Brewers land Yelich for 4, including several former Mudcats

Former Mudcats Monte Harrison, Isan Diaz and Jordan Yamamoto were all traded by the Brewers to Miami

By Gregory Young

January 25, 2018

The Milwaukee Brewers acquired outfielder Christian Yelich from the Miami Marlins on Thursday in exchange for outfielder Lewis Brinson, outfielder Monte Harrison, infielder Isan Díaz and right-handed pitcher Jordan Yamamoto. Harrison, Diaz and Yamamoto all played for the Carolina Mudcats during the 2017 season.

Harrison, 22, joined the Mudcats shortly after the All-Star break in 2017 and went on to hit .278/.341/.487 with 64 hits including 16 doubles, a triple, 10 home runs and 16 stolen bases in 59 Carolina League games. He originally began the 2017 season with Low-A Wisconsin where he hit .265/.359/.475 with 11 home runs, 32 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. Overall, Harrison finished the 2017 campaign with a 20/20 year after totaling 21 home runs and 27 stolen bases between Low-A Wisconsin and High-A Carolina. The Brewers selected Harrison in the second round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of Lee's Summit West High School in Missouri.

Diaz, 21, played in 110 games with the Mudcats last season, but finished the year on the disabled list after suffering a hand injury late in the second half. Diaz finished his 2017 campaign hitting .222/.334/.376 with 85 hits including 20 doubles, 13 home runs and 54 RBI. He was ranked as the sixth best prospect in the Brewers farm system following the 2017 season. The Brewers acquired Diaz in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks before the 2016 season, he was originally drafted by the Diamondbacks in the second round (No. 70 overall) of the 2014 Draft.

Yamamoto, 21, finished his stellar 2017 season at 9-4 with a 2.51 ERA, .223 average against and 113 strikeouts over 111.0 innings pitched. He ended up leading Carolina League pitchers with at least 110.0 innings pitched in earned run average, but did not reach the minimum number of innings (112.0) required to officially qualify for the league's ERA title. He earned Carolina League pitcher of the week honors for the final week of the season and finished the year going 4-1 with a 0.27 ERA over his last five starts (9.27 SO/9ip, .176 AVG). Yamamoto also closed the year with a streak of 21.1 consecutive scoreless innings over his final four appearances. The Brewers originally selected Yamamoto in the 12th round of the 2014 MLB Draft out of Saint Louis (High) School in Honolulu.