Missions baseball alumni update: Travis Shaw

The Brewers' Travis Shaw (21) celebrates after hitting a home run during a 2021 spring training game on March 24 in Phoenix. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Brewers’ Travis Shaw (21) celebrates after hitting a home run during a 2021 spring training game on March 24 in Phoenix. – photo by Joe Alexander
The Milwaukee Brewers sent Travis Shaw down to the Triple-A San Antonio Missions in 2019 when he went through a hitting slump.

Shaw spent 42 games with the Missions and batted .285 with 12 home runs.

The Brewers and Shaw parted ways after that season. He spent 2020 with the Toronto Blue Jays, batting .239 in 50 games.

Shaw is back with the Brewers in spring training this year. He played in 17 spring games and is projected to be the Brewers’ main third baseman when the season opens on Thursday.

The 6-foot-4 Shaw bats left-handed and throws right-handed. He has hit 105 career home runs in six seasons the majors. He spent three seasons with the Brewers and hit 31 home runs in 2017 and 32 home runs in 2018.

Travis Shaw had one hit and played third base for the Missions on Monday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Travis Shaw batting for the San Antonio Missions during the 2019 season.

Missions baseball alumni update: Miguel Sanchez

Miguel Sanchez of the 2019 San Antonio Missions pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers during 2021 spring training in Phoenix. - photo by Joe Alexander
Miguel Sanchez of the 2019 San Antonio Missions pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers during 2021 spring training in Phoenix.
Miguel Sanchez has pitched in 124 minor league games in four seasons in the United States, including 40 games for the San Antonio Missions during the 2019 Triple-A Pacific Coast League season.

Sanchez made five starts and 35 relief appearances in 2019. He had a 4-5 record with one save and a 4.35 ERA with 62 strikeouts in 60.0 innings pitched.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander from the Dominican Republic has not pitched in a major league game.

Sanchez pitched in 17 games in 2019-20 in the Dominican Winter League for the champion Toros del Este.

Sanchez was in the Brewers’ 2021 spring training big league camp. He has pitched in eight games this spring, all in relief, with an 0-1 record and a 4.70 ERA.

He was assigned to the Brewers’ minor league camp on March 12.

Miguel Sanchez pitching for the Missions at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Miguel Sanchez pitching for the Missions at Wolff Stadium during the 2019 season.

Missions baseball alumni update: Corey Ray

Corey Ray playing for the Milwaukee Brewers during a 2021 spring training game in Phoenix. - photo by Joe Alexander
Corey Ray playing for the Milwaukee Brewers during a 2021 spring training game in Phoenix.
Corey Ray played in 53 games for the 2019 San Antonio Missions, roaming center field when he was healthy.

Ray batted .188 with seven home runs in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. He also saw action in 11 games in Double-A and 5 games in Rookie League as he worked his way back from injury.

The 6-foot, left-handed hitting Ray was part of the Milwaukee Brewers’ alternate site last summer during the covid-shortened season. Like other minor league players, he didn’t see any game action in 2020.

A first-round draft pick by the Brewers in 2016, Ray was invited to Milwaukee’s 2021 big league spring training. He has played in 18 games this spring and batted .200.

The Brewers optioned Ray to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds on March 12.

San Antonio Missions center fielder Corey Ray playing against the New Orleans Baby Cakes on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Corey Ray playing for the Missions at Wolff Stadium during the 2019 season.

Missions baseball alumni update: Jacob Nottingham

Former San Antonio Missions catcher Jacob Nottingham playing for the Milwaukee Brewers in spring training in Phoenix on March 24, 2021. - photo by Joe Alexander
Former San Antonio Missions catcher Jacob Nottingham playing for the Milwaukee Brewers in spring training in Phoenix on March 24, 2021.
Jacob Nottingham played in 83 games for the San Antonio Missions in 2019, mostly at catcher. He batted .231 with five home runs in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

Nottingham played in nine games for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2019. He played in 20 games for the Brewers last season and hit four home runs.

Nottingham had thumb surgery in the offseason. He has had some at-bats in spring training but hasn’t caught any games yet. He is expected to open the season on the injured list, according to reports from Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and Adam McCalvy of MLB.com.

San Antonio Missions and Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jacob Nottingham playing for San Antonio this season at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions catcher Jacob Nottingham snares a pop-up at Wolff Stadium during the 2019 season.

Missions baseball alumni update: Tyrone Taylor

Former San Antonio Missions outfielder Tyrone Taylor playing for the Milwaukee Brewers in a 2021 spring training game in Arizona. - photo by Joe Alexander
Former Missions outfielder Tyrone Taylor playing for the Brewers in a 2021 spring training game in Phoenix.
Tyrone Taylor looked like he would be a mainstay in the outfield for the San Antonio Missions when the 2019 season opened.

Instead, injuries limited Taylor to 92 games. He still hit 14 home runs and batted .269 during the Missions’ only season in Triple A.

Taylor showed enough for the Milwaukee Brewers to call him up to the majors on Sept. 7, 2019. He played in 15 games for the Brewers late in the season.

In the covid-shortened 2020 season, Taylor played in 22 game for the Brewers and hit his first two major league home runs and batted .237.

A second-round draft pick by the Brewers in 2012, Taylor has played in 19 games so far in 2021 spring training in Arizona and hit .293 with two home runs.

During Saturday’s spring training game, Taylor was playing right field and was involved in a collision with first baseman Dustin Peterson while chasing a fly ball. Early indications were that Taylor was not seriously injured.

Projections are that Taylor could start the season in Triple A and join the Brewers later in the season. He is on the Brewers’ 40-man roster and still is a possibility to make the Brewers’ opening day roster.

Brewers transactions at MLB.com

The San Antonio Missions' Tyrone Tyrone Taylor hits his 13th home run of the 2019 season at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions outfielder Tyrone Tyrone Taylor hits his 13th home run of the 2019 season at Wolff Stadium.

Missions baseball alumni update: Adrian Houser

Adrian Houser pitching in a 2021 spring training game in Phoenix on March 24. - photo by Joe Alexander
Adrian Houser pitching in a 2021 spring training game in Phoenix on March 24.
Adrian Houser pitched in four games for the 2019 San Antonio Missions – all starts. He had a 2-0 record with a 1.27 ERA in the Missions’ only season in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander is expected to be a part of the Milwaukee Brewers’ starting rotation when this season starts.

Houser was a second-round draft pick by the Houston Astros in 2011 and was sent to the Brewers in July 2015 as part of a six-player trade. He made his major league debut in 2015, making two relief appearances for the Brewers.

After starting 2019 with the Missions, he was called up to Milwaukee on May 3 and appeared in 35 games for the Brewers that summer including 18 starts. He finished the season with a 6-7 record with a 3.72 ERA in 111 1/3 innings.

In the covid-shortened 2020 season, Houser started 11 games and made one relief appearance. He recorded a 1-6 record with a 5.30 ERA in 56 innings.

Adrian Houser. The Missions beat the Sounds 5-4 Sunday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Adrian Houser pitching for the San Antonio Missions at Wolff Stadium during the 2019 season.

2019 Missions at Milwaukee Brewers’ big league spring training

Miguel Sanchez pitching for the Missions at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Miguel Sanchez pitching for the San Antonio Missions at Wolff Stadium during the summer of 2019.
The San Antonio Missions were the Triple-A farm club of the Milwaukee Brewers during the 2019 season. These players were in uniform for the Missions two summers ago and went to the Brewers’ big league camp for 2021 spring training:

PITCHERS
No. Player

50 Ray Black
66 Zack Brown
39 Corbin Burnes
37 Adrian Houser
64 Thomas Jankins
47 Angel Perdomo
70 Miguel Sanchez
35 Brent Suter
38 Devin Williams

CATCHERS
No. Player

26 Jacob Nottingham

INFIELDERS
No. Player

18 Keston Hiura
21 Travis Shaw

OUTFIELDERS
No. Player

78 Corey Ray
15 Tyrone Taylor

* 2019 Missions manager Rick Sweet is listed as an instructor

Tyrone Taylor playing for the San Antonio Missions at Wolff Stadium during the 2019 season. - photo by Joe Alexander
Tyrone Taylor playing for the Missions at Wolff Stadium during the 2019 season

Brewers’ player pool loaded with last summer’s Missions

The Missions' Adrian Houser pitches against the Redbirds on April 9 at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander`
Adrian Houser, pitching for the San Antonio Missions at Wolff Stadium in 2019, is part of the Milwaukee Brewers’ player pool announced Monday.
The Milwaukee Brewers announced their initial player pool for the 2020 Major League Baseball season.

The pool includes these position players from the 2019 San Antonio Missions:

Milwaukee Brewers player pool includes these position players from the 2019 San Antonio Missions:
C David Freitas
C Jacob Nottingham
IF Keston Hiura

These pitchers who saw action with the 2019 Missions are also included in the Brewers’ player pool:

Ray Black
Zack Brown
Corbin Burnes
Adrian Houser
Brent Suter

Missions watch: Ray Black

Ray Black pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers in a Feb. 23 spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix. - photo by Joe Alexander
Ray Black pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers in a Feb. 23 spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix. – photo by Joe Alexander
One in a series of brief looks at players with ties to the San Antonio Missions as we get ready for the 2020 baseball season.

Ray Black had a brief stretch with the San Antonio Missions last summer as a relief pitcher.

The 6-foot-5 right-hander joined the Milwaukee Brewers organization in a trade-deadline deal on July 31 that saw the Missions’ Mauricio Dubon go to the the San Francisco Giants organization.

Black made six appearances for the Missions, allowing only one earned run. He gave up one hit with nine strikeouts and two walks in 6.0 innings.

He finished the season with Milwaukee. Black made 15 relief appearances for the Brewers and had a 5.14 ERA.

Black started 2020 spring training with the Brewers’ big club in the Cactus League. He appeared in two games before being sidelined by an injury.

Todd Rosiak of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on March 10 that Black has a sore back but the issue isn’t considered serious.

Black was originally drafted by the Giants in the seventh round in 2011. He made his MLB debut in 2018 and made 26 relief appearances for the Giants that season.

Ray Black pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers in a Feb. 23 spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix. - photo by Joe Alexander
Ray Black pitching for the Milwaukee Brewers in a Feb. 23 spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix. – photo by Joe Alexander

Missions watch: David Freitas

David Freitas of the 2019 San Antonio Missions with the Milwaukee Brewers in a 2020 spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix. - photo by Joe Alexander
David Freitas with the Milwaukee Brewers in a 2020 spring training game.
One in a series of brief looks at players with ties to the San Antonio Missions as we get ready for the 2020 baseball season.

David Freitas led the San Antonio Missions in hitting last season with a .381 average.

Freitas hovered around the .400 mark for much of the summer while playing catcher and first base in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.

Freitas, who will turn 31 years old on March 18, was a 15th-round draft pick in 2010 and has paid his dues in the minor leagues. He has played in 802 games in the minors with a .289 average and 73 home runs.

He played in his first major league game in 2017 with the Atlanta Braves. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound right-hander has played in a total of 58 games in the majors including 16 at the end of the last season after being called up by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Freitas went to 2020 spring training with the Brewers’ big league crew. He is hitting .211 (4-of-19) in the Cactus League in 13 games.

David Freitas on Twitter