Brewers Minors: Which Prospects are Off to a Hot Start in 2022?

While the Milwaukee Brewers are now 10 games into their 2022 regular season, baseball at the minor league levels is up and running too! This year, due to the delayed MLB regular season start date, Triple-A affiliate teams actually began their season just before the big league ballclubs did.

Currently, the Triple-A Nashville Sounds are 10 games into their young season whereas the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers, High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, and Low-A Carolina Mudcats are all at nine. Record-wise, the Shuckers are off to the best start at 8-1 in large part due to a seven-game win streak to begin the new season.

In this article, we are going to take a look at a few Brewers minor leaguers from each team who are off to a hot start.

Triple-A Nashville Sounds

The player everyone should be most excited about is left-handed pitcher Ethan Small. The team’s No. 7 prospect per MLB Pipeline put together a great spring training campaign with the Brewers, building upon a 2021 season that saw him named the Milwaukee Brewers’ minor league pitcher of the year.

Over his first three starts he has covered 13.1 innings, struck out 18 batters, and carries a 0.68 ERA. He certainly is pleading his case to get called up to the big leagues at some point this year, something Brewers manager Craig Counsell has previously stated has a good chance of happening.

Double-A Biloxi Shuckers

This Shuckers team is going to be a lot of fun. It helps that last year’s Brewers minor league player of the year and No. 2 prospect, outfielder Joey Weimer, is there and is off to a great start. In 35 at-bats, he has collected 11 hits with four of them going for extra bases.

Alongside him is diminutive utility man Felix Valerio (No. 11) who has one more hit but has managed to hit three long balls. His 1.159 OPS is currently the best on the team and he has struck out just twice in 39 plate appearances.

High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

At the High-A Affiliate, pitching has been a bright spot for the Timber Rattlers early on. TJ Shook has not allowed a run in 10 innings while striking out 16 batters. In his last start, he covered five innings, struck out 10 batters, and generated 17 swings and misses.

Brandon Knarr has also stood out early. He has started two games and allowed just two runs to cross home plate while striking out 13 batters. The lefty struggled at this level in 2021, so it is nice to see him having success to begin this current season.

Low-A Carolina Mudcats

In Carolina, outfielder Micah Bello is putting up video game numbers. In 28 at bats, he is hitting for a .500 batting average. Of his 14 hits, he has six doubles and one home run. He is the team leader in runs batted in with 10 and OPS at 1.384. This is a great start for the former 73rd overall pick from the 2018 draft.

Also impressing on offense is shortstop Eduardo Garcia (No. 12). He has a .400 batting average to start the young season as well as a 1.047 OPS. He’s also tallied four doubles, a homer and seven runs batted in.

Want your voice heard? Join the Reviewing The Brew team!

Write for us!

At this point, it is very early in the season and no promotions will be handed out based on these numbers. However, getting off to a good start may help some of these guys build their confidence levels as they begin their quest to accomplishing their goals for the year.