Brewers Name Minor League Player and Pitcher of the Month for July
Payne Named Player of the Month; Smith Selected as Pitcher of the Month
MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee Brewers have named outfielder Braylon Payne as Minor League Player of the Month and right-handed pitcher Travis Smith as Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July.
Payne, 18, batted .383/.517/.638 (18-for-47) with 3 doubles, 3 HR, 8 RBI, 15 runs, 6 SB and a 1.155 OPS in 13 games for Class-A Carolina in July.
Ranked as Milwaukee’s No. 8 prospect by MLB Pipeline, Payne was named Carolina League Player of the Week for July 7-13 after batting .429/.579/.929 (6-for-14) with 2 HR and 4 RBI in 4 games, including blasting a walk-off 3-run home run on July 12 vs. Fredericksburg. Payne, who was selected by the Brewers in the first round (No. 17 overall) of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft, tied for fourth in the Carolina League in July in HR (3) and runs (15).
Smith, 22, went 4-0 with a 0.69 ERA (26ip, 2er) in 5 starts for Carolina in July to earn a promotion to High-A Wisconsin on July 31. He struck out 24 batters and recorded a 0.88 WHIP and .180 opponent batting average against for the Mudcats in July. Smith posted 3 starts in which he did not allow an earned run, including a career-high 6.0 innings (4h, 1r, 0er, 3bb, 5k) on July 3 vs. Fayetteville.
Selected by the Brewers in the 15th round of the 2024 First-Year Player Draft, Smith led the Carolina League in wins (4) and innings (26.0) in July and ranked among leaders in ERA (2nd, 0.69), WHIP (3rd, 0.88), opponent batting average (4th, .180) and strikeouts (T5th, 24).
Signed as a non-drafted free agent out of Venezuela in January 2024, Martínez led the Dominican Summer League in batting average (.426), doubles (9), extra-base hits (14) and OPS (1.262) in July and ranked among leaders in hits (2nd, 29), slugging percentage (2nd, .721), triples (T2nd, 4) and on-base percentage (3rd, .541).
Mayorquin, 17, posted a 1.00 ERA (18ip, 2er) with just 2 walks and 20 strikeouts (0.94 WHIP) over 4 appearances (2 starts) for the Rookie DSL Brewers Blue in July.
Signed by Milwaukee as a non-drafted free agent out of Nicaragua in January, Mayorquin had the best start of his professional career on July 25 vs. the DSL Red Sox Red, matching a career high with 7 strikeouts over a career-high 6.0 innings (4h, 1r, 1er, 1bb).
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.
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