Article: Brewers Minor League Link Report (5/17): Promotions Aplenty, a Center Field Showcase, a 3-1 Evening Overall

[Joseph Zarr]

One of the absolute joys of religiously following the Minor League Brewers affiliates is seeing young men rewarded for their tireless hard work. Congratulations and high fives abound on this Minor League Monday - check out the bountiful 'Transactions' below. I personally witnessed several jaw-dropping plays from the center field position from High-A Wisconsin up to Triple-A Nashville. It was truly one spectacular game-winning or game-saving play after the next. From Jonny Davis' game-saving diving catch or his game-tying home run, to Joe Gray Jr's game-winning two-run bomb over the wall in left field in the bottom of the eighth inning of a 1-1 game, to Sal Frelick laying out in shallow center for a crucial out in a 6-2 game. An incredible evening to witness. Let's get into the reports!

Transactions:

(RHP) Cristian Sierra was released by High-A Wisconsin, (RHP) Fernando Olguin was promoted from the ACL Brewers Gold squad to Low-A Carolina, (RHP) Tyler Herb and (RHP) Matt Hardy were assigned to the Nashville Sounds from the Biloxi Shuckers, (RHP) Trevor Kelley had his Triple-A contract purchased by the Milwaukee Brewers, (RHP) TJ Shook was promoted to the Biloxi Shuckers from High-A Wisconsin, (C) Jason Lopez transferred to the Biloxi Shuckers from the ACL Brewers.

Let's all take a collective pause. That's a lot of meaningful action for our Minor League Monday. Huge congratulations are in order for Trevor Kelley and his call-up. We're rooting for you Trevor. Let's make the most of this opportunity. For those of us who watch our affiliates on the regular, we know this is much-deserved. Best of luck with the Big Club!

Carolina Pre-Game Media Notes      
Final: Down East (Rangers) 8, Carolina 5
Box Score / Game Log

Via the Mudcats' site, game details, please review:

Carolina Falls 8-5 in Series Opener with Wood Ducks - Carolina Left 14 Men on Base in the Loss, Including Three in the Eighth

If you recall back to the season's beginnings, the Mudcats swept the Wood Ducks in a quick three-game series to open the 2022 season. Tonight's opener, at Five County Stadium in Zebulon, would not be a similar outcome as the Mudcats ultimately lost 8-5. After taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning, Edwin Jimenez faced quite a bit of trouble to start the third. After giving up a line drive single and walking the next batter he saw the Wood Ducks' Junior Paniagua lay down a seriously expert bunt down the third base line and Alberis Ferrer rushed his throw pulling Jesus Chririnos off the bag. It was bases loaded and no outs after the throwing error. Thankfully, Edwin escaped the early jam conceding only two runs. However, in total, this was not Edwin's sharpest outing of the year as he walked three batters, allowed six hits, and saw five earned runs to cross the plate in five complete innings. 

The Mudcats managed to regain that lead in the bottom of the third to make it a 3-2 ballgame. However, it's challenging to overcome two runners gunned down at home plate in three innings. After a lead-off triple to open the second inning, Hendry Mendez was gunned down at home on a high chopper to third base. Hedbert Perez was gunned down at home trying to push a run across off from second base after a Chirinos line drive single to center field in the bottom of the third. It was 3-2 Mudcats entering the fourth inning. But, it certainly could have been a bigger lead.

• Edwin kept his stuff together and was having a decent outing until things unraveled in the fifth. He left the inning trailing 5-3 and it was the end of his work for the day. Aside from his control issues in today's contest, I continue to like what I see from Edwin. When he is at his best, he is working the breaking ball on the edges of the zone. Today just was not his best outing but he had moments.
• It was a game of errors for the Mudcats with five errors in total. Two pick-off throws past the first base bag (one each to Jimenez and Puello) and Alberis Ferrer tacked on two more throwing errors from third base. He now has 14 errors on the young season.
• Eduardo Garcia's continued absence was felt as the line-up lacked that extra bit of danger. The young men fared well overall with ten hits but the top of the order suffered from his absence. The one-two punch of Garcia to Chourio can be lethal. I'm eager to see it soon.

• The recap paragraph from the post-game article release says it all for this one:

  Quote

  Carolina left 12 men on base and went 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position in the loss. They also fell to 7-11 when scoring first in a game, and fell to 7-3 (3-1 at home) against the Wood Ducks this season. Carolina’s five errors also matched a season high and ran their current streak of consecutive games with at least one error to eight straight games.

  That just isn't going to win many ball games. Let's hope the Mudcats can shore up their sloppy work in the field and get some more timely hits in the next one!

