The Triple-A Nashville Sounds and the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers both wrapped up their seasons this week and the full Minor League Season Roundup comes out in a few days, so I didn’t think it was worth doing another version of my weekly column that usually comes out every Monday morning. In lieu of the usual roundup, here’s a few quick notes from Milwaukee’s farm system:

Shuckers lose both playoff games, eliminated from Southern League playoffs

Biloxi experienced a fair amount of success this season, going 74-64 and finishing second in the Southern League South despite losing key contributors (including Brock Wilken, Luke Adams, Mike Boeve, and Tyson Hardin) for long stretches of the season. Unfortunately, the Shuckers’ 2025 playoff run was ultimately limited to two consecutive losses to the Montgomery Biscuits, the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.

The first game initially looked like Biloxi might take an early lead as they loaded the bases with nobody out. Unfortunately, Biscuits starter Brody Hopkins retired the next three batters in order without allowing a run to score. By the fourth inning, Montgomery had pulled ahead 5-0 and would lead 7-0 before Biloxi finally got on the board in the top of the ninth, avoiding a shutout courtesy of back-to-back solo home runs from 3B Luke Adams and C Matthew Wood.

The second game was much more exciting, but Biloxi ultimately lost 4-2 after a four-run eighth inning saw Montgomery nearly bat around against relievers Austin Roberts and Kaleb Bowman. The Shuckers got their two runs thanks to a Jesus Made solo shot with two outs in the third and a Blake Burke RBI single scoring Cooper Pratt from second base.

There was some drama in the sixth inning when Biscuits first baseman Will Simpson doubled into the gap in left-center with a man on first. The throw home from Pratt (the cut-off man) was a little bit up the first-base line, but still good enough to get the runner at home.

If you want to see some of the highlights from the second game, here’s the Lara-Pratt-Darrien Miller relay in the sixth:

Lara also made this catch in center field that almost certainly saved a run:

And, finally, Burke saving a run in the second:

Baseball America gives Brewers farm system an “A+”

Baseball America released an article last week assigning a grade to each team’s farm system as the regular season wraps up. Milwaukee was one of only three teams to receive an A+ (along with the Tigers and A’s), managing to earn the best grade possible despite the graduations of quality major leaguers 3B Caleb Durbin, OF Isaac Collins, RHP Chad Patrick, and former BA top 50 prospect RHP Jacob Misiorowski.

According to Baseball America, the “Brewers are the best team in baseball at two key things: identifying overlooked talent, and then continuing to develop them even once they reach the majors.” Although prospect talent doesn’t always translate to major league talent, Milwaukee’s organizational development is among the best in baseball and should continue to yield results

Infielder Luis Peña, C Marco Dinges, and RHP Logan Henderson were named in the article as this year’s breakouts. Peña was ranked outside of BA’s top 100 to start the season, but he’s now ranked as the Brewers’ No. 3 prospect after Made and Misiorowski (who technically graduated anyway). Henderson also snuck into the Baseball America top 100 by the end of the season. Dinges had a .930 OPS across both levels of A-ball with 13 home runs, which pretty much speaks for itself despite a swing that is somewhere between unorthodox and violent.

This year’s “disappointments/injuries” include C Jeferson Quero and 1B/3B Tyler Black. Quero had an OPS of 1.000 in August, but his next-highest OPS in any month with Nashville was .703. The other factor that’s probably influencing this pick from BA is that Quero missed all of 2024 (except for one plate appearance) and the first three months of 2025 after tearing his right labrum. The labrum’s job is to stabilize the shoulder, which means it also impacts range of motion and proprioception.

Proprioception is the ability to know where a given body part is even when we can’t see it. I can close my eyes and touch my nose because I know where my eyes are and my nose is without looking at either. If I’m used to throwing a ball with my arm at a certain angle, and then I injure my arm and don’t throw a ball for the better part of a year and when I try again I can’t always tell where I’m releasing the ball from, that’s going to make it way harder for me to throw a baseball accurately.

Quero could definitely become an above-average hitter in the big leagues, but his main calling card as a prospect was his defense prior to injury. Most of his defensive reputation came due to his arm; Quero threw out 27 of 78 potential base-stealers in 2023, which works out to an above-average 34.6% caught-stealing rate. He also posted pop-times as low as 1.86, which would already be well above average in the majors. This year, however, Quero threw out almost exactly half as many — 11 of 63, or 17.5%. Despite the numbers, Quero did look better as the season went on. An offseason to rest and strengthen his surgically repaired shoulder could be just what he needs to open 2026 looking like 2023 Quero and make the big leagues out of spring training. Milwaukee clearly has faith in him — as you’ll see in a bit.

Tyler Black returned from a nearly two-month long absence and hit .140 his first month back. He eventually rescued his season-long OPS (.729), but only hit five home runs while striking out 26.5% of the time. The most damning indictment of the 25-year-old Black is that Milwaukee doesn’t seem to have confidence in him anymore. They traded for Andrew Vaughn, resigned Jake Bauers before the season, and even gave Black a chance to win the first base job in spring training.

Black went 2-for-8 with five walks with the Brewers following injuries to Rhys Hoskins and Bauers, so it’s not like he was subpar in the big leagues when eventually called upon. Still, he didn’t get much run (13 plate appearances) and was eventually optioned back down to Triple-A. The former top prospect could still work out in the big leagues, but he might not get much more of a shot in Milwaukee if even two of Rhys Hoskins, Jake Bauers, and Andrew Vaughn are on the roster in 2026.

Baseball America considers the farm system’s two “key additions” going into next season to be 1B/3B Andrew Fischer and SS Brady Ebel, the Brewers’ first two picks in the 2025 draft. Both did well in limited time in the Brewers’ farm system, Ebel with Single-A Carolina and Fischer with High-A Wisconsin.

Everything you need to know about the Arizona Fall League

The next chance to watch any Brewers minor leaguers play comes on October 6, the first day of the Arizona Fall League. The Brewers don’t have their own affiliate in the roughly six-week long developmental league, which features teams comprised of players from multiple teams. The six AFL teams are:

Glendale Desert Dogs: Comprised of players from the Blue Jays, Braves, Cardinals, Dodgers, and White Sox
Mesa Solar Sox: Athletics, Cubs, Marlins, Rays, Yankees
Peoria Javelinas: Mariners, Orioles, Padres, Reds, Twins
Salt River Rafters: Angels, D-backs, Pirates, Red Sox, Rockies
Scottsdale Scorpions: Astros, Giants, Mets, Nationals, Tigers
Surprise Saguaros: Brewers, Guardians, Phillies, Rangers, Royals

Milwaukee is sending eight prospects to the AFL, including three of the Brewers’ top 15 prospects per MLB Pipeline. I wrote a quick blurb about each of those three when the rosters were announced:

Luke Adams (No. 8) missed over two months with a left shoulder injury before returning to action yesterday. Adams is one of the better OBP guys (.414) in the Brewers’ organization and has an .879 OPS through 200 at-bats with the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers this year.

Marco Dinges (No. 10) was one of the major breakouts in the Brewers’ farm system this year. The 22-year-old catcher slashed .300/.416/.514 over 77 games between Single-A Carolina and High-A Wisconsin. Dinges is able to produce impressive exit velocities at the plate as a result of his violent swing.

Josh Adamczewski (No. 13) also broke out this year, and his numbers are even better than Dinges’. Adamczewski slashed .320/.420/.490 across the ACL Brewers, Single-A, and High-A. He did falter a bit at the plate after receiving a promotion to High-A Wisconsin (.542 OPS) — albeit over a tiny, 56 at-bat sample size. Adamczewski has been an infielder since joining the Brewers organization, but he’s listed as an outfielder on the AFL roster — perhaps providing a glimpse at his eventual defensive home.

So, what do these three prospects have in common? They all missed a substantial chunk of their teams’ respective seasons. Adams missed two months due to a shoulder injury, Dinges missed a month and a half with a hamstring strain, and Adamczewski missed a little under two months with an injured back. All three of these prospects are supremely talented, but none of them are finished products. The AFL provides Dinges, Adams, and Adamczewski an opportunity to get live, in-game reps and make up for time lost to injury during the season.

If you want to see any of the Brewers’ prospects in action during the 2025 Arizona Fall League, you can stream AFL games for free here.

Quero added to taxi squad

News broke yesterday morning courtesy of a tweet from MLB.com Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy that Quero’s equipment bag had arrived in the clubhouse in St. Louis, where the Brewers were set to finish up a three-game series against the Cardinals. Per McCalvy, Quero is being added to the taxi squad. He almost certainly won’t be on the postseason roster, but you never know…