The MiLB playoffs are well underway, and while the Oklahoma City Dodgers (Triple-A) being eliminated after three games is a bit of a shocker, the Milwaukee Brewers’ Double-A squad is just performing as they should–which is to say they’re winning. After finishing with the best overall record in the Southern League at 78-59, the Biloxi Shuckers just kept rolling with their victory over the second-half division winners, the Pensacola Blue Wahoos (Reds).
When the Brewers traded Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers to the Houston Astros at the deadline, five-tool outfielder Brett Phillips and left-hander with a lot of potential Josh Hader were thought to be the main pieces of the trade while Domingo Santana was a near-ready prospect. Adrian Houser could have been viewed as an afterthought, but on Friday night he pitched his way into the the conversation.
As a member of the Shuckers, Houser was 4-1 with a 2.92 ERA over 37 regular season innings, a vast improvement over his 6.21 ERA in 33 1/3 innings with the Astros Double-A squad. On Friday night, Houser would go six full innings before allowing a single baserunner, and wouldn’t allow a fly ball out until the first out of the fifth inning, striking out five and inducing seven ground ball outs up to that point.
The first hit Houser allowed, a Phil Ervin single to start the seventh, would be erased on a double play. Jesse Winker would single after that, but the dominant Houser would induce his ninth groundout of the night to end the inning.
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Pensacola would get a one out single from Ryan Wright in the top of the ninth, but he too would be erased on a double play to end the game. Of the 27 outs the 22-year-old righty was responsible for, 10 came via punch-outs, one through the air, and the rest on the ground. That is utter dominance, and one heck of a way to earn the first complete game of your career.
Brett Phillips has been limited for Biloxi due to injury, but went 2-for-3 with an RBI in Thursday’s Game 1 and entered Friday’s game in the 8th for defensive purposes.
Of course, we can’t talk about Milwaukee Brewers’ prospects without mentioning their #1 prospect, shortstop Orlando Arcia. Still just 21, Arcia is ranked #12 overall on baseball’s prospect list according to MLB Pipeline, and through two games in this series he’s 4-for-8 with a home run, 4 RBI and two runs scored, splitting those statistics evenly between the two games with the homer coming last night.
Hader has yet to pitch in the series, but is the scheduled starter for a potential Game 4 on Sunday. In his one game against Pensacola, Hader went six strong, allowing just one run on two hits while striking out seven.
The final piece of that trade, Santana, has been with the Brew Crew since late August. In his time with Milwaukee he’s playing regularly, which has helped him a bit at the plate. He’s batting .276 with a .389 on-base percentage to go along with 5 homers and 11 driven in–all in 72 at-bats.
Whether or not these acquisitions will help the Brewers overtake the Cardinals, Pirates or Cubs remains to be seen. At the very least they are much closer to competing with this dominant trio than they were before the trade was made.
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