Michael Trzinski

Jesse Orosco pitched in the major leagues for 24 seasons and holds the career record for pitching appearances with 1,252, a record that is unlikely to ever be broken. He spent three seasons (1992-94) pitching for Milwaukee. Jesse Russell Orosco was born in Santa Barbara, California and was drafted by St. Louis in the seventh round of the 1977 MLB January draft but stayed at Santa Barbara City College until the following January, when he was picked in the second round by the Minnesota Twins. The left-handed reliever made his pro debut at Elizabethton in the Rookie Appalachian League and then was traded to the New York Mets in February 1979. He made his big-league debut that season, appearing in 18 games to start the season before being sent down to Triple-A Tidewater, where he started 15 games. In 1982, Orosco became a full-time major league reliever for the Mets. Over the next six seasons for New York, he averaged 58 appearances and 18 saves per season, including a career-high 31 saves in 1984. Orosco earned his only two All-Star appearances with the Mets in 1983 and 1984. Two weeks before Christmas 1987, Orosco was involved in a three-team trade (Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland A’s, New York Mets) that included Kevin Tapani, Wally Whitehurst, Alfredo Griffin, Jay Howell, Bob Welch, and Matt Young. Orosco spent one season with the Dodgers before signing as a free agent with Cleveland. After three solid seasons with the Indians (130 ERA+, 3.68 FIP), Orosco was dealt to the Milwaukee Brewers in December 1991. He spent the next three campaigns as a high-leverage lefthander, setting up closers Doug Henry and Mike Fetters. After the 1994 season, Orosco signed as a free agent with the Baltimore Orioles, where he became a stalwart from 1995-1999. Much like a hired gun, Orosco spent the next four seasons pitching for St. Louis, Los Angeles, San Diego, New York Yankees, and Minnesota. Orosco was traded from the Yankees to Minnesota in August 2003, neatly bookending his professional career, ending with the team that signed him out of college. The Twins, who made the postseason in 2003, elected to leave Orosco off the ALDS roster in the series with the Yankees. Orosco was a key player with the 1986 World Series winning Mets, earning two saves against Boston in the infamous ‘Bill Buckner Series.’ He struck out Buckner with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of Game 6 and ended the Series by striking out Marty Barrett as the final out in Game 7. He made 24 appearances in four different postseasons, notching two wins and two saves. View full player

Balfour had one of the worst possible surnames for an ML pitcher...lol.

After four straight losses to the New York Yankees to start the 2025 campaign, the Milwaukee Brewers have won 11 of their last 16 games. Here are three players that have contributed to that success in their Brewer debuts. Image courtesy of Stacy Revere/Getty Images Jose Quintana Signed as a free agent in early March, Quintana stayed out west in ‘extended spring training’ to get ready for the season. The Brewers expected him to miss two starts and return in mid-April. In the meantime, the Brewers had scrambled back to a 7-6 record, one game behind the Chicago Cubs in second place in the National League Central division. On April 11, the southpaw made his Brewers debut against the Diamondbacks in Arizona. He allowed a single in each of the first two innings but got out unscathed thanks to a pair of 6-4-3 twin killings. He picked off Jake McCarthy in the third inning to end a potential threat and then retired nine consecutive D-Backs. With the Brewers leading 3-0, Quintana went out for the seventh inning and gave up a lead-off single. Despite a balk that moved the runner to second, Quintana got the final out of the inning, ending his night on the hill. Effective and efficient, Quintana gave up four hits and struck out a pair on just 80 pitches. FanGraphs ranks a pitcher’s Game Score that falls between 70-80 as ‘Great.’ Quintana’s Game Score was 71. In his second outing five nights later against the Tigers at Am Fam Field, Quintana struggled early, walking three in the first but getting out without damage thanks to another double play. The Tigers had three players reach base in the next three innings but Quintana kept the Tigers off the scoreboard until the sixth, when he gave up a solo home run to Spencer Torkelson. He gave way to Abner Uribe two batters later. The Brewers got a 5-1 win on the strength of homers by Christian Yelich, Rhys Hoskins, and Sal Frelick. Quintana went 5.2 innings, allowing four hits, one run, and three walks while striking out four. Two games, two wins. Not a bad debut. Quinn Priester Priester was acquired in a trade with the Boston Red Sox in early April for Yophery Rodriguez, a player to be named later, and a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick. The merits of the trade will be discussed over beers for the next few months, but if Priester can pitch to his potential, the grumbling should come to an end. The 6-foot-3 right-hander scuffled in his first outing in Denver against the Colorado Rockies on April 10, allowing six hits, one run, and two walks in a 7-2 loss. Priester left after five frames with the score tied at one, only to see Joel Payamps implode in a five-run eighth inning. Priester’s Am Fam Field debut on April 15 went better as he allowed four baserunners (one hit, three walks) in five innings while striking out four. While not as efficient as Quintana’s first start for Milwaukee, Priester threw 84 pitches and posted a Game Score of 66, which FanGraphs judges as ‘Good.’ He held the Tigers hitless until Gleyber Torres’ double to right-center to lead off the sixth inning. Manager Pat Murphy removed Priester at that point to a nice round of applause from the home crowd. Hopefully there will be a lot more of that in the coming weeks. Caleb Durbin After being recalled from Triple-A Nashville to replace the disappointing Oliver Dunn, Durbin made his major league debut on April 18 before a couple dozen family and friends at Am Fam Field. Batting ninth and playing third base, Durbin collected his first big-league hit in the third inning on a grounder to the left side. He grounded out in the fifth but then got his second knock on a looping liner to short left-center field in the seventh. He scored his first run on a Yelich groundout. Durbin finished up his first game by lining a ball to deep left-center that was caught by JJ Bleday in the eighth inning. Durbin flawlessly handled four chances in the field. All in all, it’s a nice debut for the 25-year-old. Going Forward Quintana and Priester add stability to a starting staff that was decimated by injuries in the spring. What happens when Brandon Woodruff, Tobias Myers, et al. are ready to return? I don’t know, but that will be a good problem that Murphy will have to sort out. And Durbin? Hopefully the diminutive speedster can solve the third base problem that has plagued the Brewers all spring. How do you feel about Quintana, Priester, and Durbin? Please let us know in the comments section and thanks for reading! View full article

Lorenzo Lamar Cain was born in April 1986 in Valdosta, Georgia. His family moved to Florida and Cain graduated from Madison County High School in 2004. He was selected by the Brewers in the 17th round of the 2004 MLB Amateur Draft but instead chose to attend Tallahassee Community College. After his freshman season, Cain signed with the Brewers for $100,000 and began his pro career in 2005. For a player that didn’t start playing organized baseball until he was a sophomore in high school, the right-handed hitting outfielder moved up steadily in the Brewers chain, making stops at every level. In 2006, Cain was named to the Single-A South Atlantic League’s All-Star team, leading the league with 162 hits and finishing in the top five with 36 doubles and 91 runs scored. He set a West Virginia Power team record for hits in a season. After five seasons in the minors, Cain made his big-league debut with the Brewers on July 16, 2010. Milwaukee had a triumvirate of All-Star centerfielders that year, as Cain made 30 starts, Carlos Gómez made 61, and Jim Edmonds started 34 games. Cain had a nice rookie season, slashing .306/.348/.415 over 147 at-bats. After the season, the Brewers traded Cain, Alcides Escobar, Jake Odorizzi, and Jeremy Jeffress to the Kansas City Royals for Zack Greinke, Yuniesky Betancourt and cash. Cain spent most of the 2011 season at Triple-A Omaha and batted .312/.380/.497 across 487 at-bats. He got called up to the Royals and played the last six games of the season, batting .273/.304/.318. The lanky 6-foot-2 Cain started with the Royals in 2012 but injured his groin after crashing into the outfield wall in the fifth game of the season. Cain was doing rehab at Double-A Northwest Arkansas when he tore a hip flexor. He did a rehab stint at Triple-A Omaha and then finished the season with the Royals and played in almost every game, ending with a slash line of .266/.316/.419 with seven homers and 10 stolen bases over 61 games and 222 at-bats. Cain made it to mid-August 2013 before the injury bug struck again. This time it was a strained left oblique that put him out of commission for a month. He finished the campaign with a batting line of .251/.310/.348 over 399 at-bats. The next two seasons saw the Royals making it to the World Series. In 2014, Cain hit .301/.339/.412 across 471 at-bats. The Royals lost in seven games to the San Francisco Giants. The next year was even better. Cain was an All-Star for the first time and garnered enough MVP votes to finish third in the AL MVP race. He set career highs with 101 runs scored, 34 doubles, six triples, 16 home runs, 72 RBIs, and an OPS+ of 125. The Royals beat the New York Mets in five games to win their first World Series since 1985. Cain missed two months in 2016 (hamstring, wrist) but still did well, batting .287/.339/.408 across 397 at-bats. The following season saw Cain play in 155 games, which was a career high. His slash line read .300/.363/.440 over a career-high 584 at-bats. After the 2017 season, Cain received a qualifying offer from the Royals but declined it. In January he signed a five-year, $80 million contract with the Brewers. The first two years with the Brewers saw Cain earn All-Star status in 2018 with a slash line of .308/.395/.417, career-high 30 stolen bases, and a 119 OPS+. Cain had four multi-hit games in 10 post-season games, but the Brewers lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games in the NLCS. Although his batting dropped off (.260/.325/.372) in 2019, Cain earned his first and only Gold Glove. The next three seasons were disrupted by Covid (2020), injury (2021), and poor play (2022). He was released by Milwaukee in June 2022 and announced his retirement in March 2023. He signed a one-day contract with Kansas City and retired as a Royal. Cain played seven years with Kansas City and six with Milwaukee and ended his big-league career with a slash line of .283/.343/.407 with 1,220 hits, 225 doubles, 87 home runs, 454 RBIs, 190 stolen bases and an OPS+ of 102. View full player

Kyle Johnathan Peterson was born in April 1976 in Elkhorn, Nebraska. The right-handed pitcher was named to the Nebraska All-State team for both his junior and senior years at Omaha Creighton Prep high school and signed a letter of intent to play at Stanford University. Peterson was named college baseball’s Freshman of the Year after a 10-win season. He was drafted 13th overall in the first round by the Brewers after his junior year in the 1997 MLB Amateur Draft. Peterson finished his college career tied for second all-time at Stanford with 35 wins, third with 398.1 innings pitched, and tied for second with 363 strikeouts. The lanky 6-foot-3 hurler played at four levels—Rookie ball, High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A—in his first two years. In 1999, he began at Triple-A Louisville, making 18 starts before getting called up to Milwaukee in mid-July. In his third start, he got his first big-league win over the Montreal Expos, pitching eight innings and allowing four hits and one walk while shutting out the Expos. Peterson had a decent season, making 17 appearances (12 starts) and posted an ERA+ of 100 and a FIP of 3.89. Peterson was expected to be a member of the 2000 Brewers rotation, but shoulder discomfort led to shoulder surgery in early February. He returned in early August when he made three rehab starts at Single-A Beloit before moving to Double-A Huntsville. But after one start, he experienced tightness in his right forearm, and he was shut down for the season. In 2001, Peterson was sent down to Triple-A Indianapolis to begin the season. He was called up three separate times, pitching in one game in each instance. He earned a win in May, took a tough-luck loss in June, and got shelled in what would be his final major league appearance in early July. The next year didn’t start any better as Peterson underwent his second surgery in January and missed the whole season, after which he retired. In his short major league career, Peterson appeared in 20 games (14 starts) and posted an ERA+ of 96 and FIP of 4.05. Since 2003, Peterson has worked as a baseball analyst for ESPN and the SEC Network. View full player

Jake wrote: Rodriguez is just 19 years old, having skipped the complex in Arizona to jump straight into Low-A, but there are concerns he may be a future corner outfielder (albeit a good one, defensively). Whether he can grow into enough power while continuing to control his chase rates as the pitching levels continue to improve is anyone's guess. He's still several years from the major leagues, whereas Priester is ready now, and controllable for six years. I would guess Yoph is probably 2-3 years away, but he could also become a Monte Harrison, Corey Ray, or Tristan Lutz. They were all Top 50 draft picks that just didn't pan out. Maybe not a completely accurate comparison, but the Brewers had high hopes for all these guys at one time, too.

Sounds like a plan!

Ricardo Bones (pronounced ‘BO-ness’) was born in April 1969 in Salinas, Puerto Rico and was signed as an international free agent in May 1986 by the San Diego Padres. He had success in the lower minors, winning 37 games in three years at the A and Double-A levels. The righty made his big-league debut for the Padres in August 1991 and finished the season with San Diego, making 11 starts and posting a 3.43 FIP. In three of his starts, he allowed zero runs. The following March, Bones was traded along with Matt Mieske and José Valentin for Gary Sheffield and a minor-league pitcher. The trade sent the unhappy Sheffield to the Padres, where he played only two years before finishing his career with six other teams. Bones was a mainstay in the Brewers rotation for the next five years, making 137 starts (and 14 relief appearances) in that span. He made the American League All-Star team in 1994 but did not pitch in the game. “It would have been great to get in the game, but I was here. I’ve got my All-Star ring,” Bones said. Toward the end of the 1996 season, Bones was involved in another interesting trade. He was the PTBNL in a trade with the Yankees that sent shortstop Pat Listach and pitcher Graeme Lloyd to New York in return for pitcher Bob Wickman and outfielder Gerald Williams. Listach was returned to Milwaukee when it was found he had a broken foot. Bones made only four appearances for the Yankees and was released after the season. He played five more seasons in the majors with four different teams: Cincinnati, Kansas City, Baltimore, and Florida. After making 13 starts combined in 1997 with Cincinnati and Kansas City, Bones became a full-time reliever. In 1998, Bones posted a 157 ERA+ and an ERA of 3.04 in 32 appearances and notched his only major league save for the Royals. While playing for Florida in May 2000, Bones went on the disabled list due to a back strain…suffered when he turned his head while watching TV in the Marlins clubhouse. After appearing in a career-high 61 games for Florida in 2001 with an ERA+ of 84, he was released. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him the following spring and he appeared in 30 games at Triple-A Las Vegas but did not make it back to the majors. In 2003, Bones pitched in three games for Saltillo in the Mexican League but after posting an ERA of 9.45, called it a career. Bones worked as a pitching coach in the Mets and Blue Jays organizations, and then advanced to the big leagues, serving as the Mets bullpen coach for ten years and then with the Washington Nationals as a bullpen coach starting in 2022 and is still in that position in 2025. As a pitcher for Milwaukee, Bones posted 47 career wins (tied for 17th overall), 883 innings (15th), and 137 starts (15th). View full player

Don Sutton only pitched two years and one memorable September for the Milwaukee Brewers. Even though his Brewer career lasted only 71 starts, he pitched in arguably one of the most important games in Brewers history--the final game of the 1982 season against the Baltimore Orioles. Image courtesy of Owen C. Shaw/Getty Images Donald Howard Sutton was born in April 1945 in Clio, Alabama, but moved with his family to Florida when Don was about five years old. Don Sutton won 21 games in three varsity seasons at Tate High School in Pensacola but got no offers in the pre-amateur draft world of Major League Baseball. He attended Gulf Coast Community College that summer starred in the National Baseball Congress tournament, and was named to the All-Tournament team. At the end of the summer, he had interest from at least nine teams but elected to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers for an estimated $15,000 bonus. In his first season at two levels, Sutton struck out 239 batters in two stops (A and Double-A) and was in Los Angeles the following season. The right-hander spent the next 15 seasons with the Dodgers and was an NL All-Star four times, a surprisingly low number for a guy who won more than 15 games nine times, struck out over 200 batters in five seasons, and posted an ERA+ of 100 or higher ten times, including a high of 162. Sutton finished in the top five in Cy Young voting for five consecutive years. After the 1980 season, Sutton became a free agent and signed with the Houston Astros. During the strike season of 1981, Sutton won 11 games in 23 starts and posted an ERA+ of 126. He added another 13 wins in 1982 for the Astros before he was traded to the Brewers at the end of August for cash and players to be named later. The players were Kevin Bass, Frank DiPino, and Mike Madden. The Brewers had a 4.5-game lead over the Boston Red Sox on September 1 when Sutton arrived. He made seven starts over the last month and went 4-1 with a 116 ERA+, although his 4.29 was a career-worst to that point. Sutton was the starting pitcher in the iconic final game of the season in the ‘loser goes home’ game with the Baltimore Orioles. Aided by two home runs by Robin Yount, Sutton went eight innings, scattering eight hits and five walks while allowing two runs in a 10-2 Brewer win, in which Milwaukee scored five runs in the top of the ninth to put the game out of reach. Sutton got a 5-3 win in Game Three of the ALCS over California but didn’t fare as well in the World Series against St. Louis, taking a 5-4 loss in Game Two while getting a no-decision in a 13-1 loss in Game Six. When asked about the two home runs he gave up, he said, “They were not good pitches because good pitches aren’t hit that far.” The Brewers would end up losing after a 6-3 defeat the next day in Game Seven. Sutton, who turned 38 before the 1983 season, played two more years in Milwaukee and posted a 97 ERA+ over 64 starts. His 22 wins gave him 280 victories over 19 seasons. After the 1984 campaign, he was traded to the Oakland A’s for Ray Burris and two minor league players. He won 13 more games for the A’s before being traded to California in mid-September. In the middle of the 1986 season—June 18, to be exact—Sutton tossed a three-hit gem, allowing one run in a 5-1 victory over the Texas Rangers for his 300th career win. Sutton won 11 games in 1987 but was released after the season before he was signed by… the Dodgers. His 1988 season included 16 starts, but it was obvious he was not the same player he had been earlier in his career. He was released on August 10. “It was a mistake,” Sutton said. “It ended up being a depressing way to end my relationship with the Dodgers." He worked as a broadcaster for nearly 30 years. In 1998, he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame with 324 wins, 3,574 strikeouts, and an ERA+ of 108. Don Sutton passed away on January 18, 2021. View full article

Raymond Earl Fosse was born in April 1947 in Marion, Illinois. He was selected seventh overall by the Cleveland Indians in the first-ever MLB Amateur Draft in 1965. Fosse moved rapidly up the ladder in the Indians organization, making his big-league debut in just his third year as a professional in 1967. Although he struggled offensively (1-for-16) in seven September games, he threw out four of seven would-be base stealers. Fosse earned Pacific Coast League all-league honors in 1968 when he batted .301/.355/.428 at Triple-A Portland. He got into one game for the Indians in September and then began serving an army reserve hitch for a few months. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound catcher started the 1969 season with the Indians but suffered a broken right index finger off a foul ball in June. Fosse returned in September but finished with a batting line of .172/.230/.250 in 37 games. He played in the Florida Instructional League that winter and did much better, hitting .301/.363/.411 across 73 at-bats. Fosse had a great beginning to the 1970 season and was batting .312/.366/.527 going into the All-Star game but the fan voting (first time since 1957) put Detroit’s Bill Freehan in the catcher spot. Fosse was named as a reserve by AL manager Earl Weaver. He entered the game in the sixth inning and went 1-for-2 with a sac fly but his big moment came late in the game when he was run over by Pete Rose in the infamous home plate collision that affected Fosse’s game for the rest of his life. Fosse ended the season with a slash line of .307/361/.469 with a career-high 18 home runs and 124 OPS+. He also won his first AL Gold Glove. The right-handed batter was named to the All-Star team for the second and final time in his career in 1971 and earned his second Gold Glove Award. He batted .276/.329/.397 but dropped to 12 homers, his power declining since doctors found that his shoulder had been fractured and separated by Rose’s hit the previous year. Fosse slumped in 1972, batting just .241/.312/.354 but he did draw a career-high 45 free passes. He was traded to the Oakland A’s before the 1973 season. The Indians apparently got tired of waiting for the ‘old’ Ray Fosse to return to form and swapped him and Jack Heidemann for Dave Duncan and George Hendrick. Fosse played for Oakland the next three years and was a part of two World Series winners. He led the AL in 1973, throwing out 52 base runners for a 55.9% caught stealing rate. But Gene Tenace won the catching job in 1975, and Fosse was sold back to Cleveland in December. In 1976, Fosse split time behind the plate with Alan Ashby and slashed .301/.347/.362 with a 110 OPS+. The following season he split time with Fred Kendall but was traded to the Seattle Mariners before the end of the season. He hit well in limited play for the M’s, batting .353/.389/.441 over just 34 at-bats. On New Year’s Eve, the Brewers signed Fosse as a free agent. In spring training, Fosse injured his knee and hamstring when he tripped in a hole on his way to first base and missed the entire 1978 season. The following year, Fosse battled Buck Martinez and Charlie Moore for playing time but only got into 19 games all season. He was released in 1980 by the Brewers in spring training. After retirement, Fosse worked in several positions in the A’s organization and then became an announcer in 1986 for A’s baseball and worked 35 years as a color commentator and host of the pre-game show. Fosse passed away on October 13, 2021 after a long battle with cancer. View full player

Donald Howard Sutton was born in April 1945 in Clio, Alabama but moved with his family to Florida when Don was about five years old. Sutton won 21 games in three varsity seasons at Tate High School in Pensacola but got no offers in the pre-amateur draft world of the MLB. He attended Gulf Coast Community College and then that summer, starred in the National Baseball Congress tournament in Wichita, Kansas and was named to the All-Tournament team. At the end of the summer, he had interest from at least nine teams but elected to sign with the Los Angeles Dodgers for an estimated $15,000 bonus. In his first season at two levels, Sutton struck out 239 batters in two stops (Single-A and Double-A) and was in Los Angeles the next season. The right-hander spent the next 15 seasons with the Dodgers. He was an NL All-Star four times, a surprisingly low number for a guy who won more than 15 games nine times, struck out over 200 batters in five seasons, and posted an ERA+ of 100 or higher 10 times, including a high of 162. Sutton finished in the top five in NL Cy Young voting five consecutive years. After the 1980 season, Sutton became a free agent and signed with the Houston Astros. During the strike season of 1981, Sutton won 11 games in 23 starts and posted an ERA+ of 126. He added another 13 wins in 1982 for the Astros before he was traded to the Brewers at the end of August for cash and players to be named later. The players ended up being Kevin Bass, Frank DiPino, and Mike Madden. The Brewers had a 4.5 game lead over the Boston Red Sox on September 1 when Sutton arrived. He made seven starts over the last month and went 4-1 with a 116 ERA+, although his 4.29 FIP was a career worst to that point. Sutton was the starting pitcher in the iconic final game of the season in the ‘loser goes home’ game with the Baltimore Orioles. Aided by two home runs by Robin Yount, Sutton went eight innings, scattered eight hits and five walks while allowing two runs in a 10-2 Brewer win in which Milwaukee scored five runs in the top of the ninth to put the game out of reach. Sutton got a 5-3 win in Game Three of the ALCS over California, but didn’t fare as well in the World Series against St. Louis, taking a 5-4 loss in Game Two, while getting a no-decision in a 13-1 loss in Game Six. When asked about the two home runs he gave up in Game Six, he said, “They were not good pitches because good pitches aren’t hit that far.” The Brewers would end up losing after a 6-3 defeat the next day in Game Seven. Sutton, who turned 38 prior to the 1983 season, played two more years in Milwaukee, and posted a 97 ERA+ over 64 starts. His 22 wins gave him 280 victories over 19 seasons. After the 1984 campaign, he was traded to the Oakland A’s for Ray Burris and two minor league players. He won 13 more games for the A’s before being traded to California in mid-September. In the middle of the 1986 season—June 18 to be exact—Sutton tossed a three-hit gem, allowing one run in a 5-1 victory over the Texas Rangers for his 300th career win. Sutton won 11 games in 1987 but was released after the season before he was signed by…the Dodgers. His 1988 season included 16 starts, but it was obvious he was not the same player he had been earlier in his career. He was released on August 10. “It was a mistake,” Sutton said. “It ended up being a depressing way to end my relationship with the Dodgers. He was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998, with a total of 324 wins, 3,574 strikeouts, and an ERA+ of 108. He worked as a broadcaster for nearly 30 years before calling it quits in 2019. Don Sutton died on January 18, 2021. View full player

Last season the Biloxi Shuckers finished third in the Southern League’s Southern Division and qualified for the playoffs, but lost to the Montgomery Biscuits in a three-game semifinal series. Can they go further this year? Let’s take a quick look at their Opening Day roster. Image courtesy of Matt Colville, Stadium Journey Headlined by fast-rising shortstop prospect Cooper Pratt, the Shuckers embark on a 2025 season that could see multiple future Brewers stars don their jersey. Pratt, diminutive but athletic outfielder Luis Lara, and pitcher K.C. Hunt bring the most prospect buzz with them, but two recent first-round picks and a bevy of more under-the-radar talents with upside round out the group. Manager Joe Ayrault has been a manager in the Brewers organization since 2010, and starts his second year at Biloxi. He is joined by hitting coach Kevin Martir, pitching coach Josh Spence, coach Liu Rodríguez, and associate coaches Tyler Thornberg and Matt Lipka. Starting Pitchers: K.C. Hunt (RHP), Tate Kuehner (LHP), Alexander Cornielle (RHP), Josh Maciejewski (LHP), Nate Peterson (LHP), Mark Manfredi (LHP). Hunt made six starts for the Shuckers last year and posted a K rate of 29.8%. Much is expected of him this year. Kuehner also made six starts for Biloxi, and performed well at High-A Wisconsin before that. Cornielle was among the top starters for the T-Rats and hopes to bring that success to the next level. Maciejewski, 29, is the only player on the roster with MLB experience, as he appeared in four games with the Yankees last year. Manfredi also did a nice job in Appleton last season, while Peterson returns for his second year in Biloxi. It is likely only two of these three will be in the rotation to start the year. Relief Pitchers: Justin Yeager (RHP), Tyler Bryant (RHP), Kaleb Bowman (RHP), Nick Merkel (RHP), Will Childers (RHP), Chase Costello (RHP), Stiven Cruz (RHP), Abdiel Mendoza (RHP), Tyler Woessner (RHP). Yeager recorded 20 saves for Biloxi and will keep his closer role for a second year, at least until he moves up. Bryant spent two seasons playing in the independent Frontier League before being signed by Milwaukee, and has done well in limited work at Single-A and High-A. He posted a K rate of 32.3% in 20 appearances. At 27, Bowman is the second-oldest Shucker and joins 6-foot-7 Merkel as multiple-, middle-inning pitchers in the bullpen. Childers pitched at three stops and posted a K rate of 27.3% and pitched in 43 games, second-most of the hurlers on this year’s roster. He showed some excellent velocity this spring and could be a dark-horse candidate to pitch for the parent club before the year is out. Costello spent most of the season on the T-Rats, but showed promise in three outings for the Shuckers. Cruz is the youngest pitcher on the staff at 23 and was a long reliever/spot starter for the Timber Rattlers last season. Mendoza and Woessner both spent time at Double-A and Triple-A last year, with Mendoza coming over from the Blue Jays organization and will begin his ninth year in professional ball. (For position players, ages are in parentheses.) Catchers: Darrien Miller (24), Ramón Rodríguez (26), Victor Torres (24). Miller is a glutton for punishment, as he was hit by a Southern League-high 28 pitches last year. In fact, Biloxi led the league with 101 plunkings last season. Between HBP and bases on balls, Miller is an on-base machine, fashioning a .392 middle slash number last year including 64 walks. Unfortunately, his arm is a liability, as he threw out only 20% of runners trying to steal. Rodríguez split time with Matt Wood at Wisconsin last year. He had a batting line of .252/.340/.428 while slamming 10 home runs, and earned the right to spend considerable time on the big-league side in camp this year. (Being a catcher keeps you around.) Torres only had 31 at-bats at two stops and hasn’t had 100 at-bats since 2022, so he is a bit of an unknown quantity. Infielders: Luke Adams (20), Eric Brown Jr. (24), Ethan Murray (24), Cooper Pratt (20), Zavier Warren (26), Brock Wilken (22). Adams moves up from Wisconsin, where he batted .227/.443/.397 on the strength of 40 HBP (!) and 78 walks. He hit 11 homers and stole 28 bases, although he was caught 10 times. With Wilken on the team, Adams will most likely move to the other side of the diamond, to first base. Brown usually plays shortstop, but will probably move to second base to make room for Pratt. Brown slumped to a batting line of .185/.270/.262 last season but did steal 20 bases. He has slipped on the prospect list. Murray can play second, short, or third and will serve as a utility infielder. Pratt is the next Brewers star (or so the team hopes), and will play shortstop. Last season at two stops, he hit a combined .277/.362/.406 with eight homers and 27 stolen bases. He won a minor league Gold Glove, so he can pick ‘em. Warren spent last year at Biloxi, and although he didn’t hit much (with a batting line of .206/.308/.342), he can play first, second, third, and at either corner outfield spot. He will probably be the fourth outfielder. Wilken is another former first-round pick with upside, but also major question marks. The Brewers are still waiting for the guy who hit 71 home runs at Wake Forest to show up. He has hit 22 homers in 570 professional at-bats, so maybe the in-game power is coming. He will be a mainstay at the hot corner, unless the Brewers elect to swap him across the infield for Adams. Most important, for him, will be demonstrating that he's put the beaning that derailed his 2024 permanently behind him. Outfielders: Luis Lara (20), Bladimir Restituyo (23), Jheremy Vargas (22). Lara is another stud who will start the season at Biloxi. The petite (5-foot-8, 165 pounds) switch-hitter is a plus defender in center and can steal bases, as evidenced by his 45 thefts last year. He needs to work on his bat-to-ball skills to keep moving up the organizational ladder. Restituyo came over from the Rockies organization, and will begin his seventh pro season at age 23. He has played mostly center field in the past, but can play all three garden spots, plus second, short, or third in a pinch. He doesn’t walk much, but has a .272 career batting average. Vargas spent last season playing for the T-Rats and can play every position except for catcher. He hit .210/.303/.301 but stole 23 bases during the 2024 season. These two will play LF and RF; it’s just a matter of who plays where. Summary If all the stars align, this could be a really good team. If players like Hunt, Adams, Pratt, Wilken, or Lara have great seasons and move up to Nashville, then it might be a different story. But until that happens, fans at Keesler Federal Park should kick back with their fried oysters, fried shrimp, or jambalaya and enjoy some quality Shuckers baseball. Brewer Fanatic’s 2025 Top Prospects in Biloxi #3: SS Cooper Pratt #7: IF Brock Wilken #13: IF Luke Adams #16: RHP K.C. Hunt #20: OF Luis Lara View full article

Murph has got to start talking in complete sentences...lol. You are gonna wear out your [] keys. 😅

Thomas Matthew Hausman was born in March 1953 in Mobridge, South Dakota but moved with his family to La Verne, California (an eastern suburb of Los Angeles) as a child. Hausman was drafted in the 10th round of the 1971 MLB Amateur Draft by the Brewers. After a solid season at short-season Newark in the New York-Penn League, Hausman was having a nice season at Single-A Danville but ended up on the disabled list and missed half the season. He had 12-win seasons at the Double-A and Triple-A levels the next two years and earned a spot on the Opening Day roster for Milwaukee in 1975. The 6-foot-4 right hander made 29 appearances, including nine starts in a season that ended in late August with shoulder problems. His 94 ERA+ and 4.00 FIP were decent numbers for a rookie. Hausman started 1976 with Milwaukee but was sent down to Triple-A Spokane after just three appearances to make room for Ray Sadecki. He made a total of 48 starts over the next two years at Spokane but was released November 1977. He was selected by several teams in the second annual free agent draft but elected to sign with the New York Mets. Hausman shuttled between New York and Triple-A Tidewater in 1978 and ’79, making 29 appearances (20 starts) for the Mets during the span. He posted a 133 ERA+ in 1979, making 10 starts in 19 appearances and had an ERA of 2.75. Hausman set career bests in 1980 with appearances (55), innings pitched (122) and strikeouts (53), although his ERA+ of 89 was subpar. The strike season of 1981 saw him post a career-high 162 ERA+, albeit in just 20 appearances. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves toward the end of the 1982 season and after pitching in just three games for the Braves, was released in January. Over the next three years, Hausman played at the Triple-A level in the Pirates, Dodgers, and Padres organizations, although he did not play in 1984. Hausman passed away on January 16, 2019. View full player

Sunday’s loss marked the seventh time in Milwaukee Brewers history that they have lost the first three games of the season. But this year takes the cake for most runs allowed and greatest margin of victory in that trio of contests. Image courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images The Brewers had high hopes as they traveled east last week to Yankee Stadium, aka ‘The House That Ruth Built.’ Technically, Ruth didn’t build this version (or the last two for that matter), but it is a common moniker for the stadium in the Bronx. But it sure looked like this year’s version of the Yankees had a whole lotta Babe Ruth's hacking away for them at the dish. Led by Aaron Judge’s four home runs, the Bronx Bombers belted 15 of them in the three-game sweep of the Brewers, who are suddenly struggling to find a pitcher who can keep the ball in the park. Not to be outdone, Jazz Chisholm slammed three homers, while Austin Wells and Anthony Volpe each have a pair of jacks to their credit. The Brewers played a decent game on Opening Day on Thursday, but due to a bad bounce on a ball hit by Judge that struck the third base bag and bounced over Vinny Capra’s head, the Yankees snuck out with a 4-2 win. Unfortunately, the other two games weren’t even close. Maybe the day off didn’t help Nestor Cortes’ nerves. Maybe he had too much rest. No matter. The first three pitches on Saturday served up (literally) by him were turned into souvenirs by Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, and Judge. And then, to add insult to the already-injured Brewers staff, Wells added a wall-scraper to give the Yanks a 4-0 lead after one. And it would only get worse. Although Milwaukee made a contest of it with three ‘small-ball’ runs in the second to cut the lead to 4-3, the Yankees tromped on the gas pedal the rest of the way with homers by Volpe, Judge, Chisholm, Judge (again), and Oswald Peraza en route to a football-like score of 20-9. Connor Thomas, not wanting to be left out in his major league debut, gave up three taters, while Chad Patrick allowed one in his first game as a big leaguer. All that was with the wind blowing out (mostly) on a nice 75-degree day. Sunday was a different story, weather-wise, with a blustery, cloudy, 45-degree day greeting frozen fans and players alike. No matter: New York treated their guests rudely again, slamming three homers off Brewer starter Aaron Civale and one dinger off Joel Payamps in a 12-3 win. Brewer players were probably in such a hurry to get out of town, they didn’t even take showers. It is now up to manager Pat Murphy to patch up the bedraggled pitching staff and put some wins on the board. If you had told me that one team would be winless in the NL Central after their first three games, I probably wouldn’t have picked Milwaukee for that dubious ‘honor.’ The Brewers' other slow starts: · 1970 (0-3) · 1984 (0-5) · 2001 (0-4) · 2003 (0-6) · 2011 (0-4) · 2015 (0-4) The combined score of this year's opening games was 36-14. In 2003, the St. Louis Cardinals scored 24 runs in the first three games of the season against the Brewers, winning by scores of 11-9, 7-0, and 6-4. Those two dozen runs were dwarfed by this year's three dozen. Way back in the days of the dinosaurs... err, I mean 1970, the Brewers lost 12-0 in their first-ever game to the California Angels at County Stadium. The second game was a little better, as the Brewers lost by a tally of 6-1 before a whopping crowd of just over 7,500. For the third game of that campaign, they traveled to Chicago to take on the White Sox. The Crew dropped a close 5-4 decision and the loss margin in those three games was the previous high of 18. Let's end this on a positive note. In 2011, the Brewers rebounded from that 0-4 start to win the NL Central title. Here’s hoping the 2025 Brewers can take some lessons from that team. View full article