The organization’s depth was on full display Thursday afternoon as several prospects found success against Kansas City
The Milwaukee Brewers got their third win of the spring, bouncing back nicely from their two losses yesterday. They defeated the Kansas City Royals 12-5 on Thursday afternoon with help from a number of the organization’s talented prospects.
Aaron Civale took the mound first for the Cactus Crew and looked just alright. Jonathan India started the game with a leadoff double off the wall in left, taking advantage of a fastball that Civale didn’t elevate enough. India would come around to score on a hard-hit groundout by Maikel Garcia on a breaking ball that Civale left up in the zone. Civale’s breaking stuff wasn’t quite as sharp as it will be in a few weeks time, leading to some mistakes up in the zone that the Royals’ hitters took advantage of. With a rising pitch count and some control issues, Civale left the game after 1 2⁄3 innings, giving up one run and three walks without a strikeout. Minor leaguer Chase Costello would come in to clean up the second inning facing Bobby Witt Jr. with the bases loaded. Costello got Witt to strike out swinging after displaying an impressive changeup earlier in the at-bat.
Royals’ starter Chandler Champlain would get two quick outs before walking William Contreras, Garrett Mitchell, and Rhys Hoskins, loading the bases for Joey Ortiz. Ortiz struck out swinging on a pitch way above the strike zone. Chandler would remain in the game for the second inning, and after hitting Jorge Alfaro in the hand, he surrendered a single to second baseman Raynel Delgado. Alfaro advanced to third base on the hard-hit single to center field, displaying his impressive sprint speed. The next batter, Jackson Chourio, placed a line drive just over the head of Witt at shortstop, scoring Alfaro and tying the game at 1-1, though Delgado was thrown out at third.
Aaron Ashby entered the game in the third inning and started off decent but missed arm-side with his sinker a few times. Alfaro throwing Nick Pratto out trying to steal second base helped Ashby get out of his first inning unscathed.
The Brewers put up a four spot in the bottom of the third thanks to an RBI fielder’s choice from Ortiz, who came up with the bases loaded again after Contreras singled, Mitchell doubled, and Hoskins drew a walk. Two batters later, Alfaro, displaying his third tool of the day, waited back on a curveball and sent it over the batter’s eye in CF, making it 5-1 Brewers.
Ashby returned for a second inning in the fourth and ultimately gave up two earned runs after another hit by pitch, a walk, and a throwing error on Ashby during a pickoff attempt. Ashby didn’t give up a hit in his appearance today but did give up two earned runs. Tyler Jay would come in to clean up the fourth inning and surrender a home run to Bobby Witt, further cutting into the Brewers’ lead as he made it a 5-4 ball game.
Brice Turang got his first hit of the spring in the bottom of the fourth, but otherwise, the Brewers would go down quietly. Ground ball specialist Elvis Peguero would enter the game in the fifth inning and get three outs (including two groundouts) after walking the first batter. The Brewers wouldn’t do any damage in the bottom of the fifth, before Elvin Rodríguez entered the game and struck out the side in the top of the sixth, with a completely new defense behind him after a Brewers’ line change.
Milwaukee put up five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to home runs by prospects Josh Adamczewski and Zavier Warren and doubles by prospects Yophery Rodriguez and Ernesto Martinez Jr. Pitching prospect Logan Henderson put up two scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth innings, facing the minimum six batters and striking out three. The Brewers picked up two more runs in the bottom of the eighth, thanks to singles from Adamczewski and Martinez followed by a two-RBI single by catching prospect Ramón Rodríguez, making it 12-4 Brewers. The Royals added a run in the top of the ninth off non-roster invitee Easton McGee to reach the final score of 12-5.
Overall, Civale and Ashby looked a bit rusty, but most importantly, each of them is healthy and should sharpen up their arsenals as the spring goes on. Turang showed he could be an above-average shortstop, making every play that came his way while Ortiz manned the hot corner. However, the minor leaguers did most of the heavy lifting in this one, with the following performances standing out:
- Josh Adamczewski: 2-for-2 with a two-run HR and a single, two RBI, and two runs scored
- Ernesto Martinez Jr.: 2-for-2 with a double and a single, one RBI, and two runs scored
- Ramón Rodríquez: 2-for-2 with two singles and two RBI
- Zavier Warren: 1-for-1 with a two-run HR and two RBI
- Logan Henderson: 2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 Ks
For more information on Adamczewski, check out this article from Brew Crew Ball detailing our breakout prospect candidates for 2025. Also, read what Javik Blake had to say about Martinez a few weeks ago.