Milwaukee Brewers: April Minor League Affiliate Recap

April was a good month for the Milwaukee Brewers organization. The big-league club, fresh off a 9-1 beatdown of the Chicago Cubs, finished the month with a 15-7 record, which was good for their third best April winning percentage in a season in franchise history, and a three-game cushion atop the NL Central.

The month of April was good to the Brewers’ minor league affiliates as well. Every affiliate, from Low-A to Triple-A, finished the month with a .500 record or better, with one even finishing with the best record in their league.

Now that we are officially into the month of May, it’s time to take a look back at how the first month went for each of the team’s minor league affiliates. Where do they sit in the standings, how do they rank statistically, and what players have led the way so far in 2022?

Here are how the Milwaukee Brewers minor league affiliates performed in the month of April*.

*Stats and standings will also include games played on May 1st.

Brewers Triple-A Affiliate: Nashville Sounds (16-7, 1st in International League West)

Because of the MLB lockout, the 2022 Triple-A season actually ended up beginning just before the MLB season did, thus the Sounds began regular season play two days prior to the Brewers. Nashville won that series, just like they have done in every other series since then.

The Sounds currently lead not only their division, and not only the International League, but all of Triple-A with their 16-7 record. Their +53 run differential happens to also be best among all Triple-A teams as well.

The offense for Nashville has been decent in 2022 as they are tied for 10th out of 20 International League teams in home runs (23), 11th in batting average (.247), and 9th in OPS (.746). They’ve also been opportunistic on the base paths, sitting 5th in the league in stolen bases (25).

Like their parent ball club, the story of this team so far in 2022 has been pitching. The Sounds lead the league in ERA (2.61), WHIP (1.195), and opponents’ batting average (.205) and have given up the least amount of home runs (12) of any pitching staff.

The starting rotation has been led by MLB Pipeline’s No. 7 Brewers prospect Ethan Small, who has a miniscule 0.77 ERA through his first five starts. It doesn’t get much easier from there, though, as Josh Lindblom (2.11) and Jason Alexander (2.70) each have sub 3.00 ERAs while Caleb Boushley (3.38) and No. 24 Dylan File (4.84) haven’t exactly been pushovers either.

Oh, and don’t forget about the bullpen, which features six pitchers – Hobie Harris, Conner Sadzeck, Luis Perdomo, Trevor Kelley, Peter Strzelecki, and J.C. Mejia – who have appeared in at least seven games and have an ERA under 1.10.

On the hitting side, No. 4 prospect, shortstop Brice Turang, who has also now added outfield to his repertoire, has been as good as advertised. He leads all qualifying Sounds players with a .313 average and seven doubles through 13 games, one that included this Nashville franchise record-tying five-hit game from two Fridays ago.

A good chunk of the power production thus far has come from a pair off offseason first base minor league free agent signings. Tyler White leads the club with a .989 OPS and five homers while reclamation project Jon Singleton has five bombs of his own and leads Nashville with 15 RBIs.

Two other names worth noting from the month of April are third baseman Weston Wilson who was all around solid with a .273/.385/.491 slash line and a team-leading 17 runs scored and utility man Mark Mathias, who has returned from injury to play 14 games and has looked very good himself, slashing .348/.434/.543.

Brewers Double-A Affiliate: Biloxi Shuckers (12-9, 1st in Southern League South)

To say the Shuckers started the season hot would be an understatement. Biloxi rattled off a seven-game win streak to begin the 2022 season while also winning eight of their first nine contests.

Things have since cooled off a bit down south, but the Shuckers still find themselves with a 2.5-game division lead. And though they have the third best record in the Southern League as a whole, their +12 run differential places second in the league.

As Biloxi’s record has leveled off, so too has their offense. Their .680 OPS and 92 runs scored each rank as the second worst in the Southern League while their .220 batting average and 18 homers are both dead last.

But like Nashville, Biloxi has also gotten strong pitching performances to start the season. They have a 3.11 staff ERA that is tops in the Southern League, a .237 batting average against that ranks third, and have issued just 71 walks, which is the second least in the league.

The Shuckers offense has been led by a pair of highly-ranked prospects, outfielder Joey Wiemer (No. 2) and infielder Felix Valerio (No. 11). Both have an identical .904 OPS and three home runs with the former also leading the team in doubles (8) and RBIs (17).

Though he’s only played in 11 games, catcher Jakson Reetz, another offseason minor league free agent signing by the Brewers, has looked strong as well. He has a .316 batting average and a 1.041 OPS with three doubles and three homers so far in 2022.

After a somewhat rough 2021 season, right-hander Victor Castaneda (No. 25) has bounced back well this year. He leads the rotation with a 1.77 ERA and 0.934 WHIP and sports the team’s only complete game of the season.

Also similar to the Sounds, the Shuckers have their own starting rotation that gives opposing batters fits. Tyler Herb (1.96 ERA), Carlos Luna (2.12), and Andy Otero (3.09) have each impressed early.

In the bullpen, Harold Chirino (0.93) and Zach Vennaro (0.96, 2 saves) have done well to limit runs in the early going. The same could be said about intriguing pitching prospect Abner Uribe (No. 19) who had given up two hits and four walks with four strikeouts in three scoreless innings before unfortunately being shut down for the season.

Brewers Low-A Affiliate: Carolina Mudcats (11-10, T-2nd in Carolina League North)

The Mudcats have been a bit of a streaky team in this first portion of 2022 regular season play with two winning streaks of at least three games and two losing streaks of at least the same length already this year. But after a win last Sunday, Carolina sits a game over .500.

That’s good enough to place them in second place in their division, three games behind the first place Fredricksburg Nationals. They have the worst run differential of the four Brewers affiliates at -23, though like the Timber Rattlers, they had two losses of more than ten runs last month.

The Mudcats have been able to put hits on the board as they place 5th of 12 Carolina League teams in batting average (.232). They rank low in other offensive marks, however, placing 10th in OPS (.654) and home runs (10) and are 8th in runs scored (102).

Things don’t get particularly better on the pitching side, either. Carolina pitchers have put up a 5.33 ERA and 1.601 WHIP in 2022, both placing 10th in the Carolina League, while giving up the second most walks (128) so far as well.

The team MVP on offense so far has arguably been outfielder Micah Bello. The Competitive Balance B pick from the 2018 draft leads the team in a handful off offensive categories including batting average (.356), OPS (.994), runs scored (13), doubles (6), and homers (2) across 18 games played.

Joining him in a tie for the team lead in doubles and homers is shortstop Eduardo Garcia (No. 12). His slash line (.321/.357/.500) has been plenty impressive as well, as has that of second baseman Zach Raabe (.297/.460/.405), an 8th round pick in last year’s draft.

The top performer on the mound for the Mudcats has probably been reliever Michele Vassalotti. The right-hander has pitched 11 innings across seven games in 2022 and has a 2-0 record with a 2.45 ERA and 0.636 WHIP while converting each of his two save opportunities on the season.

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The vibes are positive across the organization coming out of the first calendar month of play and the Brewers and their affiliates will look to keep it going into May.