Is Small closing in on call-up?
Pitching prospects advance quickly
MIAMI – During their run of success in recent years, the Milwaukee Brewers have never been shy about expediting the best pitching prospects through the top levels of their minor-league system.
Brandon Woodruff was the first test run in 2017, getting the call up during a playoff race late that season after 17 starts at Class AAA.
Freddy Peralta, with just 13 AAA starts under his belt, pitched out of the bullpen in the 2018 National League Championship Series.
Corbin Burnes was one of the Brewers’ top setup men that season as a rookie despite having thrown fewer than 80 innings at AAA.
Adrian Houser, like Peralta, had appeared in 13 AAA games before becoming a staple of the 2019 pitching staff.
Last year, Aaron Ashby had made all of 12 outings above Class High-A when he got the call and then wound up working high-leverage postseason innings that October.
The lesson: When the Brewers think one of their top minor-league arms is ready, they don’t mess around.
Could Ethan Small, the organization’s top pitching prospect, be next?
It sure would seem that way going off of recent history.
Small has dominated in the minors since being taken in the first round of the amateur draft by the Brewers in 2019. This season, he has excelled at AAA Nashville, just one step away from a call-up at any point, sporting a 1.95 earned run average with 46 strikeouts over seven starts.
“Ethan’s in a spot where he’s close to where he could impact us at any time,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said Friday. “I think the AAA guys you probably keep the closest watch on. And obviously he’s got status being a firstrounder and things like that. We’ve got a pretty good thing going on starting pitching-wise so it’s not like him or anyone has to worry about having a bad start. He’s in a good space. He’s doing well.”
The Brewers aren’t facing a glaring need at starting pitching, even finding it difficult at times to work in starts for Ashby with an established and proven five-man rotation. Small, 25, taking on a role as a starter for the big-league club this year seems unlikely, barring a litany of injuries to the rotation.
That didn’t stop Milwaukee from finding ways to utilize their top young arms before. Few teams, if any, have developed as successful a reliever-intostarter pipeline.
Small may not have some of the overpowering stuff — his fastball runs in the 91 to 94 mph range — that helped the likes of Woodruff, Burnes and Ashby transition relatively seamlessly into the bullpen, but he features a devastating changeup that could play up in shorter outings.
Whether or not Small fits the profile of a traditional reliever isn’t at all a concern to Counsell and the Brewers.
“If you ask me, know that I just want him to get outs,” Counsell said. “Any pitcher’s job is to get outs. It’s what we ask of our relievers, just to get out. We ask starters to get outs out of the bullpen in the playoffs. Every team does this all the time. So if he’s able to get outs, there will be a spot for him, I think.”
That spot, based on precedent, could open up at any point in the coming weeks and months.
Small has made 16 AAA starts, with a 2.00 ERA. The average total of AAA appearances for Woodruff, Burnes, Peralta, Houser and Ashby?
Fifteen.
Sánchez cf Aguilar 1b Soler lf García dh Anderson 3b Rojas ss De La Cruz rf González 2b Henry c
— Brosseau (2), Anderson (5), Rojas (2). LOB — Milwaukee 9, Miami 6. 2B — Narváez (5), Anderson (6), De La Cruz (1). HR — Peterson (3), off Hernandez; Wong (3), off Hernandez; Tellez (8), off Nance; Soler (7), off Woodruff. RBI — Urías 2 (6), Peterson (9), Wong (12), Tellez 2 (29), Narváez (8), Henry 2 (4), Soler (16). SB — Yelich (4), Wong 2 (8). SF — Urías. RISP — Milwaukee 4 for 13; Miami 1 for 6. GIDP — Renfroe. DP — Miami 1 (Rojas, González, Aguilar).
EWoodruff Ashby
H5 0
R3 0
1 0
2 0
6 8
94 55
5.35 3.62
Hernandez 4 3 5 2 3 2 85 Head 1 2 0 0 0 1 13 Scott 1 0 0 0 2 1 27 Nance 1 1 1 1 0 0 9 Sulser 1 3 1 1 0 2 27 Floro 1 0 0 0 1 0 14
W — Woodruff (4-2). L — Hernandez (2-3). — Ashby (1-1). Inherited runners-scored — Head 2-2. HBP — Hernandez (Taylor). WP — Ashby.
Umpires — Home, Chris Segal; First, David Rackley; Second, Andy Fletcher; Third, Bill Welke.
— 3:33. — 11,729.
TA5 4
HRS6.15 1.64 4.05 2.45 3.14 15.00
Brosseau .278 .366 .444 36 4 10 0 0 2 7 5 9 0 Urías .275 .388 .450 40 9 11 1 0 2 6 6 9 0 Narváez .264 .369 .417 72 7 19 5 0 2 8 9 21 0 Wong .257 .333 .431 109 20 28 6 2 3 12 12 24 8 Yelich .252 .352 .455 123 24 31 8 1 5 20 18 34 4 Tellez .248 .307 .530 117 17 29 9 0 8 29 8 30 0 Caratini .243 .341 .351 37 3 9 1 0 1 4 5 8 0 Renfroe .228 .262 .488 123 17 28 5 0 9 15 6 36 0 Peterson .222 .317 .389 72 14 16 3 0 3 9 10 21 5 Taylor .219 .269 .356 73 4 16 5 1 1 7 3 19 1 Adames .208 .304 .462 130 23 27 6 0 9 24 17 42 1 Cain .183 .244 .220 82 13 15 3 0 0 4 5 21 1 Totals .236 .312 .419 1,158 171 273 57 4 49 164 116 323 24
Hader Boxberger Burnes Lauer Gott Ashby Houser Milner Peralta Williams Woodruff Gustave Perdomo Mejía Totals
RHR0 0 0.00 13 0 13 12.1 2 0 0 0 5 18 1 0 1.59 13 0 0 11.1 7 2 2 0 1 10 1 2 1.77 7 7 0 45.2 28 10 9 6 8 57 3 1 2.60 6 6 0 34.2 26 12 10 7 8 49 1 0 3.27 12 0 0 11.0 8 6 4 1 2 15 0 3 3.62 8 3 1 27.1 22 14 11 2 17 33 3 3 3.86 6 6 0 30.1 28 18 13 1 15 25 2 0 4.15 14 0 0 13.0 10 6 6 1 3 10 2 1 4.40 6 6 0 28.2 25 14 14 1 11 38 2 0 5.25 14 0 2 12.0 10 7 7 0 11 21 4 2 5.35 7 7 0 33.2 34 23 20 5 12 43 0 0 5.54 12 0 0 13.0 13 8 8 3 5 15 0 0 6.00 3 0 0 3.0 4 2 2 1 2 1 0 0 23.14 2 0 0 2.1 5 6 6 0 5 1 22 13 3.65 35 35 16 306.0 249 143 124 31 121 360
RArcia .343 .415 .486 35 3 12 2 Demeritte.300 .358 .483 60 9 18 2 Acuña Jr. .282 .391 .487 39 4 11 2 d'Arnaud .269 .299 .430 93 13 25 6 Olson .262 .374 .462 130 16 34 14 Riley .244 .336 .473 131 16 32 9 Albies .232 .292 .406 138 18 32 6 Contreras .231 .333 .692 26 7 6 0 Swanson .229 .303 .407 118 19 27 7 Ozuna .206 .252 .353 136 13 28 5 Duvall .202 .265 .303 119 14 24 6 Heredia .114 .205 .314 35 6 4 1 Totals .228 .302 .397 1,151 146 262 61
Minter Chavez Jansen Wright Stephens Strider Fried Smith O'Day Anderson Thornburg Morton McHugh Matzek Totals
WLH0 1 7 5 9 0 0 3 5 6 20 0 0 2 5 6 17 5 0 3 15 1 24 0 0 4 15 24 33 0 0 7 15 14 39 2 0 6 15 11 25 3 0 4 7 4 9 1 1 4 16 13 47 4 0 5 14 8 29 2 0 2 15 9 42 0 0 2 4 4 20 0 1 44 137 114 334 17
R0 0 1.72 16 0 0 15.2 8 3 3 0 2 23 0 0 2.16 7 1 0 8.1 11 2 2 0 0 11 2 0 2.45 14 0 8 14.2 6 4 4 0 3 20 3 2 2.79 7 7 0 42.0 33 15 13 2 13 50 0 1 3.00 7 0 1 12.0 11 6 4 1 4 13 0 1 3.06 7 0 0 17.2 11 6 6 0 9 26 4 2 3.14 7 7 0 43.0 38 16 15 4 4 41 0 1 3.95 14 0 1 13.2 9 12 6 4 5 11 1 0 4.15 10 0 0 8.2 6 4 4 1 2 8 3 1 4.20 6 6 0 30.0 26 15 14 4 16 22 0 0 4.32 8 0 0 8.1 12 6 4 0 3 8 2 3 4.93 7 7 0 34.2 32 20 19 3 18 32 0 1 4.97 13 0 0 12.2 13 7 7 1 4 18 0 1 5.06 13 0 0 10.2 6 8 6 1 9 10 16 19 4.15 35 35 10 310.0 269 160 143 27 125 324