Triple-A Nashville (33-23)

The Sounds went 2-4 this week against the Indianapolis Indians. Nashville is now 10 games above .500, but only a half-game up in the International League West.

Pitching prospect Jacob Misiorowski (No. 4) started two games this week. In his first start, Miz went four innings, giving up a single earned run and posting 8 Ks and a pair of walks.

The second, on May 31, was his worst start of the season. Misiorowski’s improved control had been one of the major stories within the Brewers’ farm system this year. However, he took a massive step back this week, allowing a season-high six walks and five earned runs in just two innings. Misiorowski struck out two but also hit a batter.

Definitely a step back for Misiorowski, but development isn’t a linear process. Overall, the right-hander has improved his control significantly compared to last year’s numbers. Even after what was basically a complete meltdown, Miz’s BB/9 is still 4.32 — over a full walk better than last year’s 5.55. He also had a great outing earlier in the week. Let’s just hope that Misiorowski will put this behind him.

The recently demoted Logan Henderson (Brewers’ No. 12) went three shutout innings, allowing just two hits. He’s in Triple-A because of the wealth of pitching options the Crew currently has, not because he’s not ready for the majors. Henderson has a 1.71 in four starts this season with Milwaukee.

Carlos Rodriguez, who had a 1.99 ERA with the Sounds before this week, gave up four runs over 2 ¹⁄₃ innings in his only start this week. C-Rod made his first major league appearance of the year last week. Rodriguez went 3 ¹⁄₃ innings in relief and picked up a win against the Pirates. He showed a lot of grit in battling through a nearly two-hour rain delay.

Rodriguez probably won’t be back up anytime soon with the Brewers’ staff returning to full strength, but (apart from his most recent outing) he’s pitched well in Nashville this year.

Speaking of injuries in the Brewers rotation, Brandon Woodruff should be back soon. Per Adam McCalvy, the veteran righty is scheduled to make one more start on Tuesday with Nashville before being activated. More on Woodruff in the Timber Rattlers portion of this column.

Last week, C/2B Anthony Seigler became the first Sounds player with a 15-game hitting streak since Keston Hiura in 2023. He made it to 16 games before going 0-for-3 on May 29.

Seigler — now hitting .293 on the season — has now had a hit in 18 of his last 19 games. While Caleb Durbin seems to be picking up the pace a bit, the Brewers could use some infield depth. Seigler could definitely be worth throwing into the mix.

Another potential depth option is Bobby Dalbec, who had another nice week — going 8-for-24 (.333) with a 1.032 OPS.

The 29-year-old Dalbec was a highly ranked prospect at one point, so maybe he can turn things around with Nashville, much as Daz Cameron did earlier this season. Dalbec came up as a 1B/3B, although he’s played more games in right field than at first or third since joining the Sounds. That may be due to Nashville’s roster construction as opposed to an inability to handle the infield.

Looking ahead to next week, Nashville will face off against the Gwinnett Stripers in a six-game series beginning Tuesday.

Double-A Biloxi (30-21)

Biloxi dropped four of six games against the Rocket City Trash Pandas. The Shuckers still lead the Southern League by a game and a half.

Biloxi’s offense had a rougher-than-usual week. Shortstop Jheremy Vargas was the only Shucker to hit over .300 on the week. Vargas and recently promoted C Matthew Wood were the only players to hit over .235. Both of Wood’s first two hits with Biloxi were home runs. He’s hitting .150 so far in Double-A.

1B/3B Luke Adams (No. 8) went 2-for-9 (.222) with four walks on the week. Mike Boeve (No. 5), also a 1B/3B prospect, cooled down a little after a hot start to the season. Boeve went 4-for-17 (.235) with a double and a triple. He is slashing .282/.388/.451 since returning from a right labrum procedure.

Cooper Pratt went 2-for-20 this week. Pratt, Milwaukee’s No. 3 prospect, has been struggling at the plate, slashing just .198/.286/.284 in the month of May. He’s now at a .229/.315/.349 line on the season.

Growing pains are to be expected for Pratt, who is still just 20 years old. Baseball is a game of ups and downs. It would be nice to see him pick up the pace a little bit at the plate, but Pratt is crazy talented. This was his only extra base hit of the week, but it couldn’t have come at a better time for Biloxi:

Pratt also still provides plus defense, so he’s helping the Shuckers even when he’s not hitting. I have an article on him coming out soon — stay tuned.

