Article: Checking in on Our Overlooked Brewers Prospects: Position Players

[Harold Hutchison]

During the offseason, we looked over some of the prospects in the Brewers system who have been “overlooked,” in the sense that they don’t get the hype or coverage of Jackson Chourio, Sal Frelick, or even Jeferson Quero. But these are the prospects who can often come out of nowhere to be valuable contributors to a team.

Image courtesy of © Curt Hogg / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

We broke them into five groups: Catchers, first basemen, and designated hitters; middle infielders and third basemen; outfielders; starting pitchers; and relief pitchers.

So how are the overlooked prospects doing? Let’s take a look around the farm at the position players first.

C Darrien Miller

Miller drew attention for his superb OBP skills and his bat. Surprisingly, he’s returned to Appleton to open the season, and the OBP skills are still there, but in the early going, he has slumped. His defense seems to have taken a step up, though.

C Edgardo Ordonez

Ordonez has not seen the field yet, and is expected to be with the ACL Brewers in 2023.

1B Ernesto Wilson Martinez

Martinez is repeating at Appleton after missing most of 2022. To date, the OBP and power are there, while the batting average is a little low. Still, things look promising for the young slugger.

1B/C Jesus Chirinos

Like Martinez, Chirinos is flashing both power and OBP, but the batting average seems to be down some. At worst, he and Martinez make for an excellent platoon at first base, but if they reach their potential, it is a 1-2 punch at 1B and DH.

2B Felix Valerio

Valerio’s seen the field in six games, splitting time with Isaac Collins and Ethan Murray at the keystone. He’s put up good numbers in the past, though.

2B Zack Raabe

Raabe was a surprising release at the end of March, despite superb OBP skills.

SS Andruw Monasterio

The two-time minor-league free agent signee has held down shortstop in Nashville, due to Brice Turang winning the second-base job for the parent club. He’s walking a lot, but not getting hits to drop in yet.

SS Eduardo Garcia

Splitting time at short and third, Garcia’s OBP skills took a step up. That’s the good news. The bad? His batting average is below the Uecker line. Then there’s the downright ugly: 18 strikeouts in 39 at-bats.

3B Weston Wilson

Wilson ended up signing with the Phillies as a minor-league free agent.

3B Zavier Warren

Warren is hitting well, and drawing a lot of walks. The surprise is that he is primarily playing first base for the Shuckers, while Wes Clark is catching more often than expected.

OF Tristen Lutz

Lutz has split time between left field and DH, but started slowly. The surprise emergence of Lamar Sparks has complicated his efforts.

OF Thomas Dillard

Dillard was released over the offseason, despite flashing power and OBP skills.

OF Noah Campbell

Campbell has had a huge offensive start, posting a four-figure OPS in eight games, mostly playing left field, but also seeing some action at first base and DH.

OF Joe Gray Jr.

Gray has started hot, rebounding from a somewhat rough 2022 season.

OF Luis Castillo

Castillo has not seen the field yet, instead finding himself on the disabled list.

OF Hedbert Perez

Perez is drawing more walks in the first part of his second stint at Carolina, but not much else seems to be going right for the one-time top prospect, and his strikeouts are pretty high (14 in 31 at-bats).

Overview

It is still very early in the season, but some of the overlooked prospects I identified before the season are making their case to get some notice, both from fans and the professional scouts. 

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