MILWAUKEE, Wis. - In November, former Pacific Tiger Brent Sullivan signed a one-year major league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers after becoming a seven-year minor league free agent. The MLB lockout has now delayed his baseball journey, but it has not dampened his enthusiasm for the opportunity that awaits him as a member of the Brewers.
"You just keep putting your head down and working hard, and hopefully, some good things will happen," Brett said recently from his home in Arizona, where he is working out and waiting for the lockout to end. "I could not be more excited to be joining the Brewers. What a great group of guys already, and to be able to catch that pitching staff is incredible."
A local Stockton product and Lincoln High graduate, Sullivan said it was a "simple choice" to enroll at Pacific. When asked why he explained, "My brother (Tyler) had committed there and Ed Sprague. It's the greatest thing to be able to play with your brother, who is 15 months older, and for us to have three years there."
Sullivan believes his experiences at Pacific set the stage for his professional success. When asked about the key factors, he said, "I think Ed Sprague believing in me and giving me the chance to play every day, even maybe if I shouldn't have. He taught me so much about the game. And having my brother there to hold me accountable and push me. Those two people had the biggest impact on me at Pacific and still do to this day. Without them, I don't think I'm here."
Both brothers were drafted in 2015; Tyler in the 14th round by the Chicago White Sox. He played the 2015 season with their rookie team in Arizona and the 2016 year in North Carolina with the Kannapolis Intimidators.
Brett was drafted in the 17th round by the Tampa Bay Rays and had played his entire career in the Rays organization until he signed with Milwaukee this winter after becoming a seven-year minor leaguer. He started shortly after the 2015 college season ended by playing in the Appalachian League for the Rays' advanced rookie team in Princeton, West Virginia. He led the league in extra-base hits and hit 11 home runs, all in the final 46 games (of 65). Sullivan pointed out the home run hitting as a key point of his career.
"As a 17th rounder in baseball, you have to have a good year, or they go to the next guy," Sullivan explained. "I was blessed to start with that good year to have the coaches look at me, and I got to really develop as a hitter, and they helped me become a real good catcher." Sullivan said one of the highs of his minor league career was his progress as a catcher. Halfway through his short season, they asked him if he ever caught. He did it in high school a little bit. He spent the off-season working on his catching process. "My favorite thing is the bond between the catcher and pitcher. There is nothing better when the two of you are in sync."
He played the 2016 season with the Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods in Kentucky, where he was the top minor leaguer in the system with 81 RBI and earned All-Star honors. The following season, he started with the Charlotte Stone Crabs in Port Charlotte, Florida in Class A-Advanced, then moved up to the Double-A Montgomery Biscuits in Alabama. His 74 RBI between the two levels was second-best among Rays minor leaguers. He spent the off-season in the Arizona Fall League, where Baseball America ranked him as having the Best Strike-Zone Judgement in the fall league.
He played both the 2018 and 2019 seasons exclusively with Montgomery. He was seventh in the Southern League in RBI with 65 in 2017 and ranked in the top 10 in both average (.280) and extra-base hits (40) in 2018. He demonstrated his versatility with 56 starts in left field, 14 behind the plate and two pitching appearances.
In 2020, he had earned a non-roster invitation to the Rays' spring training and was still in camp when COVID shut it down. He went to Sugar Land, Texas to play for an independent team after the shutdown, but after a week, he was added to the Rays 60-man player pool and returned to Port Charlotte, Florida, to work out with a group of about 30 players, scrimmaging daily and waiting to see if they would be needed on the major league roster. There was no minor league baseball in 2020.
In 2021, he was again invited to spring training and then played the season with the Durham Bulls in North Carolina, the Rays' Triple-A squad. He had nine home runs with 35 RBI for the Bulls. Following the season, he became a seven-year minor league free agent and returned to the Dominican Republic to play winter ball for the second time in his career when he got word from his agent that he had the opportunity to sign with the Brewers. He rushed back to complete his physical in Milwaukee and signed with the Brewers the day before the lockout began.
"I let my agent handle the start of the process. It benefited my mental space that I was playing baseball," Sullivan said. "I'm playing in the middle of a game when I found out. The Brewers had one of the best offers, and I thought they were the best fit. It ultimately was an easy decision; it was just nerve-wracking."
When asked about why they were the best fit, he said it was some of the players and coaches he knew from the Rays organization that helped him conclude that the personality of "the bunch of young guys and gamers" would make a good environment where he can be himself.
Defensively, one of Sullivan's values is his utility. A shortstop during his time at Pacific, he was signed as a second baseman but has never played that position professionally. Instead, he has become a solid catcher due to his athleticism, willingness to learn and calm demeanor. He's played more games at catcher than any other position in the minor leagues. He also can play at third base, first base and both corner outfield positions. Offensively, not only does he come through with runners in scoring position, but he also has a low strikeout ratio.
Sullivan has relocated to Scottsdale, Arizona, with his wife, Hunter and two-year-old son, Hudson. "Being a father is by far the best thing," Brett reports. He is working out with other players through his agency, CAA. "It's been great to be able to catch their bullpens and begin to build a bond," Sullivan explained.
It's been a long wait, now extended a bit longer for Brett, but he continues to have a positive attitude. When he plays in his first major league game for the Brewers, Sullivan will become the first player drafted from Pacific that made it to "The Show" since D.J. Houlton debuted with the Dodgers in 2005.
