Tag: Lucas Erceg

Missions player possibilities for 2020

Missions outfielder Tyrone Taylor chases down a fly ball at Wolff Stadium last summer. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions outfielder Tyrone Taylor chases down a fly ball at Wolff Stadium last summer.
If and when the 2020 major league and Triple-A seasons get underway, here is a look at who might be playing for the San Antonio Missions:

These Milwaukee Brewers transactions from March list players the big club sent to San Antonio:

Brewers optioned 3B Ryon Healy to Missions.
Brewers optioned 2B Mark Mathias to Missions.
Brewers optioned SS Ronny Rodriguez to Missions.
Brewers optioned C David Freitas to Missions.
Brewers optioned CF Corey Ray to Missions.
Brewers optioned RHP Trey Supak to Missions.

The following players have minor-league contracts with the Brewers and were invited to spring training with the big club. They could end up in San Antonio and include six of last season’s Missions:

LHP Clayton Andrews
RHP Zack Brown
3B Andres Blanco
3B Lucas Erceg
C Payton Henry
RHP Thomas Jankins
RHP Mike Morin
C Mario Feliciano
RHP Drew Rasmussen
RHP Miguel Sanchez
LHP Ethan Small
RHP Aaron Wilkerson
1B Logan Morrison
C Tuffy Gosewisch

Other 2019 Missions who were in the Brewers’ minor league spring training were:

P Bubba Derby
C Skyler Ewing

Outfielder Tyrone Taylor had his 2019 season with the injured slowed by injuries. He is on the Brewers’ 40-man roster by wasn’t playing in spring training while he recovered from surgery.

Update on Friday, Feb. 27, 2020:

The Milwaukee Brewers optioned the following players to the San Antonio Missions:
C Jacob Nottingham
LHP Angel Perdomo
RHP Bobby Wahl
RHP Eric Yardley

Missions watch: Lucas Erceg

Lucas Erceg of the 2019 San Antonio Missions playing for the Milwaukee Brewers in a 2020 spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix. - photo by Joe Alexander
Lucas Erceg playing for the Milwaukee Brewers in a 2020 spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix.
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.

One of the best infield arms in the Milwaukee Brewers minor league system belongs to Lucas Erceg.

The 24-year-old from California showed off his skills last summer at Wolff Stadium – primarily as the San Antonio Missions’ third baseman.

What held Erceg back was a season when he struggled to get in an extended groove at the plate. The left-handed hitter batted .218 with 15 home runs in 116 games in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. He struck out 102 times in 357 at-bats.

A second-round draft pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016, Erceg batted a combined .327 his first professional season in rookie and Class A ball in the summer of 2016.

Erceg is with the Brewers’ big club in 2020 spring training, seeing action at both third base and first base. He has played in 13 Cactus League games so far and is hitting .182 with one home run and five RBIs in 22 at-bats.

It doesn’t look like the Brewers have room for Erceg on their opening day roster, so he appears likely to be back at Wolff Stadium with the Missions a month from now when they open their 2020 season on April 9.

Update: On Monday afternoon, Erceg was one of nine players the Brewers reassigned to Minor League camp. The list also includes pitchers Thomas Jankins and Miguel Sanchez from the 2019 Missions.

Missions’ Lucas Erceg on hot streak

San Antonio Missions infielder Lucas Erceg playing at Wolff Stadium during the 2019 season. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions infielder Lucas Erceg playing at Wolff Stadium during the 2019 season. – photo by Joe Alexander
Lucas Erceg’s fourth-inning single on Monday extended his hitting streak to seven games.

That came during the San Antonio Missions’ 9-5 road loss in El Paso.

Erceg’s batting average improved from .202 on Aug. 3 to .230 on Aug. 12. During his hot streak Erceg is hitting .469 (15-of-32).

On Friday night in Albuquerque, Lucas hit his 15th home run of the season. That matches the best season in his four years of professional baseball. Last season at Double-A Biloxi, Erceg hit 13 home runs.

The 6-foot-3, 24-year-old from San Jose, Calif., bats left-handed. He has played infield this season for the Missions, primarily at third base and first base.

Missions break out offense but fall to Grizzlies

The Missions' David Freitas hits a first-inning home run on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ David Freitas hits a first-inning home run on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
After going scoreless in the first nine innings of their last two games, the San Antonio Missions’ bats came alive Sunday night.

The Missions came up a run short despite 16 hits including a home run by David Freitas.

The Fresno Grizzlies lashed out 14 hits including four home runs to beat the Missions 11-10 at Wolff Stadium.

Freitas hit his ninth home run of the season in the first inning. He finished with three hits, including a double, and scored three times.

Troy Stokes Jr. had three hits and Tyrone Taylor, Cory Spangenberg, Lucas Erceg and Jake Hager had two hits each for the Missions.

Missions rally in 9th to beat Cubs

The Missions celebrate after Jacob Nottinham scored the winning run on a ground ball by Trent Grisham on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions celebrate after Jacob Nottinham scored the winning run on a ground ball by Trent Grisham on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
The San Antonio Missions scratched out three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to beat the Iowa Cubs 4-3 on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium.

The Missions got the job done in the final inning without a longball or extra-base hit. They put together two singles, a walk, a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring ground ball.

(Cubs lead 3-1 going into bottom of the 9th)

– Nate Orf singles.

– Troy Stokes Jr. walks. Orf goes to second.

– Jacob Nottingham singles. Orf scores. Stokes goes to second. (Cubs lead 3-2)

– Lucas Erceg pinch-hits.

– Wild pitch. Stokes goes to third. Nottingham goes to second.

– Erceg sacrifice flies to right field. Stokes scores. Nottingham goes to third. (score tied 3-3)

– Trent Grisham chops a grounder to first. Nottingham slides and beats the throw at the plate for the winning run (Missions win 4-3).

The Missions’ other run scored on a solo home run by Hernan Perez in the fourth inning.

Lucas Erceg, Blake Allemand help Missions blow away Storm Chasers

Missions pitcher Thomas Jankins is 7-0 in his last nine starts after getting the win against the Storm Chasers on Saturday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions pitcher Thomas Jankins is 7-0 in his last nine starts after getting the win against the Storm Chasers on Saturday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
Lucas Erceg and Blake Allemand homered and Thomas Jankins pitched seven strong innings as the San Antonio Missions beat the Omaha Storm Chasers 8-2 on Saturday at Wolff Stadium.

Erceg hit his 12th home run of the season, a solo shot in the second inning. Allemand hit a three-run homer in the 8th inning, his third blast of the season.

Jankins (9-2) gave up one earned run on eight hits with seven strikeouts and no walks. He lowered his season ERA to 3.39. Jankins has seven wins and two no-decisions in his last nine starts.

The Missions' Lucas Erceg celebrates his second-inning home run with third base coach Ned Yoast IV on Saturday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Lucas Erceg celebrates his second-inning home run with third base coach Ned Yoast IV on Saturday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions' Blake Allemand is congratulated at home plate by Jacob Nottingham (right) and Cory Spangenberg after Allemand's eighth-inning home run on Saturday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Blake Allemand is congratulated at home plate by Jacob Nottingham (right) and Cory Spangenberg after Allemand’s eighth-inning home run on Saturday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander

Jake Hager comes up big in late innings again for Missions

The Missions' Tyrone Taylor slides into home with the final run of the game on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Tyrone Taylor slides into home with the final run of the game on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
Jake Hager, who had two walk-off hits early in the season, didn’t wait until the ninth inning this time.

Hager drove in Tyrone Taylor in the bottom of the eighth with the winning run as the San Antonio Missions beat the Iowa Cubs 2-1 on Tuesday at Wolff Stadium.

Taylor led off the eighth with a single. Hager came up with one out and doubled to left to bring in Taylor and break the 1-1 tie.

That was the only at-bat of the game for Hager, who entered the game in the top of the eighth inning as part of a double-switch.

Missions starting pitcher Burch Smith went six innings and did not get a decision. He allowed one run on three hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Missions reliever Taylor (3-1) got the last out in the eighth and got the win. Jay Jackson pitched the top of the ninth and notched his seventh save of the season.

Erceg, Dubon, Spangenberg, Allemand homer to power Missions past Cubs

The San Antonio Missions' Blake Allemand hit his second home run of the season Sunday at Wolff Stadium, a solo shot in the seventh inning. - photo by Joe Alexander
The San Antonio Missions’ Blake Allemand hit his second home run of the season Sunday at Wolff Stadium, a solo shot in the seventh inning. – photo by Joe Alexander
The San Antonio Missions hit four home runs including back-to-back shots by Mauricio Dubon and Cory Spangenberg to beat the Iowa Cubs 10-2 Sunday at Wolff Stadium.

Iowa scored one run in the top of the first to lead briefly but only scored one run the rest of the way.

Missions starting pitcher Thomas Jankins, who picked up the win, also drove in San Antonio’s first run with a line drive to left in the third inning. Jankins and Trent Grisham scored later in the inning and the Missions had all the runs it turned out they needed.

Lucas Erceg hit his 11th home run of the season, a two-run blast in the fourth to make it 5-2.

Dubon hit his 12th home run of the season and Spangenberg hit his seventh back-to-back in the fifth inning.

