Milwaukee Brewers Farm Report: Colorado Springs Sky Sox

So if you’ve been keeping up with Reviewing the Brew, you’ve likely been following our minor league reports. That’s everyone but the Sky Sox, because of me and my end-of-semester schedule. I come to you, hat in hand, with a bunch of statistics.

Since we haven’t covered the Sox yet, we’ll do a little more than a weekly recap, which will start next week in earnest. For starters, tonight’s game between the Sky Sox and the Round Rock Express has been postponed and will not contribute to these stats.

It has been a tale of offense with the Sky Sox so far, unfortunately both that of the team and their opponents. The team is third in runs per game and OPS, while ranking dead last in ERA with an even 6.00 (!), exactly twice the number of the league leading New Orleans Zephyrs.

The team is 15-23, struggling like the team’s other affiliates, notably excluding the new Biloxi Shuckers.

Who’s Hot:

On offense, it’s pretty much everybody. 28-year-old center fielder Ben Guez has a .922 OPS with 6 home runs in 140 plate appearances, with an outstanding 15.7 BB%. I don’t know much about his defensive prowess, but his early performance should allow him to leapfrog Logan Schafer on the organizational CF depth chart, making him one of the next men up in case of outfield injury.

Shane Peterson was my choice for the 25th man on the Brewers roster out of Spring Training, and his numbers imply he would have been a decent choice. The 27-year-old OF/1B has played at both corner outfield spots in Colorado Springs, slashing .315/.396/.488, very reminiscent of his impressive, if lucky (.383 BABIP) numbers from last year with the Athletics AAA affiliate.

Nevin Ashley is off to an extremely hot start, hitting .330 with the help of a BABIP of .384. It might be too much to predict that Ashley could usurp Juan Centeno as the organization’s third catcher, but the latter brings negative value offensively. Centeno is five years Ashley’s junior, though, so it becomes risky business to bet on the older guy.

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This move would require dropping Centeno from the 40-man and replacing him with Ashley, so the team would likely want to be sure of the move, which would mean letting Ashley prove his improved ISO (.157) is not a fluke. It’s a longshot, but as a strong defender his numbers are worth keeping an eye on.

First baseman Matt Clark looks like he is well on his way to a sixth consecutive 20+ home run performance in the minor leagues. That is, of course, if Adam Lind remains healthy and in a Brewers uniform. Clark owns a .500 SLG with 7 home runs in 152 plate appearances.

Who’s Not:

You may have noticed I didn’t mention any pitchers. Though guys like Tim Dillard and Brent Leach have performed well, in their case it has been in under 10 innings. Everyone who has thrown a lot has been hit a lot. Prospect Taylor Jungmann has an ERA of 7.68, while fellow starting pitchers Tyler Cravy and Drew Gagnon have ERAs over 5 and 6, respectively.

Logan Schafer hasn’t put it back together this season in the minors, posting a .308 SLG despite the friendly confines of Security Service Field. Fellow outfielder Bryan Petersen has been even worse, slashing .204/.257/.290 in 101 plate appearances.

This team is unlike the others reviewed because it has less stability. For instance, the two best OPS on the team early were those of Elian Herrera (1.144) and Jason Rogers (1.069), both of whom are now residing in Milwaukee.

It will be interesting to see who the next AAA graduate will be, particularly with the team primed to sell.

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