Milwaukee Brewers: Biloxi Shuckers Week 10 – Today Decides First Half Winner

The Biloxi Shuckers are one game back in the Southern League South and have a double header today to decide who’s the first half winner.

While the Milwaukee Brewers are more concerned on how the prospects develop in the minors, the Biloxi Shuckers (38-29) team is focused on being the first half winners in order to get to qualify for the Division Playoffs at the end of the year. With a double header today against the Jacksonville Suns, the AA team hopes they can win both games and the Penascola Blue Wahoos (40-29) takes a loss at a home. While it seems like everything has to go right, the efforts of LHP Josh Hader (now in AAA), OF Brett Phillips, C Jacob Nottingham, etc., hopefully will all pay off today and line them up for a trip the playoffs. As today that’ll be decided and this week will be the All-Star game (will take a look at all of them in the recap), let’s take a look at how this past week for their top players.

Update: Biloxi Shuckers lost first game of doubleheader 2-1 and will have to win 2nd half title to move onto the playoffs.

OF Brett Phillips

.251/.338/.464 / 9 HRs/34 RBIs / 77 Ks/25 BBs

Phillips was an easy call for the All-Star game as his power has gone a long way for their offense. He hit 2 HRs and had 4 RBIs this past week to add to his basic stats along with 7 hits overall. His OBP (.338) and K% (32.6%) are two things for Phillips to work on in the 2nd half of the season, but overall he’s had solid numbers for the Milwaukee Brewers scouts to look at in the 1st half of the season.

C Jacob Nottingham

.257/.319/.386 / 7 HRs/21 RBIs / 57 Ks/21 BBs

After Nottingham’s first month, many would’ve struggled to say he’d become an All-Star, so he’s been rather impressive recently. With 6 hits and 3 BBs this past week, he’s been able to keep his AVG at a stable level of .257 and could remain above his fellow teammate Phillips by the end of the day. Something Milwaukee Brewers fans never would’ve thought possible at the start of the Biloxi Shuckers season.

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3B Garrett Cooper

.317/.372/.452 / 2 HRs/36 RBIs / 32 Ks/14 BBs

Cooper’s All-Star selection is no surprise and his 8-game hitting streak is just adds to it. It’s tough to believe he had his first two home runs this past week and did it in the same game last Sunday. His .372 OBP and 36 RBIs are the reason he’s elected to the All-Star game and no one looking at his advanced stats can make an argument as his 141 wRC+ is just one of them.

LHP Stephen Peterson

36 IP / 2.50 ERA / 35 Ks / 10 BBs

Peterson is one I’ve never included so far and like many, I’m guilty of ignoring those in the bullpen. He’s the last of the 4 Biloxi Shuckers part of the All-Star game and is well deserving of the spot as he’s got the lowest ERA (2.50) among the pitchers who’ve been with the team since the start of the season. His FIP of 2.13 is even more impressive and even though he’s 28 years old, a LHP reliever are key part of the bullpen, so you never know if he’ll be in a Milwaukee Brewers jersey down the line.

RHP Tristan Archer

42.1 IP / 4.25 ERA / 41 Ks / 4 BBs

Archer is another pitcher from the bullpen I’ve never mentioned, but has been a key part to the Biloxi Shuckers club. Any time he comes in he makes sure the opposing team earns their runs as he has a 0.85 BB/9. His ERA was below 4.00 before he gave up 4 ERs on June 1st, so he’s been a stable part to their team to keep them in the race of the Southern League South division race.

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RHP Adrian Houser

66.1 IP / 5.16 ERA / 52 Ks / 20 BBs

Houser had a solid outing to continue to lower his ERA down to 5.16 going 6 IP giving up 2 ER, 2 BBs, and 4 Ks, but still got the loss. While the basic stats aren’t very favorable, it’s very impressive he still has a 3.46 FIP, so it may be an example that scouts can’t take the basic stat too seriously. Hopefully, in the second half of the season there will be many highlights for Houser to report on.

LHP Wei-Chung Wang

59.2 IP / 4.53 ERA / 45 Ks / 22 BBs

Wang’s most recent start this past Tuesday was solid as he went 5 IP giving up 2 ER, 2 BBs, and 5 Ks. Overall, a positive one as he was coming off a start where he gave up 8 ERs and his ERA rose to over 4.60. He’ll be a key part to the Shuckers in the 2nd half as pitching without Hader may be their biggest weakness.

Other notes:

Speaking of the pitching for the Biloxi Shuckers, both Ortega (4.1 IP, 7 ERs) and Woodruff (0.1 IP, 3 ERs) came off some rough outings that didn’t help the Shuckers to balance out the division with the Blue Wahoos this past week. OF Roache is currently still on the 7-day DL list.

All advanced stats via FanGraphs.com