BELOIT — Right-hander Karson Milbrandt is thrilled to be the Beloit Sky Carp’s opening night pitcher on Friday against the Cedar Rapids Kernels at ABC Supply Stadium.
“I found out about a week ago I was starting and it’s awesome,” said the 6-foot-2, 190-pounder, who is the Miami Marlins’ High-A affiliate’s top pitching prospect. “I’m super grateful to have the opportunity.”
Milbrandt has toiled in big games before, but this is a bit different than pitching in the Missouri High School state finals or against crosstown rival Liberty North. At 19 years old, he is the youngest player on Manager Bill Gardner Jr.’s 2024 Sky Carp, who open their three-game series with the Kernels at 6:35 p.m. Friday
Milbrandt had committed to play for Vanderbilt, but changed his mind when the Marlins selected him in the third round of the 2022 Major League Draft, 85th overall, and gave him a $1.5 million signing bonus. He split 2023 between Low-A Jupiter, Fla. (3-3, 5.33 ERA in 12 games) and High-A Beloit (0-3, 4.60 ERA in 12 games, 43 inn., 46 hits, 24 walks, 41 strikeouts).
The cold weather that greeted the team this week didn’t faze Milbrandt.
“I’m a Missouri guy and I’ve pitched in the cold in March and April,” he said. “It’s nothing new to me. As long as you can feel your fingers, I think it’s an advantage for a pitcher in this sort of cold.
“You don’t really change your approach. You’re still just going after hitters, attacking them.”
Milbrandt is one of 22 players on the 29-man roster who were in Beloit at some point last season. He began making adjustments last season, including the pitch-clock.
“I kind of liked the pitch-clock because I have a fast approach anyway,” he said. “You can see how it affects certain hitters, throwing off their timing. This is a tough league. It definitely teaches you how to pitch. Everyone has seen 95 (mpg) in this league.”
Milbrandt said he’s looking forward to working with catcher Joe Mack again.
“It definitely helps to have a rapport with your catcher and Joe knows me pretty well,” the starter said.
Mack also is well acquainted with the fickle Midwest spring weather after having played here last season.
“I by no means prefer it, but it’s something you just have to put up with,” Mack said of the frosty weather that awaits on Friday. “It will be a lot better in a month. As for now, we’ll try to throw strikes and get as many quick outs as possible. We’ll try to throw on the inside half or the outside, just not down the middle where they can handle it.”
Mack is looking forward to continuing to progress in his second season with the Sky Carp. He was selected with the 31st overall pick in the 2021 MLB draft by the Marlins. A solid defender in his 120 games in Beloit last season, he hit only .218 with 36 RBIs, but belted all six of his home runs in the final six weeks of the season.
“I gained a lot of knowledge of the game last season and a lot of knowledge about myself,” Mack said. “Instead of going through the off-season sulking about what went wrong last season over the off-season I took it to heart and wanted to figure out how I’m going to take that information I gained last season and use it to improve this year.
“I know I need to get better with the bat, but I also know there are other ways that are important for a catcher to help his team be successful, like throwing a guy out, or tagging a guy out or calling a real good game behind the plate.”
Other Sky Carp returning include corner infielder Torin Montgomery, middle infielder Yiddi Cappe and outfielders Osiris Johnson and Jorge Cabellero.
Montgomery, the Marlins’ 2022 14th-round pick, hit .341 (63-185) at Low-A Jupiter before batting .214 with a homer and 12 RBI in 35 games in Beloit. The 6-3, 220-pound right-handed hitter was named as a Florida State League All-Star.
Cappe batted .220 in 123 games (112-509) with the Sky Carp. He had 26 doubles, two triples, five home runs and 53 RBIs and put the ball in play more than 80 percent of the time. But he had just 18 bases on balls and a .250 on-base percentage. Other infielders on the roster include Ynmanol Marinez, Johnny Olmstead, Carlos Santiago and Josh Zamora.
Osiris Johnson was drafted in the second round as the 53rd overall pick in the 2018 MLB Draft. The Marlins moved him from shortstop to the outfield, where his speed is a terrific asset. Last season in Beloit, Johnson hit .248 with eight homers and 31 RBIs.
Caballero was one of the hottest hitters for the Jupiter Hammerheads, batting .330 (72-218) with a .409 on-base percentage, three homers, 10 doubles, three triples and 32 RBIs. The other outfielders are Chase Luttrell and Brett Roberts. Luttrell played mostly at Jupiter, but got in 22 games in Beloit while Roberts was 20-of-22 on stolen bases, all for Jupiter.
In addition to Mack, the Sky Carp are carrying catchers Cameron Barstad and Andrew Fernandez.
As for the pitchers they’ll work with, Mack had nothing but good things to say.
“We have a phenomenal staff,” he said. “Really it’s a great group of guys all-around. I’m really excited about the season because the chemistry is definitely there. We all get along and we build each other up.”
The talented arms include Ike Buxton (4-0, 1.62 ERA, 39 inn., 20 hits, 46 strikeouts at Jupiter) Jacob Miller (2-4, 4.70, 50 strikeouts in 59 1-3 innings at Jupiter), Jared Poland, Tyler Eckberg and 6-4, 250-pound left-handed closer Evan Tyler, who had 20 saves for Jupiter last season.
Poland, an Indianapolis, Ind., native, was a sixth-round draft pick in 2022. The former University of Louisville ace went 5-6 with a 4.94 ERA over 19 starts in Beloit last season. In 98 1-3 innings, he allowed 103 hits with 31 walks and 92 strikeouts.
Eckberg (2-1, 3.53) saw action in 39 games with the Sky Carp and over 63 innings he walked only 10 and fanned 60.
• UP NEXT: After Friday’s 6:35 p.m. opener, Saturday and Sunday the teams meet again at 1:05 p.m.
• THE SKY CARP 2024 ROSTER:
PITCHERS: Ike Buxton R/R, 6-3, 208, 7/18/00, Sun Valley, Idaho; Kyle Crigger R/R, 6-2, 180, 6/4/99, Germantown, Ind.; Tyler Eckberg R/R, 6-4, 220, 9/4/97, Arlington Heights, Ill.; Ignacio Feliz R/R, 6-1, 180, 10/23/99, Santo Domingo, DR; Cade Gibson L/L, 6-2, 185, 2/18/98, Ruston, La.; Yeuris Jimenez R/R, 6-3, 218, 3/23/01. Santiago, DR; Holt Jones R/R, 6-8, 235, 5/8/99, Greenwich, CT; Karson Milbrandt R/R, 6-2, 190, 4/21/04, Liberty, Mo.; Jacob Miller R/R, 6-2, 180, 8/10/03, Columbus, Ohio; Anderson Pilar R/R, 6-2, 210, 3/2/98, Villa Isabela, DR; Jared Poland, R/R, 6-0, 215, 1/12/00, Indianapolis, Ind.; Edgar Sanchez R/R, 6-1, 190, 8/2/00, Santo Domingo, DR; Dale Stanavich L/L, 5-11, 175, 6/23/99, Amsterdam, NY; Evan Taylor L/L, 6-4, 250, 12/26/99, Florence, Ala; Alex Williams L/R, 6-3, 220, 10/22/99, Hayward, Calif.; Josh White R/R, 6-1, 205, 11/24/00, Walnut Creek, Calif.
CATCHERS: Cameron Barstad L/R, 6-1, 195, 11/29/00, Redwood City, Calif.; Andrew Fernandez R/R, 6-3, 196, 10/19/98. Hialeah, Fla.; Joe Mack L/R, 6-1, 210, 12/27/02, Williamsville, NY.
INFIELDERS: Yiddi Cappe R/R, 6-3, 175, 9/17/02, Havana, Cuba; Ynmanol Marinez R/R, 6-0, 190, 4/12/01, Nizao, DR; Torin Montgomery R/R, 6-3, 230, 5/2/01, Kirkland, Wash.; Johnny Olmstead R/R, 6-2, 185, 7/10/00, Newport Beach, Calif.; Carlos Santiago S/R, 5-11, 145, 7/24/01, Barinas, Vez; Josh Zamora R/R, 5-10, 190, 5/18/99, Fullerton, Calif.
OUTFIELDERS: Chase Luttrell L/L, 6-0, 200, 6/1/00, Bakersfield, Calif.; Jorge Caballero R/R, 6-0, 170, 1/10/00, Caracas, Vez; Osiris Johnson R/R, 6-1, 198, 10/18/00, Oakland, Calif.; Brett Roberts R/R, 6-0, 182, 3/12/01, Atlanta, Ga.
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