Baseball America reports the Brewers released LHP Blake Lillis, their 25th round pick in 2016 out of a Kansas high school. The young man, now 22, missed all of 2017 with ulnar neuritis (inflammation of the ulnar nerve in the arm that results in numbness or weakness in the hand. The ulnar nerve is more commonly thought of as the “funny bone” and gives feeling to the little finger and half of the ring finger.)

Lillis made his way through 46.1 innings in 2018 at Helena, but after just one start with Rocky Mountain in 2019, underwent Tommy John surgery last July.

Wishing Blake the best. As part of his signing package, there likely was money promised for college should he decide to go that route.

New signing listed Friday - and for this one, we get age and place of birth --

Dominican RHP Edrian Robinson, 6,5", 170, turns 19 on March 1st of 2021.

Nothing on the web, YouTube, etc. on Robinson.

On the newest Brewer, LF (and 2B, but not since 2017) 25-year-old Jamie Westbrook --

Baseball Reference

The rare 2B-to-LF conversion, has never played SS or CF

MiLB Player Page

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Former D-backs prospect Jamie Westbrook seeks second chance at MLB debut
Released by the Giants after COVID-19, Westbrook is intent on making it to The Show
By Isaiah Burrows, azsnakepit.com, Jul 28, 2020

.900 OPS in 27 indy ball games this summer

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Giants: Jamie Westbrook could be the surprise of spring training
Jeff Young, aroundthefoghorn.com, Jan. 12, 2020

Stance adjustment to generate more power - 35 home runs in 2018-19, 29 of them in the power-stifling Southern League

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Behind the Giants’ rookie talent show, where a few minor leaguers won good money

Unfair share of the title?

Back on February 29th, we placed our annual post on Brewer farmhand injury updates based on the newly released Media Guide.

Baseball America reports that the Brewers have released LHP Jose Alberro and RHP Leoner Colina. Alberro was Rule 5 eligible and we'll remove him from that list now. Colina turned 20 on November 1st.

This is what we wrote last February:

22-year-old LHP Jose Alberro, who last appeared for Rocky Mountain on July 14h, underwent Tommy John surgery on September 26th, 2019, he'll miss the 2020 season.

Here are four tweets from me on Alberro, going back to his effort in a DSL no-hitter.

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Now 19 years old, we had posted previously on Colina:



Sigh, we learn that Colina had Tommy John surgery performed on July 25th, 2019. Another who will miss the 2020 campaign, one would think.

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Based on his performance in the DSL at age 17, it would have been hard to conceive Colina's release two years later. Complications in his recovery, perhaps. He was only a $15,000 bonus signing, but had certainly outperformed that in his first pro season.

NOTE: It sucks, bluntly, that these young men didn't get a chance to show anything to management in 2020, but it was no different for all the spring releases as well.

Here's a bit of background on each of the latest releases announced by the Brewers -- in the case of international signings, the country of origin is noted at the start of each entry.

You folks know me, I always try to accentuate the positive in these release recaps. But because this set included a vast majority of players who did not show enough to or get a chance to play above rookie ball, it was tough here.

But a reminder, these guys were good enough to be signed to professional contracts, and they should be credited for that. Surely hard work went into their efforts.

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Before the master list of the latest releases was posted, two names had appeared a couple of days prior. The details on LHP Jose Alberro and RHP Leoner Colina can be found here.

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Venezuelan RHP Wuilder Rodriguez is the "veteran" of this group, having had brief stints in AA Biloxi in both 2017 and 2018. He was called upon for one AAA Colorado Springs start in '17 as well. Rodriguez spent much of 2019 season rehabbing an unknown injury at Maryvale and Rocky Mountain. Well, I'm sure it was known to Wuilder and the Brewers, but unknown to fans.

Rodriguez turns 28 in January. When he signed in March of 2015, he was already 22 years old. One year in the DSL, another in Helena, then Rodriguez jumped over low-A ball to have a fine season in Carolina in 2017 (1.63 ERA over 27 appearances, WHIP 0.97). All in all, a productive pro career (thus far) for an out-of-nowhere (surely short-money) older signing.

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The $500,000 2017 5th round draft signing of New Jersey high school 3B Nick Egnatuk (slot value for the 144th overall pick was $349,900) was never a guarantee of future success based on bonus level, but this did not work out. Egnatuk turns 22 next month.

Brewerfan Draft Signing Player Profile with Scouting Remarks
Brewers select Immaculata's Nick Egnatuk in MLB Draft
Meet the Brewers’ 5th Round Pick Nick Egnatuk
Nick Egnatuk eager to start professional career
Helena Brewers infielder Nick Egnatuk focuses on mental game in Year 2

So there's plenty of background for you there. Egnatuk was moved off third base after committing 15 errors in 26 games in 2018 (.813 fielding %). He only saw action at second base in 45 games repeating the Pioneer League in 2019, with ten errors there.

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Puerto Rico native RHP Luis Gonzalez was drafted in the 8th round in 2018. Gonzalez had a Miller Park workout a few days prior. Here's Jonathan Mayo's tweet and analysis for MiLB.com, including signing info.



Gonzalez made seven appearances as a 19-year-old in 2018 (capturing the attention of this Twitter follower), although the overall small sample was rough. Then Gonzalez missed all of 2019 with an elbow strain. It's unclear whether surgery was ever required, does not appear so. Just three weeks ago, Luis was looking back fondly at his debut season.

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RHP Nick Belzer parlayed this Flatground App pitching video into a spot with the independent St. Paul Saints, where he would begin 2019 posting a 1.32 ERA in five starts, netting him a Brewers contract in June. Belzer, nearing 24 years old that August, did what he was supposed to, taming Arizona League rookies with a 1.15 WHIP in 48.2 IP. Belzer never saw action above Maryvale, and at some point the Brewers are going to have to start placing these types of signings directly at the low-A level to get a more realistic view of what they have. Belzer was one of several farmhands to get in work in 2020 Covid-era indy ball, heading back to St. Paul, where he appeared in 13 games (six starts) with a 4.21 ERA in 36.1 IP.

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Dominican switch-hitting 2B/3B/LF Edwin Sano (turns 22 in December) tracked a traditional path (two summers in the DSL, one in Maryvale, one at Rocky Mountain). Sano received plenty of opportunities to improve on his career-best 2018 .731 OPS at Maryvale with the Vibes in 2019, but did not (.698 in the rookie-level mountain setting). In all, a respectable run for a non-bonus baby international signing, and thanks to the Vibes, a web gem captured for eternity.

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Venezuelan RHP Jose Parra, 24 years old next March, signed in March of 2017, two days shy of his 20th birthday. Any signing significantly post the July 2nd signing period would be for short money, so to speak. Parra posted a 2.60 ERA over 62.1 IP in his debut DSL season, facing youngsters two years younger for the most part. So it made sense he'd debut in Maryvale in 2018, but performance dictated he repeat there in 2019, where he tied for the Arizona League lead in appearances (21) and tied for third in saves (5) - Media Guide notes. Parra finished up with three appearances at Rocky Mountain to boot. Parra's career numbers included only 30 walks in 118.2 IP (117 K), but also 15 HBP and 30 unearned runs - rookie level unearned run totals can be maddening, but sometimes the damage has to be limited.

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Venezuelan RHP Joel Pinto signed as an 18-year-old just prior to the start of the 2015 Dominican Summer League season. Pinto would toil three full summers on the island, before splitting 2018 between Maryvale and Helena, and then made 24 relief appearances with the Vibes in a full 2019 stint. Pinto is now listed at 240 pounds in the 2020 Media Guide, which is sixty pounds more than his signing (MiLB.com page) weight. There is a recurring theme within this post, in that lack of strikeouts for Brewer hurlers did not keep them in the organization for spring 2021. Pinto (143 K's, 211.2 career innings) fits that mold.

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Venezuelan OF Anderson Melendez, was a prominent July 2nd signing back in 2016, inking a $400,000 contract as a 16-year-old and earning "best-dressed" honors from Baseball America's Ben Badler. So young, so much trying to project when committing to these kids. Listed at a 6'2", 210 frame in the 2020 Media Guide that provided hope (165 on his MiLB page, never go by that), an age 17 DSL season for the RH batter was followed by two Maryvale stints, with the often-seen collapse in numbers in the first year stateside. Melendez' defensive numbers showed he never committed an error in LF or CF, but nine in 88 career games in right.

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Dominican INF Victor Maria, like Anderson Melendez, was part of the 2016 July 2nd international signing class. Maria signed for a robust $375,000 with music playing in the background. He showed infield versatility and had speed (31 of 39 in SB attempts in his two DSL seasons), but a .332 OBP in 2018 was his only offensive glimmer as he moved up to Maryvale in 2019. A career .212/.292/.262 line again reminds us how signing a 16-year-old is a crapshoot.

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This was not a good day for the 2016 July 2nd international signing class. Hopefully the young men invested wisely, especially considering the dollars translate well in their native countries. Dominican OF (primarily LF) Francis Florentino was a $500,000 signing that day. Like Melendez and Maria, Florentino would debut in 2017 in the DSL, and while he didn't excel, it was enough to get him to Maryvale the following summer, where he would slug only .284 in 95 AB's. It got to the point that in 2019, the Brewers (or a diehard fan in AZ) posted very brief video commemorating Florentino's first home run as a professional. It didn't appear as though defensive numbers were strong, either. Sigh...

Is there any hope for the 2016 class? OF (mostly CF) Pablo Abreu signed for $800,000 and has made it to the fringes of the MLB Pipeline Brewers Top 30 with a .241/.322/.366 line with OK speed. Just a .493 OPS in 102 Timber Rattler AB's in 2019, at least it was above rookie ball. So, you decide.

Oh, and Jean Carmona ($725,000 bonus) did help get the Crew Jonathan Schoop . Carmona has not been productive at all with the Orioles.

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Venezuelan RHP Henry Medina, a November 2015 signing, turned 23 this past September. Medina was used primarily as a starter to begin his DSL career, and improved over three summers there to the point where he posted an impressive 1.41 ERA and 1.06 WHIP over his thirteen 2018 starts in his age 20 season. However, that came with an insanely low 33 K's in 76.1 IP. Medina then improved the strikeout rate but his other numbers suffered in his 2019 Maryvale debut. From this past May, here's a Spanish language Venezuelan League interview, only pointing out that even at the rookie level, these guys are big deals in their countries, and seeing Medina's smile to open the chat and proudly wearing his Brewers gear during Covid downtime places the releases, like always, in perspective to the player and his family/friends/fans.

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Dominican 2B/3B Victor Vargas only turned 20 this past August. Listed at 5'7", 169, and signed in March 2018, Vargas opened our eyes with an outstanding .302/.414/.438 line, with 16 stolen bases in 23 attempts in his debut DSL season spent primarily as a 17-year-old. That earned Vargas a bump to Maryvale for his age 18 season, where in 31 games and 111 at-bats, he would see all those slash lines literally cut in half. Pretty small sample, first-time stateside, it seems like Vargas would have been a worthwhile candidate to follow in a repeat Maryvale summer if it weren't for this lost season. If I'd nominate a "least favorite" cut, it'd be Vargas.

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RHP Moises Ruiz, originally thought to be from Venezuela but actually a Panama native, signed with Milwaukee in October 2017, having just turned 19. Used mostly as a starter in both his one DSL and one Maryvale summer, Ruiz posted a 1.58 combined WHIP with strikeout rates much too low and a walk rate too high. Occasionally however, Ruiz would light up a Brewerfan Link Report with tantalizing starts as he did in his pro debut, and this DSL gem, as well as what turned out to be his next-to-last Maryvale appearance.

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RHP Seth Beard signed on July 31st, 2019 out of Methodist University in his native North Carolina, as we noted in his initial Brewerfan post. Beard made six relief appearances in Maryvale. Could he have seen action in Low-A or High-A as a 24-year-old this past summer? Sure, but 2020 and all...

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Venezuelan RHP Yostin Villalobos (turned 20 in October) had a solid, consistent debut season in the DSL as his game log shows here. Outside of a significant lack of strikeouts (24 in 47 IP), nice work for an 18-year-old at the time.

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Dominican RHP Starling Javier (turns 20 in December) was initially listed as an outfielder, but there may have been an online error as he only appeared on the mound. In two DSL seasons, Javier walked 56 and hit another eight batters in 29.1 innings. Perhaps outfield would have been a better fit. His final mention within a Link Report was on a rare box score night.