Your 2018 Helena / Maryvale Brewers

[Jenkins5]

I’ve been going through draft & our minor league rosters & wow we are going to be young at both levels! I’m guessing we will need to sign some more udfa to fill out position players like last year. Not sure how they will break camp and the placements with how you & raw the groups are. A lot of the SSs will need to play 2b & 3B. All the CFs will need to rotate to all 3 spots.

 

Best guess bases on rosters & draft picks I assume will sign

Helena

1B Chad McClanahan 20

2B Yeison Coco 19

SS Antonio Pinero 19

UTMI Julio Mendez 22

3B Nick Egnatuk 19

C David Fry 22

OF Nic Pierre 21-22

Jesus Lujano 19

Je’von Ward 19

 

C Kekai Rios 21

OF 4 Pablo Abreu 19

 

Arizona

1B Ernesto Wilson Martinez 18-19

2B Kory Howell 19

SS Brice Turang 18

3B Jean Carmona 18

C Moises Perez 19/ Jose Sibrian 19

OF LG Castillo 18-19

OF Joe Gray 18

OF Micah Bello 17-18

OF Arbert Cipion 18

 

Too many pitchers to go through & no clue who all signs but a ton of young arms from last year & more coming in this year!

[And That]

Sibrian was recently placed on the Helena roster. Carmona is on that roster as well, along with Pinero.

[CheeseheadInQC]

I'd seen Carmona and a few others, but where did you see that about Sibrian?

 

Looking at those, two things come to mind

 

1. The starting infields and the Arizona outfield look pretty intriguing.

 

2. Outside of the Helena infield (with Carmona moving up to Helena and Familia sliding into that spot in Arizona), there is precious little depth, especially given that it is quite possible the Brewers sign no 4-year college infielders or outfielders from their draft. You're right about the undrafted free agents likely being needed.

[And That]

I'd expect the Helena pitching staff to include Bullock, Chirino, Lemons, Martin, Missaki, Montas, Presley, Ashby (?), Hintzen, Daniel, Iverson (?), Andrews, Sunitsch, Matulovich (?), Schanuel, Mediavilla. Assuming Rasmussen signs, my guess is he doesn't pitch this year. One or two of Lazar/Delgado/Lillis/Morales/Murphy/Robinson/Rock/Rubick/Smith could make it as well. Plus injured guys if they're ready to rehab: Drossner, Owenby, Trent.

 

Helena catchers: Sibrian, Rojas, either Rios or Fry. Due to Fry still working back to full strength from Tommy John and being relatively inexperienced at catching, my guess is they start him in Maryvale.

 

Helena infield: Carmona, Pinero, Coca, Mendez (?), McClanahan, plus maybe Egnatuk and/or a UDFA or two. Ernesto Martinez also a possibility. Turang has an outside shot as well.

 

Helena outfield: Lujano, Pierre, Ward, perhaps Abreau. Watson if he signs. I haven't heard anything on LG Castillo recently, potentially him. Probably a UDFA or two.

[Jenkins5]

Really hope some of those high school arms are moving up. I think Lillis & Rubrick will be in Helena. I hope Murphy, Lazar, & Robinson make jump at least sometime during the season. Lazar & Robinson weren’t too bad last year depending on how you judge that. K rate & FIP were good and okay, both got hit hard with Robinson having a Babip of .500.

 

Murphy was a high pick everyone was excited for but had a really bad start to career. Hope he has improved. Really this is the end of year one & start of year two of what appears to be Brewers & Johnson’s draft strategy. Draft young, raw, projectable, and high ceiling kids & develop them yourself and your way. If these young guys like Lemon, Egnatuk, Ward, Castillio, Murphy, Lazar, Bullock don’t really take a step forward this season from last year, that’d be a little discouraging. Most were not great last year so shouldn’t be too hard to top but they all need to be improving

[homer]

I like that Arizona club....some interesting bats in that lineup. Can't wait for the full Link Report. Best day of the season for the minor league junkies.

[Mass Haas]

Baran signs with Brewers

Dave Seamon, CitizensVoice.com (Wilkes-Barre, PA)

 

The 22nd round junior college LHP signed for “a good chunk of money," is headed to Helena, and his cousin is Cubs' Manager Joe Maddon, who has provided guidance.

[NolanBratt]

First look at most of the Helena squad:

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bj5jWvKhgXM/?taken-by=helenabrewersbaseball

[ClosetBrewerFan]

There are the two 18 year old Aussies the Brewers signed in January. Alex Hall C and Jess Williams SS. I imagine they will both be in Arizona to at least add depth

[And That]

Updated Helena projection with opening day on Friday...

 

Pitchers: Bullock, Castaneda, Chirino, Delgado, Hintzen, Lazar, Lemons, Lillis, Martin, Missaki, Montas, Presley, Rock, Rubick

 

Catchers: Sibrian, Rojas, Rios, Fry

 

Infielders: Carmona, Coca, Egnatuk, McClanahan, Mendez, Pinero

 

Outfielders: Castillo, Lujano, Pierre, Ward

 

Other college draft picks TBD.

[Jenkins5]

McClanahan really needs to put it together this season. Him not moving onto Wisconsin after camp was pretty disappointing considering the money he received. Hopefully he gets hot and earns way up this season.

