Diaz, Woodruff stand out among top Minor Leaguers

September 10th, 2016

MILWAUKEE -- Brewers prospects and Brandon Woodruff enjoyed breakthroughs during the first full season of the Brewers' organizational rebuild, the Minor League portion of which ended Wednesday with the final regular-season game for rookie-level Helena and the playoff ouster of Class A Wisconsin.
With the affiliate seasons in the books, here's a look at Milwaukee's regular-season leaders:
HITTERS (min. 2.7 PA/team game)
OPS
Ronnie Gideon, Helena: .998

Gideon, a right-handed-hitting first baseman, was a 23rd-round selection in this year's Draft and made waves in rookie ball.
Other notables
, acquired from the Rangers in the and trade on Aug. 1, and the Brewers' No. 2 prospect, posted a 1.014 OPS in 23 games with Triple-A Colorado Springs after the trade. Gideon's teammate Weston Wilson finished fourth in the system with a .892 OPS.
OBP
, Double-A Biloxi/Triple-A Colorado Springs: .414

Wren, acquired from the Braves in 2014 after Atlanta fired his father, Frank, as general manager, posted a 13.4 percent walk rate and stole 29 bases between the two levels.
Other notables
Trey York, the Brewers' ninth-round selection in the 2016 Draft, posted a .392 OBP between Helena and Class A Advanced Brevard County. Wilson came in behind York with a .385 mark.
Home runs
Isan Diaz, Wisconsin: 20

Diaz, 20, was considered by many the key to the offseason trade that sent to the D-backs, and he is a candidate for Brewers' Minor League Player of the Year. In addition to his 20 homers, the middle infielder laced an organization-best 34 doubles and posted a .825 OPS as a 20-year-old. After a slow start to the season, Diaz hit .295 with 17 homers from June 1 until the end of the regular season.
Other notables
Gideon hit 16 homers in 216 at-bats, or one every 13.5 at-bats. No. 8 prospect, despite hitting .229, also hit 16 homers.
Batting average
Lucas Erceg, Helena/Wisconsin: .327

Erceg was the Brewers' 2016 second-round Draft pick and earned a promotion after batting .400 through 26 games.
Other notables
Wilson made another leaderboard appearance by hitting .318 in addition to playing every defensive position except catcher and pitcher. Wren batted .322 between two levels.
Stolen bases
Johnny Davis, Brevard County/Biloxi): 32

Davis earned a promotion after batting .295 with a .390 OBP through 58 games at Brevard County. The outfielder stole 16 bases at each level this season.
Other notables
Wren's 29 steals gave him a second-place finish. Luis Aviles and Max McDowell at Wisconsin stole 21 bases apiece.
PITCHERS (min. 0.8 IP/team game)
ERA
Brandon Woodruff (Brevard County, Biloxi): 2.68
Likely the organization's Minor League Pitcher of the Year, Woodruff dominated at Brevard County before earning a promotion to Biloxi. Get ready to read his name a lot.
Other notables
, the Brewers' No. 12 prospect, acquired in last year's trade, was second in the organization with a 3.02 ERA at Wisconsin and Brevard County. Top Brewers pitching prospect was fourth at 3.29 during a season split between Biloxi and Colorado Springs, and former Rule 5 Draft pick had a 3.78 ERA at the same two stops. The Brewers will have to add both Hader and Wang to the 40-man roster this winter or risk losing them in the Rule 5 Draft.
WHIP
Woodruff (1.02)
Woodruff again. Over 158 innings, he only walked 40 batters, giving him a 4.325 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Other notables
Nate Griep had quite the season closing games for Wisconsin, posting a 1.04 WHIP, 2.05 ERA and 23 saves in 49 games. Three more Timber Rattlers' pitchers appeared in the Top 10: Scott Grist, David Burkhalter and Conor Harber.
Strikeouts
Woodruff: 173

He not only led Brewers' Minor Leaguers in strikeouts, but was first among all Minor League pitchers at all levels. The right-hander is the team's No. 26 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com -- a ranking that could easily increase next season. Woodruff struck out 9.9 batters per nine innings.
Other notables
Left-hander Josh Hader, the Crew's No. 4 prospect, finished fourth among all Minor Leaguers with 161 strikeouts and posted an impressive 11.50 K/9. Right-hander Jordan Yamamoto, who started the Timber Rattlers' playoff opener, struck out 152 to finish third. Stephen Kolscheen struck out 12.1 batters per nine innings in 50 innings of relief for Biloxi.