Minors

In my previous article, I wrote about how the Brewers Minor League system has climbed up the rankings of MLB.com's experts. Let’s take a closer look at the individual players and their potential to make it to the show and how each can help the Brewers in the future. We’ll start by analyzing the outfielders and infielders. 

We all know the talent is there. The International League as a whole came into tonight's contest versus Ethan Small hitting a measly 0.187 against the former first round pick - a fantastic mark. BUT, given what we saw in Milwaukee, and now what I'm seeing routinely in Nashville, it's fair to say the confidence and the effectiveness seem to be fading just as the regular season comes to its close and the playoff push intensifies - in both Nashville and Milwaukee.

When your Triple-A team is winning series after series but barely holding back a charging Columbus Clippers squad for a postseason push, what do you do? Promote your best pitching prospect.

Strong starting pitching was a theme throughout all five Sunday contests, although only the Timber Rattlers and Mudcats were victorious. Nashville remains in first place despite dropping its finale. Biloxi suffered late game collapses in a doubleheader sweep.

OK, so that's a headline that will grab your attention. Yet despite that wild moment, there were plenty of things to highlight from a pure baseball perspective on the Milwaukee farm as well. Let's kick off your Sunday morning perusal!

Friday saw a mixed bag of results, though contending teams Nashville and Carolina were victorious in their road tilts. Biloxi players finally got a chance to open their series after three days of rainouts and split their doubleheader efforts. Wisconsin had a disappointing evening. Along the way, there were two scary moments in which players were forced to immediately be pulled from the game. Some top prospects excelled. Here we go with another busy report!

Carolina came closest to victory, but stranded ten men in a tough loss. Nashville battled back to tie the game twice, but couldn’t snatch a win. Wisconsin mustered just four hits in a 6-1 defeat.

With the minor league seasons wrapping up soon, we can begin to predict who the Brewers will be adding to their 40-man roster by November (or sooner) in order to prevent other organizations from plucking them in December's Rule 5 draft. All MLB teams need to finalize their Rule 5 protection "reserve" lists by November 20th. 

With the rookie leagues over, it was back to a basic four game slate - well, three games given the state of excessive and extremely wet rain drops in Biloxi. Honestly, the sense of freedom to watch nearly all these games in a single evening was a bit unsettling. Wait a minute: What a luxury! The T-Rats started things off with a matinee game at Fox Cities Stadium. Carolina and Nashville were our lone evening games and they certainly did not disappoint. Let's get into these winning reports!

It was the grand finale for the DSL and ACL Brewers squads - honestly, a sweet sigh of relief was heard amongst our Minor League reporting crew. Jace Peterson began his Brewers rehab assignment with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Ernesto Martinez headed back to the IL (sigh). Clayton Andrews pitched his second scoreless frame as he continues his long comeback from injury. A bevy of exciting promotions fill the Transaction wire (look out below). Oh, and there were seven contests throughout the system. Let's get into those reports!

The rookie leaguers wrap up their seasons on Tuesday (today). Biloxi (September 18th) and Wisconsin and Carolina (each September 11th) have aways to go yet, while the AAA schedule extends all the way to Wednesday September 28th to meet the MLB need for available call-ups, rehab outings, etc. Today's report details the next-to-last games for those in the Arizona and Dominican complexes, though it's possible some players currently in Maryvale might find themselves in a Mudcat or Timber Rattler uniform in the coming weeks.

A 19-year old pitching prospect burst onto the scene in Carolina’s 6-2 victory. Nashville clinched a series victory in a 7-0 shutout, but lost the second game of its doubleheader. Biloxi lost on a walk-off single and Wisconsin struggled again.