Low-A Carolina eliminated in Carolina League playoffs while High-A Wisconsin advances to championship series, Double-A Biloxi clinches playoff spot
Each week, I’ll be bringing you a roundup of the Brewers minor league affiliates, including score updates, key players, and more. Here is the week 25 roundup.
Triple-A Nashville
The Sounds went 2-2 against the Memphis Redbirds this week, as two games were rained out. Nashville is now 75-65 overall and 37-28 in the second half, 6.5 games behind Columbus for the International League lead.
Catcher Brian Navarreto led the team with six hits, driving in four runs. Vinny Capra, Carlos D. Rodriguez, and Chris Roller each collected five hits, as Capra drove in two and scored two runs of his own. As a team, the Sounds hit .244/.322/.274 with no homers and 13 runs scored in the series.
Chad Patrick worked six scoreless innings in his start this week, allowing just three hits and no walks with a team-high 12 strikeouts. Bryan Hudson worked two scoreless innings out of the bullpen, striking out five, while Jacob Misiorowski worked a perfect inning in relief, striking out all three batters he faced. The Sounds pitching staff finished the week with a 3.41 ERA and 46 strikeouts across 37 innings.
The Sounds hit the road for their last series of the season in Norfolk against the Tides (66-78 overall; 30-39 second half). Nashville is 3-6 against Norfolk this season.
Double-A Biloxi
The Shuckers closed out the regular season with a 3-2 series win over the Mississippi Braves (63-73 overall; 32-36 second half), clinching the second-half division title with a 36-32 second-half record (66-69 overall) as they finished in second behind the first-half winning Montgomery Biscuits (80-56 overall; 40-27 second half).
Lamar Sparks had a huge week, leading the offense with five runs, seven hits, two homers, and four RBIs as he hit .467/.529/.933 across 15 at-bats. Felix Valerio homered in his return to Double-A (he spent all of 2022 and 2023 with the Shuckers), his fourth homer this year. As a team, the Shuckers hit .242/.336/.409 with five homers and 20 runs scored.
K.C. Hunt had a strong start for the Shuckers, allowing no runs on two hits and two walks with six strikeouts across six innings. Justin Yeager and Blake Holub each picked up a save, as Yeager worked two innings over two appearances and Holub worked a scoreless 1 ⅔ innings. The pitching staff finished the week with a 4.38 ERA, striking out 32 across 39 innings.
The Shuckers now head to the postseason as they’re set to take on the Biscuits in a best-of-three series beginning Tuesday. Tuesday’s game is at home with game two and a potential game three on the road in Montgomery on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The Shuckers went 16-14 against Montgomery this season.
High-A Wisconsin
The Timber Rattlers won their opening playoff series against the Quad Cities River Bandits, sweeping with a 1-0 win on Tuesday and a 7-6 win on Thursday that was capped off with a come-from-behind walk-off victory.
Luke Adams and Jadher Areinamo both slugged homers for Wisconsin this week, with Areinamo driving in the lone run in Tuesday’s 1-0 win and Adams hitting a two-run homer in Thursday’s win. Adams also drove in Cooper Pratt for the winning run in the ninth inning on Thursday, finishing his week with a .333/.556/.833 line with three RBIs and three walks. As a team, the Rattlers hit .210/.300/.371 with two homers and eight runs scored.
Alexander Cornielle shut down the Bandits on Tuesday, allowing no runs on two hits and four walks with five strikeouts over 5 ⅔ innings. Will Rudy went 4 ⅔ innings on Thursday, allowing three runs (two earned) with eight strikeouts. Mark Manfredi and Tyler Bryant completed Tuesday’s win with a combined 3 ⅓ innings, striking out three. As a staff, the Rattlers finished the series with a 2.00 ERA, striking out 22 batters over 18 innings.
The Rattlers now battle the Lake County Captains (77-53 overall; 36-28 second half) in the best-of-three Midwest League Championship Series, which began Sunday night with a hard-fought 5-4 win for Wisconsin. We’ll recap that series, including player and team stats, in next week’s roundup.
Single-A Carolina
The Mudcats dropped both of the first two games (7-6 Tuesday and 5-2 Thursday) in their best-of-three playoff series with the Fredericksburg Nationals as they were eliminated from championship contention.
Marco Dinges and Yophery Rodriguez led the offense with four hits and three hits, respectively. Dinges and Yhoswar Garcia had the lone extra-base hits (both doubles). As a team, the Mudcats hit .200/.307/.231 with no homers and eight runs scored in the series. The Carolina offense finishes the season with a .248/.340/.351 team line, with 56 homers, 628 runs scored, and 234 steals in 129 games.
Daniel Corniel allowed four runs (three earned) with eight strikeouts in five innings in his start, and Manuel Rodriguez allowed one run in two innings with three strikeouts in his start. Mason Molina was strong in a long-relief appearance, working three perfect innings with five strikeouts. As a pitching staff, the Mudcats had a 4.76 ERA and struck out 19 over 17 innings in the series. Carolina’s pitchers finish the season with a 3.90 ERA and 1,203 strikeouts over 1,111 ⅓ innings.
Performances by Top 10 Brewers Prospects (Weekly Performance; Season Totals)
- (MLB No. 58) SS Cooper Pratt (A+): .375/.444/.500 (8 at-bats), 0 HR, 1 RBI; .277/.362/.406 (347 at-bats), 8 HR, 45 RBI
- (MLB No. 62) RHP Jacob Misiorowski (AAA): 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER (0.00 ERA), 0 BB, 3 SO; 95 ⅓ IP, 56 H, 36 ER (3.40 ERA), 59 BB, 125 SO
- (MLB No. 64) 1B Tyler Black (AAA): .167/.375/.167 (12 at-bats), 0 HR, 1 RBI; .251/.368/.400 (418 at-bats), 12 HR, 66 RBI
- *OF Yophery Rodriguez (A+): .333/.333/.333 (9 at-bats), 0 HR, 2 RBI; .250/.343/.383 (420 at-bats), 7 HR, 60 RBI
- 3B Brock Wilken (AA): .067/.222/.133 (15 at-bats), 0 HR, 1 RBI; .200/.314/.365 (405 at-bats), 17 HR, 51 RBI
- 3B/1B Luke Adams (A+): .333/.556/.833 (6 at-bats), 1 HR, 3 RBI; .227/.443/.397 (295 at-bats), 11 HR, 56 RBI
- OF Braylon Payne (A): .167/.375/.167 (6 at-bats), 0 HR, 0 RBI; .438/.526/.625 (16 at-bats), 0 HR, 5 RBI
- RHP Logan Henderson (AAA): 2 IP, 4 H, 5 ER (22.50 ERA), 2 BB, 3 SO; 77 ⅓ IP, 58 H, 30 ER (3.49 ERA), 15 BB, 100 SO
- RHP Josh Knoth (A): No appearances; 84 ⅓ IP, 78 H, 42 ER (4.48 ERA), 40 BB, 96 SO
- 3B/SS Eric Bitonti (A): .000/.333/.000 (6 at-bats), 0 HR, 0 RBI; .282/.402/.544 (294 at-bats), 16 HR, 66 RBI
*Yophery Rodriguez was promoted to High-A Wisconsin on Sunday ahead of their championship series; his weekly stats are from his playoff series with Low-A Carolina.