Luis Lara had been scorching hot, slashing .370/.458/.413 over the last couple of weeks. This week, however, he came back down to earth. Lara went just 2-for-21 (.095) with seven strikeouts against the Trash Pandas. He’s pretty much a pure contact hitter and profiles as a defensive fourth outfielder type in the majors. Lara is now hitting .249/.351/.332 on the season.

Brock Wilken also went cold this week — 1-for-18 with nine strikeouts. In typical Wilken fashion, the one hit was a home run.

Coleman Crow impressed in his only start this week, throwing five shutout innings with nine strikeouts. The 24-year-old righty, a 28th-round pick of the Angels back in 2019, now sports a 2.90 ERA on the season. Also, he has this curveball:

Crow isn’t the only pitching prospect that’s been showing out in Biloxi. Lefty Tate Kuehner (2.77 ERA) went 5 ²⁄₃ one-run innings, racking up eight strikeouts. K.C. Hunt (No. 24) gave up two runs in 5 ¹⁄₃ innings (seven Ks). Brett Wichrowski (No. 13) threw 4 ¹⁄₃ shutout innings in his only start of the week. Wichrowski has been really impressive, pitching to the tune of a 2.45 ERA in five starts this season.

The Shuckers will take on the Montgomery Biscuits next week in a six-game series.

High-A Wisconsin (25-26)

The Timber Rattlers went 5-1 this week against the Peoria Chiefs. Wisconsin is now heating up after a rough start to the season, going 9-3 over the last two weeks.

First baseman Blake Burke (No. 16) was the Timber Rattlers’ hottest hitter this week, going 10-for-20 (.500). He’s now hitting over .300 (.309/.409/.442) on the season.

Twenty-two-year-old SS Eduardo Garcia went 9-for-25 (.360/.407/.760) with a couple home runs. Garcia now leads the Timber Rattlers in home runs, with seven. He’s been consistently impressive at the plate this season, slashing .278/.346/.471 with 21 extra-base hits. Here’s Garcia’s second home run of the week:

Marco Dinges, promoted last week from Single-A Carolina, went just 3-for-18 after a 6-for-21 week. The next few weeks may be bit of a learning curve for the Brewers’ 2024 fourth-round pick, who was named the Brewers’ April Minor League Player of the Month with Single-A Carolina. Dinges has had an encouraging start to his minor league career (.937 OPS).

Nineteen-year-old Juan Baez (No. 26) went 6-for-23 (.261). He’s still hitting .217 with a .529 OPS on the season, although his numbers over the last month look a little better: .244/.313/.279 over 86 at-bats. Baez has no pop at this point — he only has three extra-base hits all year.

Tyson Hardin, who was named the Brewers’ Minor League Pitcher of the Month for April, continues to dominate — 4 IP, 1 ER, 5 K, 2 BB. He’s my pick for May’s Minor League Pitcher of the Month as well. The 23-year-old right-hander is a candidate for a promotion very, very soon.

Hardin’s stats this season are absurd, to put it mildly. He’s currently pitching to the tune of a 1.33 ERA through nine starts. The 6’2” Hardin has a 9.8 K/9 and 1.11 BB/9. Opponents are slugging just .275 against him. He hasn’t allowed a home run in 48 ²⁄₃ innings this year. I’ll put him on a flight to Biloxi myself.

Pitching prospect Bishop Letson (No. 14) didn’t pitch for a second consecutive week. No injury has been reported for Letson, nor has he gone on the IL. Letson went 5 ²⁄₃ innings in his last start, allowing just three hits and a single earned run. His ERA sits at 1.33 through six appearances (five starts) this season.

If you think Hardin’s stats look crazy, you should see Letson’s. Opponents are slugging .187(!!) against Letson. He’s averaging less than two runs of run support per nine innings but still hasn’t lost a game all season. Crazy. Hardin and Letson were both late-round picks (12th and 11th respectively) and already look to be steals.

Brandon Woodruff went seven shutout innings (74 pitches) in a rehab appearance with the Timber Rattlers. Woodruff looked great, which I guess is to be expected against Single-A competition. Still, no setbacks and good results is exactly what the Brewers want to see out of their former ace.

Woody will make one more rehab start on Tuesday with Triple-A Nashville. If all goes well, he should be back in the bigs by this time next week. It will be a long time coming for Woodruff, who hasn’t pitched for Milwaukee since September 2023. I can’t wait to see him in a Brewers uniform again.

Next week, Wisconsin will face off with the Cedar Rapids Kernels in a six-game series.

Single-A Carolina (33-16)

Carolina went 4-1 against the Salem Red Sox this week. The Mudcats still have the best record in the Carolina League, 3.5 games ahead of the Lynchburg Hillcats.