 

To me Carmona is the star player to follow on roster, he could be a really good one. To me, this team could be really bad when it comes to W/Ls. Very raw. All depends on how much growth these guys have had over the past year. Not many college bats to help. Guys must take leap. So many kids plateau at rookie maybe Midwest & then are done with baseball (Walla, Lintz type guys) never do enough to work up system to even A+ or AA. I see a lot of guys who have high ceilings but wouldn’t be shocked if they max out in the R+/A level. Be really interesting to see which ones make themselves prospects & which ones will just kind of be here until they are released

[And That]

Helena Brewers Announce Majority of 2018 Opening Day Roster

 

HELENA, MT - Today the Helena Brewers, in conjunction with the Milwaukee Brewers, announced a majority of its Opening Day roster. The current roster is comprised of 13 pitchers, five infielders, four outfielders and three catchers. Helena's full roster will be finalized before Friday's opening game in Great Falls.

 

Returning to Helena for a second season are infielders Chad McClanahan and Antonio Piñero as well as pitchers Brandon Presley and Roberto Delgado. McClanahan, an 11th-round selection in 2016, played in 63 games, splitting time between first base and third base. Piñero was the club's primary shortstop in 2017 and hit safely in eight of his final ten games. Presley and Delgado are 2017 draft picks who pitched exclusively out of Helena's bullpen last year.

 

The rest of the infield is comprised of 2017 5th-round selection Nick Egnatuk and Dominican natives Jean Carmona & Yeison Coca. Egnatuk is the earliest-drafted player from 2017 on the 2018 roster. Carmona is the 15th-ranked prospect in the Brewers system by MLB Pipeline.

 

Helena's outfield is comprised of 2017 draftees Je'Von Ward and L.G. Castillo, along with Dominican native Pablo Abreu and Venezuela native Jesus Lujano. Ward, who originally committed to play baseball at USC, is the nephew of former NFL safety Mark Carrier. He is also the 26th-ranked prospect in Milwaukee's system, per MLB Pipeline.

 

2018 7th-round selection David Fry, 2017 38th-round selection Robie Rojas, and Venezuela native Jose Sibrian compose Helena's catching corps. Rojas has seen time so far in 2018 with Triple-A Colorado Springs and Advanced-A Carolina.

 

There are five pitchers who spent time with the Arizona League Brewers last season (Justin Bullock, Max Lazar, Kody Rock, Austin Rubick and Wilfred Salaman). Blake Lillis is pitching for the first time since 2016, and Victor Castaneda comes to Helena from Tijuana of the Mexican League. Three 2018 draftees - J.T. Hintzen, Brady Schanuel, and Scott Sunitsch - fill out the current pitching staff.

 

[KeithStone53151]

Notable omissions based on my limited knowledge include Lemons, Murphy, and Pierre.

[Madhawk23]

Any idea where we'll see Michele Vassalotti pitch this summer? Or have I just missed him down in the DSL already? Was very intrigued by this guy a year ago, but I haven't seen his name pop up much this year.

[And That]

Vassalotti will be in the AZL.

 

Really anyone not on the DSL or Helena rosters is either injured or will be starting the season in Maryvale with the AZL Brewers.

[Jenkins5]

11th & 16th round High School pitcher picks Lazar & Bullock advance ahead of 2nd & 4th round High school pitcher picks Lemon & Murphy. Great to see the first to develop enough to earn the promotion. Disappointing that Lemon & Murphy still not ready. High ceiling arms. Hopefully they get off to strong starts in Arizona.

 

Only 4 18’ signings on roster to date, I’d expect more coming soon. McClanahan is the old man in the field at 20 (outside of two of the catchers) be very interesting to see how this young & raw of an offense performs. They will most likely be youngest lineup in the league! A lot of exciting potential but may take awhile for them to adjust to the more advanced arms they will face.

[Mass Haas]

Joe Maddon's relative 22nd round LHP Joe Baran signs with rival Brewers

Mark Gonzalez, Chicago Tribune

[Jenkins5]

Lemon & Murphy are actually both starting on DL hopefully just minor issues.

[Mass Haas]

Meet David Fry, 7th-round draft pick of the Milwaukee Brewers

Fry is coming off winning conference Player of the Year and conference championship MVP

By Brad Ford, BrewCrewBall

[Mass Haas]

Compelling 2017 video and backstory for just-signed non-drafted free agent RHP Peter Strzelecki from the University of South Florida

 

[Mass Haas]

FYI - Peter Strzelecki was a redshirt senior, missed his junior year due to Tommy John surgery.

[Mass Haas]

Here's the college press release with the impressive numbers on RHP Tyler Tungate, the non-drafted free agent signee announced today by the Brewers.

[Mass Haas]

Nick Egnatuck and Blake Lillis photos here.

[Mass Haas]

On one of the other non-drafted free agents:

 

Mitch McIntyre – RHP – Tabor (Kan.) College - an NAIA school

 

McIntyre is a past Tommy John patient and still throws in the low 90’s. He’s a transfer from Indiana State and pitched to a 9-2 record with 77 innings pitched, putting up a 3.82 ERA and 78 Ks.

[Mass Haas]

Quotes and details galore in this feature article on 10th round RHP and now Helena Brewer J.T. Hintzen.