Sky Sox Spotlight: Milwaukee Brewers Brent Suter

To the surprise of no one, Colorado Springs isn’t exactly a pitcher’s paradise. In fact, as our own Adam McIntosh shows, Colorado Springs has been one of the worst places to pitch in the PCL league for a number of years.

Jorge Lopez entered the season as maybe the best pitching prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers’ system. But he has struggled all season and was recently sent down to AA. Aside from Josh Hader, there’s a lesser known pitcher who’s finding success in the rare air of Colorado: Brent Suter. He’s this week’s Sky Sox Spotlight. 

Brent Suter is a 26 year old left that attended baseball powerhouse, Harvard University. Yes, that Harvard University. The Milwaukee Brewers have found success in the past with smart, crafty left handers–Chris Capuano–and from this interview in 2013, Suter gives you a brief scouting report on this stuff (fast-forward to about two minutes in). In part, during that interview, he says:

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I don’t have the stuff to get by, throwing balls a lot so, I got to fill up the zone, get ahead of hitters and try to keep them on defensive swings, even though I don’t have the 95, 90’s, whatever everybody else does. So, I got to get ahead and get early contact.

So far this season, Suter has pitched 105.2 innings, giving up 117 hits, walking just 13, while striking out 72. He sports a 3.07 ERA and a 3.21 FIP. What’s more immediately noticeable in his stats this year, as opposed to previous years, according to FanGraphs, is he’s cut down on his K%; but has dramatically lowered his walk%. He’s given up 10 hits per 9, one hit higher than his career minor league average, but his .341 BABIP shows he’s been a little unlucky this year.

Brent Suter is a name a lot of Milwaukee Brewer fans aren’t very familiar with but they should be. If he continues his success, he may find himself getting a shot at the major league level in September and perhaps, for years to come.