Brewers Minor League Link Report (6/08): Wiemer Returns and Biloxi Walks it Off in the Ninth!

Transactions: INF Pablo Reyes was optioned by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Nashville Sounds,  RHP Rafael Garcia and much-discussed and much-asked about RHP Logan Henderson have both been listed on High-A Wisconsin's 60-day injured list

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No DSL or ACL contests to report on today. Rest up young men and enjoy whatever the 'day off' entails.

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Carolina Pre-Game Media Notes            

POSTPONED

Yesterday, I shared Jackson Chourio's press release regarding his 'Player of the Week' honors. In today's pre-game notes, we learn:

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Jackson Chourio has hit safely in 13 consecutive games and has gone 23-for-56 while hitting .411/.441/.679 with a 1.119 OPS (9 R, 4 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 16 RBI) during the streak.. Chourio's career high hit streak is 15 games (08/31/21-10/2/21). Chourio has also reached base safely in 21 consecutive games (5/14-6/7).

The hype is very very real because this young man is just very very good at baseball. It's truly hard to fathom this type of success in his first promotion and his first affiliate action. The sky is the limit here in every way.

AND, without further ado, I tuned in to the MiLB.tv broadcast for this one. The tarp came off. The start was delayed. Then the rains returned and the game was postponed. No Jackson Chourio for me this fine early summer's eve. I soldiered on.

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Wisconsin Pre-Game Media Notes            

Final:  Beloit (Marlins) 2, Wisconsin 0
Box Score / Game Log                               

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

Wisconsin Drops Pitchers Duel to Beloit - Rattlers Muster One Hit in Loss to Sky Carp

There really isn't all that much to say about tonight's contest. Antoine Kelly was fantastic again. He held Beloit to a single run over six complete  strong innings of four hit and two walk ball. He added five strikeouts for good measure. However, he was bested by Beloit's Pat Monteverde who brought a no-hitter into the sixth inning and ended his day thereafter - 3 walks and a sole one hit to Zavier Warren. Monteverde also tallied six strikeouts. The Timber Rattlers failed to plate a run and lost 2-0. 

Further Abbreviated Notes:

• Antoine Kelly is still very very good at pitching the baseball. 
• Zavier Warren grabbed the sole hit of the night for the Rattlers in the top of the sixth and this was after Tyler Black had walked. This was truly their sole chance to get something going. The inning ended in a double play and, well, that was that.
• It's worth noting, and this is mentioned in Chris Mehring's article above: The Timber Rattlers had only gone scoreless one time in their first 41 contests. They've been shut out four times in their last twelve games. The offense has been a bit sleepy. Let's hope that changes! 

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Biloxi Pre-Game Media Notes      

Final:  Biloxi  4, Tennessee (Cubs) 3  
Box Score / Game Log             

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

Valerio Delivers Fifth Walk-Off Win for Biloxi - Wiemer Homers for the 13th Time This Season

Some great tidbits in the Biloxi Pre-Game Notes above. I could share the bullpen stats from the Pensacola series, but, no no no. Today, let us peruse our daily 'Reetz Reader':

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The REETZ Man: After going deep twice on 6/1, Shuckers’ C Jakson Reetz has now risen to third in the Southern League in home runs. It was Reetz’ second multi-home run game of the season, the other coming on 4/17 vs MIS. Reetz is also just one home run shy of tying his career-high (13) in 2019 with the Potomac Nationals... Reetz now has a 1.081 OPS, the best in the Southern League and has the fifth best OPS in Minor League Baseball... Reetz’ .653 Slugging percentage is the seventh best in MiLB.

Bold is my own. Hope aboard the hype train. Come one and come all. It's Jakson Reetz season.

This was Brandon Knarr's Double-A debut and, man, what a performance. He came to the mound and was absolutely ready to rock - and, rock he did. All things considered, this is a mild miracle as he arrived in Biloxi the early morning prior at a spry 1 am. Oh, to be young! Brandon pretty much made one single mistake on a Chase Strumpf line-drive rocket just over the wall in left field. Other than that, Brandon complete six full innings of five hit, two walk, and eight strikeout ball. It was truly a pleasure to watch the game tonight. Thank you, Brandon. I wish you many many more starts like this in the games ahead. 

Further Viewing Notes:

• Joey Wiemer is different. He truly is. Let's watch his incredible outfield assist in the top of the fourth:
  This is his seventh outfield assist on the season. Do not challenge that arm, young men. You'll regret it. What's more? Joey followed that throw with his 13th home run - a solo shot - in the bottom half of the same fourth inning:

         Can you say: "How to own an inning"? I can. In more than one language. ?

• It felt unfair to see the recent Biloxi bullpen meltdown continue after Knarr's admirable work but that was the case for Arnaldo Hernandez. It started, and the portent was crystal clear, with a first pitch roped double over Tristen Lutz in left field. The hit hammered off the high wall, past Lutz's throwing hand and into the glove of a sprinting Sal Frelick. Arnaldo followed by surrendering a single and another double. Given recency bias, I was expecting the worst. Kudos to Arnaldo for settling down and maintaining a tie. The 3-1 lead vanished but he didn't unravel. He followed this rough seventh inning with a scoreless eighth. 
• Cam Devanney's approach at the plate, and his consequent results in 2022, is night and day better than what we saw in 2021. I continue to love watching this young man play. Here's a well-hit left field double scoring Thomas Dillard from first base (!!). Great stuff:
• Mike Guererro wanted this one badly and rightfully so as things had gone awry lately. Mike used a pinch-runner in Noah Campbell for Thomas Dillard at first base in the bottom half of the eighth inning. In the ensuing ninth inning, Mike swapped Gabe Holt for Brent Diaz. This proved to be a very savvy move as Gabe beat a pitch-out attempt and managed to steal second as the throw was short and ultimately dribbled into CF.
• We might have to do a Quadzilla 'measure-off' amongst Thomas Dillard, Brandon Knarr, and Mayor of Door County and Quadfather Corey Dillon. That's some serious serious HAM on these young men. I know the odds-on favorite would be the Quadfather. BUT, I'm not sold. 
• Speaking of Thomas Dillard, I mentioned it the Minor League game thread, but he has really come on as the season has progressed. He added three walks to his league-leading (tied) 35 walks tonight. That's 38 total. I'm going to take a guess he's now solely atop the Southern League leader board. 
• Tristen Lutz missed a couple plays in left field tonight, I would propose. They weren't easy plays, but they are plays he can make. This being said, he stayed meaningful at the plate - something that has been a common theme since mid-May:
• Here is your Felix Valerio walk-off Zen:

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Nashville Pre-Game Media Notes      

Final:  Norfolk (Orioles)  8, Nashville 3 
Box Score / Game Log                        

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

Sounds Downed by Norfolk in Series Opener - Nashville Drops Third Straight Despite Tyler White's Three-Hit Effort

It was a 'Welcome Back Ethan' return for highly-touted lefty, Ethan Small. These sentiments quickly turned in the third inning after a rare botched double play ball from stalwart Mark Mathias. The inning snow-balled and the game simply got away. Apparently, there was rust to shake off from the recent road trip and the postponed game from last night. Let's hope the Sounds can get back to winning as the series progresses.

Further Viewing Notes:

• Is Norfolk Ethan Small's Triple-A kryptonite? They beat Small for his previous only loss of the year on May 6th. They kicked him out of tonight's game before the third inning was completed. In just his second batter faced, lefty and just promoted Gunnar Henderson smashed a line drive home run over the wall in right field. It was a bad omen, apparently.
• Ethan's night unraveled in the following manner: well-hit fly out to left field, 1-2 single given up on a fastball high and over the heart of the plate, double play ball botched by Mark Mathias (only his second error on the season) on an errant throw well off the second base bag and into the dirt. The inning 'should' have been over. But, alas, it continued. And it went downhill from there. The ump's tight strike zone did Ethan no favors. The runners on, post-error, stole second and third on a bang-bang play and a wonderful throw to second from Feliciano. The play was extremely close but it did appear the runner beat the throw with a foot-first slide. Ethan then threw a wild pitch on a full count to plate the first run for Norfolk. Tip of the cap to the Tide: they earned their runs and took advantage.
• For all of you with MiLB.TV subscriptions, tune into the pre-game interview with the one and only Jeff Hem and young RHP Dylan File (on the replay the interview starts at roughly 51 minutes 22 seconds). Jeff is so good at these interviews. I can't encourage you enough to check in on these pre-games but also check into Jeff's ongoing blog as interviews stay current throughout the season: Updated and Ongoing Interviews Here. Our very own @Mass Haas will post these Here but bookmark that page and reload it weekly.
• Is there anything more priceless in Minor League baseball than the Nashville Sounds 'Junior Announcers'? I love watching the youngsters on the mic. Such good stuff.
• The Sounds tied the game up in the bottom of the second at 1-1 with a vintage baseball collection of seeing-eye hits that plated Tyler White. Tyler hit an absolute bloop single that turned double down the right field line as the ball fell amongst three charging Tides players. Jon Singleton followed with a walk. Mark Mathias followed with a groundout fielders choice. David Dahl plated Tyler with a weakly hit but well beat-out infield single to shortstop.
• Let's recognize the continued excellent work from Andy Otero in the Nashville bullpen. After tonight's five scoreless innings of two walk and three strikeout ball, Andy has completed 14 2/3 relief innings for the Sounds giving up a mere two runs. What's more, he's absolutely toned down his walks and hits against since his time in Biloxi. His BA against is sub 0.100. His WHIP is sub 0.75 ? Nobody likes those 70-75 mph off-speed pitches. Keep it up, Andy! Incredible stuff.
• Unfortunately, other than the fine plate work of Tyler White and a welcomed 2-for-5 night at the plate for Brice Turang, not a whole lot else happened at the plate. This being said, Jonny Davis' continued on-base work, well, continued: After going 1-for-4 with a walk, Jonny improved his on-base streak to 19 games. He’s hitting .303 (23-for-76) with 12 runs during the streak. It's going to be hard for Corey Ray to get meaningful playing time with that type of production.
• Speaking of Brice Turang, this play was not as easy as Brice made it look:

         He just makes it look too easy. I've said it before, I'll say it again: Turang is an incredibly good fielder. 

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A Final Detour: This is what it's all about. We have a legend in our midst here at Brewer Fanatic in Jim Goulart whose tireless dedication over twenty years of Minor League Brewers coverage is truly worthy of an interwebs placard of some form or another. As a group here at Brewer Fanatic, we cover the Minor Leagues because we love the stories, we love the players, and we want the best for all the athletes; coaches; and affiliates (and their organizational employees at large). It truly is a beautiful community of folks. Well, tonight in Oakland, Bob Hards made his Major League debut in the broadcast booth after 31 years covering Oakland's Double-A affiliate in the Midland Rockhounds (formerly, the Midland Angels). This is simply something to celebrate. Something to bring joy.

The Brewers have a wealth of broadcasting talent amongst their affiliates. As a habitual watcher of MiLB.TV, I want to salute the continued awesome work of Greg Young in Zebulon, Chris Mehring (and Kyle Lobner) in Wisconsin, Garrett Greene and Thomas Zinzarella in Biloxi, and Jeff Hem in Nashville. May each and every one of you achieve all you aspire to achieve in your broadcasting endeavors. I appreciate your fantastic work on a nightly basis and I thank each and every one of you. You make the game of baseball better for all of us.

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That's a wrap for my Minor League reports this week. We're on for a full slate of games tomorrow. Keep in mind, Carolina will play a double-header starting at 5 PM EST. Nashville will also be playing a double-header to recuperate their postponed game from Tuesday. So, that's already 6 games before we consider ACL and DSL tilts. Please stay tuned and active as we deliver all the news from the Brewers' lower levels.

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