Garrett Stallings was in position to hit a pretty big milestone with Class AAA Nashville.

“Someone told me this week I would have hit my 600th minor-league inning, which is kind of crazy for someone who hadn’t made it to The Show yet,” Stallings said on Tuesday – but from the Milwaukee Brewers dugout at American Family Field after the right-hander had been selected to the 26-man roster.

“But the whole time I’ve kind of put my head down and continued to go at it, and the work’s really paid off.”

Stallings, 28, was in the midst of his best minor-league season to date with the Sounds, posting a 3-3 record and 3.45 ERA in 16 appearances (12 starts) and 59 strikeouts in 62 ⅔ innings. His last six outings have been starts, but with the Brewers he’ll join a bullpen group that’s been ridden hard in recent weeks.

“Really, just learned how to be a reliever really quickly,” said Stallings when asked how things changed for him with Milwaukee. Originally a fifth-round pick of the Angels out of the University of Tennessee in 2019, he was traded the following year to the Orioles and then to the Brewers in 2024 in exchange for right-hander Thyago Vieira and minor-leaguer Aneuris Rodriguez.

Stallings re-signed with the Brewers as a minor-league free agent in the offseason after pitching in a career-high 30 games in 2025

“I’d been a starter my whole career, and just continued to be adaptable,” he continued. “In order to get your name called you can’t just tailor to one thing. That’s really helped broaden my horizons in the game, and as many different situations you can be in, it’s helped me just adapt to the game and keep my head up and be the best version of myself.”

Stallings lacks the electric fastball and truly nasty stuff that defines so many pitchers these days, instead relying upon moxie and a willingness to try new things.

“I’ve always been a throw-every-type-of-pitch (guy),” he said. “I’ll tinker this side of the rubber or this side and I’m always one that will always at least try new things to see if I can get that edge. I think if anything, the experience of throwing 600 minor-league innings you learn a lot along the way. And it comes with failure, too.

“It hasn’t always been the easiest path. But this year I feel like I’ve just been able to keep getting a little bit better.”

Stallings joked that he’s felt at times like he’s been the best player in the minor leagues and at other times the worst, with the cumulative experiences helping shape him into a reliever being asked to contribute outs whenever he receives the opportunity.

“I talked to him today,” said manager Pat Murphy. “That’s the best part. You get to sit here and let those guys come in, knowing how he grinded and stuck with it and hung with it and probably didn’t believe for a while that he would (make it).

“Then, to finally believe and get that phone call, I immediately think about his mom and dad, He’s got a fiancee, his brother and sister are coming. That’s really cool, and even cooler when he gets up (to pitch).”

Stallings, a native of Chesapeake, Va., could receive that chance as soon as tonight as the Brewers try for their fifth win in as many games against the Cincinnati Reds this season.

“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Stallings becomes the 45th player to appear on Milwaukee’s active roster this season and seeks to become the sixth to make his major league debut.

To clear space on the 26-man roster, left-hander Robert Gasser was optioned to the rookie Arizona Complex League Brewers, a procedural move that will allow him to be available July 7 when Milwaukee will need extra starting pitching for its doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Steve Czaban, a popular radio fixture on Milwaukee sports-talk airwaves, is back in the market with the announcement from the Wisconsin Sports Radio Network that he’ll host an hour-long morning show with Josh Albrecht soon.

The show will run from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. on 105.7 FM and 1250-AM “The Fan” in Milwaukee. The network, established last October, also features stations in Green Bay/Appleton (99.7 FM, 101.9 FM), Wausau (93.9 FM), Madison (94.9 FM) and Duluth/Superior (710 AM).

Czaban, whose role as host of a morning show on 97.3 The Game was eliminated with iHeartRadio’s decision to end that station’s sports-talk format, hasn’t been on the air in Milwaukee since October.

His show somewhat takes the place of Trevor Thomas’s “Inside Wisconsin Sports,” a licensed property that will continue to broadcast within its usual 6 to 9 a.m. slot from its Green Bay home despite ending its partnership with the Wisconsin Sports Network, seemingly amicably. Thomas has been hosting with Albrecht, and their final show together was scheduled for June 30.

Thomas wrote on social media that he notified Audacy Milwaukee in March that he’d like to end the partnership, delaying his announcement until WSSP had a replacement lined up. Thomas said his show will still be heard on WNFL 99.7 FM in Green Bay and on YouTube.

“Changes are made in radio with little to no explanation because employees sign paperwork that, if they get let go, muzzles them in order to receive their severance pay. Probably not uncommon in other businesses as well,” Thomas wrote on X, responding to one commenter who noted it’s rare for changes in radio to receive full transparency.

American barbecue is rooted in the South, in the culture of Black Americans who learned the art through practice, dedication and intuition. Although Milwaukee doesn’t have a specific BBQ style, we have something that still stands tall – a blending of traditions that celebrate the mysterious, transformative power of smoke. 

1501 W. CENTER ST. | 8718 W. LISBON AVE. 

Ashley’s has an old-school barbecue pit, where chicken and cuts of pork and beef are smoked over hickory wood and charcoal. Thomas Ashley Jr. went from BBQ hobbyist to restaurant owner in 1960, using $350 he had borrowed from friends to open Ashley’s. His son Darnell runs the concept now and has expanded the Ashley’s footprint a few times in the past 14 years, pushing through losses that have included devastating restaurant fires. While the Center Street location is geared strictly to takeout (and is cash only), there’s the sit-down Ashley’s Que Too on the West Side with a more expansive menu and soul food on Sundays. Darnell also took over the local institution next door to Que Too, Champion Chicken, where he put in a bar and carries on the tradition of broasted chicken.  

Darnell combines his dad’s legacy and what he’s learned over the years to develop the Ashley’s style – dry and wet rubs on meats that are also served sauced (tangy and sweet). The sliced shoulder dinner with white bread is what you want to order, or the slab of pork ribs – these are the fall-off-the-bone kind but still have a bit of chew. For a side, make it creamy – coleslaw or potato salad. $14-$33. 

7412 W. GREENFIELD AVE. 

When Mark Timber took over Double B’s on 74th and Greenfield in 2014, the community’s response made it clear that Stallis needed a BBQ joint. Timber used a smoker that was already on-site to jump-start the BBQ menu and soon added a food truck. Now Timber and his wife, Judy, are passing the torch over to new owners committed to keeping Double B’s just as it is. “We decided we were getting a little long in the tooth for day-to-day operations,” Timber said in April. The couple were planning to stay on for a bit to keep things “consistent and predictable,” he said. 

That’s good, because some things can’t be tampered with. The brisket is moist and tender, with a dark, crusty, delicious ribbon of bark. Burnt ends – sticky bites of caramelized  brisket and, yes, fat – are topped with French’s fried onions. And you won’t need sauce with the SmokeHouse wings and their juicy meat and charred, crispy skin. Before you get to those bigger-ticket items, you need to try the bacon ball appetizer – a pork, beef and bacon meatball, smoked, wrapped in bacon and deep-fried. Great balls of fire! Picking a side isn’t difficult – it’s the seven-cheese mac and cheese. The cavatappi holds onto the sauce, and the crusty cheddar crumb topping finishes the dish off just right. $13-$32.

Food Trucks

Mobile BBQ joints, often towing their fragrant smokers, offer a distinct, immersive dining experience. Here are five local ones to look for: 

Brisket with an excellent bark, moist pulled pork. Look for specials like smoked lamb curry (so good!). Regular pop-ups at Hawthorne Coffee Roasters. 

Outstanding brisket, pulled pork and pepper-crusted smoked turkey. The surprise standout? Crispy-skin pork belly with sweet-sour sauce. Pop-ups at Ope! Brewing and a regular this year at AmFam Field’s Alley Food Truck Park.

Owner Mike “Pops” Hester built this enterprise from scratch 22 years ago. His meats – smoky, succulent brisket and pulled pork – get everything they need from the dry rub. “This is how people find you,” he says. “They don’t want no barbecue sauce. They want to find out what you know.”  Pops knows a lot! Appleton Avenue and Good Hope Road, Menomonee Falls. Thurs-Sat 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. 

The 10-year-old is a fixture on Fridays outside Woodman’s in Menomonee Falls (11 a.m.-5 p.m.). Matt Pagel’s pulled pork (get the sandwich with fried onion strings), brisket and smoked jerk chicken are all good.  

Owner Alex Obradovich has been smoking his meats using fruitwood since 2012. His sizable menu includes the customary (brisket, St. Louis-style ribs, pulled pork) and the unexpected (spicy smoked Polish sausage, pulled chicken, pit ham). The brisket is the charm (moist, so smoky, good bark), with a side of thick, smoky baked beans. Locations in West Allis and Franklin.

Where There’s Smoke

The East Side storefront (2311 N. Murray Ave.), with exposed brick and a century-old walnut bar, adds character to the tasty food served up at Smokin’ Jack’s Bar-B-Que, which opened in early 2026. Owner Jack Holt applies the low-and-slow method to his meats and blends traditions, too.

I’m a sauce-on-the-side kind of person, and both his beef brisket (hickory smoked for a respectable 12 hours) and pulled pork are flavorful au naturel. If you want sauce, Holt offers two kinds of Texas-style sauces, along with creamy, peppery Alabama white, and competition glaze (thin, sweet and sticky a la Kansas City), which is the best of the four.

As good as the  brisket and pork were, the real standout was The Smokey Bird, a smoked chicken thigh sandwich topped with pickles, red cabbage slaw and a lick of sweet BBQ sauce on a toasted bun. 

’Que Demystified 

The lowdown on “low and slow,” a rib primer, and other distinctions

Dry versus wet rub

Both are used for their impact on the texture and flavor of the meat. Dry refers to a mixture of spices, herbs, salt and more applied anywhere from an hour to a day before cooking. The rub helps create that much-desired crust (aka bark) on the meat’s surface. In contrast, pitmasters use a wet rub (dry spices, maybe sugar or honey, and a liquid like oil, vinegar or mustard) to add moisture to, say, chicken.  

Spareribs

Fatty and flavorful, spareribs come from the belly side of the pig’s ribs and include the cartilage, sternum bone and rib tips.  

St. Louis-style ribs

These are pork spareribs that have the tough parts (cartilage, sternum, tips) removed. 

Babyback ribs

Shorter than spareribs and a leaner cut, these come from the top of the ribs closest to the spine, under the loin muscle. 

Brisket

This cut of beef comes from the animal’s breast or lower chest – dense muscle tissue. Pork brisket (cut from the chest, as with beef) also exists, but it’s not a standard cut, so you rarely see it. 

“Low and slow”

Refers to using indirect heat or hardwood smoke at a low temperature (200-275 degrees) for a longer period of time. That combination renders fat and breaks down connective and muscle tissue to tenderize the meat. Smoke is more deeply infused and a crusty bark develops.

The Sides That Matter

These accompaniments are staples with BBQ meats – and for good reason. 

Mac and Cheese: A creamy, rich and mild counterpoint to all charred, spiced, saucy meat. Try: Pop’s BBQ truck

Baked Beans: Think harmony. Beans (navy, sometimes others) cooked in sauce – thick, sweet-savory, sometimes with smoky add-ins like bacon – hold their own with the robust meats in their midst. Try: SmokeHouse beans, Double B’s, 7412 W. Greenfield Ave., West Allis

Potato Salad: The trio of cool, creamy and tangy balances out the hot, smoky meat. Plus, mayo’s acidity cuts the fat. Try: Dill pickle potato salad, Just Smokin’ Barbeque, 20316 W. Main St., Lannon 

Slaw: Mayo- or vinegar-based cabbage slaw provides a cool crunch that is so good on a pulled pork or beef brisket sandwich. Try: Smokin’ Jack’s Bar-B-Que

Cornbread: There’s the more dense, savory Southern style, and the sweet, cake-like interpretation in Northern parts. A nice compromise is a little sweet, golden crusted and moist. Try Double B’s

Styles of Sauce