Jim Goulart

3/4/22: Happy 21st Birthday, RHP Fernando Olguin! MiLB Player Page (Baseball Reference page always linked above in the birthday greeting) Signed out of Tijuana, Mexico in May of 2019, RHP Fernando Olguin has done nothing but impress, and we so wish we had more than numbers to go on, but those numbers have been outstanding. Olguin's professional debut came in a Mexican Summer League game in 2018, when he made a single appearance as a 17-year-old in a league often equated to just the slightest cut below AAA. Please read our post from the 2019 transaction thread for the backstory via a translated article and photos. In researching this post via Olguin's mentions in 2019 (Dominican Summer League) and 2021 (Arizona Complex League - Maryvale) Link Reports, there have many reasons to fawn over the performances. In Olguin's Brewers debut season, Olguin gave up one run in eight relief appearances spanning 18.1 innings. When placed in the DSL rotation in August for four starts, his ERA was more modest (3.86), but his final line of 1.88 ERA, with 43 IP, 15 BB, 53 K, and a 1.256 WHIP was stateside worthy for the following spring to be sure (2020 lost to the pandemic, of course). Heck, in one DSL Link Report entry, I espoused: Enough with the Aaron Wilkerson's, Deolis Guerra's, and Burch Smith's. Bring up 18-year-old Fernando Olguin today. In ten Maryvale appearances last summer (three starts), Olguin reduced his walk rate from 3.1 to 2.3 per nine. His WHIP dropped to 1.085. But perhaps the most impressive part of Olguin's journey thus far is his performance in the highly competitive Mexican Winter League just concluded -- as the initial Baseball Reference link above notes where your average pitcher is nearly nine years older. Trusted with 12 relief appearances, Olguin sported a 1.50 ERA and 1.000 WHIP. Nice photo here from legendary Arizona baseball photographer Bill Mitchell. If Olguin's career path so far seems familiar, it patterns that of fellow Tijuana native Victor Castaneda, currently #28 on the Crew's MLB Pipeline Top 30. Really hoping Olguin opens with the Mudcats next month, so we can get eyes on his stuff for the first time.

Thursday 3/3: Via WTMJ, Greg Matzek hosts the latest episode of "Brewers Weekly": Includes an interview with ESPN's Jesse Rogers, which can be heard as a stand-alone here

Wednesday 3/2: WSSP's "Big Show": Senior Forbes.com baseball contributor Maury Brown WSSP's "Big Show": Former Brewers bullpen catcher and Koos For Kids founder Marcus Hanel *** Thursday 3/3: Via the Journal Sentinel Podcast: "Labor mess delays start of the season and a farewell to Tom Haudricourt"

The latest on Brewers top prospects Nice new streamlined link via Adam McCalvy *** (Subscription) ‘I need to be better’: 10 of the Brewers’ top prospects reveal the one skill they’re trying hardest to improve Will Sammon, The Athletic

Monday 2/28: Via Locked on Brewers: Mailbag Monday: What do you love about baseball? Latest Milwaukee Tailgate Podcast *** Tuesday 3/1: Via Locked on Brewers: Opening Day Is Cancelled. Now What? Via WSSP's "Ramie Show": Cody Decker, host of the Big Time Baseball Podcast (go to the 04:25 minute mark) WSSP's "Big Show": MLB on FOX Analyst and Flippin Bats Podcast Host Ben Verlander WSSP's "Big Show": Kevin Holden, CBS 58 Sports Director (go to the 09:30 minute mark) *** Wednesday 3/2: Via 97.3 FM's "Heller and Davis": Tom Haudricourt (go to the 27:20 minute mark) Via WSSP's "Ramie Show" (Tim Allen hosting): "Former Brewers OF Geoff Jenkins discusses the MLB lockout, gives some insight on the life of a Minor Leaguer, his days in Milwaukee & more."

3/4/22: NOTE: You will only see vitals, and not stats, at the links below as Quintana has yet to make his professional debut. Happy 18th Birthday, LHP Pedro Quintana! MiLB Player Page (Baseball Reference page always linked above in the birthday greeting) Acquired last May from the Mets for a DFA'd Billy McKinney, Quintana is one of the four players pictured here, likely in the bottom row based on the Twitter mention. Borrowing from this Todd Rosiak Journal-Sentinel notes column at the time of the trade (by the way, please subscribe or re-subscribe if the big-league season ever starts): The Brewers are happy to wait and see what Quintana might turn into, considering they were prepared to lose McKinney with no compensation after he'd likely have been claimed off waivers. "Collecting these types of arms is something that we’ve tried to do for a number of years here," general manager Matt Arnold said Thursday. Another example was their trade of reliever David Phelps last Aug. 31 in exchange for young minor-league pitchers Brandon Ramey, Juan Geraldo and Israel Puello. "Freddy Peralta’s a great example of that type of guy. You never know. We’ve watched Freddy’s development, and he’s come so far and it’s such a credit to what Freddy has done in his career. "But yeah, collecting as many of these arms as we can and who knows? By doing that, we hope we can develop the next Freddy Peralta." Quintana, listed at 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds, signed as an international free agent with the Mets in January but was also on Milwaukee's radar screen. Arnold said already, Quintana's curveball and changeup stand out and that his fastball should improve as he continues to mature. "He’s a really interesting lefty. He’s physical, athletic. Our guys did a really good job on him as an amateur. We've tracked him for a while," Arnold said. "The talent is really intriguing. He just turned 17 years old. Athletic, physical, room for him to fill out and grow. When you think about guys like this, he’d be maybe a sophomore or junior in high school here. So, thinking of where he is from a stuff perspective, obviously he’s going to take some time to develop. "But the ingredients that we saw of where he is right now in his development phase, we’re really optimistic about this guy." *** So, we will see if Quintana debuts in the Dominican or Maryvale this summer. Come back tomorrow (Saturday the 5th) for another quick trip to the Caribbean.

3/4/22: Happy 21st Birthday, RHP Fernando Olguin! MiLB Player Page (Baseball Reference page always linked above in the birthday greeting) Signed out of Tijuana, Mexico in May of 2019, RHP Fernando Olguin has done nothing but impress, and we so wish we had more than numbers to go on, but those numbers have been outstanding. Olguin's professional debut came in a Mexican Summer League game in 2018, when he made a single appearance as a 17-year-old in a league often equated to just the slightest cut below AAA. Please read our post from the 2019 transaction thread for the backstory via a translated article and photos. In researching this piece via Olguin's mentions in 2019 (Dominican Summer League) and 2021 (Arizona Complex League - Maryvale) Link Reports, there have many reasons to fawn over the performances. In Olguin's Brewers debut season, Olguin gave up one run in eight relief appearances spanning 18.1 innings. When placed in the DSL rotation in August for four starts, his ERA was more modest (3.86), but his final line of 1.88 ERA, with 43 IP, 15 BB, 53 K, and a 1.256 WHIP was stateside worthy for the following spring, to be sure. Heck, in one DSL Link Report entry, I espoused: Enough with the Aaron Wilkerson's, Deolis Guerra's, and Burch Smith's. Bring up 18-year-old Fernando Olguin today. In ten Maryvale appearances last summer (three starts), Olguin reduced his walk rate from 3.1 to 2.3 per nine. His WHIP dropped to 1.085. But perhaps the most impressive part of Olguin's journey thus far is his performance in the highly competitive Mexican Winter League just concluded -- as the initial Baseball Reference link above notes where your average pitcher is nearly nine years older. Trusted with 12 relief appearances, Olguin sported a 1.50 ERA and 1.000 WHIP. Nice photo here from legendary Arizona baseball photographer Bill Mitchell. If Olguin's career path so far seems familiar, it patterns that of fellow Tijuana native Victor Castaneda, currently #28 on the Crew's MLB Pipeline Top 30. Really hoping Olguin opens with the Mudcats next month, so we can get eyes on his stuff for the first time.

McCalvy's video/articles on Lucas Erceg Tyler Gillies Zack Brown At some point come regular season we'll likely link to all Journal (Rosiak) and Athletic (Sammon) articles despite subscrition needs. If you're here at Brewerfan, two feeds you'd want to consider paying for regardless.

Kyle Lobner's latest at Shepherd Express

3/1/22: Happy 20th Birthday, RHP Edrian Robinson! MiLB Player Page (Baseball Reference page always linked above in the birthday greeting) A sign of the times (again) when it comes to parent's new-fangled baby name choices a couple of decades ago - for the umpteenth time in this rather young thread, Robinson is the first and thus far only "Edrian" to ever play professional baseball. The 6'5" Robinson, a Dominican native, was signed at an odd time, October of 2020, not part of a bundled international signing group, "likely" an indication this was a minimal bonus contract. That being said, Robinson began his pro career with his age 19 season spent in Maryvale this past summer. We've seen this before, but it sometimes seems rather random. That'd be a good question to see answered by Brewers development staff at some point - what factors go into starting a teenage Latin player stateside? In 15 relief appearances spanning 21.2 innings, Robinson walked as many as he struck out (23). He also threw 15 wild pitches (can we assume that velocity was one reason he debuted in Maryvale?) Amidst the tough lines in Robinson's game log were a Link Report gem or two, such as appearance #9 and his final outing on September 14th. Via Edrian's Instagram page -- VIDEO - Yeah, throws hard 6'5" sitting down While a 2022 Dominican Summer League assignment can't be ruled out, we'll probably see Robinson harness what he can back in Arizona. *** Back on Friday the 4th with two more young Latin imports.

3/1/22: Happy 29th Birthday, RHP Jason Alexander! MiLB Player Page (Baseball Reference page always linked above in the birthday greeting) First of all, we'll set all the Seinfeld references aside - his Brewerfan signing thread contained enough. Finally given a chance, Jason Alexander’s improbable journey has him standing out a step from the majors Scott Kornberg, Broadcaster and Media and Public Relations Manager for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp No amount of research we could do would provide more detail than contained in the above. A must-read on the invite to Brewers' big league camp. About the only thing that feature story doesn't mention is that Jason's brother is LHP Scott Alexander, who continues to carve out a successful big league career.

Pretty clear this was meant to be posted in the lockout thread...

3/1/22: Happy 29th Birthday, RHP Jason Alexander! MiLB Player Page (Baseball Reference page always linked above in the birthday greeting) First of all, we'll set all the Seinfeld references aside - his Brewerfan signing thread contained enough. Finally given a chance, Jason Alexander’s improbable journey has him standing out a step from the majors Scott Kornberg, Broadcaster and Media and Public Relations Manager for the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp No amount of research we could do would provide more detail than contained in the above. A must-read on the invite to Brewers' big league camp. About the only thing that feature story doesn't mention is that Jason's brother is LHP Scott Alexander, who continues to carve out a successful big league career.

3/1/22: Happy 20th Birthday, RHP Edrian Robinson! MiLB Player Page (Baseball Reference page always linked above in the birthday greeting) A sign of the times (again) when it comes to parent's new-fangled baby name choices a couple of decades ago - for the umpteenth time in this rather young thread, Robinson is the first and thus far only "Edrian" to ever play professional baseball. The 6'5" Robinson, a Dominican native, was signed at an odd time, October of 2020, not part of a bundled international signing group, "likely" an indication this was a minimal bonus contract. That being said, Robinson began his pro career with his age 19 season spent in Maryvale this past summer. We've seen this before, but it sometimes seems rather random. That'd be a good question to see answered by Brewers development staff at some point - what factors go into starting a teenage Latin player stateside? In 15 relief appearances spanning 21.2 innings, Robinson walked as many as he struck out (23). He also threw 15 wild pitches (can we assume that velocity was one reason he debuted in Maryvale?) Amidst the tough lines in Robinson's game log were a Link Report gem or two, such as appearance #9 and his final outing on September 14th. Via Edrian's Instagram page -- VIDEO - Yeah, throws hard 6'5" sitting down While a 2022 Dominican Summer League assignment can't be ruled out, we'll probably see Robinson harness what he can back in Arizona. *** Back on Friday the 4th with two more young Latin imports.

2/28/22: Happy 24th Birthday, C Nick Kahle! MiLB Player Page (Baseball Reference page always linked above in the birthday greeting) All the draft-day Kahle scouting reports highlighting his offensive capabilities are absolutely worth a read as we try and review where Kahle is after his 2021 season. Brad Ford's Q&A with Kahle upon signing with the Crew in 2019 *** Kahle's pro career started out on a fine and expected path as the 2019 4th rounder posted an .825 OPS with Advanced Rookie Rocky Mountain before netting a late cup of coffee call-up to High-A Carolina (two games). Kahle found some significant (all things considered) work during the pandemic downtime compared to most -- 21 games of independent ball in North Dakota in the summer of 2020 before heading to Brisbane, Australia, where he saw action over the winter in 24 games as part of a Brewer contingent. Returning to High-A for 2021, but this time in Wisconsin, made sense. Let's see how Kahle ended up with a final .186/.279/.286 line (.565 OPS) over 231 AB's. May: .148 - 9-for-48 (one double), 8 BB's, 21 K Well, a .310 OBP somewhat eased the situation June: .230 - 14-for-61 (five doubles), 3 BB's, 20 K July: .278/.385/.481 - 15-for-54 (five doubles, two HR), 8 BB's, 18 K An .866 OPS is fantastic, the 33.3% K rate still an issue, but there's the Nick we know can exist. On July 31st, Kahle collected his final hit of the month, a line drive 6th inning single to right. He K'd in the 8th. And then the calendar turned to August. Kahle would collect one hit in his final at-bat in August, a single. It was his only base hit all month, 1-for-42. When he went hitless in his first two games of September, the "streak" had run to 1-for-51 (four walks, 18 K's). I didn't pore through box scores to see how many line drive outs there were in that stretch, but surely there was some element of bad luck involved. I take no pleasure in noting this in a birthday post of all things, but it'll put context into Kahle's 2022 placement and his hopeful rebound, especially as a 4th round pick. Just turn the page on 2021 in this case, especially August 2021, as we imagine Nick already has. *** We're back tomorrow (Tuesday March 1st) with two more entries.

2/28/22: Well really, the non-existent 2/29/22 for this Leap Year 2000 baby! Happy 22nd Birthday, C Tristan Peters! MiLB Player Page (Baseball Reference page always linked above in the birthday greeting) MiLB.com's Jim Callis with the signing bonus / draft day scouting note From Perfect Game: A very under-the-radar JUCO prospect recruited to SIU by since-departed recruiting coordinator Nick Magnifico, now at South Alabama, Peters had a huge spring in terms of performance, slashing .355/.463/.548 with 20 doubles, 14 swipes, and 46 walks to just 28 strikeouts. Peters is lauded for his bat-to-ball skills and barrel adjustability, with some seeing a solid-average hit tool long term, to go along with below-average overall power that should still come with plenty of doubles. He’s a plus runner with good instincts in the outfield, though his arm strength limits him to center or left field. He’s seen as a potential fourth outfielder at the big-league level who can play all over the outfield in spurts and handle the bat. *** Peters (Manitoba province) was one of 17 Canadians drafted in 2021, the Brewers also drafted second baseman Tyler Black of Ontario 33rd overall. Canadians love highlighting their own in the baseball world, this 18-minute audio interview is from April 2021 as Peters was in the midst of his outstanding college season at Southern Illinois. VIDEO Tweet: College HR Yank Peters' Maryvale season began officially August 30th as visa issues had to be coordinated in the age of Covid. Maryvale videos via "Prospects Worldwide": Lined single Tristan is currently in the Brewers' early "Start Up" camp. *** Here's a Twitter thread from July, tons on Peters here as well, including more audio. Immerse yourself in everything about the Savannah Bananas (collegiate wood-bat summer league franchise), but even if you only click on two links in this entire post, make it these: Peters (#6) getting some accompaniment on his walk-up music as he approaches the plate Peters wraps up his stay with the Bananas with this incredible Britney Spears choreography

2/28/22: Well really, the non-existent 2/29/22 for this Leap Year 2000 baby! Happy 22nd Birthday, C Tristan Peters! MiLB Player Page (Baseball Reference page always linked above in the birthday greeting) MiLB.com's Jim Callis with the signing bonus / draft day scouting note From Perfect Game: A very under-the-radar JUCO prospect recruited to SIU by since-departed recruiting coordinator Nick Magnifico, now at South Alabama, Peters had a huge spring in terms of performance, slashing .355/.463/.548 with 20 doubles, 14 swipes, and 46 walks to just 28 strikeouts. Peters is lauded for his bat-to-ball skills and barrel adjustability, with some seeing a solid-average hit tool long term, to go along with below-average overall power that should still come with plenty of doubles. He’s a plus runner with good instincts in the outfield, though his arm strength limits him to center or left field. He’s seen as a potential fourth outfielder at the big-league level who can play all over the outfield in spurts and handle the bat. *** Peters (Manitoba province) was one of 17 Canadians drafted in 2021, the Brewers also drafted second baseman Tyler Black of Ontario 33rd overall. Canadians love highlighting their own in the baseball world, this 18-minute audio interview is from April 2021 as Peters was in the midst of his outstanding college season at Southern Illinois. VIDEO Tweet: College HR Yank Peters' Maryvale season began officially August 30th as visa issues had to be coordinated in the age of Covid. Maryvale videos via "Prospects Worldwide": Lined single Tristan is currently in the Brewers' early "Start Up" camp. *** Here's a Twitter thread from July, tons on Peters here as well, including more audio. Immerse yourself in everything about the Savannah Bananas (collegiate wood-bat summer league franchise), but even if you only click on two links in this entire post, make it these: Peters (#6) getting some accompaniment on his walk-up music as he approaches the plate Peters wraps up his stay with the Bananas with this incredible Britney Spears choreography *** We're back tomorrow (Tuesday March 1st) with two more entries.

2/28/22: Happy 24th Birthday, C Nick Kahle! MiLB Player Page (Baseball Reference page always linked above in the birthday greeting) All the draft-day Kahle scouting reports highlighting his offensive capabilities are absolutely worth a read as we try and review where Kahle is after his 2021 season. Brad Ford's Q&A with Kahle upon signing with the Crew in 2019 *** Kahle's pro career started out on a fine and expected path as the 2019 4th rounder posted an .825 OPS with Advanced Rookie Rocky Mountain before netting a late cup of coffee call-up to High-A Carolina (two games). Kahle found some significant (all things considered) work during the pandemic downtime compared to most -- 21 games of independent ball in North Dakota in the summer of 2020 before heading to Brisbane, Australia, where he saw action over the winter in 24 games as part of a Brewer contingent. Returning to High-A for 2021, but this time in Wisconsin, made sense. Let's see how Kahle ended up with a final .186/.279/.286 line (.565 OPS) over 231 AB's. May: .148 - 9-for-48 (one double), 8 BB's, 21 K Well, a .310 OBP somewhat eased the situation June: .230 - 14-for-61 (five doubles), 3 BB's, 20 K July: .278/.385/.481 - 15-for-54 (five doubles, two HR), 8 BB's, 18 K An .866 OPS is fantastic, the 33.3% K rate still an issue, but there's the Nick we know can exist. On July 31st, Kahle collected his final hit of the month, a line drive 6th inning single to right. He K'd in the 8th. And then the calendar turned to August. Kahle would collect one hit in his final at-bat in August, a single. It was his only base hit all month, 1-for-42. When he went hitless in his first two games of September, the "streak" had run to 1-for-51 (four walks, 18 K's). I didn't pore through box scores to see how many line drive outs there were in that stretch, but surely there was some element of bad luck involved. I take no pleasure in noting this in a birthday post of all things, but it'll put context into Kahle's 2022 placement and his hopeful rebound, especially as a 4th round pick. Just turn the page on 2021 in this case, especially August 2021, as we imagine Nick already has. *** We're back tomorrow (Tuesday March 1st) with two more entries.

