Milwaukee Brewers: Triple-A prospect roundup

It’s still early on in the season, but let’s check in on Triple-A San Antonio to see how some of the Milwaukee Brewers top prospects are doing.

This is a season where the Milwaukee Brewers have a number of big names in their Triple-A ball affiliate San Antonio, and it is likely that at some point this season, a few of them will be at the big league level.

In previous years, the Brewers Triple-A team was located in Colorado Springs where we would see gaudy offensive numbers given the altitude, but with the move to San Antonio, numbers are a bit more indicative of how the player is actually doing, which did play a factor in Milwaukee deciding to move the team.

After a hot start to the season, the Missions have hit a rough patch and currently sit at 7-7 on the season. However, there have been some impressive individual performances early on and plenty for the Milwaukee Brewers and their fans to be excited about.

Tyler Saladino

With the inconsistencies up the middle defensively last season, Saladino got a number of starts with the Milwaukee Brewers. This year in 51 plate appearances, he has a slash line of .304/373/.826 with six home runs. Saladino has been on fire as of late, nearly missing the cycle in a recent game against Memphis, as well as hitting five home runs in his last six games.

Mauricio Dubon

Sidelined by an ACL injury for most of 2018, Dubon is looking to bounce back this season and he is off to a very good start. On the year, Dubon has a slash line of .291/.339/.436, along with two home runs and six RBIs. He also has given the Missions two walk-off victories on back-to-back nights. If Arcia struggles at any point this year, we could see Dubon get the call-up.

Cory Spangenberg

For much of the offseason it looked as if Spangenberg would play a major role for the Milwaukee Brewers at second base, however, things changed quickly with the acquisition of Mike Moustakas. Spangenberg brings a ton of versatility defensively ala Hernan Perez but has struggled at the plate so far posting a .200/.304/.225 slash line with 16 strikeouts in 46 appearances.

Keston Hiura

As expected, Hiura has adjusted well to the competition at the Triple-A level. In 56 plate appearances, he’s posted a slash line of .291/.304/.636 and four home runs. However, Hiura is striking out quite a bit with 23 on the year already, to just one walk. Given the Milwaukee Brewers situation at the big league level, there isn’t much room for Hiura at the moment, so we most likely won’t see him until the September call-ups take place.

Zack Brown

It’s still early, but Brown has been giving up a lot of contact to his opponents, who have 21 hits and are batting .291 in the 17.2 innings that Brown has pitched. He also holds a 4.08 ERA, with eight earned runs and a home run given up, along with just five walks allowed. Something to keep an eye on is if the Milwaukee Brewers continue to struggle with their bullpen, we could see Brown get the call-up over the summer to play a role similar to what Corbin Burnes did last season.

Corey Ray

It was recently reported that Ray suffered an injury to the middle finger on his glove hand, but luckily it doesn’t appear to be too severe and he shouldn’t miss much time. Unlike Hiura, Ray has gotten off to a rocky start. In 52 plate appearances, Ray has a slash line of .170/.250/.170, with a whopping 24 strikeouts already. A high strikeout rate has been an issue for Ray and it is something that needs to improve. It’s early but he also hasn’t been hitting any home runs this season, which was a big contributor to his offensive production in Double-A ball last season.

Lucas Erceg

Erceg hasn’t had as many reps as some of the others on this list but has taken advantage of the ones he has been given. In 38 plate appearances, Erceg has a slash line of .289/.404/.579, along with ten strikeouts, but he has also shown some patience at the plate drawing eight walks. We’ve also seen Erceg flash some of his power by knocking three out of the park, including two in one game.

Jacob Nottingham

The Milwaukee Brewers hope is that Nottingham will be their catcher of the future, but they need to see more from him at the plate. So far it has been a rough start to the season for Nottingham, posting a slash line of .194/.306/.355 with 14 strikeouts in just 26 appearances at the plate. If there is an injury at the big league level at catcher, Nottingham isn’t a reliable option at this point.

Troy Stokes Jr.

Stokes has played just one game for the Missions, where he went two for three at the plate. Otherwise, he has been in the injured list, but as of April 18th, he has been activated and should be back in the lineup soon.

Tyrone Taylor

In 56 plate appearances, Taylor has posted a slash line of .269/.321/.538, along with three home runs, including one off of Clayton Kershaw during a rehab assignment. However, Taylor is striking out nearly a third of the time and needs to show more patience at the plate.

Bubba Derby

It has been an up and down start to the year for Bubba, who has a 5.40 ERA, with nine earned runs and a WHIP of 1.333 in his 15 innings pitched. However, he has been able to strike out 15 batters as well.