24-year old righty starting pitcher Amaury Rivas came into this season as the Brewers’ #16 prospect according to Baseball America. Rivas has started 16 games in AA-ball this year and he is 8-5 with a 2.66 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. He has only given up 81 hits in 98 innings so far this season as he has been missing a lot of bats. Don’t be surprised if Rivas makes it to Milwaukee sooner than later because the Brewers’ are in dire need of help in the rotation right now.

22-year old lefty reliever Zach Braddock came into this season as the Brewers’ #7 rated prospect according to Baseball America. He has pitched in 84 games (30 starts) in his five years in the majors and he is 12-12 with 1 save, a 3.62 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Braddock has pitched in 15 games (0 starts) so far for the Brewers this season and he is 1-1 with a 5.54 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. He does however have 21 strikeouts in only 13 innings for the Brew Crew showing his potential. The bottom line is that he will have to start pitching better soon or he will likely wind up back in AAA.

29-year old righty reliever Chris Smith is pitching great in AAA this year. He has pitched in 22 games (0 starts) in AAA and he is 2-1 with 15 saves, a 1.74 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Smith has whiffed 29 batters in only 20 2/3 innings as he is flat out dominating hitters right now. Smith pitched in 35 games (0 starts) for the Brewers last year and he was 0-0 with a 4.11 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. With the problems the Brewers are having in the pen right now it only seems like a matter of time until Smith is given another chance in Beer Town.

20-year old righty swinging 2B Brett Lawrie is the Brewers’ #2 prospect according to Baseball America. He has played in 33 games in AA-ball this season and he is 32 of 134 (.239 avg, .701 OPS) with 19 runs scored, 1 homer, 14 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Lawrie has played in 151 games in his two years in the minors and he is 148 of 558 (.265 avg, .759 OPS) with 73 runs scored, 14 homers, 79 RBIs and 27 stolen bases. The Brewers will likely take it a bit slower now with Lawrie as he is struggling in AA as a 20-year old.

28-year old righty starting pitcher Kameron Loe is off to a solid start in the minors for the Brewers. He has started 5 games in AAA-ball this season and he is 3-1 with a 2.87 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. The Brewers will likely want to keep Manny Parra and Carlos Villanueva pitching out of the pen where they have both been effective this year meaning that if they need a starter they will look in the minors for one. Loe has pitched in 107 games (47 starts) in his major league career and he is 19-23 with 1 save, a 4.77 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. The Brewers will likely give Loe another chance at the majors if he keeps pitching well in the minors.