Minors

Castaneda & Co. tossed a shutout for Biloxi. Four solo home runs and strong pitching won it for Nashville. Knarr dominated again for Wisconsin. Carolina’s offense was unable to support a solid pitching effort.

Baseball is a game of situational demand: you either meet the moment in a timely and skillful fashion, or you do not. In some games, you earn multiple opportunities to meet that moment, and in other games, you receive but one or two. The Sounds left the bases loaded in the seventh and tenth innings and suffered for it; Wisconsin came back to tie their game in the eighth inning but relinquished this tie in the following half of the same inning. All was not lost, metaphorically speaking, organizationally - Carolina fought their way back into the victory column, and Biloxi held on by the strength of pitching and a two-run bomb by Joey Wiemer. Let's get into the recaps!

If you haven't reviewed the fantastic Brewers Minor League week in review by our own @Seth Stohs (read here), please do so. It will get you situated for the week ahead. As always, we all hope for winning results with a keener eye toward player development and game evolution.

Unlike the large amounts of runs given up in the lower levels to close out last week, we began our Minor League Monday with several low-scoring affairs across the board throughout the majority of the contests - though Biloxi's contest ended a wee wonky after a tough error in left field. Let's see how the teams fared overall, knowing leads were lost in the middle innings and late.

Week 3 of the minor-league season is complete. Two of the Brewers affiliates, both Triple-A Nashville and Double-A Biloxi, are first-place teams. High-A Wisconsin is in second place. Low-A Carolina is the lone affiliate under .500, at 7-8. Several top prospects had big weeks, so as Week 4 is about to begin, let’s look back at Week 3.

Nashville won 3-2, capping off a 5-1 series win. Biloxi did the opposite, falling 7-3 to lose five of six games in the week. The Timber Rattlers and Mudcats both got thumped.

Luis Urias began his formal minor league rehab with the Shuckers in Birmingham, the Sounds and Timber Rattlers maintained their winning grooves, and the ultra-youthful Mudcats continue to experience growing pains, especially on the mound. Let's dive into Saturday's action on the Brewers' farm.

Minor league coaches always remind players that as long as they have a uniform on, they have their chance to contribute at the big-league level for their organization. That is true, but clubs need to hit on their premier draft picks in order to maximize their talent base at the game's highest plateau. While Mother Nature slowed down red-hot 2021 1st round OF Sal Frelick Friday night, the Brewers other most recent top picks (OF Garrett Mitchell. LHP Ethan Small, and SS Brice Turang) had tremendous evenings.

The Timber Rattlers eked out a third straight one-run victory, while the Shuckers lost a third straight heartbreaker. The Sounds and Mudcats’ bats were silenced to see win streaks end.

Carolina doesn't always score first, but they can still pull out a victory when they fail. Big lefty Russ Smith experiences a rough and frustrating outing in Appleton's wild n' wooly, cold and windy, thrilling comeback affair. Biloxi scuffles and struggles but nearly pulls one out in a long slog for a game. And Nashville does Nashville things scoring many more runs than their opponents.

Let's get into the recaps!

There was a time not so long ago when the Brewers farm was seen as top-heavy but suffering from an overall widespread lack of quality arms.

If the Brewers are looking for instant offense, they’re in luck. Five veteran players at AAA Nashville have broken out as top early-season performers, ready to step up and produce in Milwaukee.

Saturday's Report highlighted the fact that Brewers affiliates led three respective leagues in ERA, It also pointed out that the Timber Rattlers' bats were in need of awakening. Let's see which, if either, trend continued as it was another overall winning day on the farm.