This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy’s Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
MILWAUKEE -- Ask Brewers bullpen coach Jim Henderson what impressed him most during Spring Training about 22-year-old Abner Uribe, and of course there’s the stuff. That’s always going to come first for MLB Pipeline’s No. 9 Brewers prospect, for as long as Uribe touches triple digits on the radar gun.
But it takes more than 100 mph fastballs to make it to the Major Leagues, and it’s those other ingredients that Henderson recalls from the spring. In one instance, Uribe was alerted to some minor mechanical issues related to his lower half. He left the meeting and began poring over video of his past outings.
“He was quick to respond in a positive way to it,” Henderson said. “He texted me video from the Fall League and confirmed that he was off.
“It was little things like that, seeing him taking ownership over it. It just seems that there’s a nice, professional manner about him.”
Uribe now finds himself a call away from the big leagues following a promotion last week from Double-A Biloxi, where he struck out 46 percent of the hitters he faced in 15 appearances, to Triple-A Nashville, where he pitched a scoreless inning in his second appearance for the Sounds on Sunday to help finish a six-game series sweep of Gwinnett.
If he’s to take the next step, Uribe will have to throw strikes -- he’s walked 63 batters in 81 2/3 professional innings, which is too many -- and he’ll have to stay healthy. After drawing praise during 2022 Spring Training from Brewers manager Craig Counsell, Uribe was limited to two Double-A games by a torn meniscus in his left knee that required surgery.
Uribe was briefly placed on the injured list on May 10 after complaining of soreness in the other knee. But after further examination, there was no structural damage.
“It turned out to be a false alarm, but it was a good false alarm from the standpoint that he is in tune with his body,” said Brewers VP of player operations and baseball administration Tom Flanagan. “He’s reporting things, like, ‘Hey, it just doesn’t feel right.’ We got it all worked out and it turned out to be nothing.”
Flanagan and other club officials are eager to see how Uribe adapts to the Triple-A level, where hitters are more experienced and talented, and more used to seeing velocity. A pitcher like Uribe is less likely to dominate at the higher levels on pure velocity.
“For him, it’s also about controlling the emotions,” Flanagan said. “He is really emotional on the mound. I think harnessing that -- he’s going to draw attention just because of the stuff he has, the arsenal. He doesn’t need to be flamboyant and all that. This is part of his maturing as a pitcher and a player. We feel really good about him being ready for Triple-A and that challenge.”
Is he a candidate for a callup to the Majors?
“I think it’s certainly in the conversation,” Flanagan said. “Once you’re at Triple-A, you’re literally right there. He’s on the 40-man roster, which helps him. We would like to see him stack up a few outings there, continue what he did at Double-A, and then his name is in the mix.”
Said Henderson: “Health, throwing strikes. If we can get those two things rolling, we’ll see where he can take that. He’s got back-end-of-the-bullpen stuff, obviously.”