FB only 6 were inside the zone. I feel like it's one thing if he's struggling locating a breaking ball, but struggling to locate a 91 mph FB is a tough look. Just a mechanical mess is my guess because he misses so many pitches super high (early release) or super low and in (late release). Just one outing, and Small was sharper his first time out. Still a bit discouraging, however. Let's focus on 6th-year (including 2020) LHP Clayton Andrews. As Will Sammon wrote in December 2021 (back when The Athletic had a Brewers beat writer): Andrews threw only 9 1/3 innings for the Sounds before Tommy John surgery ended his season. He was a candidate for a call-up from the alternate site in 2020, and it wouldn’t have been surprising to see him make his major-league debut in 2021. He could be useful as a lefty reliever but he isn’t expected to be available until at least June 2022. He’s well-liked for his fastball/changeup combination. Andrews is still listed at 5'6", but is pumping as high as 94 MPH. He's a fascinating candidate in this needs-a-40-man-spot-but-Hoby-Milner-is-the-lone-lefty world in which Brewers fans live. Andrews preserved a scoreless line for Boushley, fanning two with a man on third base. But wait, though he has underperformed in his big-league chances thus far, LHP Matthew Liberatore, acquired for Arozarena, flashed this against the Sounds. Darn -- Enjoy the full feast of action Friday night, everyone! Organizational Scoreboard including starting pitcher info, game times, MiLB TV links, and box scoresCurrent Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and DepthCurrent Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth