Ben Lepak

I've never tracked the minor leagues as closely as I have this year, so I could be way off, but I feel there's a few imminent promotions. The problem is the logjam between levels. I think you can make a case for Pena and Made to move up from Carolina but they need room in Appleton. Areinamo and Burke could be good candidates to promote out of Appleton, but Biloxi has Pratt blocking Areinamo and Adams and Wilken were blocking Burke prior to their injuries. Had Wilken stayed healthy, I think he woulda taken Seigler's spot in Nashville..Eventually they will push these guys thru, but something has to give. On the pitching front, we've already seen quite a few promos recently: Crow, Hardin, Dorchies, Dubanewicz to name a few...

Here's an in-game interview with Thompson from MLB Pipeline's IG Page

Image courtesy of © Mickey Welsh / Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images With the 94th pick of the 2025 MLB Draft, the Brewers selected Jacob Morrison, a RHP out of Coastal Carolina. Morrison was ranked as the 187th overall prospect by Baseball America and 173rd by MLB.com. At 6-foot-8 and 245 pounds, Morrison is one of the most physically imposing pitchers in the 2025 college draft class. After flashing mid-90s velocity as a freshman at Coastal Carolina in 2023, he missed the 2024 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. Morrison returned in 2025 with a standout campaign, earning Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year honors and helping lead the Chanticleers to the College World Series finals. Morrison posted a 2.42 ERA with 104 strikeouts and 23 walks over 107.2 innings. Morrison’s fastball ranges from 91–95 mph, sitting 93 while touching 96, and plays better than the radar gun suggests due to excellent carry at the top of the zone and steep downhill plane from his exceptionally high release point. He generates elite strike and chase rates with the pitch, despite not being a true power arm. His primary secondary is a mid-80s slider, which has solid depth and is his most reliable swing-and-miss pitch. He also throws a 12-to-6 curveball in the mid-70s, though he struggles to land both breakers for strikes consistently. His low-80s changeup has some fade, but he tends to leave it in hittable spots. Morrison’s delivery is upright and not especially fluid, but he creates strong extension and repeats it well enough to throw consistent strikes. He’s more control than command at present, but he walked just 5.4% of batters in 2025. Morrison shows the potential for at least average command, with possible growth to plus. Despite being slightly older for his class—he’ll turn 22 shortly after the draft—Morrison is still a bit raw and has less mileage than many peers due to his missed season. His size, durability, and arsenal give him a clear starter profile, with room to grow. View full article

Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images With the 68th pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, the Milwaukee Brewers selected LHP Frank Cairone out of Delsea Reg HS (NJ). Cairone was ranked number 107 on our draft board, number 96 on Baseball America, and was not ranked in MLB.com's top 250. Like comp pick Brady Ebel, Cairone is just 17 years old and one of the younger players in the draft. Here is what Jamie Cameron gave as a scouting report on Cairone prior to the draft: Frank Cairone is a cold-weather left-handed prep arm out of Jersey, who still isn't getting the love he deserves on boards two weeks out from the draft. It's a physical frame at 6 '2, 200 pounds who will be 17 on draft day and one of the youngest prospects in the class. Cairone took a significant velocity pop in 2025, and his fastball will now sit 91-93 mph and touch 94 mph. He pairs it with a sweeping breaker that, while not yet refined, demonstrates the type of spin traits many organizations will covet. Cairone is a Coastal Carolina commit who is a bit under-ranked, considering the developmental step forward he took in 2025 and the outstanding spin traits he demonstrates. Cairone pitches exclusively from the stretch and has some effort in the delivery. Still, the Brewers have refined similarly unpolished deliveries in the past (Freddy Peralta and Corbin Burnes had mechanical questions). Cairone checks several boxes for the Brewers: elite spin, projectable frame, rising velocity, and youth. View full article

Image courtesy of © Brianna Paciorka/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images With the 59th overall pick in the second round of the 2025 MLB Draft, the Milwaukee Brewers selected Vanderbilt LHP JD Thompson. Thompson was ranked 62nd on our draft board, 61st by Baseball America and 66th by MLB.com. Thompson emerged as one of the better college southpaws in the 2025 draft class. Once known for his pitchability as a Texas high schooler, he lacked the physicality and raw stuff to attract pro interest out of high school and instead honored his commitment to Vanderbilt. Three years later, he’s proven himself as the Commodores’ Friday-night starter. Here's a quick glance at Thompson: Here's what Jamie Cameron gave as a scouting report prior to the draft: JD Thompson is yet another name in a deep and diverse array of college left-handed pitchers in the 2025 class. In terms of frame, it's more compact. Thompson stands at 6'0, 185 pounds with good strength and power in his lower half. While Thompson doesn't have a high octane fastball, it's a whiff monster thanks to 18 inches of carry from a lower arm slot. The pitch typically sits in the 91-93 mph range, though he can crank it up to 95 mph. He commands the pitch too, helping it be relatively dominant for the level. His best secondary is his slider. It sits in the 78-81 mph range with good horizontal movement and ties up left-handed hitters frequently. There's also a curveball and changeup in the mix, too. The changeup, in particular, has flashed above average with some fade and tumble. All of this comes from a delivery that is relatively smooth and repeatable. Thompson has consistently posted in 2025. Through 90 IP, he has a 3.34 FIP striking out 32.1% of hitters and walking 7.9% against some of the strongest competition in the country. He's set himself up as a day one name in July. Thompson’s low-effort, repeatable delivery and strike-throwing ability give him a high floor as a potential back-end starter, with room to grow if his fastball effectiveness and breaking ball consistency continue to develop. The Brewers have developed a reputation for maximizing the value of non-flashy arms and Thompson certainly fits the mold. His high IVB fastball, consistent strike-throwing, and advanced feel for sequencing play right into the Brewers’ emphasis on pitch shape and tunneling. View full article

Nice, let's see if he can sustain that. Is this from Savant or where? Also, did they just give him a two week mental break? I didn't notice any injury news to explain the time off

Transactions: Milwaukee Brewers recalled 1B Andrew Vaughn from Nashville Sounds Game Action: DSL Brewers Gold 6, DSL Brewers Blue 2 Box Score The Brewers’ Dominican teams faced off on Monday, with the Gold squad (now 10-16 on the season) pulling off a mild upset over the Blue side (13-12 following this game) in the rain-shortened six inning affair. The game lacked any real fireworks as the two teams combined for 10 hits, all of which were singles. This performance for the Gold and Blue squads is par for the course as they rank 36th and 42nd respectively in the 52-team Dominican Summer League in slugging percentage on the season. The Brewers Blue hopped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning in typical DSL fashion: HBP, HBP, wild pitch, strike out, and balk led to the first run of the game without a ball being put in play. Cleanup hitter Jefer Lista finally made contact on a sac fly to knock in the second run, making it 2-0 after one inning of play. That would be all the scoring the Blue side would muster in this one. It would remain 2-0 until the fourth inning when the Brewers Gold squad rallied for five runs off of Brewers Blue starter Lonell Downs. Downs had only faced one over the minimum through the first three innings, but then faced death by paper cut as he came out for the fourth. Cristoper Acosta and Kenny Fenelon led off the frame with singles, with the former scoring on the third consecutive single of the inning by Jonathan Rangel. Rangel is now sporting a 1.023 OPS through 18 games in his second season in the DSL. That mark is the best among all Brewers players in the DSL this season. After Rangel’s RBI single, Downs committed his own “friendly fire” as he hit Francis Sosa to load the bases and then proceeded to hit catcher Isais Chavez to force in the tying run. Downs walked the next three batters before finally – mercifully – being pulled for relief man Jhosep Ospino. Ospino came on and escaped the bases loaded jam with a strikeout and double play. However, Ospino did allow his first run of the season (in 14IP) in his final inning of work after a pair of singles by Juan Martinez and Matthew Moses led to a sac fly by Cristian Montilla to give us the final score of 6-2. For the Gold squad, Derlin Garcia worked two clean innings with four strikeouts to earn his first professional win. Ruben Saldana worked 2.1 scoreless innings despite three hits to notch his second save of the season. ACL Giants 9, ACL Brewers 4 Box Score The ACL Brewers took on the best team in the Arizona Complex League on Monday night when they hosted the ACL Giants and the score was indicative of the gulf between these two teams at the moment. Though each side produced eight hits, all but one of the Giants hits went for extra bases, including four home runs. The Brewers’ pitchers set the side down in order just one time all night, as the Giants also drew eight walks and stole five bases off Brewers pitching. The Brewers were fortunate to only allow nine runs because the Giants went 2 for 10 with RISP. The Brewers by comparison had three extra base hits – doubles from the rehabbing Josh Adamczewski and from right fielder Roderick Flores, in addition to Kevin Ereu’s first professional triple in 475 plate appearances. Shortstop Jorge Quintana joined Adamczewski as the only Brewers with multi-hit games. Frederi Montero actually staked the Brewers to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first with an RBI single, before the Giants took control of the game with a four run third inning. Montero is second on the team with 26 runs driven in on the season. Catcher Luis Corobo had a late two run single. One positive note from the Brewers’ run prevention unit was Flores’ two outfield assists. In the fourth inning Flores hit cutoff man Adamczewski, enabling the second baseman to cut down Giants’ top prospect Jhonny Level at the plate and deny the speedy shortstop an inside-the-park homer. Elsewhere around the affiliates: The Mudcats took three out of five from Fayetteville last week, with rain washing out the final game of the series on Sunday. The first place Cats will host their closest pursuer in the standings this week, as Fredericksburg rolls into town trailing Carolina by 1.5 games. No word on whether we will see Luis Pena back in the lineup this week as he has been sidelined since July 2 after a scary HBP to his wrist/hand. Centerfielder Braylon Payne has recently snapped out of a prolonged slump after two weeks off. In four games in July, Payne is 7 for 16 with a homer, four walks, and two steals. Check out Payne’s 4th of July rocket here: Eric Bitoni is still mashing, with a 7 for 22 start to July, with a homer, seven RBI and four steals last week. Unfortunately Bitoni is still whiffing too much, with eight strikeouts in five games last week. We covered a couple of the Mudcats young arms in our first half post last week, and Melvin Hernandez kept his run of good form going with 5.1 inning of one run ball on the day before his 19th birthday. Ethan Dorchies and Jayden Dubanewicz, who were each promoted to Carolina in June, looked impressive in the Mudcats win on the 4th of July, combining for nine strikeouts, which helped them limit the damage to one earned run despite a combined eight walks in 8.1IP. In Appleton, the Timber Rattlers managed to split the six game series with Beloit last week by sweeping a Sunday doubleheader. Blake Burke collected seven hits last week, but just one double went for extra bases. Juan Baez, who just turned 20 at the end of June, has not fared well (.216/.301/.242) in his first season in High A ball, but he did slap five singles and draw four walks in 20 plate appearances last week. Jaron DeBerry had a seven strikeout performance in his longest professional outing (6IP) in a loss last week. The weekly Rattlers pod can be found here: Wisconsin is currently in the cellar of the Midwest League’s second half standings. They’ll try to climb out of the basement when they host South Bend (Cubs) this week. In AA action last week, the Biloxi Shuckers took four of six from first place Pensacola. One of the more fun games of the week in the Brewers’ organization took place on Saturday when Tyson Hardin matched Marlins’ top prospect Thomas White pitch-for-pitch en route to a 6-4 Shuckers win. Hardin now has a 1.99 ERA in 22.2 IP at AA with a 22:2 K:BB ratio. Besides Hardin, fans of filth will want to keep an eye on each Tate Kuehner start. Spencer had some highlights here: Kuehner struck out seven batters in his most recent start last week. Offensively, the Shuckers are missing their two big boppers due to injury, but highly touted prospect Cooper Pratt has picked up some of the slack. Pratt was 4 for 12 with a double, triple, and five walks last week. Mike Boeve has been warming up a bit lately, going 7 for 20 with a triple and four walks last week. Even Luis Lara is hitting some, slashing .283/.360/.354 with eight steals over the last 30 days. The Shuckers will host Birmingham this week. Finally, the Nashville Sounds also had a winning week, taking four of six from Memphis. The week was bookended by a pair of Logan Henderson starts, who labored his way through 9 IP, allowing 7 runs with 8 strikeouts, while earning both a win and a loss. Tobias Myers looked dominant in his lone start, throwing 6IP, 2H, 0R, and 8K to earn pitcher of the week honors. We’ll now see how Chad Patrick fares in Nashville, as he rejoins a few of his former Brewer comrades in AAA this week. Nashville travels to Durham to take on the Bulls this week. Let’s see if any of the Sounds’ hitters can manage to hit the bull. View full article

I've been railing for Contreras to get dropped in my group chat. Or please just give him a full day off. I know the bench is horrible, but when he's not behind the plate, Contreras is not much of a DH. He's missing the 'H' part these days

Since May 22, the Brewers are 5th in the MLB with a 114 wRC+. In that same time frame, Rhys Hoskins has a .595 OPS and 32.4 K%. They were already making it work on offense with well-below average production from Hoskins. I get that we can't count on the likes of Durbn, Collins and Ortiz to continue to hit as well as they have in that stretch, and that Vaughn/Bauers are not great options, but personally I'm not real concerned about losing his bat for a while. He's slugging less than Brice Turang during that sample

Image courtesy of © Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK With the minor league affiliates reaching the halfway point of their season in the last week, we thought we’d forego the monthly recognition for pitcher and player of the month, and instead recognize the top players in the Milwaukee Brewers organization for the first half of the season. Previous monthly recognition for May and April can be found by clicking the links. Here are our top minor league pitchers of the first half. All stats are valid through June 30. Honorable Mention Bishop Letson could have cracked the top five if not for a shoulder injury that sidelined him since May 8. On the season for Wisconsin, Letson has pitched in six games, covering 27 IP, with a 1.67 ERA and a 0.852 WHIP. Letson sports a 4.29 K/BB ratio, and overall, he had shown improvement across all stats from his 2024 debut campaign in Carolina. Tate Kuehner has been the ace of the Biloxi pitching staff in a first half in which the Shuckers won the division title. Kuehner leads the Shuckers in starts, innings pitched, wins and strikeouts, while sporting a 2.64 ERA in 71.2 innings. One area of future improvement for Kuehner would be his control, as he has walked 5.3 batters per nine innings. #5 Joan Pena Brewers DSL Gold 2025 Season Stats: 19 IP, 1.89 ERA, 1.053 WHIP, 12.3 K/9, 6.5 K/BB Pena has looked filthy in his first season of pro ball for Brewers DSL Gold. The left-hander is striking out better than a batter per inning through his first four appearances. The 17-year-old Pena was listed at 6’0" and 200 pounds when he was signed as part of the most recent international class, so he’s a big presence on the mound. Check out some highlights from his nine-strikeout performance in late June here: #4 Ethan Dorchies ACL Brewers and Carolina Mudcats 2025 Season Stats: 27 IP, 1.96 ERA, .873 WHIP, 11.5 K/9, 3.92 K/BB Dorchies, a 2024 10th-round draft pick out of Cary-Grove High School in Illinois, has quickly shown to be a steal by the Brewers front office. After not pitching after last year’s draft, Dorchies earned a first half promotion from the Arizona Complex League to Low-A ball in Carolina after 27 dominant innings in Arizona. The big 6’5” right-hander generates 6.7 feet of extension which helps his stuff – four-seam, cutter, sinker, slider and splitter – play up better than it actually is. There’s optimism that Dorchies can continue to add velocity to his fastball as he matures, which could make it into a true plus pitch for Dorchies. Check out some highlights from his second start in Carolina from just last week: So far, Dorchies has improved with each start in Carolina, and he will be one arm Brewers fans will want to keep an eye on in the second half. #3 Melvin Hernandez Carolina Mudcats 2025 Season Stats: 70.2 IP, 2.17 ERA, .991 WHIP, 6.8 K/9, 4.08 K/BB The 18-year-old Hernandez has been the Mudcats’ most consistent pitcher and workhorse in leading the Carolina League in innings pitched in the first half of the season. Hernandez doesn’t generate a lot of swing and miss against the leagues’ aggressive hitters, but he makes up for that by inducing weak contact and getting ground balls. Through his 70 IP this season, Hernandez is sporting a 53% ground ball rate while walking only 1.7 batters per nine innings. That walk rate is the fourth lowest mark among all Brewers’ minor league pitchers with at least 10 IP this year. Here’s an extended look at Hernandez' most recent outing in June: There’s been speculation that Hernandez could feature on Nicaragua’s 2026 World Baseball Classic roster, if the Brewers would permit that next spring. It’ll be interesting to see how deep into the season Hernandez is allowed to pitch, as he’s already surpassed 2024’s inning total by 20 innings through June. #2 Coleman Crow Biloxi Shuckers 2025 Season Stats: 43 IP, 2.51 ERA, .907 WHIP 10.9 K/9, 6.5 K/BB Brewers Fanatic has already provided a ton of analysis on Crow in just the last 10 days, with in-depth write-ups from Spencer here and Adam here, so I won’t try to reinvent the wheel with my rudimentary analysis. I highly recommend you check out their work. Since their pieces, Crow was called up to Nashville on June 18 but never got to make an appearance there as he was sidelined with a hip injury on June 20. The promotion to AAA was the next logical move for Crow, as the Brewers will have to determine whether or not they want to add him to the 40-man roster in the offseason or risk losing him to the Rule 5 draft. Provided Crow can stay healthy, he should find himself in the Chad Patrick position next year, as the first man up to Milwaukee in 2026 when injury strikes the rotation. Of all the arms on this list, he’s the only one Brewers’ fans should expect to see at the big-league level in 2026. #1 Tyson Hardin Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and Biloxi Shuckers 2025 Season Stats: 78.1 IP, 2.17 ERA, 1.071 WHIP, 9.4 K/9, 7.09 K/BB Hardin, another 2024 draft day steal in the 12th round, has quickly emerged as one of the top pitchers in the organization in his first full professional season. After tossing just 3 2/3 innings last year in Carolina, Hardin started 2024 in Appleton and tore through the Midwest League like a buzz saw. On May 3, Hardin worked seven innings, allowing just four hits and striking out a career high nine batters in a 1-0 loss against first half champion West Michigan. Two weeks later, Hardin threw a seven-inning complete game shutout, this time allowing just two hits to go with six strikeouts. Hardin has shown excellent control with a 1.3/BB/9 rate that is best in the Brewers’ organization among pitchers with at least 40 IP in 2025. If you take out Hardin’s only bad start of the first half, when he allowed six runs on ten hits in four IP versus a stout Cedar Rapids squad that is second in the Midwest League in OPS, Hardin would have pitched to a 1.51 ERA in 53 innings of High-A ball. Since his promotion to Biloxi, Hardin’s ERA, WHIP, K/9, and K/BB have all seen improvements, though some of that may have to do with the Southern League’s reputation of being pitcher friendly. Hardin actually allowed his first and only home run of the season in his first start in Biloxi, which is pretty remarkable regardless of level or league. Watch Hardin pinpoint a few seeds here: Hardin looks like the early front-runner for Brewers Minor League pitcher of the year, though there’s still plenty of time for another arm to take that honor from him. Who are you most excited to watch pitch in the second half of the season? Is there anyone we missed on this list? Let us know what you think in the comments! View full article

Good call out on Miami being the last place Woody pitched. That was on my mind too. Full circle! It will be nice to have Seigler around as a pinch runner, and could allow Murph to use Haase as a pinch hitter more often too. I'll be curious to see if Turang gets any action as SS as you noted. I hope they get Seigler some real game action!

You're too kind sir 🙂 Appreciate your feedback

Transactions: None Game Action: Final: DSL Brewers Blue 2, DSL Red Sox Red 1 Box Score Runs were at a premium in Monday’s matchup between the DSL Brewers and Red Sox squads. Both teams swapped runs in the opening frame with the Red Sox socking back-to-back doubles off of Brewers’ starter Lonell Downs to start the scoring. In the bottom half of the inning, Leonard Rijo reached base on a fielding error by the Red Sox pitcher Berny Ortiz. Rijo then stole second and third base, and eventually scored on Yoneiker Lugo’s RBI ground out. That lone run would be about all the Brewers could muster over the first six innings, as the Red Sox pitchers held the Brewers to just one a hit, a single in the fourth inning by Carlos Done. The Brewers’ pitching staff was also up to the task with Downs, Johan Zapata, and Jhosep Ospino working the final six innings scoreless, while striking out five. Ospino earned the win by working 2.1IP scoreless, which gives him 10 scoreless innings on the season. The seventh (and final) inning was a bit of an adventure in the top half of the inning. The Sox got two singles to lead off the inning. The Brewers’ then got a ground out to force a runner at third, then Lugo cut down a would-be base stealer at third for the second out. After a walk put the go-ahead run back into scoring position, Ospino finished the inning with a groundout to escape any damage. In the bottom of the seventh, Angel Gonzalez led off the final frame with a triple, which was just the second hit (and only one for extra bases) of the game for the Brewers. After a ground out, Rijo walked it off with a ground ball to right field, The 2-1 victory brings the Brewers Blue's record back to .500 at 10-10. Final: DSL Brewers Gold 8, DSL Rojos 6 Box Score After the Brewers failed to tally a run in the top of the first, despite two walks and three steals, the DSL Rojos jumped all over Brewers’ starter Gabriel Colmenarez in the bottom half of the inning thanks in part to some shoddy defense. The Rojos used a single, throwing error, triple, and another throwing error to stake themselves to a 3-0 lead after one. Colemenarez would keep the Rojos in check from there, allowing just a single run in the fourth inning to finish with a respectable line of 4IP, 4H, 4R, 2ER, 0BB, and 6K. The Brewers offense went to work starting in the fourth inning ignited by a pair of seventeen year old players. Isais Chavez drew a one out walk and scored on Matthew Moses two run blast, the first homer of his professional career. The Brewers kept the heat on in the fifth, with a three run rally that gave them their first lead of the game. After a single by Alexander Frias and a walk to Cristopher Acosta, Kenny Fenelon hit his second double of the season to score Frias, who was making his DSL debut and also stole two bases in the game. Acosta and Fenelon later came around to score on a fielding error to give the Brewers a 5-4 lead. In the sixth, Juan Martinez hit his first professional homer (in 232 ABs) to pad the lead to 6-4. The Rojos responded and rallied to tie the game at 6-6 in the sixth off reliever Fabian Reyes. However, in the top of the seventh, another very “on the island” inning led to the Brewers final two runs: an error, wild pitch, walk, strikeout, walk, and another wild pitch all preceded a two run double by Chavez. That proved to be the final margin as Reyes worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning to close the door on the Rojos. Derlin Garcia also made his professional debut for the Brewers in this game and tossed a clean inning with two strikeouts. Final: ACL Royals 6, ACL Brewers 2 Box Score The Brewers fell behind early in Monday's Arizona Complex League game with the Royals, with Hayden Robinson on the bump to start the game. A two out walk, a wild pitch, and a single put the Royals ahead 1-0. Robinson, in his fourth appearance since returning from surgery on his UCL, threw three wild pitches in the first inning, but then settled in for a 1-2-3 second inning. Nick Merkel, on a rehab assignment from Biloxi, worked a scoreless third inning, before giving way to Griffin Tobias. Tobias provided the Crew five solid innings of work allowing four hits, three runs (only one earned) while striking out five. The Brewers' offense did too little, too late in this game, pushing across solo tallies in each of the final two innings. The team managed just five hits, all singles. In the eighth inning, the Brewers scored without the aid of a base hit, as Kevin Ereu turned a HBP, a throwing error, and then a wild pitch into the first run of the game for the Brewers. In the ninth, the Brewers got consecutive singles from Jadyn Fielder and Roderick Flores to setup a sac fly from Demetrio Nadal. That would be all for the Brewers, who finished 1 for 8 with RISP, as they fell to 22-21 on the season with the 6-2 defeat. And now a quick lap around the affiliates: The Mudcats won their first week-long series of the second have by winning four of six against lowly Delmarva. In case you missed it, top prospect Jesus Made was selected to represent the Brewers in the All-Star Futures Game: It marks the second consecutive season a Mudcats' infielder will represent the team in the midseason classic, as Made follows in Cooper Pratt’s footsteps. Luis Pena, who had a solid case for Futures Game selection himself, had a 1.120 OPS last week, with eight hits, two doubles, and a triple. With some shuffling and injuries occurring upstream in the organization, Made and Pena’s days in the Carolina League might be numbered. For reference, Jackson Chourio was promoted from Carolina on July 25. Carolina holds a two-game lead in the second half standings and will face Fayetteville in a six-game home and home series this week. In Appleton, the Timber Rattlers are off to a slow start in the second half, with a 2-7 record after taking on the Midwest League’s top two teams. Wisconsin will look to get back on track this week when they travel to in-state rival Beloit to square off with the Marlins’ affiliate for another home and home series. Blake Burke was named to MLB’s Prospect Team of the Week after going 9 for 21 with two doubles, two homers, two steals, seven RBI and a 1.330 OPS last week: On Tuesday, Brewers 19 year old right hander Manuel Rodgriguez will toe the slab for the Rattlers and look to continue his brilliant season. Rodriquez came off the IL last week and with two scoreless innings, now sports a tidy 1.67 ERA and .93 WHIP in 27IP in High A ball this season. Unfortunately the Rattlers also had some tough injury news late on Sunday, as it sounds like fast-rising catching prospect Marco Dinges has suffered a significant hamstring injury: The Rattlers weekly pod caught up with former Brewer (and Beloit Snapper) Bill Hall: Down in Mississippi, the Shuckers kept their winning ways going by starting the second half winning four of six versus Columbus. This despite losing the Southern League’s two best hitters, Brock Wilken and Luke Adams to injury in a one-week span. Tyson Hardin was featured on Baseball America’s hot sheet this week (subscription required), drawing praise for his four-pitch mix after he posted a two-start performance of 11IP, 8H, 1R, 1ER, 1BB, and 11K. Hardin should be back on the mound this weekend as the Shuckers take on Pensacola in Southern League action. Finally, in Nashville, the Sounds have limped out of the gate to a 2-4 start in the season’s second half, after facing first half champ Jacksonville. We should get the official announcement from the Brewers on Tuesday, but reports are that Anthony Seigler is getting the call to The Show: It’s not the best timing, as Seigler had cooled off of late, hitting just 6 for 36 over the last 15 days. Blake Perkins was 2 for 8 with four walks and a homer as he began ramping up in his first three games back at Nashville last week. Might Oliver Dunn finally be figuring things out? Dunn slugged his way to a 1.302 OPS last week, while hitting for the cycle over the course of six games. The Sounds have a home and home series with Memphis this week. View full article

Transactions: None Game Action: Final: DSL Brewers Blue 6, DSL LAD Bautista 0 Box Score This game started quietly on offense, with Brewers 17 year old Johandy Ramirez tossing two perfect frames in just his second professional appearance to lead off a dominant run prevention effort by the Brewers. Lonell Downs followed Ramirez and did the heavy lifting, working 5IP, 1H 0R, 1 BB, and 3K. The Brewers were held hitless until catcher Yoneiker Lugo slapped a two out single in the bottom of the third for the game’s first hit. The Dodgers didn’t manage their first hit until the fifth inning on a single off of Downs. On the day, the Brewers’ pitchers held the Dodgers to just two hits and two walks. The Brewers finally broke through with three run rallies in the seventh and eighth innings. In the seventh, Kegnnalex Seijas and Leonard RIjo drew back-to-back walks to set the table for Lugo, who singled home a run. After a strikeout and wild pitch, Jefer Lista socked a two run single to make it 3-0 Brewers. In the eighth, Moises Polanco singled and swiped two bags. After a walk to Jhoanjel Saez, Angel Gonzalez then drove in Polanco on an infield single. Seijas followed with the only extra base hit of the day for the Brewers – a two run double to center – and the Brewers led 6-0. Johan Zapata worked the final two frames scoreless for the Brewers to earn his first save of the season. Lista and Lugo each had two-hit games for the Brewers offense. Seijas now has 10 RBI and seven hits in just 20 at-bats. Seijas and Rijo are tied for the team lead in RBI, though Rijo has 38 more ABs than Seijas. Gonzalez and Polanco each stole a pair of bases for the Brewers. Final: DSL Brewers Gold 3, DSL Orioles Orange 1 Box Score The Brewers Gold had a masterful day on the mound on Monday as well as Gabriel Colmenarez started and went 5IP, 2H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, and 3K to earn his first win of the season. Saul Sanchez and Ruben Saldana each worked two scoreless frames (despite a lot of traffic), with Saldana earning a save to lock up the victory for the Brewers. There was not a ton of action on the base paths for the Brewers, which has been the story so far this season. All nine Brewers starters in this game finished the game with batting averages below the Mendoza Line. The Brewers needed a wild pitch to score their first run of the game in the third. The other two runs came on sacrifice flies from Kenny Fenelon in the third and fifth innings. The team managed only six hits with just a lone double from Nicolas Barrios going for extra bases. Both DSL Brewers squads are now 7-8 on the season. FInal: ACL Brewers 17, ACL Dodgers 2 Box Score The ACL Brewers busted out the bats early on Monday night, batting around in the first inning while scoring seven runs in the opening frame. After the Dodgers put up a run on starter Joshua Quezada in the top half of the first, the Brewers did all the scoring they would need in the bottom half when seven consecutive hitters reached base with one out. The highlight of the inning was a two run knock by catcher Luis Corobo. Jadyn Fielder, Demetrio Nadal, and Handelfy Encarnacion all contributed run scoring singles in the frame as well. But the Brewers were not done after one big rally and kept the merry-go-round spinning on the Dodgers all game long. After the Dodgers tallied a run in the top of the third, the Brewers responded with a three run rally in the bottom half of the inning. Following lead off singles by Encarnacion and the rehabbing Blake Perkins, Jorge Quintana socked a ground rule double to left field for the first extra base hit of the game for the Brewers. A sac fly and then an RBI single from Fielder made it 10-2 Brewers through three innings of action. That would be enough offense for Quezada, who picked up his fifth win of the ACL season with a final line that read 5IP, 2H 2ER, 1BB, and 6K. The Brewers finished the game with multi-run rallies in each of the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings, which included a solo blast from the 20 year old Fielder, who was 5 for 5 on the night. Fielder now sports a .981 OPS on the season after reaching base six times in this one. Seven Brewers had multi hit games, including Pedro Ibarguen, who entered the game as a defensive replacement for Perkins late and knocked in two runs. Frederi Montero, Nadal, and Ramon Flores all reached base four times. The box score was filled with crooked numbers for the Brewers offense as the Brewers had 17 hits, 9 walks, and 5 HBP on the night. Argenis Aparicio worked the final four innings cleanly - allowing just two hits and no runs while striking out two - to secure the rare 12 out save, his third of the year. A quick look at the other affiliates: The Mudcats finished off a series win versus Columbia on Sunday with a wild walk-off. The teams traded two run rallies in the bottom of the eighth and top of the ninth before Edgardo Ordonez laced a two out two strike double into the right field corner to give the Cats the victory. The Cats start the second half of the season with a 3-0 record and will look to redeem themselves after collapsing late in the first half and giving away the title to Lynchburg. Eric Bitonti has been heating up offensively for the Mudcats, hitting .275/.373/.667 in the month of June with three homers in his last four games. Check out this upper cut from Sunday: The Mudcats travel to Delmarva this week to take on the Orioles affiliate who began the second half with three consecutive losses. On the flip side of the standings, the Timber Rattlers started the second half of the season with three straight losses to first half champs West Michigan. To be fair, the T-Rats got a bit of a raw deal catching West Michigan when they did, as the Tigers are due to promote the heart of this lineup any day now. Kevin McGonigle carried a .400 average and 1.200 OPS into Saturday’s game for the White Caps, and he’s one of two players (Josue Briceno the other) with a 1.000+ OPS for West Michigan. There’s not much more for these guys to prove at the A ball level. Tip your hat to Jaron DeBerry who worked 3IP, 2H, 1R, 1BB, and 4K on Sunday, with the lone run coming on a solo blast from 2023’s #3 overall pick Max Clark. Marco DInges is a player who could soon find himself on top 100 rankings with those Tigers’ prospects as he’s continued to rake in Appleton. Like Bitoni, Dinges hit three homers last week – in three consecutive games – to boost his June slash line to a sick .359/.431/.641. Check out Friday’s moonshot here: Speaking of guys without much left to prove at this level, Jadher Areinamo has been stating his case for a promotion with a massive June as well. For the month, Areinamo sports a .364/.397/.621 with a strike out rate under 13%. The Timber Rattlers don’t have it much easier this week as they host the Quad Cities (Royals) side that’s now 41-28 on the season. Check out the weekly Rattlers pod here: In Biloxi, the eyes of Brewer Fanatic Nation will be anxiously waiting on word of Brock Wilken’s injury, as details have been minimal as Wilken travels to Milwaukee for further examination. Apparently Wilken slipped and injured his knee in the clubhouse celebration after the Shuckers clinched the first half title. That news, on the heels of an injury to Luke Adams, is just devastating for fans looking for some slugging help at the big league level. Wilken may have had an outside shot to help the Brewers this season yet, now we’re holding our breath for the best possible news. Someone wrap Cooper Pratt in bubble wrap please! Despite that, the games must go on and the Shuckers took four of six from Knoxville last week. They’ll look to keep it going when they travel to last place Columbus (Braves) this week. Tyson Hardin picked up his first win at AA last week going 6IP, 4H, 2ER, 1BB, and 5K. Hardin threw 54 of 79 pitches for strikes in leading Biloxi to a 6-2 win midweek over the Smokies. And finally, stop me if you heard this one before, but we could finally be approaching the end of Brandon Woodruff’s long and winding road back to the big leagues. News out of Milwaukee on Monday was that Woody may need one last tune up – possibly in Nashville – before joining the Brewers. Nashville won four of six games versus Iowa last week and will look to carry that momentum to Jacksonville this week, as they take on the Marlins’ affiliate that won the first half title in the International League. Old friend Tobias Myers looked sharp on Sunday, throwing 48 of 73 pitches for strikes en route to a 5IP, 4H, 0R, 0BB, 6K performance. As if the injury news from Biloxi wasn’t bleak enough, the Brewers are also awaiting word on injuries to Garrett Mitchell, Coleman Crow, and Carlos Rodriguez from last week. Here’s hoping all these players receive good news and can get back to playing games as soon as possible. View full article

Jacob MisiorowskiLuis PenaJesus MadeLogan HendersonCooper PrattMarco DingesRobert GasserBraylon PayneJeferson QueroLuke AdamsBishop LetsonBlake BurkeBrock WilkenMike BoeveEric BitontiCraig YohoJosh AdamczewskiLuis LaraBryce MeccageKenny Fenelon

Transactions: RHP Yerlin Rodriguez roster status changed to Suspended by Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. RHP Ethan Dorchies assigned to Carolina from ACL Brewers No word as of this writing on the length of Rodriguez’s suspension, but Spencer Michaelis had the pitch and subsequent kerfuffle clipped here: Seemed like tensions were running high throughout the organization last week. First Rodriguez got tossed on Friday the 13th, then we had the Willson Contreras/Rhys Hoskins feud Saturday, and finally on Sunday the Shuckers game featured a half dozen ejections late in the game. Game Action: Both DSL Brewers games were halted due to rain on Monday. The DSL Brewers Blue batted around in the first inning, scoring five runs on just three hits. Before the box score got washed away, @Ro Mueller captured a few of the inning’s stats here. The Brewers Gold squad was trailing 1-0 when their game with the DSL Cleveland squad was suspended. Final: ACL Dodgers 11, ACL Brewers 5 Box Score and Wrap Luckily it never rains in the desert and the Arizona Complex League game was played in 111 degrees, because otherwise this minor league report would have been like Homer Simpson talking to Johnny Cash's Space Coyote and I would have no new information to report to you. With the promotion of Dorchies to Carolina, Joshua Quezada made his first start of the ACL season. Quezada was stretched out a bit as he worked his longest outing on the year: 4.2IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 1BB, and 4K. It was Quezada's best start since late May, as he had been tagged for 11 runs in his previous eight innings, after starting the season with seven shutout innings. On offense, the Brewers mustered only five solo tallies despite collecting ten hits, nine walks and four HBP. The team was a staggering 2 for 18 with RISP. The Brewers' first run of the game came on a vintage rookie ball rally. In the second inning, the Crew got a walk, steal, ground out, HBP, steal, and wild pitch to plate one run. Despite another wild pitch, walk, and stolen base, the Brewers could not plate another, as Kevin Ereu and the rehabbing Blake Perkins struck out to end the threat with RISP. Ereu and Perkins would atone somewhat in the fourth after Jadyn Fielder was plunked for the second time in the game. Ereu followed that HBP with a single, and eventually Perkins knocked in Fielder with an RBI ground out to tie the game at 2-2. The Brewers would briefly take the lead in the fifth inning on a solo homer from catcher Kevin Garcia, his fourth HR on the season. The lead was short lived as the Dodgers would touch up reliever Jose Meneses for six runs on five hits in the top of the sixth. Argenis Aparicio followed Meneses and allowed single tallies in the seventh and eighth innings. The star of the game for the Brewers was Fielder, who was HBP twice, socked two doubles, including one for an RBI, and also stole two bags. Garcia added an RBI single late to give him two RBI on the night. Besides Fielder's doubles and Garcia's homer, no other Brewer hitter had an extra base hit. Shortstop Jorge Quintana drew two walks and stole his 10th base of the season. Handelfry Encarnacion was on twice with a single and walk. A quick preview of the week ahead: On June 3rd, the Carolina Mudcats had a three game lead over Lynchburg in the standings. How quickly things can change. Since then, Carolina has lost 10 of their last 11, including 6 straight losses to Lynchburg last week to surrender the first half title to the Guardians’ affiliate. It’s been a brutal stretch for a team that started off the year with so much hype and positive vibes. In these dire times, it’s important to remember that the team is still nine games over .500 and Jesus Made and Luis Pena have both looked pretty comfortable (if not excelling) in their stateside debuts. The Mudcats will look to right the ship this week when they host Columbia (Royals affiliate) to end the first half of the season. For a team that once boasted what felt like a whole lineup of guys with a .900+ OPS, the offense has really cooled off. Over the last 15 days only prized prospect Made (.865 OPS) has an OPS over .700 among the regular starters in Carolina. We’re still waiting on word of when Josh Adamczewski might return from injury for the Mudcats lineup who could desperately use his bat. Perhaps the call up of Dorchies will provide a small spark and help stabilize the Mudcats rotation in the second half. At High A, The Timber Rattlers will once again be on the road as they face the Tigers’ West Michigan side that has already clinched the first half title with a 43-20 record. Jaron DeBerry will be on the bump on Tuesday night to take on the formidable Whitecaps lineup that features three top 100 prospects in Max Clark (#7 according to MLB Pipeline), Kevin McGonigle (#23), and Josue Briceño (#76). Blake Burke, who turned 22 last week, is third in the Midwest League with a .317 average. ICYMI, Spencer went deeper on Burke last week in his observations article. Eduardo Garcia blasted a homer on Saturday and now has four homers in June, contributing to a .732 slugging percentage this month, while riding a 26 game on-base streak. On the flip side, Garcia has struck out a whopping 16 times in 50 plate appearances this month. The Timber Rattlers weekly pod can be found here, which includes some explanation on the Rodriguez dust up: Some of the early season hype and vibes we felt at Carolina have been transferred to Biloxi, where the Shuckers’ magic number to clinch the first half season title is down to two games. The Shuckers had a 3-3 week in Chattanooga, but the offense continued to mash, as the team put up 43 runs in the six game series (with two of those games being seven inning doubleheaders). After the Shuckers swept the player/pitcher of the week awards last week in the Southern League, Brock Wilken took home player of the week honors this week, adding two more Brockets to his league-leading homerun total. Wilken has already matched his 2024 output with 17 homers in about half (405 to 214) the at-bats this season. It’s safe to say that Wilken, who turns 23 years old on Tuesday, is pounding on the door of a promotion to AAA Nashville should a spot (Anthony Steigler promotion??) open up on the infield. Luke Adams has a 1.269 OPS in the month of June and is nearly lock step at the plate with his Biloxi Bash Brother Brock. Both players sport a season-long .924 OPS and both are top three in the Southern League in homers, walks, RBI, on-base, and slugging. Adams just turned 21 and he’s going to be blocked at AAA by Nashville's crowded infield scene with Ernesto Martinez Jr. healthy, the recently acquired Andrew Vaughn now in the fold, and even Tyler Black getting the occasional start at first for the Sounds. Recently promoted catcher Matthew Wood is 9 for 15 this month in Biloxi with a homer and three walks. As always, we conclude the trip around the organizational horn in Nashville, where the Sounds will mirror the Brewers in taking on the Cubs organization this week when they host Iowa. Nashville gained ground on first place Lehigh Valley last week, but they’ll need a small miracle to overcome their six game deficit now with nine games left in the first half. The aforementioned Seigler continues to rake, with a .995 OPS over the last 15 days, while continuing to take reps at the hot corner in three of four games he played in last week. Seigler may have been a Contreras’ hip check away from getting the call, had Caleb Durbin been injured in that collision. Jeferson Quero played in four games last week, three behind the dish (which is the limit for now) and one as designated hitter. The guys on the Brewers Fanatic podcast mentioned last week Sounds’ manager Rick Sweet’s comments about Quero’s arm which are worth repeating here. Sweet said Quero has “twelve bolts” in his shoulder and that he may never throw like the 80 grade arm Quero possessed pre-injury. Not great… Harkens back to Jimmy Nelson. Hear Sweet for yourself here, with the thoughts on Quero about two minutes in. With the well-deserved promotion of Jacob Misiorowski to The Show last week, Logan Henderson now becomes the Sounds’ ace. Henderson will look to bounce back from Friday’s performance when he allowed a season-high nine hits in just over five innings. Henderson managed to somehow only allow one run, lowering his ERA to 1.87 in AAA this season. Former Brewers’ bullpen mainstays Joel Payamps and Elvis Peguero combined for five innings pitched and zero earned runs last week, as they look to work their way back to the majors. As Brewers Fanatics play arm-chair GM leading up to the trade deadline, the potential haul is continuously bandied about, but rarely is it discussed what it would require to bring in help. Could any of the above players be on the move to bring back some immediate help for the parent club? The system looks loaded with infield talent, with Burke, Adams, and Wilken all producing at the corners and Cooper Pratt, Pena, and Made (to name a few) drawing praise up the middle. Even with the departure of Aaron Civale last week, the Brewers still possess starting pitching depth that they could look to deal. What players would you be willing to give up to improve the Brewers’ chances this year? Or should Matt Arnold just hold the top prospects and look to open a championship window when these players get closer to Milwaukee? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. View full article

Rain Delay!