Brewers Farm Report: Brevard County Manatees

Each week throughout the regular season, the staff at Reviewing the Brew will be bringing you a comprehensive minor league report about each of the Milwaukee Brewers affiliates. There isn’t much to write home about at the big league level this season (so far) for the Brewers, but Milwaukee does have plenty of exciting prospects off to hot starts throughout their minor league system.

The Brewers affiliate in the Florida State League (Advanced A) is no exception.

The week of June 9-15, the Manatees won three of seven. They had to battle rainouts and played a pair of twin bills, getting swept by Palm Beach and splitting with Clearwater.

On the year, Brevard County sits at 28-35, fifth in the FSL North, eight and one-half games behind the Daytona Tortugas.

The Manatees are tied for second in home runs with 28 and rank third with 69 stolen bases. But they are leading the league with batters hit by pitches with 39…ouch!

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The pitching side has had it moments as well, leading the league with four complete games, all by Jorge Ortega.

Individually, Clint Coulter, though struggling recently, leads the league in total bases (109), is tied for the lead in homers (10), and ranks fourth in RBIs (36).  Victor Roache is tied with ten homers, second in total bags (107), and tied for fourth with 36 ribbies.

Chris McFarland leads the league with 76 hits, while Taylor Smith-Brennan is second with 41 runs scored. Garrett Cooper ranks third with 17 two-baggers, while Omar Garcia is third with 23 steals.

Ortega is among the league leaders in several categories, including first in WHIP (0.816), tied for first with one shutout, third in ERA (1.78), and tied for fourth with six victories. This man deserves a bump up to Biloxi, and soon!

HITTER OF THE WEEK: Cameron Garfield, C

Garfield, a second round pick in the 2009 draft, had a monster week for the Manatees, slashing .476/.476/.619 in 21 trips, including a dinger and four runs batted in. In his last 14 games, Garfield is 15-for-46, slashing .326/.340/.413.

Runners-Up: Chris McFarland, 2B, and Garrett Cooper, 1B

McFarland–a well-known name for RtB fans–went 9-for-26 during the week, raising his average to .295. Cooper has performed well this season, and went 8-for-24 during the week.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Jorge Ortega, SP Jorge Ortega, pitching against Jupiter. Permission/credit to Dennis Greenblatt/Hawk-Eye Sports Photography

Ortega has won the POTW award previously and should be expecting a call from Biloxi in the near-future. In his two outings, he pitched 14 innings, allowed seven hits and one run–including a complete game, four hit shutout–and whiffed five while walking nobody.

Runner-Up: Johnny Hellweg, SP

Hellweg, on rehab assignment, started two games on a short leash, going five innings, allowing four hits and one run. He walked one and struck out four.

Up Next: 

The Manatees will play three more against Jupiter, before two off-days with the FSL All-Star Game in between. Brevard County will open the second half with a double-header at Lakeland.