2025 Brewers Minor League Roundup: Week 19

Henderson returns to majors; Made, Peña, Burke promoted

As a reminder, every Monday morning I’ll be bringing you a quick recap of the previous week’s minor league activity — including team records, roster updates, standout performances, and more

Triple-A Nashville (61-45)

The Sounds went 2-4 this week against the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Nashville is now 3.5 games back in the International League West.

Milwaukee still has two top highly-regarded position player prospects in Nashville despite all of the call-ups this year. Catcher Jeferson Quero (No. 4) was placed on the 7-day IL last week due to a “mild left shoulder strain.” The injury is reportedly to his left shoulder, not his surgically repaired throwing shoulder. Quero is expected to be out for the next 3-4 weeks.

The other prospect is Tyler Black (No. 21), who was slashing .323/.400/.548 over his last two weeks in Triple-A before being called up to the bigs. He went 2-for-5 in two games with Milwaukee before being optioned back down in favor of Sal Frelick. Despite the somewhat promising stretch, Black fell down to earth this week — slashing .150/.308/.250 with 10 strikeouts.

The players who led Nashville in plate appearances this week were, in order: Jared Oliva, Drew Avans, Black, Freddy Zamora, and Raynel Delgado. Jorge Alfaro (10 at-bats) and Daz Cameron (15 at-bats) were the only Sounds to hit over .238 on the week.

The Sounds are a solid ball club in and of themselves, but at this point there aren’t many players on the roster that will help the Brewers this year. Position player mainstays in this part of the column have included Andrew Vaughn, Anthony Seigler, Caleb Durbin, and Andruw Monasterio — all of whom should remain on the big-league roster for the foreseeable future. Bobby Dalbec, who had been putting up solid numbers with Nashville, chose to opt out of his deal yesterday and is now a free agent.

What about the pitching staff? Well, the Brewers organization might have the deepest one in baseball right now. The big-league rotation right now is Freddy Peralta, Brandon Woodruff, Jacob Misiorowski, Jose Quintana, and Quinn Priester. Misiorowski hit the IL Sunday with a tibia contusion, so Logan Henderson was recalled to take his place. Hendo allowed three hits and one run over 4 ¹⁄₃ solid innings. His ERA is now 1.78 through his first five major league starts.

Chad Patrick (3.52 ERA with Milwaukee) is also down in Triple-A for the time being. Tobias Myers had a rough outing this week (1 ¹⁄₃ IP, 5 H, 6 ER) but has otherwise been solid for the Sounds. The Brewers’ 2024 Most Valuable Pitcher still has a 3.77 ERA on the season. Milwaukee also has Robert Gasser, who is currently on a rehab assignment with High-A Wisconsin. More on him in the Timber Rattlers portion of the column, but Gasser should eventually appear in Triple-A before he’s called up to rejoin the Brewers.

Carlos Rodriguez (3.54 ERA) and Coleman Crow (2.51 ERA in Double-A) aren’t quite ready to challenge any of those guys for a roster spot, but they’re both legitimate prospects who could develop into major league arms.

Crow, one of my favorite prospects in the Brewers system, pitched great in his first week with the Sounds. He went four shutout innings, allowing three hits and walking two. Crow’s last start, however, was a bit of a different story (6 ER, 3 IP). Triple-A is always an adjustment for pitchers, especially ones that don’t throw all that hard. Crow is now on the IL due to left hip pain but should be back with the Sounds relatively soon.

Craig Yoho appeared for the Brewers during the tail end of a game against the Chicago Cubs on Monday. Yoho was given a four-run lead and got the first two outs but walked the next two batters — mostly on pitches that weren’t anywhere close to the zone. Brewers’ manager Pat Murphy had to bring in Trevor Megill and was (rightfully) incensed. In that situation, it’s less of a big deal to give up a solo home run than it is to not be able to throw strikes and put the tying run in the on-deck circle. Yoho was outrighted back to Nashville within 24 hours.

Yoho’s still going to be good, but his fastball isn’t impressive at this point. He needs a stronger secondary pitch to play off of his changeup, whether that means improving his fastball or developing a third pitch (cutter, sweeper) that can consistently get outs.

That outing reminded me of Devin Williams on days when he was off. If the fastball wasn’t being consistently thrown for a strike, hitters would sit on the changeup and destroy it. I think Yoho knew his fastball wasn’t on and didn’t want to get blown up, instead trying to get hitters to chase out of the zone.

That changeup still has potential to be one of the nastiest pitches in the Brewers organization, he just needs to develop the confidence that comes from being able to miss bats with two different pitches. I trust Chris Hook and the “pitching lab” to get him right.

Next week’s opponent: Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp

Double-A Biloxi (56-46)

Biloxi went 1-5 this week against the Pensacola Blue Wahoos. The Shuckers are 14-19 in the second half of the season after winning the first half Southern League title.

Due to the rough week, the hitting stats out of Biloxi look a lot worse than usual. Luis Lara (No. 10) slashed .208/.333/.208, Cooper Pratt (No. 3) slashed .150/.292/.200, and Mike Boeve (No. 16) slashed .167/.167/.222. The only hitter to record 15 at-bats and hit over .217 was infielder Ethan Murray (.333/.462/.333).

Blake Burke (No. 27), promoted this week from High-A Wisconsin, had a hot start to his career as a Shucker — 3-for-8 with an RBI. Burke had been one of the best hitters on the Timber Rattlers all season, slashing .289/.380/.403.

I wrote about Burke last week in my overview of the top 30 Brewers prospects (per MLB Pipeline):

Burke, the No. 34 overall pick in 2024, is slashing .296/.381/.416 in High-A this year. Honestly, I’d have him higher than 27 on my own list of the Brewers’ top-30 prospects. He’s shown great contact ability in his time with the Brewers’ organization, and it’s not like he doesn’t hit for power, either. Burke has recorded 28 extra-base hits with the Timber Rattlers this year and has raw power that hasn’t yet entirely translated (due to his newfound tendency to pull the ball).

Burke’s defense, however, leaves something to be desired. He has a below-average arm and significantly below-average speed, so he projects as a first baseman or DH in the big leagues. Burke also tends to chase pitches more than he should (35% chase rate in his final year in college), although this year he’s walking 11.9% of the time.

Corner infielder Luke Adams (No. 7), who had a .986 OPS over his last month with the Shuckers, is still on the seven-day IL with a left shoulder contusion. Adams suffered the injury sliding into home plate over a month ago at this point.

RHP Tyson Hardin (No. 19), who’s been really impressive, hasn’t pitched in two weeks now. He was placed on the 7-day IL retroactive to July 20 — no word on why yet. Hardin has posted a 3.38 ERA through five starts in Double-A.

Biloxi has a lot of talented pitchers, but most of them had rough weeks. Brett Wichrowski (No. 25) gave up three earned runs in three innings of work while walking four batters. K.C. Hunt (No. 26) allowed five earned runs across two starts (8 IP). Hunt walked four but struck out seven.

Tate Kuehner has been absolutely shoving pretty much all year, but got lit up in his only start of the week (2 ¹⁄₃ IP, 8 R, 3 ER, 6 H). I watched that Kuehner start, and it wasn’t all his fault. Biloxi made three errors (including a Kuehner throwing error) and allowed a passed ball. He can’t control all of that. He can, however, control whether or not he gives out free bases. Kuehner walked four and hit a batter in those 2 ¹⁄₃ innings.

Next week’s opponent: Knoxville Smokies.

High-A Wisconsin (43-52)

The Timber Rattlers went 2-4 this week against the Lake County Captains. Wisconsin has won just six of their last 19 games.

Most of the Timber Rattlers have been cold at the plate in recent weeks, a trend that continued into this week. Wisconsin had just three players who hit over .211 this week — Eduardo Garcia (.500), Daniel Guilarte (.313), and Yhoswar Garcia (.235). The three most productive offensive players for the Timber Rattlers have been C Marco Dinges (IL), Burke (promoted to Double-A), and SS Jadher Areinamo (traded to the Rays for Danny Jansen).

Lucky for the Timber Rattlers, help is on the way. Shortstops Luis Peña (No. 2) and Jesus Made (No. 1) are both on the way to Wisconsin. Made slashed .267/.373/.388 with the Mudcats this year, while Peña slashed .307/.374/.470. Check back here next week to see how Made and Peña did in their first week in High-A.

Another player promoted this week is RHP Travis Smith, who was named the Minor League Pitcher of the Month for the Brewers organization. Smith posted an 0.69 ERA through 26 innings with the Mudcats prior to his promotion. The twenty-two year old right-hander has had a low strikeout rate (5.94 K/9) all season, but this month that number jumped all the way up to 8.31 K/9.

RHP Manuel Rodriguez (No. 30) was again the standout pitcher this week for the Timber Rattlers, going six innings while allowing two hits and one run. Rodriguez struck out four without walking anyone. He now sports an impressive 1.73 ERA across 12 starts this year.

Robert Gasser (No. 12), who’s rehabbing with the Timber Rattlers, looked great across two outings: 4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 5 K.

Next week’s opponent: Peoria Javelinas

Single-A Carolina (56-41)

Carolina went 1-4 against the Augusta GreenJackets. The Mudcats are 3.5 games up in the Carolina League North.

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.

Even after the promotions of Peña and Made, the Mudcats’ roster includes:

Braylon Payne (No. 8): Payne is slashing an astounding .371/.511/.600 over the last month. He wasn’t projected to be much of a power hitter coming out of high school, but already has seven home runs this season. Payne was just named the July Minor League Player of the Month for the Brewers organization.

Eric Bitonti (No. 11): Bitonti has been slumping over the last two weeks (7-for-37) after a sustained hot streak. The 19-year-old Bitonti has one of the highest ceilings in the farm system, as evidenced by his team-leading 15 home runs. He’s also still raw, as evidenced by his 34.1% strikeout rate. Bitonti is certainly a work in progress but has shown more than enough flashes to earn his spot in the Brewers’ top 15 prospects.

Bryce Meccage (No. 13): Meccage had a rough start this week (2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H). Milwaukee’s 2024 second-round pick could stand to improve his command, so the fact that he’s only walked one batter over the last two starts is a definite positive.

Josh Adamczewski (No. 14): Adamczewski has slashed .341/.442/.682 since returning from a back injury that sidelined him for nearly two months. That’s not even a hot streak — he’s slashing .350/.445/.571 with five home runs through 163 at-bats this season. Promote him.

Ethan Dorchies (No. 20): Dorchies has been lights-out since the Brewers promoted him from the Arizona Complex League. The 6’5” righty sported a 1.11 ERA through seven games (three starts) with the Mudcats. Unfortunately, his latest start wasn’t as smooth: four earned runs over five frames. Dorchies still only gave up four hits while striking out six. Last year’s 10th-round pick is already a five-pitch pitcher and looks like an early development win for the Brewers’ organization.

Jose Anderson (No. 29): Anderson went 3-for-17 (.176) and is now slashing .215/.310/.384 on the season.

Other standouts over the last week include pitchers Melvin Hernandez (2.04 ERA in 19 games this year), and Jayden Dubanewicz (3 IP, 1 H).

Next week’s opponent: Lynchburg Hillcats

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

1. SS/3B Jesús Made (Promoted to A+): .267/.373/.388, 4 HR, 40 SB
2. SS/3B Luis Peña (Promoted to A+): .307/.374/.470, 6 HR, 40 SB
3. SS Cooper Pratt (AA): .236/.341/.338, 5 HR
4. C Jeferson Quero (AAA): .259/.333/.362, 2 HR
5. RHP Logan Henderson (MLB): 16 G, 15 GS, 10-4 W-L, 77.2 IP, 3.59 ERA, 1.11 WHIP
6. RHP Bishop Letson (A+): 6 G, 5 GS, 1.33 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 10 K/9, 2.33 BB/9
7. 1B/3B Luke Adams (AA): .241/.422/.477, 11 HR
8. OF Braylon Payne (A): .264/.378/.423, 7 HR, 25 SB
9. C Marco Dinges (A): .323/.426/.532, 9 HR
10. OF Luis Lara (AA): .254/.362/.329, 29 SB

Player of the Week

Daz Cameron slashed .400/.500/.733 this week with a home run and five RBIs. He and Eduardo Garcia had the only truly eye-popping stat lines this week. The Brewers know who Cameron is, as he earned an extended look with the big-league squad earlier this year. He’s not a high-upside prospect like a lot of the younger guys in the farm system, but he consistently rakes in Triple-A (.352/.433/.719 this season). Milwaukee has an entire injured outfield right now (Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, and Garrett Mitchell), which serves as a prescient reminder of the value of depth.

Play of the Week

Shades of Sal Frelick from Luis Castillo: