What to know for the Nashville Sounds' 45th season, which opens Friday

The Nashville Sounds open the 2023 minor-league baseball season Friday with a three-game homestand beginning at First Horizon Park.

The Louisville Bats, the Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, will be in town for their only visit this season.

Rick Sweet, winner of the 2022 Mike Coolbaugh Award and International Manager of the Year, is headed into his third consecutive season and fourth overall with the Sounds, the Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Sweet, 70, led Nashville to 91 wins in 2022, the second-most in team history. The Sounds were the only team in Minor League Baseball to surpass 90 wins. Sweet is 238-183 in his three seasons with the club (2014, 2021-22).

Gates open at 5:30 p.m. Friday and first pitch is at 6:35 p.m. There will be a postgame fireworks show.

Saturday's game is also at 6:35 p.m. and Sunday is at 2:05 p.m.

New ticket bundle deals ($45 and $80) are being offered for opening weekend, which includes a seat in the Club Level and a limited edition T-shirt celebrating the Sounds 45^th season.

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Tickets are available for all home games by calling 615-690-4487 or email tickets@nashvillesounds.com.

Better pay for minor leaguers

Major League Baseball and the minor-league players in the MLB Players Association approved, in principle, a collective bargaining agreement Wednesday that would nearly double player salaries, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. It the first minor league CBA in history.

The minimum salary for Triple-A players such as the Sounds will double from $17,500 to more than $35,000.

Some players on the lower levels will see their salaries triple.

Final approval is required from approximately 5,500 minor-league players, who must cast votes by midnight Thursday.

Best minor-league organization

The Sounds were named the Minor League Baseball Organization of the Year in 2022.

The award recognizes the overall achievements of the team, including excellence across business functions and in baseball operations. It was Nashville's first time to win the award.

The Sounds won the International League West Division with a 91-58 record. The club also had the highest attendance in Minor League Baseball with a total of 555,576 fans attending 73 home dates, an average of 7,611 fans per game.

Nashville Sounds 2023 schedule

After the opening weekend, the Sounds head to Memphis for a six-game series with the Memphis Redbirds (April 4-9).

The Sounds first six-game homestand is April 11-16 against Norfolk. Each game will start at 6:35 p.m. except the Sunday game, which is at 2:05 p.m.

Other notable homes games include Mother's Day (May 14) against Gwinnett at 2:05 p.m. and Independence Day (July 4) in the first of a six-game series against Columbus. There will be a postgame fireworks show that night and again on July 7.

The Sounds have back-to-back home stands in June against Gwinnett on June 13-18 and Norfolk on June 20-25.

Nashville will host a total of 13 homestands in the 75-game home slate through September.

Nashville Sounds top prospects

The Sounds won't receive their official roster from Milwaukee until Friday, but several top prospects are expected start the season in Nashville.

Sounds players listed in the MLB Pipeline among the Brewers' top-30 prospects include outfielder Sal Frelick (No. 2), outfielder Joey Wiemer (No. 3), left-handed pitcher Robert Gasser (No. 10), left-handed pitcher Ethan Small (No. 14) and right-handed pitcher Janson Junk (No. 16).

Frelick, 22, was promoted to Nashville in August last season and gave a boost to the offense down the stretch. He finished the regular season with a 41-game on-base streak, the longest active streak in the league to close the season and the longest by a Sound in the season. During the streak, Frelick hit .364 (60-for-165) with 36 runs, 23 RBI, 17 walks and eight stolen bases. Frelick played for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic earlier this month.

Wiemer, 24, hit .287 in 43 games with Nashville after joining the Sounds in August. He has great power and a strong arm in the outfield. He was the 2021 Brewers Minor League Player of the Year after hitting 27 home runs in 109 games with Single-A Carolina and High-A Wisconsin.

The Brewers acquired Gasser, 23, in the Josh Hader trade with the Padres. He made five starts with the Sounds (2-2, 4.44 ERA) and struck out a total of 172 batters for the fifth-most in Minor League Baseball in 2022.

Small, 26, made his major league debut last year at Wrigley Field on May 30. He was the International League Pitcher of the Month in April (2-0, 0.77 ERA) and later moved to the bullpen. Small should be a bullpen pitcher for the Sounds this season. The Lexington, Tennessee, native played at Mississippi State and was the SEC Pitcher of the Year in 2019. He lives in Spring Hill.

Junk, 27, was acquired in a trade that sent outfielder Hunter Renfroe to the Angels in December. Has made six starts in the big leagues with the Angels and has bounced between them and Triple-A Salt Lake the previous two seasons.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Sounds: Best players on roster, schedule for 45th season