Blake Allemand added his second home run of the season in the seventh inning.

The Missions finished with 11 hits.

Jankins (8-2) pitched six innings and gave up two runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

Jon Olczak, who was activated off the injured list earlier in the day, pitched two innings and Donnie Hart pitched the ninth to finish the game for the Missions.

The San Antonio Missions' Lucas Erceg hit his 11th home run of the season Sunday at Wolff Stadium, a two-run shot in the fourth inning. - photo by Joe Alexander
The San Antonio Missions’ Lucas Erceg hit his 11th home run of the season Sunday at Wolff Stadium, a two-run shot in the fourth inning. – photo by Joe Alexander
The San Antonio Missions' Mauricio Dubon hit his 12th home run of the season Sunday at Wolff Stadium, a solo shot in the fifth inning. - photo by Joe Alexander
The San Antonio Missions’ Mauricio Dubon hit his 12th home run of the season Sunday at Wolff Stadium, a solo shot in the fifth inning. – photo by Joe Alexander
The San Antonio Missions' Cory Spangenberg hit his seventh home run of the season Sunday at Wolff Stadium, a solo shot in the fifth inning. - photo by Joe Alexander
The San Antonio Missions’ Cory Spangenberg hit his seventh home run of the season Sunday at Wolff Stadium, a solo shot in the fifth inning. – photo by Joe Alexander

Missions’ Keston Hiura, Tyler Saladino set to join Brewers

Missions second baseman Keston Hiura playing against the Tacoma Rainiers on Wednesday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Keston Hiura, shown earlier this season, is expected to officially be called up by the Brewers on Friday. – photo by Joe Alexander
On a night when the San Antonio Missions combined stellar pitching with couple of home runs, the biggest story was two players who weren’t at Thursday’s game.

Keston Hiura and Tyler Saladino packed their bags before the game and left Wolff Stadium. Next stop, the big leagues.

The Milwaukee Brewers are expected to announce on Friday that Hiura and Saladino are being called up. Both have spent time with the Brewers earlier this season. Speculation about when Hiura would be called back up has been constant since he was sent back to San Antonio.

Apparently the call came Thursday afternoon. Both players were at batting practice at Wolff Stadium. At about 4:20 p.m. Central time, Hiura walked off the field as teammates waved at him.

A short time after that a member of the gameday staff reported that Saladino had exited the stadium. A team official confirmed both players were headed up.

Hiura hit .329 in 57 games in Triple-A with a team-high 19 home runs. Saladino hit .288 in 67 games and was second on the team in homers with 14.

The Missions' Tyler Saladino watches his three-run homer sail over the right-field fence in the sixth inning against the Redbirds on Sunday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
The Missions’ Tyler Saladino, shown earlier this season, is expected to officially be called up by the Brewers on Friday. – photo by Joe Alexander

By the way, Missions win

The Missions beat the Round Rock Express 3-0 on Thursday at Wolff Stadium.

Lucas Erceg and Jake Hager both homered for the Missions. Nate Orf drove in the other run.

Missions starting pitcher Burch Smith (6-3) went six innings and got the win. He allowed one hit with seven strikeouts and four walks. Deolis Guerra, Donnie Hart and Taylor Williams each pitched one inning in the combined shutout.

Missions starter Burch Smith pitched six innings and got the win against the Express on Thursday night at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions starter Burch Smith pitched six innings and got the win against the Express on Thursday night at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander

Mauricio Dubon, Zack Brown lead surging Missions past Aces

Missions shortstop Mauricio Dubon hits a second-inning home run Monday at Wolff Stadium. - photo by Joe Alexander
Missions shortstop Mauricio Dubon hits a second-inning home run Monday at Wolff Stadium. – photo by Joe Alexander
The San Antonio Missions won their fifth straight and 10th of the last 14 games with Monday’s 8-4 victory over the Reno Aces at Wolff Stadium.

Mauricio Dubon had three hits including his 10th home run of the season.

Missions starting pitcher Zack Brown (2-4) got the win and also hit an RBI double and walked. Brown pitched five innings and allowed four earned runs. He gave up six hits, struck out five and walked three.

In addition to his home run, Dubon had a single and a double. It was his fifth straight game with multiple hits. During that stretch he has raised his batting average from .290 to .312.

The Missions took control of the game with three runs in the second inning and four runs in the third.

All the Missions’ damage in the second inning came with two outs. Lucas Erceg started the rally with his seventh double of the season. Brown doubled down the first base line to score Erceg. Dubon’s homer with Brown on gave the Missions a 4-1 lead.

The Missions’ half of the third inning included a sacrifice fly by Erceg and a two-RBI single by Dubon. Dubon had four RBIs in the game and now has 36 for the season.