Frelick shows off power with fourth long ball in a week

September 22nd, 2022

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Frelick continues power surge (Sept. 21)
Homers are becoming a daily occurrence for Sal Frelick.

The No. 2 Brewers prospect continued his power display, going deep in his second consecutive game and driving in three runs during Triple-A Nashville’s 17-1 win over Louisville. It was Frelick's fourth home run in the past eight games.

The 22-year-old showed fell short as he flew out in his first three at-bats but made sure it cleared the fence in his next plate appearance, crushing a three-run jack to right field in the sixth inning.

The outfielder’s power surge brought his long ball tally to 11 and improved his slash line to .329/.401/.479 between High-A, Double-A and Triple-A. Frelick has also reached base safely in 38 straight games. -- Edwin Perez

Frelick's three hits extend on-base streak (Sept. 19)
Wherever Sal Frelick goes, he just hits.

The Brewers' No. 2 prospect extended his on-base streak to 36 games with a trio of hits in Triple-A Nashville's 8-6 win over Louisville. It was his seventh such game since joining the Sounds in August and his third in September, a month in which he's hitting .347 with an .898 OPS.

Frelick singled to lead off the bottom of the first inning and doubled in a run in the second, helping Nashville open up an 8-0 lead early. The Bats battled back to make it close but the Sounds held on to extend their International League West lead to five games over Columbus with eight games to play. -- Jacob Resnick

Ruiz steals hearts and bases (Sept. 14)
Esteury Ruiz might be the fastest player in the Minors. 

Milwaukee's No. 8 prospect leads the Minor Leagues with 75 stolen bases this season after a historic night. 

In Triple-A Nashville's 12-4 win over Jacksonville, the 23-year-old swiped a franchise-record five bases throughout the night. Ruiz was 3-for-5 with three singles, and each time he reached base, he stole at least one base. 

The Dominican Republic native began the season with the Padres' Double-A San Antonio. He was promoted to Triple-A El Paso on June 7 before being called up to make his Major League debut on July 12. Not a month later, on Aug. 1, San Diego traded for left-handed pitcher Josh Hader and sent Ruiz and a haul of his teammates to the Brewers organization. The speedster has bounced between Triple-A and the Majors with his new club, and he's racing to find a permanent roster spot. -- Ethan Sands

Frelick belts first two Triple-A homers (Sept. 14)
It took Sal Frelick 36 games to hit his first home run at the Triple-A level. It didn’t take him nearly as long to hit the second.

MLB’s No. 49 overall prospect went deep twice and plated four runs in Nashville’s 12-4 win over Jacksonville, swatting a go-ahead dinger in the second and a solo jack in the seventh, both to right field.

Frelick is not a power hitter -- it’s his lowest graded tool at 45 -- but his plus contact skills allow for the occasional home run to jump off the bat. The lefty slugger has 144 professional games under his belt, and this effort was his first multihomer performance. Full story »

Chourio produces three runs in first Double-A game (Sept. 13)
New level, same Jackson Chourio.

The No. 1 Brewers prospect showed he was worthy of the callup as he went 1-for-4 with three RBIs in Double-A Biloxi’s 7-2 win over Pensacola.

The 18-year-old’s first game at the Double-A level did not start the way he wanted, striking out in the first inning. Chourio showcased his ability to produce runs in his next few at-bats as he hit a two-run double in the second inning and a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning.

The outfielder’s productive day improved his slash line to .299/.352/.562 and 74 RBIs between Single-A, High-A and Double-A. -- Edwin Perez

Chourio bumped up to Biloxi
Brewers top prospect Jackson Chourio is now the youngest player at Double-A. The 18-year-old outfielder was promoted after just 31 games with High-A Wisconsin, where he slashed .252/.317/.488 with eight homers.

Chourio, No. 11 on MLB's Top 100 Prospects list, started his breakout campaign with Single-A Carolina, where he hit .324 with an impressive .973 OPS in 62 games.

One of the breakout prospects of 2022, Chourio sports three tools grading at 60 or higher, including a 70-grade run tool that's led to 14 stolen bases this year.

Wiemer clobbers sixth homer at Triple-A (Sept. 11)
Joey Wiemer showed off his power and speed in Triple-A Nashville's 7-6 loss to Charlotte. 

Milwaukee's No. 3 prospect cracked his sixth homer with the Sounds on a third-inning solo shot to left-center field. He followed that with his second triple of the season on a rope to center in the eighth. 

The fourth-round (121st overall) selection in the 2020 Draft was promoted from Biloxi on Aug. 2. 

The 23-year-old is slashing .275/.360/.533 since joining his new squad and has blasted 20 jacks with 72 RBIs on the season. 

Standing at 6-foot-5, 215 pounds, the right fielder has the stature for driving the ball and making pitchers pay on the basepaths. He's stolen 31 bases in 2022. -- Ethan Sands

Wes Clarke smashes three homers for Shuckers (Sept. 10)
Shortly before his late August promotion to Double-A, Wes Clarke’s hitting coach with the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Nick Stanley, suggested Clarke adjust his batting stance so that his hands were held higher. The intention was to free up his swing and promote athleticism.

Clarke homered in his first game with the Biloxi Shuckers, so he permanently adopted the change. Less than two weeks later, it paid off in a big way.

After going deep in his previous game, the 22-year-old turned up the heat with three home runs, leading the way in Biloxi’s 9-1 win over Mississippi.

“It feels great,” Clarke said. “It’s nice to see that the work is paying off. Everything is working, so it’s just really great.”

Clarke tagged Braves starter Nolan Kingham in the second and third innings, ensuring the first baseman’s second multihomer game of the year, following his effort for Wisconsin on June 11. Realizing the rare opportunity in front of him, Clarke went up to plate against reliever Jason Creasy in the sixth with his mind on the milestone. Full story »

Rodriguez works six perfect innings (Sept. 3)
Carlos Rodriguez started the month off in a perfect way.

The Brewers' No. 19 prospect blanked the opposition and tied a career-high of nine strikeouts, as he threw six perfect innings in High-A Wisconsin's 4-1 win over Peoria.

The 20-year-old was on his “A” game his whole outing, retiring the 18 batters he faced. Rodriguez finished the night with 76 pitches -- 50 of them strikes -- in his start.

He lowered his ERA to 2.89 and brought his K tally to 125 in the 102 2/3 innings he has pitched this season. -- Edwin Perez

Chourio homers for fourth time in five games (Sept. 2)
Following a streak of dingers in three straight games, Jackson Chourio only waited one game to potentially start a new one. The top-ranked Brewers prospect mashed a three-run shot to power Wisconsin's 6-1 victory over Peoria at Dozer Park.

Chourio turned around a 2-2 fastball and drilled it to left-center for a three-run blast. The home run was his eighth with the Timber Rattlers and 20th of the year.

MLB's No. 11 overall prospect is sporting a .262/.328/.534 slash line with 12 extra-base hits, 22 RBIs and 20 runs scored through 25 games in the Midwest League. -- Rob Terranova

Chourio homers in third straight for Wisconsin (Aug. 31)
Jackson Chourio ended August on quite a solid note.

The top-ranked Brewers prospect homered once again for High-A Wisconsin, extending his streak to three games with a blast. It helped lift the Timber Rattlers to a 7-4 win over the Peoria Chiefs.

Wisconsin had been held scoreless through five innings when Chourio stepped to the plate in the sixth. His home run to deep right-center kickstarted the Timber Rattlers' offense, which outscored the Chiefs 7-2 from that point on.

Prior to his streak, Chourio had been hitting .241 with a .766 OPS in 14 August games, a pedestrian month in relation to his scorching July (.338/1.017). He missed a week and a half with elbow soreness but has returned with a bang, slamming his 17th, 18th and 19th homers of the season in consecutive games. -- Jacob Resnick