Brewers Minors: Sounds Sweep Leads Affiliates in Week 3

It took just three weeks into the 2021 minor league season, but we officially have our first series sweep of the season by a Brewers affiliate.

And that was a good thing, considering the other three affiliates ended up with a series split and two series losses. Still, despite the records, there are always good things to talk about when it comes to the Brewers prospects.

So here is your recap from week 3 of the Milwaukee Brewers minor league affiliates’ 2021 season.

Triple-A Nashville Sounds (12-5)

Well it doesn’t get much better than this now does it? The Nashville Sounds swept the entire six-game series against the Gwinnett Stripers last week, giving up just four runs over the final four games of the series.

Keston Hiura was the talk of the week by far, going 10 for 16 with three homers and raising his overall slash line to .438/.526/.906 with the Sounds. We barely had time to ask if it was time to bring him back up to the majors before rumors surfaced from Robert Murray of FanSided that the Brewers were making exactly that move on Monday.

The rehabbing Jace Peterson had a solid week of his own, going 5 for 11 with a double and a pair of homers. Milwaukee may soon have a decision to make on his future status as well.

On the pitching side, Eric Lauer had a stellar outing on Thursday, giving up a hit and two walks over five scoreless innings while striking out a career-high 12. On Sunday, MLB Pipeline’s No. 7 Brewers prospect, left-hander Aaron Ashby, had his best Triple-A start to date, also giving up a hit and two walks over five scoreless, striking out six.

Double-A Biloxi Shuckers (8-10)

The Shuckers had a rough start to the week before taking three of the final four games over the Tennessee Smokies to split the six-game series. David Fry and Brent Diaz each had a grand slam in different games of the series.

One of the brightest spots of the week was that No. 2 prospect Brice Turang, who appears to be heating up. He went 9 for 21 last week with a double, triple, and three steals, raising his season slash line to .246/.358/.298. His six steals in 2021 lead the Double-A South division.

Bowden Francis and Noah Zavolas each had solid starts last week for Biloxi. Francis gave up six hits and one earned run over five innings while striking out five. Zavolas, in his best Double-A start to date, went six, giving up three hits and a run and striking out three.

One reliever to keep an eye on is Jake Cousins. The 26-year-old righty who was signed by the Brewers prior to 2020, threw another 3 1/3 scoreless innings last week and hasn’t given up a run all year, having given up just four hits and two walks over eight innings while striking out 12.

High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (8-10)

The Timber Rattlers had another rough week, going 2-4 at home against the West Michigan Whitecaps. They had a chance to split after taking the double header on Saturday, but ended up getting shut out on Sunday to drop the series.

Outfielder Korry Howell continues to make a name for himself. He had another two home runs, increasing his team-leading total to six, as well as two steals. No. 22 Thomas Dillard also added a pair of bombs and he had a double and triple on the week as well.

2019 12th round pick Arman Sabouri was the only Timber Rattlers pitcher to give up less than two earned runs last week, giving up a hit and no runs over a 3 1/3-inning outing. He currently sits with a 1.93 ERA and 1.07 WHIP over 9 1/3 innings so far in 2021.

Low-A Carolina Mudcats (10-8)

Like the Timber Rattlers, the Mudcats also saw themselves finish their series on the losing end, dropping four of six to the Delmarva Shorebirds. Carolina gave up seven or more runs in all but one of the games in the series.

There was no shortage of offense for the Mudcats, at least. Four players – Noah Campbell, Gabe Holt, Ashton McGee, and Felix Valerio – had six hits on the week, with another three players following with five. Joe Gray Jr. (2) and Ernesto Martinez (1) each homered their way into a tie on the team leaderboard with four bombs apiece.

Justin Bullock added another scoreless outing last week (4 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K), dropping his ERA to 1.80 on the season. Miguel Guerrero also didn’t give up an earned run over three outings last week and sits with a clean 0.00 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP over 7 1/3 innings in 2021.

The Sounds and Timber Rattlers now hit the road while the Shuckers and Mudcats return home for their upcoming series. We’ll recap the action for all four teams next week!