Brewers name Minor League Players and Pitchers of the Month for May
Gray and Chourio Earn Players of the Month; Kelly and Rodríguez Named Pitchers of the Month
MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Brewers have named outfielders Joe Gray and Jackson Chourio as their Minor League Players of the Month for May and left-hander Antoine Kelly and right-hander Carlos Rodríguez as Minor League Pitchers of the Month.
Gray, 22, hit .227 (20-for-88) with 5 doubles, 5 HR and 14 RBI in 25 games for Class-A Wisconsin in May. Selected by the Brewers in the second round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft, Gray tied for second in the Midwest League in walks (18) and tied for eighth in runs (18).
Chourio, 18, hit .347 (33-for-95) with 11 doubles, 1 HR and 17 RBI in 23 games for Class-A Carolina in May.
Signed as a non-drafted free agent in January 2021, Chourio ranked among Carolina League leaders in doubles (T1st, 11), hits (2nd, 33), batting average (4th, .347), extra-base hits (T4th, 12), total bases (6th, 47), RBI (T7th, 17), runs (T7th, 19) and OPS (10th, .895).
Chourio recorded 4-hit games on May 8 vs. Augusta and on May 29 vs. Kannapolis. He posted multi-hit efforts in 10 of his 23 games in the month.
Kelly, 22, went 0-1 with a 3.29 ERA (27.1ip, 10er) and 37 strikeouts with just 10 walks over 5 starts for Class-A Wisconsin in May. A second-round selection by Milwaukee in the 2019 First-Year Player Draft, Kelly tied for the Midwest League lead in strikeouts (37) for the month.
The left-hander tied for third in the league in opponent batting average (.167), ranked fourth in WHIP (0.95) and tied for sixth in innings pitched (27.1).
Kelly notched double-digit strikeouts in a pair of starts in May, fanning 10 over 5.0 innings on May 5 vs. Fort Wayne and striking out 13 on May 22 vs. South Bend.
Rodríguez, 20, went 0-0 with a 2.01 ERA (22.1ip, 5er) with a save in 6 appearances (3 starts) for Class-A Carolina in May. His 30 strikeouts tied for sixth in the Carolina League for the month.
Selected by the Brewers in the sixth round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft, Rodríguez worked 4.0 innings in 5 of 6 outings in May, including earning a save with 4.0 scoreless frames with 8 strikeouts on May 25 vs. Kannapolis.