In addition to that Tyler Gillies interview posted above, our Minor League Media thread includes new interviews with infielder Gabe Holt and RH reliever Peter Strzelecki

Hopefully you all have an Athletic subscription (because Will Sammon does an awesome job), and he knocks Tyler's story out of the park at the link above. *** Posted 2/18/22: AUDIO: Via the Walkin' Off Podcast: RHP Tyler Gillies Tyler Gillies is a pitching prospect for the Milwaukee Brewers. After college, he played indy ball in Canada and never gave up on his MLB dream. Eventually, the Brewers offered Gillies a contract to become an affiliated professional baseball player. Cancer threatened to derail his dream, but once again, Tyler is working hard to eventually make his MLB debut.

2/25/22: AUDIO: Via the Walkin' Off Podcast: RH reliever Peter Strzelecki - 2021 with Biloxi, and then four Nashville appearances to finish up Strzelecki discusses his path to the Brewers, his time in the minors, what his goals are for 2022, and more The video version of this interview will post here when made available within the next day or two.

2/24/22: Cold Brew Podcast Episode 77: A Conversation with Brewers prospect Gabe Holt "Co-hosts David Gasper and Matt Carroll are joined this week by Brewers infield prospect Gabe Holt, who joins the podcast from spring training in Arizona. David, Matt, and Gabe discuss the beginning of spring training, as well as Gabe's draft day experience, his 2021 season, his goals for 2022, some of his favorite teammates, stories from his time with the Carolina Mudcats and Biloxi Shuckers, and much more. Get to know Gabe Holt a little more as he continues his rise through the Brewers farm system."

Hopefully you all have an Athletic subscription (because Will Sammon does an awesome job), and he knocks Tyler's story out of the park at the link above. *** Posted 2/18/22: AUDIO: Via the Walkin' Off Podcast: RHP Tyler Gillies Tyler Gillies is a pitching prospect for the Milwaukee Brewers. After college, he played indy ball in Canada and never gave up on his MLB dream. Eventually, the Brewers offered Gillies a contract to become an affiliated professional baseball player. Cancer threatened to derail his dream, but once again, Tyler is working hard to eventually make his MLB debut.

Thursday 2/24: Via WTMJ, Greg Matzek hosts the latest episode of "Brewers Weekly": Will Sammon of The Athletic is interviewed at the 7:00 minute mark Via 97.3 FM's "Heller and Davis": Tom Haudricourt (go to the 57:00 minute mark) *** Friday 2/25: Via ESPN Wisconsin's "Homer and Tony": Brewers' 17-year-veteran alumnus and Wisconsin native Jim Gantner Via WSSP's "The Ramie Show" (Tim Allen the guest host): Bruce Levine, Baseball Analyst for Chicago's 670 The Score

2/25/22: Happy 20th Birthday, RHP Henry Garrido! MiLB Player Page (Baseball Reference page always linked above in the birthday greeting) Garrido is one of the Brewers farmhands who has made his debut that we know the least about. The Venezuelan native was part of the January 15th, 2021 international signing class - this previously would have been the July 2nd, 2020 class. Unlike the January 2022 class, we have not seen detailed signing bonus information on Garrido or his "classmates". We do know that upon his July 16th debut at the start of the season (game logs here), Garrido was placed in the starting rotation, usually an indication that a pitcher is seen in high regard by the organization. Garrido only made five starts, particularly struggled in his final effort on August 14th, and that was his last outing in a DSL campaign that didn't end until September 30th. Garrido had a nice 3rd start but struggled otherwise. Facebook Photo #1 Facebook Photo #2 Hopefully healthy, look for Garrido to shoot for a full DSL season in 2022. *** On Monday the 28th, we'll profile two Brewer prospects even though technically only one has a birthday that day. (Yes, there's a February 29th Leap Year Baby in the organization - we gave that away in the initial post in this thread).