Article: Brewers Minor League Link Report (6/28): In My Mind I'm Going to Carolina

[Joseph Zarr]

Can't you see the sunshine? Can't you just feel the moonshine? I can. Carolina wins again! Those Eastern Pines are whispering sweet songs of victory - their first in seven games. In Wisconsin, the Timber Rattlers escape an early 5-0 deficit...err...um via a weather delayed suspended game. Carlos Luna gives the Shuckers four fabulous innings of relief ensuring the comeback victory. Nashville can't escape the early ongoing troubles of Alec Bettinger (BUT, hey, I did get my dominant Tyler Herb fix...all was not lost). Further down the ladder some very intriguing pitching work in our ACL and DSL contests. Let's get into the recaps!

Transactions: 

There was a bit of action in the player movement department including another unexpected and, frankly, sad retirement. 

• (Retroactive to 6/27) INF Pablo Reyes was optioned back to Nashville from Milwaukee
• INF Andruw Monasterio was assigned to Biloxi from Nashville
• RHP Trevor Kelley was optioned back to Triple-A Nashville from the Brewers
• RHP Israel Puello was assigned/promoted (?) to Wisconsin from Carolina
• INF Antonio Pinero was activated from the 7-Day IL returning to the Timber Rattlers' active roster
• RHP Edrian Robinson of ACL Brewers Blue was placed on the 60-Day IL
• LHP Scott Sunitsch began his rehab assignment with the ACL Brewers Gold
• RHP Jolon Zhao handed in his walking papers and retired 

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Let's kick off our DSL coverage with an homage to our very own @damuelle who gave us this little DSL nugget in the Minor League Game Thread earlier today:

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For only the 2nd time this season (thus far), the Brewers two DSL squads were victorious on the same day. Terrific starting pitching from 18-year old LHPs Anfernny Reyes (5 IP, 0 R, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 Ks) and Osbriel Mogollon (4 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 3 BB, 8 Ks).

17-year old switch-hitting INF Jhonny Severino continues his hot streak (2 doubles, 1 triple), while consistently-excellent 17-year old switch-hitting OF Luis Lara collected another 2 hits. Keep it up!

An awesome day in the DSL for our two Brewers squads. Let's recap...

DSL Brewers 1 4 , DSL White Sox 2:

Daniel (quoted above) gave you the Jhonny Severino teaser. With that double and triple in today's 3-for-5 lead-off line, he is now 8-for-13 over his last three contests. The BA is up to 0.255 and the OPS is creeping toward 0.800 at 0.772. One of our current Brewer Fanatic favorites in Luis Lara continues to perform extremely consistently and extremely well. Today was no different as Luis went 2-for-5 and is now rocking a 0.352 BA with a 0.939 OPS in 72 at bats. In addition to the fine work from Osbriel Mogollon , we saw fine scoreless work from Leonardo Rivera and Jesael Cabrera who pitched five combined scoreless innings. This is three straight victories for the DSL Brewers 1 who have improved to 6 and 12 in their early going. 

DSL Brewers 2 5, DSL Phillies White 3:

Reybert Reyes had a 1 1/3 inning four hit and three run hiccup (including two straight hit batters before departing in the eighth) allowing the Phillies back into the game late. Reyes can thank his running mate Nelson Cuevas for preventing further damage and ensuring a victory to get back to 0.500 at 9-9. Cuevas shut the Phillies down with a closing scoreless 1 2/3 innings. It was shutdown work at first but Nelson worked for it in the end - the drama included consecutive singles, a hit batter, bases loaded drama and a throw at home. Let's hit the showers and call it a 'W'! Whewwww. Perhaps most pleasant in this victory was the multiple hit performances from the bottom-of-the-order and sub 0.200 hitters Demetrio Nadal and Mendy Ferreira. A hard fought if unexpected victory. 

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Let's kick off our ACL games with some tasty tasty highlights from RHP Phil Silverio's work last week versus the ACL Royals. 

ACL White Sox 7, ACL Brewers Gold 4: Let's start with a tip of our proverbial hats to up and coming OF Luis Castillo. With today's 1-for-4 outing (1 rbi, 1 triple), he continues to rake: 0.397 BA and 1.145 OPS in 58 at bats. Quite an intriguing beginning for the 18-year-old prospect. Of note in the pitching realm: Ryan Middendorf completed another scoreless inning - 4 1/3 total. A small sample but a good result. So far, Ryan's unscored upon with a WHIP sub-1.00. And, in his first rehab outing Scott Sunitsch opened with a scoreless one hit, one strikeout inning. Kudos for a successful return!

ACL Brewers Blue 3, ACL D-Backs Red 0: 

A shutout is always worthy of a deeper dive. Seven complete innings of 3 hit, 8 strikeout ball. Anthony Perez started this gem out with five unblemished three hit innings including four strikeouts. Perhaps most impressive is the Brewers Blue did not give out a single walk in the entire outing. Following Perez, Leoni Cruz (at his age of 24 looking to get promoted) completed a scoreless three strikeout inning while Quinton Low pitched another scoreless frame to close out the game. Offensively, the bats were relatively quiet but it was enough. And, special mention will go to OF 19-year-old Venezuelan Jamal Zalm whose 0-for-1 two walk outing brought two key runs across the dish.

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Final:  Carolina 8, Fayetteville (Astros) 5
Box Score / Game Log                               

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

Mudcats Win See-Saw Battle 8-5 to End Skid - Eduardo Garcia Led the Way While Going 3-for-4 with Three RBI in Carolina's Series Opening Victory Versus Fayetteville

 

Let's talk about the 2-1-2-3 run output to close this baby out. That's the stuff. Coming on late but coming on. That's how you end the 6-game skid. Let's keep it rolling! Eduardo Garcia gets the sound bite with his 3-for-4 evening but let's also recognize Jackson Chourio's triple (his fifth) and Jesus Chirinos two-hit night with three rbi's. Junior Montero gets the victory in this one but it came at the price of a blown save. Michele Vassalotti continues his resurgence. After a recent bout of challenged outings, Vassalotti has now gone three straight outings of three combined innings with zero runs and six punch outs. That's what we became accustomed to and it feels quite nice to see its return.

Let's talk about Carlos Rodriguez. He continues his run of excellence. In five outings in June, the Mudcats' Ace has now pitched to the tune of 21 1/3 innings, 10 hits, 11 walks, 25 k's, 5 runs, 2 HR's, 1 HB, 0.149 BAA, 0.98 WHIP, 2.11 ERA. Folks, he's a stud. We are seeing a trend. Let's not forget: He ended May with a better k:bb ratio, yes, but the ERA is now floating on a two-month 2.05 average. May and June combined we are looking at 55 k's to 15 bb's. The word I would prefer to use here is 'zesty'.

 

Let me close with a Hedbert Perez missile from last week. Because, well, nobody else in the Brewers' minors has done this:

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Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes            

POSTPONED:  Cedar Rapids (Twins) 5, Wisconsin 0 - SUSPENDED in the Third Inning
Abbreviated Game Log                               

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

Rattlers and Kernels Suspended on Tuesday - Cedar Rapids Led 5-0 When Rain Halts Game

This game had an unwelcome feeling as Zach Mort was struggling through three innings of five hit and two walk ball. He did manage the three strikeouts but the five runs - including a two-run homer to the second batter he faced - had put his team in a hole. The T-Rats managed to scatter three hits but plated nary a runner. Hence, we'll pick this back up tomorrow and follow with a seven inning game to complete the now double-header.

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Before we get into Biloxi's comeback win let's honor Shucker C/OF/DH Jakson Reetz (thank you@Mass Haas: See Thread Here). As the resident Conductor (self-proclaimed) of the Jakson 'Hype Train', let us all take a moment to honor his weekly reward: Southern League Player of the Week. The young man has been such an absolute joy to watch in 2022. Please tune in. He somehow continues to go relatively unnoticed and undervalued in our community of fans. 

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For the season, Reetz is slashing .292/.410/.616/1.026 with 15 doubles, 15 home runs, 44 RBI, and 40 runs scored in 52 games. He currently is tied for the Southern League lead in home runs (15) and is the sole leader in slugging (.616), OPS (1.026) and HBP (14). Reetz is also second in on-base percentage, tied for third in RBI, tied for fourth in doubles, tied for sixth in total bases and eighth in batting average. Reetz is the second Player of the Week honor for a Shuckers’ player this season behind Joey Wiemer.

Can we name another player in the system who would put out this incredible output in Double-A over a half a season with as little fanfare or recognition? Former third round pick. New organization (only his second). Just turned 26 in January of 2022. Crushing it. On to tonight's victory!

Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes      

Final:  Biloxi  3, Mississippi (Braves) 2
Box Score / Game Log             

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

Biloxi Kicks Off Second Half with 3-2 Comeback Win - Luna Spins Four Scoreless Frames to Earn Victory

We'll look past the caught stealing, the pick off at first base, and the throwing error. A 4-for-4 evening at the dish after being sent down to help bolster the Double-A troops is worthy of a spotlight. It didn't result in any runs or rbi's but it set the tone. So did this:

Andruw Monasterio: we salute you! Further mention is in order for Kent Hasler's scoreless 1 2/3 innings that handed the ball to Carlos Luna who was phenomenal. I've said it before: Luna has the toolkit it's simply a matter of control. One walk in four innings will get the job done. Fantastic work tonight from Luna! 

Sometimes a rally takes an opportunistic hit and some timely courage. How about this tying run:

What does winning baseball look like? You saw the Mike Guerrero send of Felix Valerio above - a great call and a heck of a jump and slide from Valerio. Well, let's take a look at Jason Lopez getting the jump to score the winning run off of Noah Campbell's sacrifice fly:

I sense bigger and better things for Biloxi in their second half - after all they struggled with in the first few months, they still had their chance for an automatic post-season bid. Tonight was a fantastic beginning. Let's keep rooting them on.

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If we're going to celebrate Reetz above, we're definitely going to celebrate Ethan Small right here: International League Pitcher of the Week. A much needed bounce-back performance versus Gwinnett Saturday to give his lone start of the week a special shine. This was the Small we grew to love before his call-up; it's simply reassuring to know it is absolutely still in there. Here's to more of these types of celebrated outings in the weeks ahead!

Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes      

Final:  Indianapolis (Pirates) 6, Nashville 3
Box Score / Game Log                        

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

Sounds Fall to Indians in Series Opener - Sounds Welcome 18 Millionth Fan in Franchise History

As if Ben Gamel hasn't done enough damage versus the Brewers, he had to continue his ridiculous trend versus the Sounds? His two-run jack in the second inning off the ever-struggling Alec Bettinger helped push the Indy lead to 4-0. Beyond Bettinger's continued struggles, we can look to the combined 0-15 output from Pablo Reyes, Brice Turang, Pedro Severino, and David Dahl in the 1-4 slots as a significant reason for the offensive struggles. The hitless quartet did manage three walks but tempered this with six strikeouts. A mere run crossed on their behalf. This being said, Turnag continued to flash his defensive prowess:

It's a shame the aforementioned 1-4 slots couldn't get the bats churning even just a little bit. Mark Mathias (3-for-3), Jon Singelton (2-for-4), and Mario Feliciano (2-for-4) were ready and willing in the 5-7 slots. Special mention shall go to Singleton who knocked in all three rbi's including his 10th home run jack (a two-run shot) to right field: 

A tip of the proverbial cap will also go to Tyler Herb . Tyler has struggled in recent starts but his stellar relief work (5 ip, 4 hits, 7 k's, 0 ER) allowed Nashville to stay within striking distance. It simply wasn't to be tonight in the series opener. Let's hope the Sounds can pick it back up tomorrow.

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And that's a wrap for Tuesday evening down on the Farm. Stay tuned tomorrow as the T-Rats look to come back and then take two in their now double-header. To that end, we know we'll see Justin Jarvis take the mound at some point. Alex Cornielle, Victor Castaneda, and Caleb Boushley will also be taking the Hill, respectively, in the evening. These are quality arms to lead our squads toward hopeful victories. As always, thanks for reading!  

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