2024 Brewers Minors/Prospects thread

[ReasonablySober]

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What a cool story this guy is.

Meeker touted a highly-successful career at North Allegheny High School, where he became the first freshman pitcher to pitch in a varsity game in program history, threw the school's first perfect game as a senior and helped the team to a WPIAL baseball championship the same season, before entering the college ranks. He played at Akron with former Wild Things Dom Iero and Josh Lapiana, Trinity HS product Joey Havrilak and current Pittsburgh Pirates' pitcher JT Brubaker before the school folded the baseball program. James transferred to Delaware, where he finished his collegiate career with three seasons with the Blue Hens. As a senior, he was 4-2 with a 3.23 ERA in 26 games (1 start).

He then came to the Wild Things, where he pitched in 19 regular-season games on the team's journey to the Frontier League playoffs and championship series appearance in 2018. That year, he posted a 3.94 ERA in 19 games across 29.2 innings of work. In 2019, Meeker pitched in 40 games and in 54 innings punched out 57 and posted a 3.17 ERA.

In 2020 during the COVID pod at Wild Things Park, Meeker didn't allow a run over 7.2 innings with 12 strikeouts in eight appearances for the Slammin' Sammies.

James leaves the Wild Things after an extraordinary start to the season. In 30 games, Meeker had worked 31.2 innings without giving up a run, had given up only 17 hits and walked 10 while fanning 43 batters. The 31.2 scoreless innings this season added to 2.1 innings to end 2019 scoreless, giving Meeker the franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings pitched.

Now he's off to the Brewers' farm system.

He's done really well out of the bullpen since signing. Have to figure he'll be sent to AAA soon enough.

He's finally in AAA!

[Matches Malone]

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[MickeyDavis]

We have a glut of outfielders. Some will get moved

[MickeyDavis]

Can you stream Nashville games?

[ReasonablySober]

Can you stream Nashville games?

I had a very hard time with it earlier in the year because their site(s) are so jacked. What you need is a MiLB TV subscription, but use this link:

https://www.mlb.com/tv/

And once you're signed in (and I think specify what teams you're interested in), the Nashville link to the game shows up at the bottom.

[Matches Malone]

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[ReasonablySober]

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When Double-A Biloxi center fielder Jackson Chourio stole second base uncontested in the sixth inning of a Sept. 7 game against Birmingham, it seemed like just an everyday occurrence in the minor leagues.

But in reality the 19-year-old had just joined an exclusive club.

That stolen base marked Chourio’s 40th of the season, and he already had hit 21 home runs to that point. That made him just the fourth teenager since 1963 to amass at least 20 homers and steal at least 40 bases in the same season.

Two of Chourio’s predecessors in the teenage 20-40 club are famous.

Ronald Acuña Jr. went 21-44 in his Minor League Player of the Year season in 2017. He played that season at age 19 and spent 111 of his 139 games at either Double-A Mississippi or Triple-A Gwinnett.

Acuña joined the Braves in 2018 and was National League Rookie of the Year. This season, the right fielder is a strong contender for NL MVP as he vies to become the first 40-homer, 70-steal player in MLB history.

Making his full-season minor league debut in 1995, Andruw Jones went 25-56 for Low-A Macon and won Minor League POY as an 18-year-old. He went back-to-back as Minor League POY in 1996, when he hit 34 homers and stole 30 bases at three levels.

Jones finished the latter season in the big leagues, appearing in 31 games for the ’96 Braves and then became the youngest player ever to homer in the World Series at 19 years, 180 days.

This season, Chourio finished his time at Double-A with a .280/.336/.467 batting line with 22 homers and 43 steals in 122 games. The Brewers promoted him to Triple-A Nashville on Sept. 19.

Chourio’s numbers might have been even gaudier had the Southern League not experimented with a pre-tacked baseball in the first half. He compiled a .714 OPS through July 6 and a .924 mark afterward.

[MickeyDavis]

After 2 games in Nashville he's 3-8, 2 doubles and a single, no K's.

[MickeyDavis]

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[ReasonablySober]

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I wonder how much thought has gone into promoting Chourio. The Rays just called up the closest version of him.

[rayallenscalves]

We have a glut of outfielders. Some will get moved

This is one of the more interesting subplots with the Brewers. Who among Frelick, Mitchell, Chourio and Wiemer survives? Or do they all and then just rotate based on matchup? Does Yelich become a full-time 1B or DH to open space?

I'd guess either Mitchell and Wiemer are shipped out after Frelick and Chourio separate themselves. And ideally, Yelich is moved from the outfield.

Similarly, what happens at catcher? Contreras and Quero are both good young catchers, but there can be only one.

I'd guess we see a lineup something like this within a few years: C: Quero, 1B: Yelich, 2B: Black, SS: Turang, 3B: Wilken, OF: Chourio/Frelick/Wiemer or Mitchell, DH: Contreras

[M-C-G]

We have a glut of outfielders. Some will get moved

This is one of the more interesting subplots with the Brewers. Who among Frelick, Mitchell, Chourio and Wiemer survives? Or do they all and then just rotate based on matchup? Does Yelich become a full-time 1B or DH to open space?

I'd guess either Mitchell and Wiemer are shipped out after Frelick and Chourio separate themselves. And ideally, Yelich is moved from the outfield.

Similarly, what happens at catcher? Contreras and Quero are both good young catchers, but there can be only one.

I'd guess we see a lineup something like this within a few years: C: Quero, 1B: Yelich, 2B: Black, SS: Turang, 3B: Wilken, OF: Chourio/Frelick/Wiemer or Mitchell, DH: Contreras

It seems like we have always planned on 4 OF getting reps so we could keep them all. Yelich at first has been in the cards for a long time, have to think we move him there.


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[Thunder Muscle]

I mean if someone calls on Yelich this off-season and willing to take his deal, dont you have to seriously consider it? Could be last time to free up his contract.

I feel Wiemer or Mitchell will get moved at some point.

[ReasonablySober]

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[Matches Malone]

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[coolhandluke121]

I mean if someone calls on Yelich this off-season and willing to take his deal, dont you have to seriously consider it? Could be last time to free up his contract.

Yes. Frankly they should have traded him this year. Screw the optics - his contract is still pretty terrible. I don't think he'll play 1B. Braun tried it and couldn't do it because of back pain. Yelich would probably have a similar issue. Way too much bending and leaning.

Taylor has been significantly better than Yelich since the trade deadline anyway. Hope they didn't miss their chance. Thank god Yelich has at least been good since returning from injury. I think they'll trade him and Burnes and give Woodruff a big extension.

[ReasonablySober]

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[ReasonablySober]

Brewers might have struck gold again in the JUCO ranks.

From BA:

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The Brewers’ next JC success story might by Ryan Birchard, a righthander whom Milwaukee selected in the fifth round of the 2023 draft out of Niagara County JC in New York.

In two seasons with the Thunder Wolves, Birchard struck out an eye-popping 171 hitters in 88.1 innings. Put another way, 64.5% of the out Birchard recorded were on strikes.

He reinforced his dominance between the close of the college season and the beginning of the draft with nine more innings for Trenton of the MLB Draft League. Birchard struck out 16 hitters in nine innings spread across four outings with the Thunder,. He allowed just two hits and a walk in that time.

Birchard, a burly righthander with a high-energy delivery and intimidating mound presence, comes right at hitters with a powerful three-pitch mix. In two innings of the team’s instructional league finale on Oct. 6, Birchard punched out three hitters with a mid-90s fastball, a nasty slider in the mid 80s and a high-spin, top-down curveball in the high 70s.

Birchard, who is just 20 years old, hasn’t made his official pro debut. When he does, it won’t be surprising if he goes right back to bullying hitters and continues Milwaukee’s strong reputation for identifying and selecting talented junior college pitching.

[ReasonablySober]

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