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Black named Brewers' co-Minor League Player of the Year

Toronto Mets alum Tyler Black (Stouffville, Ont.) has been named co-winner of the Milwaukee Brewers’ Minor League Player of the Year award.

September 25, 2023

Official Milwaukee Brewers News Release

The Milwaukee Brewers have announced their 2023 Robin Yount Performance Awards, naming infielder Tyler Black (Stouffville, Ont.) and outfielder Jackson Chourio as co-Minor League Players of the Year and left-hander Robert Gasser and right-hander Carlos Rodríguez as co-Minor League Pitchers of the Year.

Chourio is the first player in franchise history to earn Minor League Player of the Year twice, as he also took home the award in 2022. Rodríguez, who also won Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2022, joins Ben Hendrickson (2002, ’04) as the only pitchers to win multiple times. The Brewers began naming such awards in 1999.

Milwaukee’s farm system is ranked No. 2 overall by Baseball America and No. 3 overall by MLB Pipeline (MLB.com).

Black split the season between double-A Biloxi (84 games) and triple-A Nashville (39 games), batting .284/.417/.513 with 25 doubles, 12 triples, 18 home runs, 73 RBIs, 105 runs and 55 stolen bases.

Ranked as Milwaukee’s No. 4 prospect by MLB Pipeline, the 23-year-old began 2023 at double-A Biloxi where he hit .273/.411/.513 with 16 doubles, eight triples, 14 home runs, 48 RBIs, 70 runs and 47 stolen bases in 84 games.

He was promoted to triple-A Nashville in early August and batted .310/.428/.514 with nine doubles, four triples, four home runs, 25 RBIs, 35 runs and eight stolen bases in 39 games.

Black led all of Minor League Baseball in triples (12). He paced Milwaukee’s organization in runs (105), stolen bases (55) and extra-base hits (55) and ranked among leaders in OPS (2nd, .930), hits (2nd, 128), walks (2nd, 88), total bases (2nd, 231), slugging percentage (3rd, .513), RBIs (4th, 73), HR (5th, 18), on-base percentage (5th, .417) and doubles (6th, 25).

Chourio hit .282/.338/.467 with 26 doubles, three triples, 22 home runs, 91 RBIs, 88 runs and 44 stolen bases over 128 games between Biloxi (122 games) and Nashville (6 games).

The 19-year-old spent most of 2023 in Biloxi where he batted .280/.336/.467 with 23 doubles, three triples, 22 HR, 89 RBIs, 84 runs and 43 stolen bases in 122 games. He was promoted to Nashville on Sept. 18 and hit .333/.375/.476 with three doubles, two RBIs, four runs and a stolen base over six games.

Ranked as Milwaukee’s top prospect and the No. 2 overall prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, Chourio led the organization in RBIs (91), hits (150) and total bases (248). He ranked among leaders in runs (2nd, 88), extra-base hits (2nd, 51), stolen bases (T2nd, 44), HR (3rd, 22), doubles (T4th, 26) and slugging percentage (6th, .467).

Gasser went 9-1 with a 3.79 ERA and 166 strikeouts in 135 1/3 innings over 26 appearances (25 starts) for Nashville in 2023.

The 24-year-old is ranked as Milwaukee’s No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline.

Acquired from San Diego in the Josh Hader trade in August of 2022, Gasser led all of triple-A in strikeouts (166). He ranked among organizational leaders in strikeouts (2nd), wins (T2nd, 9), innings pitched (4th, 135 1/3), ERA (4th, 3.79), opponent batting average (4th, .236), starts (T4th, 25) and WHIP (6th, 1.28).

Rodríguez went 9-6 with a 2.88 ERA and 158 strikeouts in 128 1/3 innings over 26 starts in 2023. He made his first 25 starts with Biloxi, posting a 2.77 ERA with 152 strikeouts in 123 2/3 innings. He concluded his season with a start for Nashville on Sept. 20, striking out 6 over 4 2/3 innings.

Selected in the sixth round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft, the native of Nicaragua led the organization in opponent batting average (.187) and ranked among leaders in starts (T1st, 26), ERA (2nd, 2.88), wins (T2nd, 9), strikeouts (3rd, 158), WHIP (3rd, 1.12) and innings (5th, 128 1/3).

The 21-year-old is ranked as Milwaukee’s No. 6 overall prospect by MLB Pipeline.