Brewers 2019 draft pick Devanney showing power in first year as a pro

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 18th edition of the 2019 Young Brewers Tracker.

Antoine Kelly, SP (age 19/Low-A)

Last week: 1 game (1 start), 0-1, 3 IP, 5 H, 6 R, 4 BB, 4 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: Kelly got promoted to Wisconsin to pitch against Kane County on Aug. 29. He threw a career-high 68 pitches, but struggled with his control.

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

Last week: n/a

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 has a triceps injury and won’t be able to play in the Arizona Fall League.

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

Last week: 5 games, 23 AB, 5 H, 1 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI, 0 SB, 1 BB, 7 K, .217 BA

Season (Triple-A): 53 games, 207 AB, .188 BA, .261 OBP, .329 SLG, .589 OPS, 8 2B, 0 3B, 7 HR, 23 R, 21 RBI, 3 SB, 20 BB, 89 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: Last year’s top Brewers minor-league player finished off his rough season by getting a hit in four of his last five games (although he went 0-for-6 in the finale). In his penultimate game, Ray went 2-for-5 with a homer. Ray hit .196 in August/September.

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

Last week: 1 game (1 start), 0-1, 4.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K

Season (Low-A): 5 games (5 starts), 0-2, 1.00 ERA, 18 IP, 11 H, 0 HR, 4 BB, 31 K, .172 OBA, 0.83 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: In his final start of the year, Small threw 81 pitches – his previous high had been 69 – and tied his personal best with eight strikeouts. He whiffed 15.5 per 9 innings with Wisconsin.

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

Last week: 1 game (1 start), 0-1, 4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 3 K

Season (Triple-A): 7 games (7 starts), 1-2, 9.30 ERA, 30 IP, 41 H, 6 HR, 9 BB, 27 K, .325 OBA, 1.67 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: Supak could never get it going with San Antonio, allowing 4+ runs in five of his seven starts and three runs in four innings in another.

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

Last week: 5 games, 14 AB, 1 H, 1 R, 1 RBI, 0 SB, 6 BB, 3 K, .071 BA

Season (High-A): 47 games, 170 AB, .200 BA, .338 OBP, .276 SLG, .615 OPS, 6 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 25 R, 6 RBI, 9 SB, 34 BB, 47 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: While Turang’s struggles hitting continued, he still manages to find ways to get on base – reaching in four of his five games, including a pair of two-walk games. His 83 walks led all Brewers minor leaguers in 2019.

Other notes: Carlos Luna was promoted from short-season Rocky Mountain to Triple-A San Antonio and proceeded to allow just one run on four hits in five innings with five strikeouts at Nashville on Sept. 2. The 22-year-old Panamanian had a 3.53 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 14 starts for the Vibes. … Double-A Biloxi wo the opener of its Southern League playoff against Pensacola 11-10 in 10 innings, winning on a Dillon Thomas home run. … Shuckers RHP Drew Rasmussen (6th round, 2018) fanned five in three scoreless, hitless innings. In 74 1/3 combined innings over three levels, Rasmussen fanned 96, had a 3.15 ERA, .216 OBA and 1.18 WHIP. … Carolina LHP Scott Sunitsch (18th round, 2018) pitched five scoreless innings, striking out six. After being promoted from Low-A, Sunitsch gave up just two runs in 19 1/3 innings for the Mudcats with five walks and 23 strikeouts. … Carolina RHP Phil Bickford pitched two more scoreless frames, meaning he finished out the year not allowing a run in 26 straight innings. … Rocky Mountain OF Arbert Cipion (9th round, 2018), who was promoted there Aug. 27, went 6-for-12 with two home runs and five RBI. … Vibes SS Cam Devanney (15th round, 2019) went 10-for-26 with two doubles and three homers (.385/.448/.808). Devanney hit .330/.424/.472 for Arizona Brewers Blue in 28 games and is batting .250/.353/.464 in 32 games for Rocky Mountain, whose season ends Saturday. Devanney has seven home runs in his 60 games. He hit 10 in 57 games this past season at Elon.

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