Hader Exceeds Even Brewers’ High Expectations

BEST PLAYER: The Brewers harbored high expectations for lefthander Josh Hader this season after his  strong showing in the Arizona Fall League, and he did not disappoint after being assigned to Double-A Biloxi.

Hader dominated Southern League hitters in 11 starts there, recording an 0.95 ERA and .194 opponent average, with 73 strikeouts in 57 innings. That was good enough for the Brewers, who promoted the 22-year-old to Triple-A Colorado Springs with hopes of continuing his progress toward Milwaukee.

Hader, whom the Brewers acquired from the Astros in the Carlos Gomez trade last July, has shown he can hack it as a starter. His combination of a mid-90s fastball with movement and a sharp-breaking slider plays against righties and lefties.

“He did all we could ask at Biloxi,” farm director Tom Flanagan said. “He was a dominating pitcher there.”

BIGGEST LEAP FORWARD: Considered a wild card after being drafted in the 11th round in 2014 out of Mississippi State, righthander Brandon Woodruff showed promise last season at high Class A Brevard County when he recorded a 3.45 ERA in 110 innings. He really took off when sent back to the Florida State League this season.

After Woodruff went 4-1, 1.83 in eight starts, the Brewers promoted him to Biloxi. The 23-year-old is a potential workhorse at 6-foot-4, 215 pounds whose fastball now sits in the low to mid-90s with good sink.

“He has gotten better with experience,” Flanagan said. “The more you see him, the more you like him. And he should only get better.”

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: Colorado Springs is a notoriously tough place for pitchers, but the Brewers did not hesitate to assign 23-year-old righthander Jorge Lopez there after he captured Southern League pitcher-of-the-year honors in 2015.

Beyond combating the hitter-friendly conditions of the Pacific Coast League, Lopez had issues with his mechanics, and it showed in his performance. He went 1-5, 6.05 through his first 13 games, with nearly as many walks (44) as strikeouts (48) in 61 innings.

The silver lining for Lopez, a 2011 second-round pick from high school in Puerto Rico, was that he had pitched marginally better on the road, recording 8.0 strikeouts per nine and allowing only one homer in six games.