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As it turns out, 2026 has been a surprisingly strong year for the Colorado Rockies bullpen.

Through August 29th, Rockies relievers have been worth 3.0 fWAR, which is 15th in MLB. Their 4.81 ERA is not terrific, but it comes in 26th in baseball. (Given that their xERA was 4.80, the bullpen has performed about as expected.)

And it’s not like this has been an easy season for the bullpen, which has logged 549.2 IP this season, the sixth-most in the league.

But they have performed better than expected.

In spring training, bullpen coach Matt Buschmann laid out his approach. As the Rockies near the end of their season, here’s what he’s seeing.

Pitching at elevation

The first thing he’s learned is that pitching at elevation is not unlike David Foster Wallace’s explanation of water in “This is water.”

It’s just the environment in which this team lives.

“I think once you’re in it a lot, it kind of goes away,” Buschmann said.

“There’s definitely some things about it, but it’s not as big a deal. From the pitcher’s perspective and what you can control, I think it’s very controllable. I think pitching at altitude becomes more (about) ‘What are you solving for?’ because a ball in play at altitude and with our field being so big, is a bit more of a penalty than a ball in play most other places.”

That imbalance requires more preparation on the part of Rockies pitchers.

“It’s just thinking through, ‘How do I attack hitters, knowing that a ball in play maybe costs a little more?” he said.

Buschmann is quick to complement the work of the Rockies bullpen staff and the way they’ve adjusted to playing at Coors and on the road.

“These guys handle it really well,” Buschmann said. “They understand how to pitch there. We’ve actually pitched at home compared on the road, pretty similarly. We get more two-strike swing-and-miss at home. So it’s not that guys don’t understand how to pitch at Coors. I think it’s just thinking through what is our attack plan, and how does that change? Because I think pitchers are going to execute fairly well in both places.”

For the record, Rockies relievers have a collective 5.91 ERA at Coors (29th worst) and a 5.14 road ERA (28th worst).

He’s also very aware of bullpen management.

“(With) relievers, you’re always managing workload,” Buschmann said. “There’s certainly injury risk in everything we do, but I think it’s more just output and ability and feeling good enough to execute and do these things, and so the fatigue more shows up in that. How good is this guy going to be? How good does he feel to go out and be his best? So managing that has been an interesting challenge.”

New technology

As one change brought in by the new front office, the Rockies are using technology to learn more about players and improve their performance — most notably, Catapult — and for that, Buschmann has worked with Brandon Stone, the Rockies manager of performance science and someone Buschmann knew from his time with the Toronto Blue Jays.

“Ultimately, we know everything that’s happening in a game,” Buschmann said. “We can measure every single thing in a game.”

The Rockies are in the process of learning how best to use that information.

“Now we’re trying to really measure ‘What do we do in between games?’ because we’re doing so much in between games, too. And when you get that total picture, you can you can basically understand ‘Here’s what’s expected of you from a workload perspective in the game.’ And if I know that, I know how to manage your workload in between games, and make sure the games don’t crush you, or they don’t fatigue you as much. And so the way to do that is to make sure your workload is high enough so that a game isn’t a big deal.”

The Catapult technology is helping the Rockies make better decisions.

“That’s helping us measure the throws and catch. It’s helping us measure not only their workload, but it’s helping us measure their strategy and how they’re going about workload. When we measure the strategy, little differences in strategy maybe tell us some underlying things that are going on. Maybe they’re tight in their lower half or upper half, and that just gets us ahead of things and makes sure we keep guys in their norm. And those things help measure when they’re outside their norm. And when they’re outside their norm in baseball, when you play every day, that can lead to kind of these small things over time end up to a big thing.”

Bullpen management

The changes aren’t limited to technology. Earlier in the season, the Rockies experimented with using bulk relievers, but they seem to have gone to a more-traditional bullpen strategy. However, Buschmann attributes that to improved length from the Rockies starters.

“Really, it’s just been a credit to our starters who, I think, have made adjustments,” Buschmann said, “and a lot of them have gotten more consistent and put together a good stretch here of our starters being being really good and getting deeper into games. And when you do that, you see the difference in how you can manage a bullpen, and maybe it lets you keep an extra leverage reliever instead of constantly worrying about length. Now you have extra leverage relievers, so each guy down there that can pitch in leverage isn’t necessarily always needing to be up.”

In addition to managing what’s happening with the Rockies, Buschmann has dealt with the bullpen churn that is part of an MLB season as relievers join the Rockies from Triple-A Albuquerque. For him, that goes back to veteran leadership.

“I think the biggest thing there is just the staples, the consistent guys, and Brennan Bernardino and Jimmy Herget and the veteran guys. It’s really fortunate for me that those guys have been there. They care about helping younger players, bringing them up, and they’re really good resources. They’ve both been in each situation you can think of, and so they were a really good resource for the younger guys to understand. ‘Here’s the expectation of you.‘ ‘Here’s you know how you need to prepare every day and to be your best.’ And so for me, it’s been leaning on those guys to make sure that they’re helping the younger guys come up.”

Another example is Rockies closer Jordan Romano, someone else Buschmann knew from Toronto.

“So it’s I knew it would be really, I think, hopefully impactful on some of the younger guys to see him prepare every day.”

Closing thoughts

It’s been a learning season for the new Rockies coaching staff, but Buschmann identified one lesson in particular he has stuck out to him.

“You can talk about pitching at elevation, you can have ideas, but then watching it day to day, there’s so much context there that now you’re truly informed through experience,” Buschmann said.

“I think what I’m most excited about is taking that experience and now building things and iterating our philosophy, building tools that are now informed by a year of experience and seeing it and seeing things work and not work. And so I’m really excited for that and just time — like a full offseason —with this group and what we’ve experienced. (Then we can) start to go and build the things we want to build, and hit the ground running in spring instead of hit the ground like, ‘Let’s learn, everybody.‘ I think that’s the most exciting place.”

This week on the internet

Okay, I thought this was funny.

MLB report cards for every team with 1 month to go | Bleacher Report

This seems to me a very reasonable grade for the 2026 Colorado Rockies.

Running the bases with Colorado Rockies Jake McCarthy | Mile High Sports

Speaking of Jake McCarthy, Drew Creasman spoke with the Rockies outfielder about how he approaches running the bases.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

As the dog days of August turn into September, the Los Angeles Dodgers hope to turn the rough patch that they’ve gone through around and finally start scoring again.

This is the third year in a row that the Dodgers have gone through a slide like this, something that Bill Plunkett of the OC Register posits has become the feature and not a bug. This season has been especially egregious. The Dodgers were last in all NL teams in runs scored since July 1, and went 13-14 in August.

With the team having the highest average age for position players, Plunkett wonders if we are expecting too much of the Dodgers lineup?

“No. I don’t think you can expect too much of us. And we like that. We like that you think we should be scoring more,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said to that. “If you were content with us scoring three, four runs then we wouldn’t have a very good offense. I’m okay with you guys expecting more out of us. We expect more out of ourselves.”

Mookie Betts thinks that maybe fans expect a little too much, that they will always hit like they have in the past, or that they should be able to hit any pitcher at any time.

“That was when guys were throwing 92, 93 when we did that. And we were younger, yes,” Betts said of the prime years of the Dodgers’ stars, exaggerating how quickly velocity has jumped in MLB.

“I don’t care who you are. You can be Shohei or anybody, the best player in the league. You’re not hitting 100 (mph) consistently every day. Nobody is doing that. We’re facing 97, 98 every day. Then the guys who are 92, 93 – there’s something to it. Sometimes we hit it. Sometimes we don’t. That’s part of the human element of the game. But I think that part is getting missed. Y’all expect us to score six or seven (runs) every day, you know what I’m saying?”

If the Dodgers are going to three-peat, they need the offense to at least do something. The offense did barely enough last year, and there’s no reason to expect that ‘barely enough’ could get them that coveted third ring in a row.

The pitching has been phenomenal as always, and as long as it stays that way, the offense is the only thing standing in the way of another World Series win. Only one little hiccup there, hitting is always harder in the postseason. It remains to be seen if the Dodgers can eek their way to another ring.

It’s a big day for Lone Star Ball. Today, the SB Nation app is live, and it’s the best way to follow the Rangers. 

You can download it by searching SB Nation for iOS or Android.

A year ago we made some big changes to our community, including offering fewer ads and the addition of the Feed. Today, we want to give you even more community tools and fewer ads with this app. It will make starting and joining conversations here as simple as posting to your favorite social media platform.

You can check out the video below showing off some of the useful features of the app, and we’ll dig into them below. 

Why should I download the app?

The app will be the easiest way to interact with everybody else in the community: 

• All your favorite teams’ posts in one dedicated feed
• Notifications when someone replies or recs your post
• New game thread section, with an  experience that’s smoother and faster
• Fewer ads
• Easily navigating between your favorite communities with a swipe

It will be the fastest way to read every post from our community.

How do I download the app?

Head over to the Apple store or the Android store to download the app. Today, the app is only available for US users.

It’s a big day for Over the Monster. Today, the SB Nation app is live, and it’s the best way to follow the Red Sox. 

You can download it by searching SB Nation for iOS or Android.

A year ago we made some big changes to our community, including offering fewer ads and the addition of the Feed. Today, we want to give you even more community tools and fewer ads with this app. It will make starting and joining conversations here as simple as posting to your favorite social media platform.

You can check out the video below showing off some of the useful features of the app, and we’ll dig into them below. 

Why should I download the app?

The app will be the easiest way to interact with everybody else in the community: 

• All your favorite teams’ posts in one dedicated feed
• Notifications when someone replies or recs your post
• New game thread section, with an  experience that’s smoother and faster
• Fewer ads
• Easily navigating between your favorite communities with a swipe

It will be the fastest way to read every post from our community.

How do I download the app?

Head over to the Apple store or the Android store to download the app. Today, the app is only available for US users.

Off day yesterday. Light news day.

Jaylon Thompson covers John Schreiber joining the Yankees.

The reverse splits were attractive. Schreiber is not as effective against left-handed batters (opponents hit .326 against him) but he should help the Yankees down the stretch.

New York is responsible for the remaining amount on his contract. Schreiber is earning $3,715,000 this season.

The Royals will likely turn to young relievers in the bullpen. Guys such as Nate Pearson and Connor Thomas have gotten additional opportunities. Meanwhile, the Royals will see what they have in Carlos Duran — who was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers at the trade deadline.

Ryan Blake at FanGraphs wrote about Jac Caglianone’s season.

Caglianone swings 77.3 mph on average, which is faster than all but five qualified batters in the majors this year. That hasn’t changed since last year. What has changed is he’s now getting way more from his contact, squaring up the ball 31.2% of the time (compared to 25.9% last year). Maybe it’s obvious, but a fast swing and flush contact is why he’s posted a 54.6% hard-hit rate and 105.6 mph EV50 — each top 10 in the majors. This is the sort of in-game power potential we were promised in his (brief) tenure as a prospect, and it’s respected enough around the league to earn him an invite to the Home Run Derby this year.

Unfortunately, that’s still pretty much the extent of what Caglianone does well at the plate, at least consistently. Again, it’s awesome he’s doing anything well, given his struggles as a rookie, and he could have a very successful career without changing much. But the rest of his profile lags behind, limiting him to a merely top-100 batter in 2026.

One reason is all that ultra-hard contact generally isn’t going that far. Caglianone has done well to lower his groundball rate from 50.6% last year to 46.3% this year, but most of his extra exit velocity is still coming on the ground. Hitting balls on the ground while improving the contact of those groundballs is a fine tradeoff, but well-hit singles are still just singles.

David Lesky is ready for the remaining games, even if the recent hot streak doesn’t catapult them into playoff contention.

So here we are, with 24 games to go, and it does feel like even the tiniest hope is essentially gone, but that doesn’t mean it’s still not fun to watch them play better baseball down the stretch. If they want to start another nine-game winning streak, I certainly won’t turn that down. We’ll get to it at the bottom with what’s up next, but they’ve got a challenge this week at home with three teams fighting for the postseason. The Marlins are currently 3.5 out of the last Wild Card spot. The Blue Jays are currently 1.5 out of the last Wild Card spot. And the Diamondbacks are one-half game ahead of the Padres for the third Wild Card spot in the NL. So everyone has something to play for.

Eli Nitz at Royals Keep examines whom the Royals could add once rosters expand.

Andrew Banks gives some love to Jac Caglianone.

The Cubs hit nine homers yesterday in a win over the Brewers. That’s a franchise record for the Cubs.

The Padres will call up top prospect Ethan Salas, a catcher. Sadly, Freddy Fermin’s bat continued to decline.

Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs examines Tristan Peters’ rise to stardom for the White Sox.

Old friend Carlos Hernández is expected to join the Cleveland Guardians major league roster.

Old friend Tommy Pham is joining the White Sox.

The Orioles picked up Luis Robert Jr on waivers.

The odd saga with Ketel Marte and the D-Backs appears to be ending.

Unforked in Crown Center is closing due to the new stadium development.

Missouri forward Mark Mitchell will return to Mizzou instead of transferring.

UCLA fired their AD over “financial deficit”.

Everton are picking up USMNT star Flo Balogun for a reported $52.3M transfer.

The Chiefs 53-man roster looked like this after cuts, but I think it’s already changed.

A jury found Duane “Keffe D” Davis guilty of “orchestrating” Tupac Shakur’s murder.

Your song of the day is Dirt Poor Robins with Holy Roller.

It’s a big day for Battery Power. Today, the SB Nation app is live, and it’s the best way to follow the Braves. 

You can download it by searching SB Nation for iOS or Android.

A year ago we made some big changes to our community, including offering fewer ads and the addition of the Feed. Today, we want to give you even more community tools and fewer ads with this app. It will make starting and joining conversations here as simple as posting to your favorite social media platform.

You can check out the video below showing off some of the useful features of the app, and we’ll dig into them below. 

Why should I download the app?

The app will be the easiest way to interact with everybody else in the community: 

• All your favorite teams’ posts in one dedicated feed
• Notifications when someone replies or recs your post
• New game thread section, with an experience that’s smoother and faster
• Fewer ads
• Easily navigating between your favorite communities with a swipe

It will be the fastest way to read every post from our community. Whether you’re a Braves fan who loves all Atlanta sports (I salute you, brave sports fan) or you just so happen to be a Braves fan who roots for the Packers, Mavericks and Liverpool FC, we’ve got you covered.

Long story short, if you’ve enjoyed what we’ve been bringing you here not just on Battery Power but across the entire SB Nation network as a whole, then you’re going to love this. You’ll have all of your communities (or even just this one) easily accessible for you right there on your phone or tablet.

The blogs are right there, the comments (and a new focus on game threads) are there, The Feed is there and the conversation is there. I’ve enjoyed using it for the past few weeks before the official unveiling (and in fact, all of my Feed posts recently came from the app) and I’m sure that all of y’all are going to enjoy it if you give it a chance.

How do I download the app?

Head over to the Apple store or the Android store to download the app. Today, the app is only available for US users.

It’s a big day for Viva El Birdos. Today, the SB Nation app is live, and it’s the best way to follow the Cardinals. 

You can download it by searching SB Nation for iOS or Android.

I’ve given this app a test run over the past few weeks and it’s really helped streamline my experience when interacting with the community making it seamless to get notifications when there’s been a reaction or a comment in response to something we’ve shared. It also makes it much easier for you to share which is one of the many things that makes the Viva El Birdos community the best neighborhood in baseball.

A year ago we made some big changes to our community, including offering fewer ads and the addition of the Feed. Today, we want to give you even more community tools and fewer ads with this app. It will make starting and joining conversations here as simple as posting to your favorite social media platform.

You can check out the video below showing off some of the useful features of the app, and we’ll dig into them below. 

Why should I download the app?

The app will be the easiest way to interact with everybody else in the community: 

• All your favorite teams’ posts in one dedicated feed
• Notifications when someone replies or recs your post
• New game thread section, with an  experience that’s smoother and faster
• Fewer ads
• Easily navigating between your favorite communities with a swipe

It will be the fastest way to read every post from our community.

How do I download the app?

Head over to the Apple store or the Android store to download the app. Today, the app is only available for US users.

Monday was the rare game in which the Braves got beat by their own strategy. The Atlanta bullpen struggled in a 7-3 loss to the lowly Giants, ending a season series in which the Braves dropped 5 of 6 games to San Francisco. This also ended the Braves seven game winning streak. Losses certainly occur, but the hope is the bullpen, and especially Dylan Lee, return to form soon as a stretch of games vs the NL East is on the horizon.

Braves News

Blake Burkhalter and Kyle Farmer are the two roster additions for the Braves with their September call-ups.

Some fun stats to follow as the Braves enter September.

Jordan Groshans continues to prove he is one of the best power prospects in the Braves system.

MLB News

Monday’s power display from the Cubs was historic in multiple ways in a big victory over the Brewers.

Padres top prospect Ethan Salas, and one of the best prospects in baseball, is being called up for Tuesday’s game.

Orioles claimed outfielder Luis Robert Jr. from the Mets.

There’s not much time left in the minor league calendar, and the playoff races are heating up. While one affiliate has already punched their ticket, the other three are still searching for late runs to power their way there.

Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders

Record: 31-23 (68-60), 2.5 GB in the International League East after a 3-3 week against the Worcester Red Sox (Red Sox)

Run differential: +28 (+31)

Coming up: Home vs. Lehigh Valley IronPigs (Phillies)

The RailRiders wrapped up a rough month of August with a contentious split, keeping them within an arm’s length of a playoff spot with three weeks to go. They got a bit of a rough deal with Worcester hosting three different rehab assignments this week, including Roman Anthony, but fared pretty well until a rough day on Sunday.

The offense has a lot of name-brand talent already, but they decided to add another former top prospect to their ranks with a mid-week signing of Jarred Kelenic for the playoff push, because why not? Additionally, Mitch Garver is currently in roster limbo after exercising an assignment clause, but the fact he hasn’t been added to the active roster by now likely closes the door on him getting recalled without an injury. Anthony Volpe (now getting reps at third base) and Marco Luciano carried the offense this week, combining for seven home runs on 18 hits.

The two prospects who’ve been here all season did not get to pitch here this week due to promotions to the big leagues, as Elmer Rodríguez is making a pair of spot starts until the schedule evens out while Brendan Beck was needed as the 27th man on Saturday. Alexander Cornielle won International League Pitcher of the Week with eight terrific shutout innings in the best start of his pro career, but the headline on the farm was the return of Kyle Carr, who got double duty on Tuesday and Sunday. He combined to allow three runs in three innings with Xavier Rivas as the piggyback. Let’s just say it’s not going well for the Ole Miss alum since his promotion.

The team needed two bullpen games due to the promotions, which we saw with Hayden Merda starting both games and tossing three solid innings combined. Eric Reyzelman and Eli Morgan both had terrific weeks as well, and with the rapidly thinning bullpen depth becoming an issue (one attempt to be resolved by claiming John Schreiber on waivers), both could be on the major league radar for cameos down the stretch.

Players of Note:

Jasson Domínguez: .269/.347/.420, 7 HR, 29 RBI, 11 SB, 101 wRC+
Anthony Volpe: .235/.313/.504, 8 HR, 20 RBI, 15 XBH, 106 wRC+ (134 PA)
Oswaldo Cabrera: .286/.343/.443, 17 HR, 59 RBI, 31 XBH, 103 wRC+
Brendan Beck: 9-2, 2.75 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 1.05 WHIP, 19.9 K-BB% (121 IP)
Elmer Rodríguez: 8-3, 2.59 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 1.26 WHIP, 13.1 K-BB% (97.1 IP)

Double-A Somerset Patriots

Record: 30-27 (67-59), 3.5 GB in the Eastern League Northeast after a 3-3 week against the Akron RubberDucks (Guardians)

Run differential: +13 (+49)

Coming up: Away @ Erie SeaWolves (Tigers)

Somerset had a perfectly fine week, trading wins and losses without anything too good or bad happening. The problem was, in a heated playoff race, splitting sometimes isn’t good enough. They lost 2.5 games of ground this week, with scorching hot Reading going up 3.5 games. With 12 to go, these guys are going to have to play some of their best baseball.

It was a fairly pedestrian week for the offense. Jace Avina has had a really crummy month (.213/.314/.258) and will look to turn the page next week, while Roderick Arias and Josh Moylan continue to excel after summer promotions. I want to highlight Manuel Palencia here, who’s been one of the best hitters in the system for two months now. After entering July with an abhorrent .504 OPS, he’s slashed .351/.380/.596 with a 157 wRC+ in 121 plate appearances over the last two months. His stock is finally gaining some helium.

For the bruised and battered rotation, we saw a struggle of a start from Cade Smith (5.2 IP, 5 R), a 10-strikeout quality start from Dom Hamel, and a rehab appearance by Clarke Schmidt. The two big storylines were two guys who weren’t here last week. Bryce Cunningham made his Double-A debut on Tuesday and played double duty on Sunday, combining to allow nine runs in 11 innings with 13 strikeouts. We also saw the return of the struggling Chase Hampton, who missed three weeks on the temporarily inactive list. He tossed four solid innings with six strikeouts, hopefully a sign of things to come.

It was an uneven week for the bullpen, which technically counts Rory Fox’s piggyback effort behind Schmidt, where he tossed 5.1 solid innings. Trent Sellers, Michael Arias, Kevin Stevens, and Geoff Gilbert all excelled this week, while others struggled to put up zeroes.

Players of Note:

Jace Avina: .250/.347/.466, 19 HR, 62 RBI, 48 XBH, 23.6 K%, 119 wRC+
DJ Gladney: .268/.331/.509, 23 HR, 85 RBI, 19 SB, 121 wRC+
Coby Morales: .280/.372/.486, 20 HR, 77 RBI, 44 XBH, 131 wRC+
Cade Smith: 7-8, 4.98 ERA, 5.43 FIP, 1.44 WHIP, 12.5 K-BB% (110.1 IP)
Ben Hess: 3-4, 4.45 ERA, 4,69 FIP, 1.45 WHIP, 13.7 K-BB% (56.2 IP, injured)

High-A Hudson Valley Renegades

Record: 34-26 (64-60), 3 GB in the South Atlantic League North after a 3-3 week against the Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets)

Run differential: +46 (+55)

Coming up: Away @ Wilmington Blue Rocks (Nationals)

Hudson Valley extended their win streak to nine games on Tuesday, but struggled the rest of the week as their momentum fizzled out and their playoff hopes dwindled with it. Suddenly, they’re going to need to make up three games this week against Wilmington to get in. The division-leading Frederick Keys won the first half, which would invoke other tiebreakers, but the Renegades would lose out on a playoff spot in that scenario to Greensboro, so they’ll need to jump two teams here.

The split wasn’t because of any offensive ineptitude. David McCann homered twice, Jackson Lovich had four extra-base hits, Kyle West had three, and Hans Montero went 6-for-10 across three games. With only a week left in the regular season, you’re looking for guys to finish strong, and that’s certainly what Lovich is doing. After striking out nearly 40 percent of the time in his first few weeks at the level, he’s put up a 10-game stretch where he’s limited them while walking at a significantly higher rate. He was an early-season darling, but is putting together a good body of work in his first full season in the pros.

The bullpen was really ugly this week, so they get most of the blame instead of the starters, who actually pitched quite well. Allen Facundo tossed a quality start (6 IP, 2 R), Luis Serna struck out seven in 4.2 shutout innings, Sean Paul Liñan allowed three runs in five innings, and both Danny Flatt and Brandon Decker pitched brief, scoreless outings in emergency roles. The former had been sent down to the FCL two weeks ago, so that was his High-A debut.

Players of Note:

Eric Genther: .273/.407/.441, 12 HR, 57 RBI, 31 XBH, 128 wRC+
David McCann (FCL/A/A+): .284/.374/.572, 16 HR, 54 RBI, 26 XBH, 136 wRC+
Jackson Lovich (A/A+): .287/.363/.506, 22 HR, 84 RBI, 36 SB, 28.6 K%, 123 wRC+
Luis Serna: 6-5, 3.98 ERA, 3.59 FIP, 1.15 WHIP, 20.5 K-BB% (108.2 IP)
Allen Facundo: 5-3, 4.64 ERA, 4.43 FIP, 1.44 WHIP, 11.6 K-BB% (94.1 IP)

Single-A Tampa Tarpons

Record: 39-18 (71-46), 9 GA in the Florida State League West after a 5-0 week against the Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins)

Run differential: +112 (+135)

Coming up: Home vs. Dunedin Blue Jays (Blue Jays)

These guys just keep raking. They outscored a good Jupiter team 41 to 15 in a five-game sweep, marking a 10th consecutive series without a defeat. They’re 8-0-2 in series since mid-June and clinched the Florida State League West Division with nine games to spare. It’s been a truly special few months for the Tarpons.

The offense is still really good. We’re going back to the running tally:

• Yostin Pena continues to be a wrecking ball. He went 5-for-13 with a monster home run on Sunday, while also drawing six walks. That last part is important, as he had entred this week with a grand total of one walk in several weeks in Single-A.
• Dax Kilby went 4-for-18 with a home run, double, and seven walks. No guy is more content to take ball four than Kilby, who also hit a new max exit velocity at 108.9.
• Paul Gutierrez-Contreras II went 6-for-13 with a home run.
• Bear Harrison, who was off to a horrible start to his pro career, went 4-for-12 with two doubles and five RBIs. Good week for him.
• Tyce Armstrong went 8-for-16 with three homers and two doubles, winning FSL Player of the Week. This is a guy who hit nukes at Baylor and should rise quickly.

The rotation didn’t need to be spectacular this week, but they were pretty good. Wyatt Parliament seems to be getting load-managed down the stretch, only tossing 3.1 scoreless innings. Edinzo Marquez and Tyler Boudreau both tossed five one-run innings, but the latter was awarded a complete game due to rain shortening his start. Sabier Marte struck out nine but gave up five runs in his start, but the crown jewel of the week was J.T. Etheridge’s best start of his pro career, striking out 10 in six magnificent innings.

Pretty much everyone in the bullpen looked sharp, with the exception of Antonio Gomez’s second outing of the week. His stuff is still nasty, but he’s a work in progress. The guy of note here is Matthew Tippie, who throws a forkball and has been brilliant for a few months now. Since May 14, he’s pitched to a 0.86 ERA with a 20.9 K-BB% in 31.1 innings. There’s also Justin West, who struck out nine in a piggyback start and continues to be electric over the last two months.

Players of Note:

Luis Escudero: .281/.460/.540, 10 HR, 28 RBI, 17 SB, 160 wRC+
Yostin Pena (DSL/A): .368/.444/.632, 13 HR, 79 RBI, 34 SB, 154 wRC+
Dax Kilby: .272/.444/.437, 3 HR, 23 RBI, 11 SB, 142 wRC+ (135 PA)
Tyler Boudreau: 7-3, 3.51 ERA, 4.04 FIP, 1.06 WHIP, 17.1 K-BB% (100 IP)
Justin West: 10-3, 4.08 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 1.24 WHIP, 19.1 K-BB% (108 IP)

FCL Yankees

Record: 29-29, 7.5 GB in the FCL North

Run differential: +2

Missed playoffs. Season over.

DSL Yankees & Bombers

DSL Yankees:
Record: 33-21, 2 GB in DSL East. Eliminated in DSL Cup Pool Play
Run differential: +141

DSL Bombers:
Record: 25-29, 11 GB in DSL Southeast. Missed playoffs
Run differential: +8

Season over.

Players of Note:

Isaias Castillo: .294/.408/.629, 14 HR, 49 RBI, 35 XBH, 28 SB, 132 wRC+
Juan Torres: .385/.470/.644, 8 HR, 65 RBI, 36 XBH, 26 SB, 159 wRC+
David Carrera: .333/.502/.594, 9 HR, 41 RBI, 23 XBH, 160 wRC+
Fredy Penuelas: 52 IP, 1.56 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, 18.4 K-BB%
Cesar Acosta: 51.2 IP, 3.31 ERA, 3.35 FIP, 1.01 WHIP, 24.1 K-BB%

Prospect of the Week: Tyce Armstrong

Weekly Stats: 8-for-16, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 2 2B, 2 BB, 5 K, 1 SB
Season Stats: .328/.427/.656, 5 HR, 22 RBI, 10 XBH, 16.0 BB%, 25.3 K%, 170 wRC+ (75 PA)

Welcome back to the Minor League Roundup!

As a reminder, you can find this roundup — covering everything you need to know about each of the Brewers’ minor league affiliates — every Tuesday morning right here on Brew Crew Ball. For consistency, all organizational prospect rankings will reference MLB Pipeline unless otherwise noted.

Triple-A Nashville Sounds

Current record: 71-58
Record this week: 3-3
This week’s opponent: @ Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp
Next week’s opponent: vs. Louisville Bats

Standout weekly performances:

Tyler Black: 7-for-15, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 7 BB, 4 K
Akil Baddoo: 8-for-19, 2 2B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K
Bo Naylor: 6-for-20, 3 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 1 BB, 3 K
Brock Wilken: 6-for-21, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 1 BB, 6 K
Colton Gordon: 11.0 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 13 K
Brandon Sproat: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K
Tyson Hardin: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Coleman Crow: 5.0 IP, 11 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 8 K

With rosters expanding on Sept. 1, it’s likely that one of the Sounds’ position players will be in Milwaukee by the time this article is published. Lefty reliever JoJo Romero seems like a good bet to be activated, but there are a couple of possibilities for the second and final roster spot.

Three of those options had big weeks against Jacksonville. Tyler Black, Akil Baddoo, and Bo Naylor all recorded four extra-base hits; Black went 7-for-15 with seven walks, good for a ridiculous 1.586 OPS, while Baddoo’s OPS (1.320) wasn’t far behind.

Naylor, who went 6-for-20 with seven RBIs, still feels like the most likely option. Milwaukee already has plenty of outfield options, making Baddoo somewhat redundant, and the same goes for Black, whose defensive fit on the current roster isn’t particularly obvious.

Meanwhile, Naylor gives the Brewers a third catcher with major league experience, which is important because Contreras will need days off to keep him fresh for the playoffs and Gary Sánchez isn’t a Gold Glover. With a .903 OPS in 60 at-bats since the trade, Naylor has also shown that he has enough offensive upside to be useful off the bench. It’s worth mentioning, too, that the Brewers liked him enough to go out and get him from Cleveland, trading away outfielder Blake Perkins and reliever Craig Yoho at the deadline.

Jeferson Quero is another possibility, and he’s had a solid season at the plate with a .755 OPS and 15 home runs, but there are reasons to think Milwaukee might prefer Naylor for September. Quero has thrown out a little under 16% of attempted base stealers this season in 116 attempts, and there are still questions about how much of a workload he can handle behind the plate. From June 28 through Aug. 15, Quero didn’t catch a game, appearing exclusively at DH. Add in Naylor’s previous major league experience, and he seems like the safer choice for a team with World Series aspirations.

Elsewhere, Brock Wilken continued his recent surge with two more homers, while Colton Gordon turned in a strong week on the mound. Gordon worked 11 innings across two appearances, allowing four earned runs while striking out 13 and walking only two. Brandon Sproat struck out seven over four one-hit innings, although he allowed two runs and walked three.

Double-A Biloxi Shuckers

Current record: 59-63
Record this week: 3-3
This week’s opponent: vs. Knoxville Smokies
Next week’s opponent: vs. Birmingham Barons

Standout performances:

Andrew Fischer: 6-for-16, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 3 BB, 7 K
Braylon Payne: 8-for-22, 2 2B, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K
Mike Boeve: 6-for-18, 0 RBI, 3 BB, 5 K
Luis Peña: 6-for-19, 0 RBI, 3 BB, 3 K
Dylan O’Rae: 5-for-20, 1 3B, 0 RBI, 2 BB, 5 K
Bishop Letson: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K
Jaron DeBerry: 4.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K
J.D. Thompson: 4.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 4 K
Manuel Rodriguez: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 K
Jack Seppings: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

Jesús Made has finally encountered something resembling a speed bump.

Made went 4-for-18 this week to bring his line for the month of August to .204/.299/.280. It’s hardly concerning for a player who is still just 19 years old and has rocketed through the system, but the Southern League has provided a considerably tougher test than the levels below it. Made’s overall numbers (.773 OPS) remain impressive considering his age and aggressive assignments, but his production has cooled as the season has progressed.

Andrew Fischer has dealt with some adjustments of his own since arriving in Biloxi, hitting .183 over the month of August. He spent this week reminding everyone exactly why he’s one of the fastest-rising prospects in the organization, though, going 6-for-16 with four home runs and eight RBIs — three of those homers coming in a monster performance Thursday. He finished the week with a 1.575 OPS despite striking out seven times in 20 plate appearances.

While Fischer still had an .820 OPS last month, his batting average is worth watching, as are the strikeouts — although he hasn’t actually been striking out all that much more in Double-A (82 Ks in 246 Single-A plate appearances vs. 90 in 258 Double-A plate appearances). Still, he’s hit 42 home runs this year. Progress isn’t linear, and both Made and Fischer have proven enough so far that one down month doesn’t mean much. If both struggle tremendously to end the year, then it becomes a conversation, but as of now, it’s somewhat premature.

Braylon Payne continued his breakout season with another great week, going 8-for-22 with two doubles and two homers, while Mike Boeve went 6-for-18 with three walks.

Biloxi also got a trio of impressive performances from its pitching staff, headlined by Bishop Letson, who allowed just one earned run over five innings while striking out five. Jaron DeBerry and J.D. Thompson also held the Smokies to one run in their respective starts, although each pitcher issued five walks.

High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers

Current record: 63-55
Record this week: 3-3
This week’s opponent: vs. South Bend Cubs
Next week’s opponent: @ Beloit Sky Carp

Standout performances:

Eric Bitonti: 9-for-23, 7 2B, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 4 BB, 7 K
Sawyer Strosnider: 9-for-24, 3 2B, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K
Luis Lameda: 4-for-11, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Tyler Rodriguez: 5-for-15, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 4 K
Daniel Dickinson: 7-for-24, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 4 K
Wande Torres: 6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K
Josh Knoth: 6.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K
Michael Fowler: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Andrew Healy: 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K
Jarrette Bonet: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K

Eric Bitonti, who I highlighted as the Player of the Week in last week’s column, almost one-upped himself this week. He absolutely demolished South Bend pitching, going 9-for-23 with seven doubles, two home runs, and 12 RBIs. That’s nine extra-base hits in six games, good for a .391 average and 1.438 OPS. His best performance came Thursday, when he collected three hits, including a homer, and drove in four.

Bitonti, still only 20, is now hitting .273 with a .929 OPS, although he was far from the only notable Brewers prospect to have a strong week. Sawyer Strosnider continued to hit after his promotion to High-A, finishing 9-for-24 with three doubles and a triple. It’s hard to ask for a better start from Strosnider than a .328/.438/.507 line through his first 67 professional at-bats. Also, for the “eye test” people out there, look at this absolute beauty of a swing:

Daniel Dickinson also had another productive series, going 7-for-24 with a double, triple, homer, and three walks while striking out only four times in 29 plate appearances.

Wisconsin got two noteworthy performances from its pitching staff courtesy of Wande Torres and Josh Knoth. Torres, the Brewers’ Pitcher of the Month for July, might win again this month after putting up a 1.75 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 25.2 innings in August. He turned in the best start of the week, tossing 6 2/3 scoreless innings while allowing only three hits and two walks. Knoth wasn’t quite as dominant, but put together another solid start of his own, allowing two earned runs across six innings while walking just one. Also of note: Knoth was promoted to Double-A Biloxi last Thursday, August 27th.

Knoth’s development remains particularly worth watching down the stretch. The former second-round pick missed all of 2025 following Tommy John surgery, so simply seeing him continue to accumulate innings is important. The results (4.33 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 4.42 FIP, 4.27 xFIP, 8.65 K/9, 3.41 BB/9) are becoming increasingly relevant, too, as Milwaukee gets a better idea of where he fits in among their top pitching prospects.

Single-A Wilson Warbirds

Current record: 64-59
Record this week: 1-6
This week’s opponent: vs. Hickory Crawdads
Next week’s opponent: @ Fredericksburg Nationals

Standout performances:

Frederi Montero: 5-for-11, 2 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K
Handelfry Encarnacion: 4-for-11, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Kyle Jones: 8-for-23, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 2 K
Rylan Mills: 7-for-21, 1 2B, 3 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 10 K
Brailyn Antunez: 5-for-21, 1 2B, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 8 K
Miqueas Mercedes: 7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
Thomas Conrad: 6.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 3 K
Tyler Renz: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Hayden Robinson: 7.0 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 6 BB, 7 K

It wasn’t a great week for Wilson as a team; the Warbirds went just 1-6 and were officially eliminated from playoff contention on Saturday. They’ll wrap up their inaugural season next week with a series against the Fredericksburg Nationals.

While I’ll refrain from talking about everything until next week’s season recap (covering both A-ball affiliates), there’s a lot to be excited about down in Wilson.

Catcher Rylan Mills, who has an .813 OPS in 187 at-bats with the Warbirds, went 7-for-21 with three home runs, six RBIs, and three walks. Even more impressively, he put together multi-hit games with a homer on both Friday and Saturday. Mills’ power came with plenty of swing-and-miss — he struck out 10 times in 24 plate appearances — but three homers in a week will always play.

Kyle Jones had a slightly quieter week at the plate, although it wasn’t exactly quiet. He hit .348 with a double and three RBIs while striking out only twice. Jones, the Brewers’ third-round pick in this year’s draft, is hitting .304 through his first 69 professional at-bats.

On the mound, Miqueas Mercedes delivered easily the best performance of the week. Mercedes tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing only four hits without issuing a walk. He struck out three, relying more on contact management than overpowering hitters, but the results — seven shutout innings with a 0.57 WHIP — are hard to argue with.

Finally, as always, Handelfry Encarnacion and Brailyn Antunez continued to produce. Encarnacion went 4-for-11 with a pair of doubles, two RBIs, and only two strikeouts, finishing the week with a 1.007 OPS. Antunez went 5-for-21 with a double, four RBIs, and two walks, though he struck out eight times.

Play of the Week:

Shortstop Dylan O’Rae broke the Shuckers’ single-season franchise record for stolen bases with his 53rd of the season last Friday.

On Sunday afternoon in Springfield, Missouri. The St. Louis Cardinals’ top hitting prospect, Rainiel Rodriguez, launched his 24th Home Run of the season, split between High-A Peoria and Double-A Springfield. The Crack of Rodriguez’s bat echoes whispers of top prospects who came before, but only names we revere through recent Cardinals minor league history. Rainiel is compiling stats during his age-19 season at a level whose average age is 5 years older than his.

What he’s doing currently, only 1 other minor leaguer has done in the last 20 years. At age 19 or younger, posting an OPS above .950 at the Double-A level: Mike Trout. While I don’t project Rodriguez to be quite the same 5-tool megastar that Trout became, what he’s doing with the bat is undeniable and impossible to ignore. So far, in 351 plate appearances at Double-A, Rodriguez is slashing .316/.393/.572 -> .966 OPS with a .257 ISO, .419 wOBA, and a 143 wRC+. It is not hyperbolic to say that the young Cardinals backstop is producing video game-like numbers.

Other notable recent Cardinals farmhands age 20 or younger at Double-A to produce an above .800 OPS and at least a 100 wRC+ include Colby Rasmus, Oscar Taveras, Dylan Carlson, and Jordan Walker. That’s an exclusive list of names in recent Cardinals prospect lore. Interestingly enough, they’re all outfielders, except Rodriguez, which makes what he’s doing from an offensive perspective as a primary catcher all the more impressive.

I reached out to a couple of good friends who cover Cardinals prospects more deeply than pretty much anyone out there. From our friend Kyle Reis of thecardinalnation.com on what makes Rainiel Rodriguez special:

“A lot of it is mechanical, in my opinion. He has strength and balance throughout his swing that is unique and innate in a way that cant be taught. He’s capable of adjusting his swing without adjusting his body and his foundation, and thats easier said than done. From there he has the bat speed and direction with his hands to do all that he needs to do to maintain success.

There’s a maturity to the person that he is, as well as, how he goes about the work that he puts in. He’s incredibly driven and dedicated, and he learns and applies that at an instantaneous thus rare level.

I’m not a fan of Joe Rogan or his podcast. I’m about as neutral on it as a person can be. But a lot of times i think about something he said about Elon Musk. Im no fan of Musk but i do appreicate his engineering brilliance. Rogan said that you can tell that Musk is both completely engaged when you talk to him, but that it’s also clear that his brain is thinking about many other important and heavy topics at the same time. That’s how Rainiel’s mind works but about baseball.“

Kyle, as we know him, is one of the most unique observers of talent. With the connections he possesses and has created throughout the industry, and his long history of evaluating prospects, he jokingly wrote on X recently that Rainiel is so good that it’s almost boring to him because of just how good he is and how consistently he can tap into his talent.

From more of a scout perspective to one who is more immersed in baseball from a data analysis standpoint, my good friend Kareem Haq of cardinalsprospects.com and host of “Birds on the Farm” Podcast had this to say about the emerging Redbird slugger:

“What’s so special about Rainiel is his ability to consistently hit the ball in the air. Last year, we mostly saw him find success pulling the ball, but he’s now showing his prodigious power to all fields. We’ve also seen major gains in his bat-to-ball ability recently, and he even went through a stretch of 42 consecutive plate appearances without striking out.”

For Context, this season across two minor league levels, Rodriguez has a 40.7 FB%. Double-A hitters are generally in the 34-36% range on average. How does that translate to the MLB level? MLB hitters average between 34-38%. Rodriguez has a genuine knack for making high-quality contact and being able to also lift and drive the ball with that quality of contact. Famously, Jordan Walker, when he first arrived in the big leagues, would show great quality of contact with high EV’s but could not effectively lift the ball off the ground, thus limiting his ability to do damage. One of the primary reasons we were able to witness his breakout this season was a decrease in GB%. 2025 – 47.9% -> 2026 -41.2%. Rodriguez will be able to step into a big-league batter’s box, already possessing that skill.

I understand that sometimes part of my responsibility on this site is to temper expectations and try to speak in terms that are less hyperbolic and more realistic. I see no reason for every single Cardinals fan not to dream BIG about what Rainiel Rodriguez could accomplish in the near future. Baseball isn’t supposed to be as easy as he can make it look, and perhaps there will be growing pains and adjustments needed as he continues to ascend, but so far in his young career, his roadblock moments have appeared to be more “oppositional suggestions” than real hindrances in his ascension towards the show. “Hulk,” as his teammates affectionately have nicknamed him, should be showing off his immense power in St. Louis in the near future as he stomps his way around the bags at Busch.

-Thanks for reading