 

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Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes via their all-encompassing Virtual Press Box 

Final: Wisconsin , South Bend (Cubs)
Box Score / Game Log    
Via the Timber Rattlers' site, game details, please review:

Rattlers Find a Gray Haven - Joe Gray Jr. Breaks 1-1 Tie with Two-Run Homer in Bottom of the Eighth

When Sal Frelick was originally promoted to Double-A Biloxi, manager Joe Ayrault mentioned he was most likely going to shuffle around the lead-off spot. Originally, Tristan Peters got the first couple nods in the number one slot. Since then, it has been the Tyler Black show and it is quite easy to see why: Tyler had three hits, a run scored, and an RBI for the Rattlers on Sunday. He has been Wisconsin’s lead-off batter in the last nine games where he has been on base twenty-one times and scored ten runs. It certainly would appear as though Tyler has taken the job and run with it for now. He led off tonight's contest and went 0 of 2 but managed two walks and scored a run. This will play.

Antoine Kelly has now made two consecutive starts last into the sixth inning - both eclipsing his previous career-highs. This young lefty is really coming on in 2022 and it is a pleasure to watch. This was his first time as a professional he pitched six complete innings and, just to be clear, he entered this same sixth inning with a highly coveted no-hitter. It wouldn't last, unfortunately, as he conceded a lead-off line drive single and, later, a two-out double. But, the fact of the matter is: this is surely a prospect on the rise. Not to be missed in this no-hit bid was the incredible effort by Carlos Rodriguez in left field to grab a key out in the fifth inning keeping the no-no bid in tact. It truly was a web gem. To take a glimpse at the athletic play, head to 0:40 on the Game highlight reel below:

• Cam Robinson opened the ninth inning with a strikeout on a 1-2 pitch. The ball skimmed past Darrien Miller's back-handed glove, however, and the runner advanced to first base. They scored it a wild pitch for Cam, but, I'm going to chalk this up to the scorer suffering from a bad angle. Darrien Miller 'should' have caught the ball. It was a back-hander, yes, but it was fairly routine. It wasn't an egregious miss by Darrien but it's a ball he should probably catch and he's going to want that one back.
• Hey, guess what? The wild pitch didn't matter: Cam got the fantastic 6-4-3 double play to get out of that brief early inning jam. Wisconsin continues to play absolute lights out High-A defense and this bang-bang flawless 6-4-3 double play was a prime example.
• It was truly a moment. Joe Gray Jr. had laid off a couple tantalizing close pitches out of the zone. He demonstrated the improved approach at the plate we've seen in the past couple of weeks. He sat back. He crushed.
• His Fan Club was pumped ?:
• Tristan Peters had reached base in every game, in some fashion, since April 16th. He went 0 for 3 tonight with a sacrifice fly to right field for an rbi. What a run. On to the next streak, young man. Keep that season trending up!
• Now that we've seen TJ Shook promoted to Biloxi, I'm going to tout the T-Rats back-end. I'll take the duo of Kent Hasler and Cam Robinson to close-out any tightly contested game against any top-tier teams. Cam gets the glory, and rightfully so, with his shutdown saves. But, I'm here to tell you Hasler is a bulldog on the mound. He attacks hitters. He has really sneaky good stuff and features a breaking ball on par with Robinson's. What a season of pitching at High-A Wisconsin to date!

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Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes via the Shuckers' Virtual Press Box    

Final:  Biloxi 6, Mississippi (Braves) 5
Box Score / Game Log   
Via the Shuckers' site, game details, please review: 

M-Braves Threaten Late, Shuckers Hold on for 6-5 Win - RHP Zach Vennaro Strands Winning Run on Base

Biloxi had eight men reach the batters box in the first inning and seven more in the second. We can certainly roll with this kind of offensive output. As a matter of fact, the Shuckers' batters chased the typically reliable and highly effective Braves starter, Jared Shuster, in 2/3 of an inning. It was quickly 6-0 for the Shuckers after two complete - their bats stayed hot and disciplined early picking up where they left-off their recent homestand versus Birmingham.

Nick Bennett benefited from this early run support. The fast-working lefty finished his evening with five complete innings pitched surrendering seven mostly scattered hits and one walk while punching out four batters. Nick has been better as of late. Let's hope this keeps up.

• Innings are always better with lead-off extra base hits! Sal Frelick led off the first inning with a triple while Yeison Coca ripped a double down the first base line to lead-off inning number two. This put the pressure on the Braves' pitching staff and it certainly got things going.
• Speaking of Yeison: an absolutely unabashed tip of the cap to the recently promoted infielder. Yeison was recently shuffled around (from High-A to Nashville and down to Double-A Biloxi) a bit before landing in Biloxi. What a night he had! After a 3-3 to start his evening with shots to all fields, he finished with three hits in five trips to the plate. 
• And, keep in mind, Sal didn't just do it with his bat tonight. He saved a key run with the Shuckers still clinging to a 6-2 lead with a runner on third base:
• It's a sudden Joey Wiemer walk party. This is a truly a wonderful development in the past week plus. Joey opened his night with two diligent and disciplined walks. In his third at bat, he narrowly missed a rope down the third base line via an incredible stab and throw to first beating Joey by an ant's breath. He then proceeded to single in his fourth trip to the plate. All in all, he went one for three on the evening with the two walks. He now has 15 free trips on the season in 132 trips to the plate and five walks in his past seven games. Let's hope this keeps rearing its head!
• Taylor Floyd's early 2022 returns are not stellar: 3 2/3 innings pitched over five outings since his return. If we take a peak behind the tattered curtain: in 2/3 of these innings he has allowed nine of his 11 hits and all seven of his earned runs. With three runs surrendered in the bottom of the ninth tonight, nearly squandering the Shuckers' 6-2 lead, Taylor now has a .524 batting average against with a healthy 3.27 WHIP since his return in early May. This is obviously an extremely small sample size so let's absolutely keep that in mind, but, it is fair to say Taylor has been extremely hit-and-miss in his brief stint in Biloxi. Here's to better relief outings ahead!
• Tristen Lutz has come back to the club ready to rip. He had a key two-rbi double in the first inning on a rope to deep right center field. He is now 6 of 12 with a home run, two doubles, and six rbi's in his three games since returning:
• The at-bat of the game would have to go to Jakson Reetz and his two-rbi bloop muscled single to extremely shallow right field in the top of the second inning. Jakson steadfastly worked the count full and fought off several pitches while doing so. This hit proved to be the winning rbi's:
• After Floyd's near meltdown, Zach Vennaro came aboard with runners on first and second base and only one down. Zach played the part of the hero grabbing his third save of the year while striking out his last batter. The Shuckers breathed a collective sigh of relief and moved back to 0.500 at 17-17 on the year.

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Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes         

Final:   Nashville 4 Louisville (Reds) 3
Box Score / Game Log 
Via the Sounds' site, game details, please visit and review:

Jonathan Davis Leads Sounds to Win Over Bats - Center Fielder Drills Game-Tying Homer and Makes Spectacular Catch

• If you like defense and you like pitching, the Sounds are currently must watch baseball. They absolutely threw around some leather tonight, including a beautiful rundown of a hard hit laser shot to deep left at the warning track for out number two in the bottom of the ninth by David Dahl (who happened to catch all three outs to close the game) and an absolutely incredible play by Jonny Davis in center field. I hope to have some of these highlights! Oh, wait just one moment. Heeeeeeeeeeere's Jonny!
• Speaking of leather:
• Game-saving diving catch? Check. Game-tying solo home runs? Also check.
• Hobie Harris recorded his third save (of twelve total Sounds saves on the season) and continues to sport a 0.00 ERA. He isn't mowing them down like Strzelecki or Sadzeck but it's hard to find fault with no runs allowed. Hobie can find 96-97 on the radar gun. He sprinkles in a splitter and some off-speed. Hopefully, he can find his first Big League action of his career in 2022! 
• David Dahl continues to have a phenomenal season. Not only did he record all three outs in left field to end the game, he also hit this go-ahead unexpected opposite field hustle double to give Nashville the lead in the bottom half of the fifth inning. That is simply swiping second base right there! 
• According to Sounds historical records, the 25-11 record to begin 2022 is the Sounds best record through 36 games to start a season since at least 1998 when the franchise oddly began playing in the Pacific Coast League (they played in the American East division that year with New Orleans, Memphis, and Oklahoma).
• With Ethan Small taking the mound tomorrow night, the Sounds have to feel good about their chances to build off their historical start and improve upon this early home stand. What a season we have here early in Nashville!

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The Affiliates managed a 3-1 evening and we saw plenty of exciting plays throughout. Stay tuned early tomorrow as recently promoted Ryne Moore takes the Hill for Wisconsin in an early matinee game - his first start at High-A. Additionally, the above-listed ACL Gold promoted Fernando Olguin will take the mound for Carolina - his first start at Low-A. Ethan Small is always must watch in Nashville. Lots to look forward to in less than 24 hours.

As always, thanks for reading!

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