This is your weekly reminder to find a way to watch a Mudcats game (free to watch on Bally Sports’ website). They’re young, feature a ton of the Brewers’ high-ceiling and top-ranked prospects, and put up runs. Carolina seriously might be one of the most stacked Brewers affiliates ever.

Jesús Made, now ranked as the Brewers’ No. 1 prospect per MLB Pipeline, has cooled off a little bit after a hot start. Made (who turned 18 a couple of weeks ago) went 4-for-17 (.235) with a home run. This was technically last Sunday, but he also did this:

Made is still hitting .280/.394/.422 on the season. He’d been striking out too much earlier in the season but has now whiffed just six times over the last two weeks. He’s on schedule.

Infield prospect Luis Peña (No. 9) returned from concussion protocol and immediately went 7-for-17 with two home runs. In most organizations, he’d be the top infield prospect. The Brewers are blessed to have him, Pratt, and Made in the same farm system.

The Mudcats have a ridiculous number of quality shortstop prospects right now. Not only do they have Made and Peña — they also have Eric Bitonti (No. 7). Bitonti’s been playing some third base and some first, but that’s mainly due to the logjam Carolina has at short right now.

Bitonti had a rough start to the season, but he went nuclear this week. The 19-year-old went 7-for-18 (.389) with a whopping four home runs. He’s now hit six home runs in the last two weeks, bringing him up to a slash line of .237/.333/.414 on the season.

Oh, and the Mudcats also have SS/3B Filippo Di Turi. Di Turi isn’t currently ranked, but he has an OPS of .825 (higher than Made and Bitonti) and has already hit six home runs. The future is bright on the left side of the infield.

Second baseman Josh Adamczewski is no longer Milwaukee’s most underrated prospect. Caleb Durbin graduated from prospect status this week, so MLB Pipeline replaced him on their top 30 list with Adamczewski. Say hello to the Brewers’ new No. 16 overall prospect:

Adamczewski still hasn’t played since tweaking his back on May 2. He was just placed on the seven-day IL on May 28. He’s slashing a ridiculous .360/.450/.549, so hopefully Adamczewski can get back to helping the Mudcats soon. The 2023 15th-round pick hit .322 last year.

Outfield prospect Jose Anderson (No. 27) — promoted from the ACL Brewers last week — went 1-for-17 with seven strikeouts. Braylon Payne (No. 10), who’s now hitting just .230 on the season, went 0-for-9.

Carolina will face the Charleston RiverDogs next week.

Season Totals for the Top 10 Brewers Prospects (MLB Pipeline)

1. SS/3B Jesús Made (A): .280/.394/.422, 4 HR, 21 SB
2. C Jeferson Quero (AA): .371/.500/.886, 5 HR. Currently on rehab assignment with ACL Brewers.
3. SS Cooper Pratt (AA): .229/.315/.349, 4 HR
4. RHP Jacob Misiorowski (AAA): 12 G, 11 GS, 3-2 W-L, 58.1 IP, 2.31 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 4.32 BB/9, 11.26 K/9
5. 5. 1B/3B Mike Boeve (AA): .282/.388/.451, 2 HR
6. 1B Tyler Black (AAA): .381/.500/.571 in 21 at-bats this season. Currently on rehab assignment with ACL Brewers, expected to make his Triple-A debut sometime later next week.
7. 1B/3B Eric Bitonti (A): .237/.333/.414, 7 HR
8. 1B/3B Luke Adams (AA): .221/.409/.421, 6 HR
9. SS/3B Luis Peña (A): .339/.410/.559, 5 HR, 22 SB
10. OF Braylon Payne (A): .230/.364/.325

Player of the Week

Eric Bitonti, who, to reiterate, had four home runs in 18 at-bats this week. Bitonti’s bat speed is absurd — his 90th percentile exit velocity last year was 104.8 mph. The 6’4” infielder is incredibly toolsy, but he’s struggled to put it together since reaching A-ball. He’s struck out in 69 of his 169 at-bats this season.

Bitonti has also now homered six times in the last two weeks, which might be the start of a true breakout. He’s still just 19 — a guy who can do this deserves patience.

Play of the Week

Usually this is a defensive award, but sometimes bad defense makes for good baseball. This was one of the funnier inside-the-park home runs I’ve seen in professional ball. Gotta love the hustle (and the speed) from Made to score on a ball that never even touched the outfield wall.

Since this award normally recognizes good defense, here’s Craig Yoho with an honorable mention: