Everything you need to know about the Biloxi Shuckers’ return
Professional baseball is ready for another season in South Mississippi with the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers geared up for opening day.
The Shuckers open the season in Pensacola on Friday, while the home-opening series against the Mississippi Braves is set for Tuesday, April 12.
The roster will be familiar to fans who followed last year with 17 players back from the 2021 season.
The Shuckers are also getting an infusion of offensive talent from the Single-A level this year that has players excited about the offensive potential the lineup has.
“We make the jokes, calling our team the ‘Biloxi Bombers,’ ” outfielder Garrett Mitchell said. “We have a really good crew, I think.”
Joining the team this year is outfielder Joey Wiemer, the No. 2 prospect in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. The former fourth-round draft pick is the Brewers’ reigning Minor League Player of the Year after tearing up High-A and Low-A ball last season.
Wiemer recorded 117 hits in just 109 games with 27 home runs and 30 stolen bases.
“I’m excited to get going, we’ve got a really talented group of guys,” Wiemer said. “It’s exciting to see what we can do this year.”
Five players to watch (Org. Rank)
- Wiemer (No. 2). Major League Baseball’s No. 100 ranked prospect made waves last season as a power-hitting outfielder. Wiemer made a minor tweak ahead of the 2021 season and unlocked a level of production even higher than what he produced in three years of college ball at Cincinnati.
- Mitchell (No. 3). Mitchell, Baseball Prospectus’ No. 94 prospect, dominated the Single-A level where he picked up 33 hits in 29 games. Mitchell was called up to Biloxi in July, where Double-A pitching quickly overmatched him. The former first-round draft pick slashed .186/.291/.264 for the Shuckers.
“Baseball is hard,” Mitchell said. “The biggest jump is going from any of the Single-A’s to Double-A and from here, like I said, you just try to be consistent as possible. I don’t think a lot of that changes when you go higher ... I’m excited to come back and here and do a little bit more and try to be more consistent than I was last year. That’s going to be my everyday goal.”
- Freddie Zamora (No. 10). Zamora led the entire Brewers organization in batting average last year when he hit at a .300 clip across High-A and Low-A. A second-round pick out of Miami, Zamora is one of three top-10 Brewers prospects from the 2020 draft class in Biloxi’s lineup.
- Felix Valerio (No. 11). Valerio is the Brewers’ highest-ranked international signing on Biloxi’s roster. From the Dominican Republic, the infielder joined the organization via trade from the Mets. He’s coming off of a solid season in Single-A where he hit 37 doubles and stole 31 bags.
- Abner Uribe (No. 20). The highest-ranked pitching prospect on Biloxi’s roster, Uribe has Milwaukee’s hardest-throwing arm. Any fan watching Uribe is in for a treat when he uncorks his 103-MPH fastball.
Tickets can be purchased at BiloxiShuckers.com.
