Article: Brewers Minor League Link Report (5/31): Cam Robinson Officially Owns the Month of May

[Joseph Zarr]

It's 'Minor League Monday' - the real kind not the Holiday kind - and, as always, I encourage you to check out @Seth Stohs most recent and detailed 'Minor League Week in Review' HERE. These are wonderful reports to give you an ongoing glimpse of the teams, the players, and what to possibly keep track of in the week ahead. What's more? Seth's pitcher of the week for the final week in May, Justin Jarvis, got the start tonight as the Timber Rattlers returned to Fox Cities Stadium to face Peoria. Let's head to Bank of the James Stadium first, however, as our Carolina Mudcats started a road series versus Cleveland's Low-A affiliate in Lynchburg.

Transactions: INF Mark Mathias was officially optioned back to the Nashville Sounds, INF Jose Acosta was officially assigned to the Carolina Mudcats

Carolina Pre-Game Media Notes         

Final:   Lynchburg (Guardians) 4, Carolina 2
Box Score / Game Log  

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

Mudcats Drop Series Opener 4-2 in Lynchburg - Carolina Lost a 2-1 Lead in the Sixth While Falling to the Hillcats in Lynchburg

Firstly, a big congratulations to Hedbert Perez who was named the Carolina League player of the week. The press release is here. It's hard to fathom Jackson Chourio hasn't grabbed one of these awards yet given his continued fabulous play. Regardless, this award was noteworthy indeed as Hedbert is the first Mudcats player to receive this recognition in 2022. Here's to many more!

For a pitcher with such a nice breaking curve and growing change-up, RHP Carlos Rodriguez has some truly dangerous tools to work with. This being said, on several 0-2 counts, Carlos appeared to be leaving far too many flat fast balls over the heart of the plate. He was touching 93 on the heater while dropping that curve down to the low 70's. There's lots to work with for the 20-year-old - he utilized his change-up in the second inning for two straight strikeouts to finish the inning. I'd also opine, Carlos might have the best pick-off move to first of the entire Mudcats staff. It's a very quick turn and he nearly grabbed a runner in the first and then he managed to successfully pick the lead-off runner off in the second inning for the first out.

For the Hillcats, Jack Leftwich - previously featured as a piggy-back bullpen stud - was on the mound starting for Lynchburg. (He will start a second time in this same series.) He was cruising through the early innings finishing inning number one striking out Jackson Chourio while ending inning number two by striking out both Jeferson Quero and Hedbert Perez on high heat. He was touching 94 and 95 regularly on the radar gun. Throughout Leftwich's outing, the Mudcats were slow to catch up to his velocity. Ultimately, he finished five complete innings with ten strikeouts. Leftwich was dominant in his longest outing of the 2022 season. Rodriguez, it should be noted, went stride-for-stride through his four complete innings. 

Further Viewing Notes:

• It was essentially a Jheremy Vargas and Arbert Cipion show tonight for the Mudcats. Both Mudcats' runs were the product of their work at the plate. Their first run came with two outs and their second run - to take the lead in the top of the sixth - came when they lead off the inning. Without these two, the Mudcats batters were simply ineffective on the evening.
• It was definitely a pitching duel early and often between Rodriguez and Leftwich. Unfortunately,
• Alex Cornielle couldn't match Rodriguez's settle in and control as Alex walked far too man batters during his 3 2/3 innings of work. In total, Alex walked five batters in his relief stint.
• I don't know if there is a better defensive catcher in all the Brewers Minor League affiliates than Jeferson Quero. The ease with which he scoops pitches short of the plate or in the dirt is truly a sight to behold. He had several cool, calm, and collect scoops tonight. He is a defensive stud at such a young age. Hopefully, he can get his bat going again. 
• Carlos Rodriguez hadn't started a game since May 7th whereas Cornielle has played the part of Starter and Middle relief seemingly throughout all of May. I don't know if there is a single thing to make of this other than: Carolina mixes up their Starters and their long relief with regularity.
• It is worth noting: Zack Raabe was not in the field or in the lineup in any fashion tonight...                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Meanwhile, recent trade acquisition Jose Acosta was officially assigned to the Carolina Mudcats. Is a High-A promotion in store? Stay tuned. I think our very own @damuellemight have the right thinking here: Appleton bound?
• This game truly came down to the Cornielle and his lack of strike zone control. All else spoke to and resulted in a pitching duel and the quiet bats and the many strikeouts speak to this. On to the next!
• A random comment regarding the Lynchburg telecast: I watch a lot of Minor League baseball games. I've mentioned the difficulty in adjusting to our own Biloxi feed from 50' up and 100' back of home plate. It takes getting used to. Lynchburg was challenging in a different way: repeated choppy cuts from the camera crew and repeated mistaken player profiles for the batters (ghost profiles from the previous hitter). I know it's Low-A, but, to all involved: I'll be looking for improvements as the series progresses. I have spoken ?

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Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes         

Final:   Wisconsin 5 , Peoria (Cardinals) 4
Box Score / Game Log 

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

Rattlers Beat Chiefs and Move into First Place Tie - Bullpen Works 5 1/3 Scoreless Innings in 5-4 Win Over Peoria

Coming off a 6 2/3 inning, nine strike out outing in Cedar Rapids, Justin Jarvis opened his evening walking speedy Peoria lead-off batter Mike Antico with a ball well in the dirt. Antico came into the evening having stolen 21 of 24 bases on the season. He promptly stole second and third, and scored on a sacrifice fly. Jarvis managed to pick off the walked first base runner with a very fast and sneaky move, but, it's fair to say, this start was indicative of Jarvis' overall outing: inconsistent, inaccurate, and pretty much a struggle. This obviously isn't what we were hoping for, but, he did manage to leave with a 5-4 lead in tact after he left the mound after 3 2/3 innings. In total, he finished his evening with five hits, four walks, and three strikeouts. Control was the issue. Here's to more dominant future outings!

Grab your full game highlights here:                                                                

Further Viewing Notes:

• Ashton McGee had his best at bat in quite some time (arguably since he opened as the starting third baseman for Biloxi in the Pensacola opening series) on his opposite field double with two down in the second inning. Nice work, Ashton!
• Alex Hall ultimately drove McGee in immediately after said double. It just feels so good when the bottom of the order comes through clutch. With two down? The cherry on a baseball sundae.
• This just in: 18-year-old Jadher Areinamo is currently a bit overmatched at the plate in High-A. This is hardly shocking and, as we know, small sample sizes mean little. I'll simply note: he is swinging at any and every off-speed or breaking pitch with two strikes. This is great exposure for the young man. Hopefully, he has many a take away from his at bats and he finds incremental improvements.
• This was not the dominant Jarvis we have seen in his most recent starts. He was not locating his fastball tonight and, in general, was all around the plate but not touching corners or edges. Lots of high and outside and a few in the dirt.
• The third inning was the stuff tonight: 
• Tristan Peters catch in sixth inning was an absolute thing of beauty (1 minute 22 second mark above or just watch this Twitter highlight below). Perhaps, he had to out do the Ashton McGee leather? Maybe. Perhaps, the T-Rats are just really good at defense.
• Ethan Murray's throw out to end the eighth: What a play! With the bases juiced and a diving Zavier Warren incapable of corralling the grounder, Ethan fielded that slow-rolling ball and threw across his body to nail the runner at first. The T-Rats defense continues to impress on a nightly basis. Dominant late inning bullpen? Check. Solid defense on a night in, night out basis? Check. This is winning baseball. Tune in often. You won't be disappointed.
• I had to give the nod to Cam Robinson over the always noteworthy Tyler Black for the 'Tag' nod. Cam went the entire month of May unscored upon. That's what we might call 'impressive'. He gets his 10th save tonight with a clean ninth inning. All told, in the month of May: 16 innings pitched, 0 earned runs, 5 hits surrendered, 5 walks, 1 hit batter, 19 strikeouts, .100 batting average, 0.63 WHIP. Let me quote the great Adam McCalvy: "Sweet sassy molassy"
• I would be remiss if I didn't not the fine work of Joey Malutovich and Kent Hasler. Hasler, in particular, worked his way out of that bases loaded jam. The bullpen, as a whole, played a huge part in tonight's victory.
• We have a possible update (and the only one I can find on the interwebs) regarding the status of OF Carlos Rodriguez. He just received the 'Player of the Week' honors himself for the Midwest League: Press Release Here. In a cruel twist of fate, Roriguez was seen in the dugout hobbled on crutches at tonight's game. And, post game, we have this from our very own @zagski6:

• Quote

  Talked to Carlos Rodriguez after the game tonight. Leg was in a full brace. He has an MRI on his knee tomorrow.  Not looking good. 

  Having seen how Rodriguez was helped off the field in Cedar Rapids and knowing the typical history of a non-contact leg injury (the announcers claim he fell to the ground in a heap), this unfortunately measures up. What a blow this might turn out to be for such an incredibly evolving season. No official word yet. Let's keep our fingers crossed, but, I have to be honest: I'm prepared for a season ender. Sigh.

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Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes       

Final:  Pensacola (Marlins) 5, Biloxi 4
Box Score / Game Log  

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

Wahoos Walk Off Shuckers in 10 Innings - Lutz Drives in Three for Biloxi

A Quick Snippet: I came into tonight's tilt looking forward to seeing former Brewer prospect, Hayden Cantrelle with the Blue Wahoos. However, I had forgotten he was traded to the San Francisco Giants last week (he is now at their Double-A affiliate in Richmond, fwiw)! Good luck in your newest organization Hayden. It's been a whirlwind Minor League tour for the young Cantrelle in 2022. We wish all our prospects - current and former - all the best as they look to get to the Major League level.

To this end, I may as well mention: traded on the same day as Hayden, Korry Howell is starting to heat up down in San Antonio (Padres Double-A affiliate) as he is having a very solid second-half of May - his best play of his 2022 season. Keep it going, Korry! On the other end of the spectrum, Brett Sullivan (traded with Korry for current Brewers back-up, Victor Caritini, if you recall) has cooled off considerably down in El Paso (San Diego Triple-A affiliate) in May after a scorching hot start to his season in April. We wish both Korry and Bret the best of luck for the remainder of their seasons. 

If there's a more beautiful Minor League setting than Pensacola, I don't know what it is. Every game is a glorious view of the ocean harbor past the outfield walls. Much like the Shuckers opening series of 2022, I found myself pondering the sheer beauty of those salt waters. Stay beautiful, Pensacola! The Shuckers had a definitive bullpen game tonight and Lucas Erceg got the nod for the early going. Ultimately, the Shuckers lost the lead late as the typically uber-reliable Harold Chirino surrendered his first (and the game-tying) home run of his 2022 season in the bottom of the eighth - the first Blue Wahoo hit since the third inning, no less. Ultimately, the Wahoos tagged Nash Walter s for the winning runs in extras. A frustrating and tough loss for the Shuckers, no doubt.

Further Viewing Notes:

• It really looked like the Shuckers were going to break the game open in the second inning when they led the frame with four consecutive hits. They did manage to plate three in the frame after the Gabe Holt sacrifice fly, but, they ultimately stranded men on first and second base. The Shuckers finished their night 3-for-10 with RISP. 
• The Tristan Lutz renaissance and IL resurgence continues. I've mentioned it in many a Minor League game thread recently and tonight was no different: he is seeing the ball cleanly and he is crushing the ball. His 2-rbi double in the second was an opposite field rope to the wall. It wasn't just that double though. Check out this contact on the, then, game-leading single in the top of the 10th:
• Jakson Reetz' 2022 season continues to amaze at the plate. After another 2-for-4 evening (with another double) we saw his batting average creep back closer to .300 yet again while his OPS stayed north of 1.000. Who could have expected this type of season? Keep it up, Jakson. We definitely see your fine work.
• With runners on 1st and 2nd and only one down, the Shuckers were the recipients of a beneficial caught stealing call. My goodness, I feel like I see that once in a blue moon as a Wisconsin professional sports fan. It deserves mention and a salute: thank you Ump! That call proved quite formidable as Luis Avilas struck out with a flailing swing on the next pitch and Lucas Erceg had made it through two scoreless. 
• Speaking of which, a special mention to Erceg for two scoreless innings of work. His ERA is back below 7.00 and he's worked hard to get there. Let's keep it going in that direction, Lucas. Fine work tonight!
• With the bases loaded in the top of the fourth and one down, Felix Valerio struck out and Joey Wiemer flew out to right field on his first pitch. It remained 3-1 Shuckers but that was an obvious opportunity missed. Any one of those most likely runs prevents extra innings. And, so it goes in the extremely hard game of baseball.
• Hats off to Carlos Luna and his fine four innings of work. He was credited with an unearned run on a throwing error, but, in total he went four complete with nary a hit, three walks, and five punch outs. This was his best outing in some time. Well done, Carlos!
• Chirino has been dynamite for nearly all of 2022. This being said, he fell behind 3-0 to eighth inning Wahoo lead-off hitter Paul McIntosh and surrendered his first home run of his season and it was suddenly a 3-3 ball game. He proceeded to hit the next batter, Griffen Conine. But, Chirino found his way from there. He was ultimately credited with the blown save - an unfortunate stat for the Shuckers' best reliever in 2022.
• Things don't get any easier for the Shuckers as they face Marlins highly-touted prospect Eury Pérez in their next tilt. Eury absolutely owned Shuckers hitters his last time on the hill to the tune of five innings, no runs, and (gulps) 12 strikeouts. Let's hope the Shuckers find different results this time around.

***

That's all for tonight's wrap-up. Stay tuned again tomorrow as all four of our affiliates are back at it to open the month of June. Wisconsin will be our lone matinee game kicking off at 12:10 CST when Russ Smith re-takes the mound. Later in the day, we will see Justin Bullock in Biloxi and Tyler Herb on the hill for Nashville. Carolina's starter is 'TBD' so stay tuned. As always, thanks for reading.

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[Joseph Zarr]

For all the T-Rats fine defensive plays:

 

[Joseph Zarr]

For all the T-Rats fine defensive plays: