Brewers Minor League Link Report (8/5): Shuckers and Rattlers Victorious, Transactions Galore

Transactions:

- Catcher Pedro Severino cleared outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Nashville.
- RHP J.C. Mejia's rehab stint (performance-enhancing drug suspension) moved from Biloxi to Nashville
- Shortstop Eduardo Garcia was promoted from Carolina to Wisconsin.
- Outfielder Jace Avina was promoted from ACL Brewers Blue to Carolina.
- Outfielder Oswal Leones was sent down to ACL Brewers Blue from Carolina.

These next three moves simply represent shifts from one ACL team to the other (each had already debuted).

- SS Robert Moore assigned to ACL Brewers Gold from ACL Brewers Blue
- 3B Ben Metzinger assigned to ACL Brewers Gold from ACL Brewers Blue
- C/1B/OF Tayden Hall assigned to ACL Brewers Gold from ACL Brewers Blue

- RHP Cameron Wagoner (11th round draft pick) assigned to ACL Brewers Gold to make his debut
- RHP Tyler Wehrle (recent UDFA signing) assigned to ACL Brewers Gold to make his debut

- LHP Arman Sabouri was released from the Wisconsin roster.
- Infielder Carlos Roa was released from the ACL Brewers Gold roster.
- Catcher Nader Garcia was released from the ACL Brewers Blue roster.

About the releases -

Arman Sabouri, 24 years old, was drafted in the 12th round out of Cal-Berkely in 2019. He appeared in 21 games with the Advanced Rookie Level Rocky Mountain Vibes that summer, and after the lost 2020 season, would open 2021 with the Timber Rattlers in High-A, and made 22 relief appearances before his season ended on July 30th. He would undergo Tommy John surgery in mid-September, so is not quite yet a year out from that procedure. Sabouri joined with a friend to post several spectacular YouTube travel diary videos on their "National Park Dudes" page we had linked to previously, especially during 2020's shutdown.

Carlos Roa will turn 21 in September. Roa was off to a spectacular start to his professional career in 2019 when as a 17-year-old, he posted a .417/.423/.625 line over his first 13 games (48 at-bats). Roa was on one of the Crew's Dominican Leage clubs while fellow shortstop Eduardo Garcia was dazzling on the other. Both players were sidelined by injury within a week of each other, Garcia played only ten games before a broken ankle ended his season, while Roa would undergo left shoulder surgery. Unlike Garcia, who remains a top prospect and was promoted Friday as shown above, the less-heralded Venezuelan native Roa did not recapture the magic in either 2021 or the current season.

Nader Garcia, now 20 years old, signed out of Venezuela in June 2019 and debuted as a just-turned 17-year-old with four games in the Dominican League. After the lost 2020 season (tired of typing that, but it'll be part of every farmhand's backstory for the next several years), Garcia was brought stateside. He has seen limited playing time, appearing in 35 career games. He does have one Arizona League home run to his credit, hit in 2021.

Our best to each player on their life journeys, both with baseball if so or without.

Final: Norfolk (Orioles) 7, Nashville 2,

Via the Sounds' site, game details, and we encourage readers to review each of the affiliate write-ups as part of their Link Report routine:

Sounds Cool Off with Loss in Norfolk - Brice Turang and Sal Frelick Each Post Multiple Hits in Loss

Box Score / Game Log 

We really like the way each affiliate puts its own spin on the way they compose their game summaries, and maybe because it's similar to the "Three Quick Strikes" my co-reporters have adopted and I will attempt to adhere to as of today, the back ends of the Sounds reports are wonderful. In today's example, with further details on Turang and Frelick, the linked report above has stolen my thunder, but here goes as I look elsewhere.

Three (additional) Quick Strikes:

• It was Garrett Mitchell's turn to rest, as Jakson Reetz occupied the designated hitter spot. It doesn't appear the DH role, at least for now, will factor into the Mitchell - Frelick - Joey Wiemer - Esteury Ruiz outfield rotation. Ruiz and Wiemer were a combined 0-for-8 in this game, with Wiemer fanning twice.
• Frelick stole his first base at the AAA level on his first attempt, after having been successful on 15 of 20 swipes earlier this season with Wisconsin and Biloxi.
• Say what you might about Josh Lindblom's season, but the 91.1 innings he's covered over 19 games (17 starts) has served its purpose, given the makeup of the staff and the constant shuffling between the Sounds and the big-league Brewers. This is not how Alec Bettinger envisioned his 2022 season to go, however, losing his 40-man spot and now appearing primarily in low-pressure situations.

You'll see Jacob Nottingham in Friday's Norfolk box score, along with RHP Logan Gillaspie, who struck out the side to end the game. The former Brewers farmhand has made eleven appearances with the MLB Orioles this season.
 

Final: Biloxi 7, Mississippi (Braves) 2

Shuckers Separate in Ninth to Win 7-2 - Zavolas Hurls Four Scoreless to Earn Second Save

Pre-Game Media Notes / Box Score / Game Log

Three Quick Strikes:

• Sometimes those three-inning saves can be considered mop-up, but not this one. Noah Zavolas kept it close when it was tight in the 6th, 7th and 8th with outstanding work.
• It's not the high-profile roster the Shuckers had a week ago, it's definitely more of a workmanlike collection now, but Tristen Lutz, Cam Devanney, and Thomas Dillard are among those with potential future value on the big-league level, and as we've learned recently, as trade chips in 2023 and beyond. Each contributed to this win. And as a forum poster pointed out, Lutz has been an RBI machine and "does he own a first baseman's mitt?"
• Hard to believe he won't turn 22 until December, but Felix Valerio should get used to the Biloxi zip code for next season. As his monthly splits show, 2022 has been inconsistent at best, but July was rough. Age is obviously on his side.

The Shuckers borrowed heavily from the Braves' MiLB TV feed to provide us with video highlights (and calls from the former Voice of the Shuckers, Chris Harris). You'll find five consecutive highlights here. Here's the one we've chosen to include directly here, because 113 MPH is damn impressive.

Final: Wisconsin 4, Quad Cities (Royals) 1

Timber Rattlers Top River Bandits - Rodríguez and Middendorf combine for thirteen strikeouts

Pre-Game Media Notes / Box Score / Game Log

Three Quick Strikes:

• The first-inning Houdini act you just read about helped push RHP Carlos Rodriguez' pitch count to 73 by the time his first Midwest League appearance ended after four scoreless, but that's fine work dancing around six baserunners overall (three walks). This is the Nicaragua native's rookie season in terms of action, as the 2021 6th round pick out of a Florida JUCO did not pitch for an affiliate last year. 
• We've reminded folks so often over the years, every signing is of potential importance - do we need to list how many seemingly obscure players at the time of their signings are in the Brewers big-league peripheral now (Cousins, Topa, Strzelecki, etc.)? Was this June 14th Frontier League press release telling us about RHP Ryan Middendorf just the latest? Sure seems that way.
• In addition to Rodriguez, shortstop Eduardo Garcia made his Midwest League debut (0-for-4, no K's). Joe Gray Jr.'s on a 1-for-14 skid (home run, however), and it's just been a struggle, with circumstances, we realize (particularly his Lasik-related adjustments), just tough to move the average off the .186 needle this deep into the season.

You may realize that our website automatically links player names we type to Baseball Reference pages in our featured stories. But it's going to defer to big leaguers of the same name, so no, Timber Rattlers infielder Jose Acosta is not 131 years old.

Nice to see Darrien Miller go deep, and yes, despite the road game, you can catch it within this brief video report.

Corner infielder Ashton McGee hasn't played since exiting Tuesday's game after being hit by a pitch. Shortstop Ethan Murray left the same game immediately after scoring on a teammate's RBI groundout, but the throw went to first base, so not an obvious clue there. I'll give it one more night and will dig into the MiLB TV archive if both are still absent. C/1B Wes Clarke last played a week ago, so in essence, the entire Wisconsin bench Friday night was made up of outfielder Reidy Mercado, who was recently promoted from Maryvale, bypassing Carolina.
 

Comeback Falls Short in 7-6 Loss to Kannapolis - Relievers Pablo Garabitos and Miguel Guerrero combined to total 10 strikeouts and 8.2 IP

Pre-Game Media Notes / Box Score / Game Log

Yet another game summary that lays out the happenings very well. Be sure to review.

Three Quick Strikes:

• Hello there, Jeferson Quero, we've missed you the past ten days.  The catcher was the designated hitter in his return.
• Second baseman Zack Raabe reached base all four times up, his .370 OBP by far the strongest part of his offensive game. We imagine his Spanish language skills have taken a big leap in this, his first season of action in pro ball after not playing in 2021 (8th round pick out of the University of Minnesota).
• Not the Carolina League debut recently turned 20-year-old RHP Alexander Vallecillo (another native of Nicaragua) envisioned, as wildness and pitch count ended things early.

Final: ACL Brewers Gold 8, ACL Athletics 5
Box Score / Game Log

Six of the top seven in the batting order are recent newcomers, and with Eduardo Garcia no longer in Carolina (boy, we've mentioned Garcia a lot in this report), this may have been a coming out game / see-you-later game for 2022 first round shortstop Eric Brown Jr. On base four times (two doubles, single, walk, two stolen bases - OK, one throwing error). 

Congratulations on his first professional base hit to 18-year-old 6'6" right fielder Reece Walling, who declined an opportunity to play at Washington State to become a rare non-drafted high school signing for the Brewers. Although this was his third game, Walling has already walked five times and is sporting a sweet .545 OBP that doesn't quite seem sustainable. An intriguing player, however, and a left-handed bat to boot!

RHP's Cameron Wagoner and Tyler Wehrle did indeed make their pro debuts, as was indicated early in this report.

Canceled: ACL Brewers Blue at ACL Reds, Covid protocols

The issue is with the Reds squad, as their Saturday game has already been canceled. In Saturday AM tradition, the two Maryvale teams are on for this morning.
 

Final: DSL Phillies White 2, DSL Brewers #1 Squad 0, seven innings as scheduled
Box Score / Game Log

Final: DSL Mariners 9, DSL Brewers #2 Squad 8
Box Score / Game Log

For as little as there is to consume in the first box score, crooked numbers abound in the second game listed.

Here we are talking about 18-year-old LH-hitting first baseman Yeison Perez yet again. 3-for-5 with two doubles, a triple, and is now slugging .708 through 113 at-bats, are you kidding?

18-year-old catcher Eric Martinez had three hits and is putting together a quietly effective .274/.364/.452 line, in his second pro campaign.
 

Full slate Saturday, I'll catch you again Sunday AM.

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