Article: Brewers Minor League Link Report (5/21): Things Stay Knarr-ly in Wisconsin, Weather Rears its Head in the Southeast, and Wiemer Finishes a Triple Shy of the Cycle

[Joseph Zarr]

The Biloxi Shuckers could not overcome Noah Zavolas' continued struggles since his 2022 return and, ultimately, fell to the Mississippi Braves. Elsewhere in the system, Wisconsin batters found their strokes and supported the ever-dominant Brandon Knarr who continues his lights out 2022 campaign. The Carolina 'Micro Brews' managed to hold on to their slim lead after an extensive weather delay pulling out a 2-1 victory, and Nashville was shut down by inconsolable and fickle weather after taking a 7-0 lead into the third inning. Let's get into the Recaps!

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Carolina Pre-Game Media Notes      
Final: Carolina 2, Down East (Rangers) 1
Box Score / Game Log 

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

Mendez Leads Mudcats to Fourth Straight Win - The Mudcats Won Their Fourth Straight While Also Clinching Their Third Series Victory Over the                                                                                                       Wood Ducks

Stiven Cruz took the hill for his second start since his ACL call-up. He worked his way through his first real test during his brief time in Low-A: in the second inning Cruz walked two batters while giving up a single to load the bases. Ever the gamer, however, he induced two harmless infield pop-ups to escape the jam. Cruz remains un-scored upon through seven complete innings pitched, with 11 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.00. Two early two-out runs in innings two and three were the difference for the 'Micro Brews' on the evening as they held through the rain delay and the game's finish. For the second evening in a row Hendry Mendez stole the post-game headline.

Further Viewing Notes:

• Rain delay you say? Yes, I do:
• This just in, in case you were unaware, the second youngest player in Low-A, Hendry Mendez , loves hitting opposite field anything: 
• Let's embellish the highlight: Hendry has now reached base safely in 13 consecutive outings with this opposite field single. That's what we call 'tough stuff' when we dig deep for clichés.
• I'm going to keep chiming away on this until proven otherwise: Jackson Chourio is built different. It's hard to describe what I see on a nightly basis but this highlight gives a brief glimpse. Ever un-fazed no matter the count, he is always a possible base-runner or a potential run-across in Low-A. This near home run was his ninth double in only 61 at bats:
• Ok. Let's wrap-up these above past few comments with a bit more provocation: Can we talk about the two youngest players in the Low-A Carolina league - Chourio and Mendez - continuing to shine and play tantalizing baseball? This should definitively not be overlooked. Chourio, in particular, was recently moved to number three on the updated Brewers 'Baseball America' Top 30 prospects. He's 18 years old, folks. This is exciting. Mendez is following suit and playing extremely good ball as of late. And, hey, I didn't even mention Eduardo Garcia . That's discipline.
• Jakob Brustoski continued his recent string of effective bullpen work. After an extremely rough April where Jakob struggled to find the zone consistently, he's bounced back admirably in May with 6 2/3 innings pitched: four hits, three runs, two hit batters, three walks, 12 punch outs. After tonight's unblemished innings, he's seen his ERA drop from 21.94 to 13.94 pitching to a very workable 4.05 ERA in all of May. Things are looking up!
• Speaking of bullpen work: let's recognize the sum total of Pablo Garabitos, Brustoski, Trevor Tietz, and Brannon Jordan. The young men pitched a total of five complete innings of one run, two hit, five strikeout ball. The lone run came on a solo shot off Jordan in the final two innings. He got his first save of the season on two innings of effective work - closing the game on a punch out with high heat after a couple very effective breaking balls. Garabitos grabs the win with his sole fifth inning of one hit, one strikeout ball.

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

Final:  Wisconsin 9, South Bend (Cubs) 2
Box Score / Game Log    

Via the Timber Rattlers' site, game details, please review: 

Rattler Club Cubs 9-2 - Knarr Pitches Six Scoreless for Sixth Win as Offense Cracks 14 Hits

It was an absolutely beautiful game in Appleton Wisconsin and the Timber Rattlers showed up with hits aplenty to back another stellar outing from Ace, Brandon Knarr . They managed this all while appeasing the season high attendance north of 4,000 total fans. What a showing! Hits were sprinkled all about the ballpark, stellar defense was played and Knarr was dealing. It was nice to see the bats heat up as they had been relatively held in check over the last two games. Let's take a look at my viewing notes and the plethora of awesome home game post-game materials that will give you a good look at what went down at the home ballpark.

Game Viewing Notes:

• More insight on what is now routine stellar defense. A run was saved early by Ethan Murray at short stop: 
• Zavier Warren is the Felix Valerio of High-A Wisconsin. He shows an equally disciplined approach at the plate and he plays stellar defense at the hot corner just as Valerio does the same at second base for Biloxi (and, now, occasionally left field as well). A perfect example of this was the home run blast in the bottom of the eighth (his second on the season)
  followed by an absolutely incredible stop and throw-out from third base to end the game. Check out this stab starting 2:06 on the Full Game highlight reel:
• How good has Knarr been in 2022? Firstly, after today's scoreless six-inning outing he lowered his ERA to 1.17, moved his strikeout total to 55, and saw his scoreless streak extended to 13 1/3 innings. Not shabby. But, let's look at his last 5 outings: he has allowed a mere two runs over 30 innings. Four of those starts have been scoreless outings. Can you say: Promotion?
• Check out the post-game Soundcloud pod for further thoughts on and from Knarr, Wes Clarke and Tyler Clarke : Post-Game Pod Here
• Keep in mind, Knarr relinquished a hit every inning today. BUT, he limited all damage. They were singles. He dominated out of the stretch - including a pick-off. He buckled down, in concert with his infield, and kept a very active base-running team in South Bend very much in check. He's just flat out been excellent all season long. He's essentially a couple flukes away from an 8-0 start to the season. That's just incredible stuff.
• It was nice to see Tyler Black get back on track with a three hit game. Having started the series a mere 1 of 14, he finished his evening with three hits in five trips and started his game three for three.
• Wes Clarke had another vintage 2022 Wes Clarke day. His average just doesn't tell the story of his solid season and the OPS of 0.737 backs that up. He knocked in two RBI's in consecutive innings early and earned two walks as well on the day.
• Every Timber Rattler grabbed a hit today except Darrien Miller. Every Timber Rattler reached base today including Darrien Miller. This was an offensive outburst shared by everyone in the line-up.
• A tip of the cap to Zach Mort who closed the game with three innings complete of two-run ball (all in the ninth inning) preserving the elite back-end tandem of Hasler and Robinson for the series finale on Sunday. Let's see what Antoine Kelly can do his second time working the South Bend line-up on Sunday.
• Perhaps, just maybe, the true highlight of the game was Tim Dillard's work on the mound and with the famed 'Bratzooka':
• Black stole three bases in today's game. He has eight total on the season now and the Timber Rattlers now have 7 of the 25 top base stealers in the Midwest League. 
• Black also took the field in center field today. This was Tyler's first action in the outfield since high school. Is this noteworthy? Probably not. But, it is a classic Brewers maneuver.

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

Final:  Mississippi (Braves) 5, Biloxi 4
Box Score / Game Log  

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

Late Rally by Shuckers Not Enough in 5-4 Defeat - OF Joey WIemer Falls Triple Shy of Cycle

Noah Zavolas features a five-pitch mix as a young pitcher: a fastball, change-up, curveball, slider, and cutter. There's lots to pick from in his pitching bag and he showed the possible prowess of this mix in 2021 with 121 often remarkable innings pitched. Even with five pitches, however, you can not hang off-speed offerings directly over the plate - especially to very good baseball players. Noah did so on pitch number two to Braves number one prospect, Michael Harris II, and he saw the delivering absolutely crushed  to dead center field off the high wall.  Believe me when I say this: Michael Harris II is an extremely talented baseball player. He's balled out in every game I've seen the Shuckers play the Braves in 2022.

The score was still 2-1 Shuckers after Biloxi managed to plate two in the top-half of inning number one on a bevy of two-out singles. Noah struggled to find his footing in this outing. BUT, ever the optimist, I am going to celebrate the footing Noah did find. After conceding 5 runs after two innings, Zavolas hunkered down and found some flow. Given his 2021 performance, I'm going to chalk these rough early outings to 'working the kinks out'. There's too much there and this is merely outing number two coming off a mysterious delay to his season's beginning. Here's to better game's ahead!

Further Viewing Notes:

• Things looked good early as the Shuckers were scoring runners with two down on the aforementioned 'bevy of singles'. Tristen Lutz stayed hot and helped knock a run across:
• Terence Doston saw his first ever action in Double-A. He is a smaller stature athlete who passed up an opportunity to play football at West Virginia before opting for the Minor Leagues as a Brewers 22nd round draft pick in 2019. Tonight, he played left field and smoothly collected two fly-ball outs in the first inning to get his evening started. As a random 'hunch', I would gather the organization wants to expose Dotson to Yeison Coca who, also a smaller statured athlete, has put on an impactful amount of weight over his early seasons and it shows in Coca's physical growth. After a first at-bat strikeout, where Terence looked overmatched, Doston recovered and made nice contact on two line drive outs to the Braves' shortstop in addition to an extremely well hit out to right field. Unfortunately, in the game of baseball it isn't how you hit it but, rather, where you hit it. Dotson fared well tonight and he should hold his head high.
• Nothing would describe the current stretch of inconsistent Shuckers baseball more than the failed pick-off and pickle in the bottom of inning number two. Thomas Dillard did his part by throwing a ball too high to Cam Devanney who barely made the leaping snare just off second base. Devanney then rushed his throw to first, hit the base runner on the helmet, and the ball trickled past the first base bag and the runner was safe. These are the types of defensive miscues seemingly happening on a regular basis for Biloxi in 2022. This was a key gaffe as there were no outs at the time, Zavolas was struggling, and the runner then left on the ensuing 3-2 count and grabbed third base on another well-hit ball to center field. The Shuckers remain a Southern League leader in errors. This sequence was indicative of that stat.
• I've now seen two Shuckers pitchers charged balls for pitch clock violations in two consecutive games. Last night Arnaldo Hernandez was charged a ball on a 1-2 count with the bases loaded before a bases-clearing double to the wall in right field that turned the tide of the entire game. In today's game, with runners on second and third base in a rough second inning, Zavolas was charged with a pitch-clock violation. Thankfully, he escaped unscathed inducing a sharply hit ground ball for the inning-ending double play. BUT, it is worth pointing out: the pitch clock changes the game in pressure situations. A pitcher can see a favorable count ruined in a matter of mere seconds. 
• The struggle with RISP reared its head in inning number three for even the hottest of Shuckers hitters. With Joey Wiemer on second base after a wonderful stretch of a single into a hard-earned double, and the ever-walkable Thomas Dillard on first base (his pitch-recognition and patience appears to be Dillard's best attribute - 27 walks on the season) on first, both Jakson Reetz and Tristan Lutz struck out and stranded the runners on the base paths. It remained 5-2 Braves heading to the bottom half off the third. The Shuckers finished 3 for 12 on the evening with RISP.
• He may have thrown a scoreless inning on Tuesday in Mississippi (and, a big hooray for that and a wish for many more scoreless innings ahead!) but Lucas Erceg led off his outing in the bottom of the seventh as he has done many times in 2022: he gave up a hard hit double. Admittedly, I was a wee concerned he might see another run away inning. Erceg's 2022 scouting report might read: "High velocity but pitches to contact." Let's get to the goods: Lucas got out of the seventh and eighth inning unscathed. All in all, this was a very successful outing for the recently transitioned hurler and one we should hope he builds on. He even struck out the absolutely dangerous Michael Harris II after walking the number nine hitter. That's a win! All told, two innings of scoreless one hit, one walk, and one strikeout ball for Erceg tonight.
• Wiemer was a triple shy of the cycle on the evening. He absolutely crushed a home run to deep left field. He literally swings and hits the ball different than most other players at the ballpark.  The home run ball was hit harder and further than any ball the entire evening and it wasn't even close - this included the home run hit to straight away center field by Michael Harris II in the first inning. Let's all take our long overdue Wiemer 'Moment of Zen':
• The Shuckers almost had the tying-run across. But, well, this isn't really going to get it done Felix?:
• Speaking of Felix, he may be in a mini slump at the plate but he continues to play incredible defense. Erceg can tip his cap to Valerio's incredible diving stop at second base in the center field grass, improbable turn and throw to nail the runner by a fraction at first, all while saving a sure run from scoring. 
• The Shuckers still have an opportunity to split the six-game away series with a win tomorrow. Here's hoping!

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Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes         

Final:   Nashville 7,  Louisville (Reds) 0 - POSTPONED in THIRD INNING (Booooooo!)
Box Score / Game Log 

Via the Sounds' site, game details, please visit and review:

Sounds and Bats Suspended at First Horizon Park - Game to be Resumed at 1:05 Sunday

Things were looking rosy early. And, then the weather rolled in. See my brief notes below. Of note, unheralded but steady Abraham Almonte was having a game - just another thriving Nasvhville Sounds late 2021 free agent signing. It is truly difficult to understand how immaculately the Brewers organization has hit on Minor League free agents in late 2021. They are answering the proverbial bell up and down the Nasvhille roster.  

Abbreviated Game Notes:

• Josh Lindbolm faced the minimum number of batters through three innings. I'm calling this an imperfect perfect game - he did concede one hit after all. Create a new stat column, please. I have spoken.
• The Sounds managed seven runs in only 2 complete innings. Abraham Almonte's three-run home run to left field played a big part:
• Prior to this three-run jack, however, Almonte also had his say in the first inning knocking in the game's first run on a single up the middle:
• A tip of the proverbial cap is due for Pablo Reyes. He is finally seeing his weeks of solid contact rewarding him with hits in the stat column. He's made good contact regularly and now he is finding results. I'm rooting for you, Pablo!

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That's a wrap for my Saturday fill-in Minor League report. Please stay tuned early tomorrow as we have matinee tilts abound for all our beloved teams. Nashville will lead things off as they pick-up and conclude today's weather-postponed outing for game number one. They'll have the unexpected double header following immediately after a 30 minute 'rest'. As always, thanks for reading and thank you for supporting our Minor League players!

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Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Batting Stats and Depth

Current Milwaukee Brewers Organization Pitching Stats and Depth

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