Milwaukee Brewers Minors: Perfect Week for Red Hot Shuckers

The Biloxi Shuckers were the team of the week in the Milwaukee Brewers’ minor league system, pulling off eight wins over seven days. Let’s jump into the review for them and the rest of the affiliates for the week of July 15-21.

Triple-A

San Antonio Missions (62-39)

1st in Pacific Coast League, American South

It was a tale of two halves last week for the Milwaukee Brewers Triple-A affiliate. The Missions started off the week with a four-game home sweep of Nashville Sounds, running their winning streak up to eight games coming out of the All-Star break. In opposite fashion, they then went on the road and were swept by the Oklahoma City Dodgers in a quick three-game set.

A couple of veteran pitchers saw some action for the Missions last week. Gio Gonzalez threw a rehab start on Monday, giving up an earned run over 4 2/3 innings prior to being reinstated to the Milwaukee Brewers’ roster. Newly acquired Shelby Miller threw two innings on Thursday, giving up two runs before unfortunately being placed on the injured list.

Other outings weren’t much to write home about as no other starter gave up less than four earned runs last week. In relief, Miguel Sanchez picked up a win and a save off of five innings pitched, giving up just an earned run while striking out six. Taylor Williams picked up two saves early in the week with two scoreless appearances.

On offense, the usual suspects continued to rake. Travis Shaw clubbed four home runs and went 7-for-21 while driving in 10 runs. Trent Grisham stayed hot as well, hitting three dingers and five doubles on the way to a 15 for 28 (.535) week.

Hernan Perez got on the board with his first home run as a Mission on Sunday and has raised his average to .268 since joining the team. San Antonio resumes play on Tuesday at home against the Iowa Cubs.

Double-A

Biloxi Shuckers (60-39)

1st in Southern League South

1st half division winners

After inclement weather on the previous weekend resulted in a couple of doubleheaders to be scheduled on Monday and Tuesday, all the Shuckers did was win, win, win no matter what. Biloxi won all eight of the games they played last week, sweeping both the Chattanooga Lookouts and the Mobile Bay Bears, running their winning streak up to nine games and jumping back into the division lead.

Trey Supak highlighted the pitching action again for the Shuckers. On Tuesday he fell just an out short of a no-hitter for the second time this year. This time he completed the shutout by throwing seven innings, a short outing due to a doubleheader, and giving up just the one hit and a walk while striking out nine.

Dylan File picked up a pair of wins for Biloxi, giving up a total of five runs over 15 innings with 16 total strikeouts. Nate Griep picked up a win and a save over the week while Devin Williams, fresh off of his addition to MLBPipeline’s Top 30 Brewers Prospects, threw two scoreless outings, tallying a save in one of them.

There was plenty of offense to go around for the Shuckers with the team reaching double-digit hit totals in four of the eight games. Patrick Leonard had hits in five of the seven games he played in, going 10 for 30 with a homer and a couple doubles. Dillon Thomas and Cooper Hummel brought the power with Thomas smashing three homers and Hummel knocking out four. Thomas also swiped six bags.

The Shuckers begin a long, five-game road series against the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp.

Class A Advanced

Carolina Mudcats (54-46)

3rd in Carolina League South

3.0 games behind Down East

The Milwaukee Brewers High-A affiliate had a rough week, giving up just 4.2 runs per game but just winning two out of six games against the Wilmington Blue Rocks and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. The week ended on a positive note, though, with Carolina winning two of their last three.

Nelson Hernandez was the only starter with a win last week. He gave up two earned runs over 5 1/3 innings on Friday to become the first Mudcat to reach double-digit wins with his tenth. Anthony Bender gave up his first run as a Mudcat on Sunday but picked up his second win of the year.

Brice Turang has started to pick up steam with Carolina. He had hits in the final five games of the week, raising his average from .038 to .196 over that period. Turang also had his first homer as a Mudcat in Friday’s game.

Mario Feliciano found his power stroke again in Wednesday’s game, hitting his bomb since June 7th and increasing his team lead on the season to 15. The catcher had hits in all four games that he played last week, capping it off with a walkoff, RBI-single that scored Turang on Sunday.

Carolina wraps up their home series against the Blue Rocks on Monday before heading on the road for three games against the division-leading Down East Wood Ducks.

Class A

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (49-49)

3rd in the Midwest League West

2.5 games behind Clinton

The Timber Rattlers started the week with a hiccup, dropping the final game of their road series versus the Bowling Green Hot Rods, before returning home to rattle off five straight wins against the South Bend Cubs and the West Michigan Whitecaps. Sunday’s win allowed Wisconsin to climb back to .500 on the season.

Justin Jarvis and Scott Sunitsch tallied wins for the rotation last week. Jarvis went six innings and gave up just one earned run to pick up his third win on Wednesday. Sunitsch, meanwhile, gave up two earned over six innings with six strikeouts on Sunday in adding win number seven on the year.

Jimmy Nelson made his first rehab appearance on Sunday, facing five batters and giving up a run and two hits while striking out one to close out Sunitsch’s win. Victor Castaneda saw plenty of work, pitching in three games and giving up a run over 3 1/3 innings while picking up two saves.

Conner McVey and David Fry each had hits in four of their five games last week. McVey went 5 for 15 (.333), adding his fourth home run of the year on Wednesday. Fry went 5-for-17 and also had a homer in Wednesday’s game, his team-leading twelfth.

The Timber Rattlers finish their series against the Whitecaps on Monday.

Rookie Advanced

Rocky Mountain Vibes (14-20)

3rd in Pioneer League South

13.0 games behind Ogden

The Milwaukee Brewers Rookie League affiliate had a better fared better last week than the previous week, winning three of their six games against the Great Falls Voyagers and the Ogden Raptors.

Karsen Lindell, a 2015 9th round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers, had two solid outings last week. Lindell gave up just a run in 6 2/3 innings combined and picked up his first win on Tuesday. Brock Begue had a very strong outing on Sunday, giving up just a hit in four scoreless innings with four strikeouts as he picked up his first win on the year as well.

2019 4th rounder Nick Kahle had a strong week for the Vibes. In four games, Kahle went 4-for-14 with two walks, four runs batted in, and his third home run of the season. Rocky Mountain continues their road trip on Monday with a three-game series against the Orem Owls.