Brewers trade acquisition caps off Triple-A season with rare accomplishment

Down in the International League, the Nashville Sounds - Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers - just wrapped up their regular season on Sunday. The club finished the year with a 78-68 record, good for third in the West division. The 10-game deficit behind the Omaha Storm Chasers (Royals) and nine-game deficit behind the second-place Columbus Clippers (Guardians) was more than enough to keep the Sounds out of the postseason.

However, that doesn't mean that the team doesn't have a player in the spotlight as the season comes to a close. With the conclusion of regular-season games upon us, Chad Patrick has officially made International League history with his astounding season on the mound.

Originally acquired by the Brewers in exchange for Abraham Toro back in November of 2023, Patrick, Reviewing the Brew's No. 29 prospect, took home the International League's pitching Triple Crown, which had only been previously pulled off two other times since all the way back in1912.

He joins Al Cicotte (1960, Cleveland) and Dennis Martinez (1976, Orioles) as one of three pitchers to ever pull this off in Triple-A (H/T to @collin_perry on X for the info!).

Brewers prospect Chad Patrick wins Triple-A Triple Crown

This is a huge accomplishment for a pitcher, regardless of what level they're at. Up in the big leagues, both Tarik Skubal and Chris Sale are pursuing their own respective Triple Crowns but Patrick is the only one in the game to have successfully secured one (so far).

Patrick, 26, made 26 appearances for the Sounds (24 starts), going 14-1 with a 2.90 ERA and 145 strikeouts with 39 walks in 136.1 innings of work. He led the league in wins, ERA and strikeouts (to earn the Triple Crown), as well as strikeouts-per nine innings, WHIP and win-percentage. In what was his first year in the Brewers organization, there's really not a better first impression to be made.

The right-hander is the first Sounds pitcher since 1995 (Rodney Bolton) to reach 14 wins in a season, while he's the first pitcher in the International League to do so since Cole Irvin did it in 2018. He's going to be Rule 5-eligible this offseason, so it's worth wondering if one of the 40-man roster spots left open by the free agent departures of Frankie Montas or Joe Ross could be used on a pitcher who's clearly big-league ready that's already in-house.