Brewers prospect Bickford putting together impressive scoreless streak

The Milwaukee Brewers have positioned themselves as a playoff contender, but the team still has a number of promising prospects.

Every Thursday for the rest of the season, FOX Sports Wisconsin will take a closer look at some specific young players in Milwaukee’s farm system — as well as noting others who might be stepping up — measuring, highlighting and evaluating their progress.

This is the 17th edition of the 2019 Young Brewers Tracker.

Antoine Kelly, SP (age 19/Rookie)

Last week: 1 game (1 start), 0-0, 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K

Season: 9 games (9 starts), 0-0, 1.26 ERA, 28 2/3 IP, 21 H, 0 HR, 5 BB, 41 K, .208 OBA, 0.91 WHIP.

Notable: Pitching for the first time in six days, Kelly only went 2 2/3 innings on Aug. 23, but nevertheless fanned six batters. He has 6+ strikeouts in each of his last three outings.

Tristan Lutz, OF (age 20/High-A)

Last week: 2 games, 7 AB, 2 H, 2 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 1 BB, 3 K, .286 BA

Season: 110 games, 413 AB, .254 BA, .335 OBP, .416 SLG, .751 OPS, 22 2B, 3 3B, 13 HR, 61 R, 53 RBI, 3 SB, 45 BB, 134 K.

Notable: Lutz was assigned to the Rocky Mountain Vibes on Aug. 18 but has yet to play for that team. He was one of the players who was assigned by the Brewers to play for the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall League.

Corey Ray, OF (age 24/Triple-A)

Last week: 6 games, 24 AB, 4 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 R, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 2 BB, 9 K, .167 BA

Season (Triple-A): 48 games, 184 AB, .185 BA, .262 OBP, .326 SLG, .673 OPS, 8 2B, 0 3B, 6 HR, 21 R, 17 RBI, 3 SB, 19 BB, 82 K.

Season (Double-A): 11 games, 40 AB, .250 BA, .348 OBP, .325 SLG, .673 OPS, 3 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 5 R, 0 RBI, 3 SB, 6 BB, 14 K.

Notable: Ray had a three-game hit streak Aug. 23-25. He had two hits on Aug. 24 and homered the next day.

Ethan Small, SP (age 22/Low-A)

Last week: 1 game (1 start), 0-0, 3.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K

Season (Low-A): 4 games (4 starts), 0-1, 0.66 ERA, 13 2/3 IP, 8 H, 0 HR, 3 BB, 23 K, .167 OBA, 0.60 WHIP.

Season (Rookie): 2 games (2 starts), 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3 IP, 0 H, 0 HR, 0 BB, 5 K, .000 OBA, 0.00 WHIP.

Notable: Making his first appearance since allowing his initial runs of his pro career, Small got back on track striking out seven while throwing 66 pitches. Milwaukee had Small pitching every seventh day with Wisconsin (Aug. 2-Aug. 9-Aug. 16-Aug. 23).

Trey Supak, SP (age 23/Triple-A)

Last week: 1 game (1 start), 0-0, 4 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 5 K

Season (Triple-A): 6 games (6 starts), 1-1, 9.35 ERA, 26 IP, 35 H, 5 HR, 8 BB, 24 K, .318 OBA, 1.65 WHIP.

Season (Double-A): 20 games (20 starts), 11-4, 2.20 ERA, 122.2 IP, 84 H, 6 HR, 23 BB, 91 K, .192 OBA, 0.87 WHIP.

Notable: While Supak continues to struggle at the Triple-A level, he was named the Southern League’s Most Outstanding Pitcher.

Brice Turang, SS (age 19/High-A)

Last week: 6 games, 20 AB, 6 H, 2 2B, 7 R, 1 RBI, 3 SB, 6 BB, 6 K, ..300 BA

Season (High-A): 42 games, 156 AB, .212 BA, .339 OBP, .295 SLG, .634 OPS, 6 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 24 R, 5 RBI, 9 SB, 28 BB, 44 K.

Season (Low-A): 82 games, 303 AB, .287 BA, .384 OBP, .376 SLG, .760 OPS, 13 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 57 R, 31 RBI, 21 SB, 49 BB, 54 K.

Notable: Turang has reached base in 12 straight games and had his second three-hit game of the month (3-for-5) on Aug. 24, rapping out two doubles. Turang reached 30 stolen bases (combined) on the season, second most among Brewers’ farmhands, and has been only caught five times.

Other notes: San Antonio OF Tyrone Taylor (2nd round, 2012) had his 12-game hit streak snapped, but still went 9-for-23 (.391) last week with a double, two home runs and eight RBI. … Missions RHP Freddy Peralta pitched in two games and had 10 strikeouts in four innings without allowing a run or walk. … Biloxi SS C.J. Hinojosa, who was acquired from San Francisco for Erik Kratz, went 13-for-22 (.591) last week with two doubles, a homer and six RBI. … Carolina RHP Phil Bickford pitched three innings in two games last week, allowing no runs on one hit with no walks and seven strikeouts. Bickford hasn’t allowed a run since June 30, a span of 13 games and 24 innings. He’s allowed nine hits and six walks over that span with 38 strikeouts. Bickford, a former first-round pick of the Giants who was traded to Milwaukee in 2016 as part of the compensation for Will Smith, was moved to the bullpen last year and reportedly has hit 98 mph. In 30 2/3 innings with Carolina this season he has a 2.64 ERA, .207 OBA, 1.11 WHIP and 52 strikeouts (15.2/9). … Wisconsin LHP Nick Bennett (6th round, 2019) struck out seven in five innings while allowing just one run on Aug. 24. … Rocky Mountain C Adam Hall had three multi-hit games and overall went 7-for-13. … Brewers Blue 1B Kevin Hardin (33rd round, 2019) went 6-for-17 (.353) with a double and three home runs. … Along with Lutz, here are the other players the Brewers assigned to Glendale of the AFL: OF Pedro Abreu, LHP Clayton Andrews (17th round, 2018), RHP Victor Castaneda, 1B David Fry (7th round, 2018), C Payton Henry (6th round, 2016), LHP Nathan Kirby (1st round, 2015) and LHP Quintin Torres-Costa (35th round, 2015).

Statistics courtesy milb.com and baseball-reference.com

Dave Heller is the author of Ken Williams: A Slugger in Ruth’s Shadow (a Larry Ritter Book Award nominee), Facing Ted Williams – Players From the Golden Age of Baseball Recall the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived and As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns