2018 Brewers draft picks starting to stand out in minors
The Milwaukee Brewers' retooling happened quicker than expected, but the team still has a number of promising prospects.
Every Thursday for the rest of the season, FOX Sports Wisconsin will take a closer look at some specific young players in Milwaukee's farm system -- as well as noting others who might be stepping up -- measuring, highlighting and evaluating their progress.
This is the 17th edition of the 2018 Young Brewers Tracker.
Lucas Erceg, 3B (Age 23/Double-A)
Last week: 6 games, 18 AB, 1 H, 2 R, 0 RBI, 0 SB, 3 BB, 4 K, .056 BA.
Season: 122 games, 459 AB, .248 BA, .306 OBP, .383 SLG, .690 OPS, 21 2B, 1 3B, 13 HR, 52 R, 50 RBI, 3 SB, 37 BB, 80 K
Notable: After going hitless in five games from Aug. 16-21, Erceg went 1 for 3 on Aug. 22. He's gone hitless in eight of his last 10 games.
Keston Hiura, 2B (Age 21/Double-A)
Last week: 6 games, 20 AB, 5 H, 1 HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, 0 SB, 0 BB, 6 K, .250 BA
Season (Double-A): 62 games, 237 AB, .278 BA, .340 OBP, .418 SLG, .757 OPS, 16 2B, 1 3B, 5 HR, 30 R, 18 RBI, 10 SB, 16 BB, 48 K.
Season (High-A): 50 games, 206 AB, .320 BA, .382 OBP, .529 SLG, .911 OPS, 16 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 38 R, 23 RBI, 4 SB, 14 BB, 47 K.
Notable: Hiura was 3 for 6 in an Aug. 18 doubleheader and 2 for 5 with his first home run since July 24 the next day, but slumped to 0 for 7 over his next two contests.
Corey Ray, OF (age 23/Double-A)
Last week: 7 games, 25 AB, 3 H, 1 2B, 2 HR, 3 R, 4 RBI, 1 SB, 2 BB, 10 K, .120 BA.
Season: 125 games, 491 AB, .244 BA, .331 OBP, .501 SLG, .832 OPS, 31 2B, 7 3B, 27 HR, 81 R, 72 RBI, 33 SB, 57 BB, 163 K.
Notable: Ray snapped an 0-for-19 stretch with a double on Aug. 19. He homered in back-to-back games Aug. 21-22. Ray now leads the Southern League in home runs by five and total bases by 19.
Trey Supak, SP (age 22/Double-A)
Last week: 1 game (1 start), 1-0, 6 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K
Season (Double-A): 14 games (14 starts), 4-6, 3.38 ERA, 74.2 IP, 67 H, 4 HR, 23 BB, 69 K, .239 OBA, 1.21 WHIP.
Season (Single-A): 9 games (9 starts), 2-1, 1.76 ERA, 51 IP, 37 H, 2 HR, 16 BB, 48 K, .208 OBA, 1.04 WHIP.
Notable: Supak rebounded from one of his worst starts -- albeit not that bad -- by holding Pensacola to three hits over six shutout innings. It was the second time in his last three starts he went six innings without allowing a run.
Brice Turang, SS (age 18/Rookie)
Last week (Pioneer): 6 games, 22 AB, 5 H, 4 R, 3 RBI, 0 SB, 5 BB, 5 K, .227 BA.
Season (Pioneer): 17 games, 67 AB, .269 BA, .402 OBP, .313 SLG, .716 OPS, 3 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 17 R, 6 RBI, 2 SB, 15 BB, 15 K.
Season (Arizona): 13 games, 47 AB, .319 BA, .421 OBP, .362 SLG, .783 OPS, 2 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 11 R, 7 RBI, 8 SB, 9 BB, 6 K.
Notable: Turang had back-to-back two-hit games Aug. 17-18 then saw his streak of reaching base end at 26 straight games when he failed to get a hit or walk Aug. 19.
Other notes: Colorado Springs OF Tyrone Taylor (2nd round, 2012) continues to swing a hot bat. In six games last week he was 9 for 23 (.391) with a double, triple, three home runs, five runs and nine RBI. Taylor is slugging .662 in August and on the season is batting .270/.314/.498 with 18 homers. … Sky Sox OF Domingo Santana was 5 for 16 (.313) with two doubles, two homers and eight RBI. … Colorado Springs LHP Quintin Torres-Costa (35th round, 2015) tossed 2 2/3 innings allowing no hits or runs and striking out four. Since being promoted to Triple-A on June 29, Torres-Costa has a 2.08 ERA and 0.92 WHIP in 17 1/3 innings. … Biloxi RHP Nate Griep (8th round, 2015) pitched 3 2/3 hitless, scoreless innings and notched three saves, giving him 32 on the year. … Shuckers 2B Blake Allemand (5th round, 2015) was 12 for 23 (.522) with a two doubles and a homer. … Wisconsin RHP Dylan File (21st round, 2017) allowed one run on four hits with no walks and nine strikeouts over seven innings vs. Cedar Rapids. He had struck out more than six batters just one other time this season. … Timber Rattlers RHP Aaron Ashby (4th round, 2018) struck out 10 in six innings. He hadn't whiffed more than six in any of his first 10 pro games. …Wisconsin LHP Clayton Andrews (17th round, 2018) struck out seven and walked none in four scoreless innings. He has 3 BB and 31 K in 18 2/3 innings with the Timber Rattlers. … Helena C David Fry (7th round, 2018) was 6 for 15 (.313) with two doubles and a home run. He's fifth in the Pioneer League with a .556 slugging percentage.
Statistics courtesy milb.com and baseball-reference.com
Dave Heller is the author of Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth's Shadow (a Larry Ritter Book Award nominee), Facing Ted Williams - Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns
