Article: 2023 MLB Draft Day 1 Thread

[Jeremy Nygaard]

Draft Day is finally upon us! You've found the right place to follow the day's events, and you're all invited to be a part of the conversation.

Image courtesy of Thieres Rabelo

This year’s draft will again feature just 20 rounds. Day 1, which begins tonight at 6 p.m. CT and can be viewed on ESPN and MLB Network, will include the first and second rounds as well as both competitive balance rounds and all compensation rounds. There will be 70 selections total.

The Brewers will make three picks tonight, with the first one coming 18th overall in the first round. They will also draft 33rd overall in the Competitive Balance Round A and 54th overall in the second round. The draft will continue on Monday with Round 3, beginning at 1 p.m. CT.

We're excited to bring back the Brewers Draft Tracker which will be kept up-to-date not only during the draft but through the entire signing period. So keep coming back for updates!

There will be a lot going on during the draft both on and off this website. We will try to make updates to the story (and add links) as things happen, so keep refreshing! Hopefully there will be plenty of activity in the comments!

In the meantime, you can catch up on all of our Brewers-related draft content below:

Draft Articles and Profiles
Chase Davis
Matt Shaw 
Hurston Waldrep 
Aidan Miller 
Brayden Taylor
Yohandy Morales 
Enrique Bradfield, Jr
Tommy Troy
Nolan Schanuel
Brock Wilken

Nygaard Mock Draft v.3

Final Consensus Big Board Update (Print it out, cross players off as they are drafted. You won't find a better resource anywhere on the web.)

Consensus Big Board Profiles: 26-50
Consensus Big Board Profiles: 1-25

View full article

[CheeseheadInQC]

Any predictions?

Unless something surprising happens like Waldrep falling, I'll say Shaw, Miller, Davis as the likely picks, in that order.

Whitman wouldn't surprise me at 33, and while the Brewers haven't taken/had much luck with high school pitching recently, I wonder if Knoth might not enter into the conversations with one of the latter two picks today. While I don't know if they have the same evaluator as last year, Fangraphs' board seemed to line up best with the Brewers' out of the publicly available ones I saw last draft, and they have him mid-20s.

[Ro Mueller]

I figure we’ll pick whichever of Troy, Shaw or Taylor happens to be available at #18.

[sveumrules]

Over at MLB Pipeline they’ve got us mocked for EBJ2 (Callis) or Hurston Waldrep (Mayo) for #18.

[Austin Tatious]

Waldrep would be great but I am skeptical that he gets there.  Love the pitch mix that he has.  

Troy or Shaw would be solid picks and on the safer side.  If we go college outfielder, I’d much prefer Davis over Bradfield.  Taking Bradfield would fill the gap from losing Esteury Ruiz which is a skill set Arnold seems to be interested in, and he can have influence with Johnson as they grind through their discussions.

The other thing is if some teams above us go for some under slot guys which allows some unexpected players to drop and we can pounce.  Maybe somebody drops that we aren’t focused on like Wilson, Dollander, Nimmala, or Gonzalez.

I would be happy with Aidan Miller but I haven’t seen us linked there anywhere.  I don’t have an opinion as to whether he can stick at third but I’ve read that there is risk there.  

Very exciting day.  That pick at 33 is huge as it’s essentially a second first round pick.  Then you add a second round pick, and the Brewers are in a good position to add three names pretty high on our prospect lists which is nice because we have some impending graduations.  

[sveumrules]

1 hour ago, Austin Tatious said:

Very exciting day.  That pick at 33 is huge as it’s essentially a second first round pick.  Then you add a second round pick, and the Brewers are in a good position to add three names pretty high on our prospect lists which is nice because we have some impending graduations.  

Pretty crazy that with the current state of the farm whoever we pick at #18 likely won’t slot in higher than 9th/10th on the org list.

There were plenty of years in the not too distant past where whoever we took with our first pick was pretty much guaranteed a top 3 spot on the org list. 

[Playing Catch]

1 hour ago, Austin Tatious said:

Waldrep would be great but I am skeptical that he gets there.  Love the pitch mix that he has.  

Troy or Shaw would be solid picks and on the safer side.  If we go college outfielder, I’d much prefer Davis over Bradfield.  Taking Bradfield would fill the gap from losing Esteury Ruiz which is a skill set Arnold seems to be interested in, and he can have influence with Johnson as they grind through their discussions.

The other thing is if some teams above us go for some under slot guys which allows some unexpected players to drop and we can pounce.  Maybe somebody drops that we aren’t focused on like Wilson, Dollander, Nimmala, or Gonzalez.

I would be happy with Aidan Miller but I haven’t seen us linked there anywhere.  I don’t have an opinion as to whether he can stick at third but I’ve read that there is risk there.  

Very exciting day.  That pick at 33 is huge as it’s essentially a second first round pick.  Then you add a second round pick, and the Brewers are in a good position to add three names pretty high on our prospect lists which is nice because we have some impending graduations.  

About a month ago, I was hoping for a college pitcher like Waldrep, but my brother talked me out of it (the thought being that college pitchers that end up being good can be found all over the first few rounds). Since then, I can't seem to find any player that I really WANT. I guess Davis is probably the guy.

Miller would be really exciting, but his lack of games played has me concerned, only because scouts haven't had as much time to evaluate him.

I think the only player that I would prefer NOT to draft would be Troy.

[Austin Tatious]

4 minutes ago, Playing Catch said:

About a month ago, I was hoping for a college pitcher like Waldrep, but my brother talked me out of it (the thought being that college pitchers that end up being good can be found all over the first few rounds). Since then, I can't seem to find any player that I really WANT. I guess Davis is probably the guy.

Miller would be really exciting, but his lack of games played has me concerned, only because scouts haven't had as much time to evaluate him.

I think the only player that I would prefer NOT to draft would be Troy.

Good point.  I would like to see us focus on college pitching heavily after the first 3 picks focus on BPA and particularly upside.  We landed Burnes and Woody both that way.  Draft quantity in terms of college pitchers and some will emerge to one degree or another.  The benefit is also that you can spend more early and balance out your budget.  

[Never Outhustled]

I just saw Enrique Bradford mocked to the Brewers. That would be our most embarrassing pick since Corey Ray.

Please pick someone who can actually hit. 

[Austin Tatious]

Just now, Never Outhustled said:

I just saw Enrique Bradford mocked to the Brewers. That would be our most embarrassing pick since Corey Ray.

Please pick someone who can actually hit. 

The speed and defense are tremendous but he is my least favorite guy too.  Fingers crossed.

[Playing Catch]

I've decided that I hope they save a little money to take advantage of the deep draft. Getting 4 or 5 guys would be fun. Misiorowski was paid more than Brown Jr. last season. Let's do that again!

[LouisEly]

4 hours ago, damuelle said:

I figure we’ll pick whichever of Troy, Shaw or Taylor happens to be available at #18.

I think that's it. 

If all three are gone (and assuming Gonzalez is gone as well) my dark horse is Whitman in an under-slot deal and then HS picks at #33 (Wolters, Farmelo, Santana) and possibly #54 (Zanetello, C. Johnson, P. Wilson).

Jonny Farmelo is my sleeper here; probably not #18 but definitely #33.  Athlete, size (6'2", 205), plus runner, speed and range to play center, plus bat speed, LHH.  Sounds like a profile the Brewers target.  Being in HS he likely won't rush to the majors and create a logjam with Mitchell/Frelick/Wiemer/Chourio like Davis might.

[beekay414]

I really want Nolan Schanuel but I doubt we'll place 1st round value on someone that's a 1B/COF type. Kid can flat out rake.

Real chance to add some real good talent to this system tonight. I'm excited.

[brewers888]

1 hour ago, Never Outhustled said:

I just saw Enrique Bradford mocked to the Brewers. That would be our most embarrassing pick since Corey Ray.

Please pick someone who can actually hit. 

This is pretty much the worst case scenario and exactly the type of player we need to avoid taking early.

[SDBrew fan]

There's a pitcher out here close to me who I'd love to see the Brewers draft in round two or three.  His name's Kyle Carr.  A junior college lefty who throws in the mid to high nineties.  The Brewers seem to like there JC kids.

[Jake McKibbin]

6 hours ago, sveumrules said:

Over at MLB Pipeline they’ve got us mocked for EBJ2 (Callis) or Hurston Waldrep (Mayo) for #18.

I have to say the only one in uninterested in because given Ruiz has low war, I think bradfield has a limited ceiling. I saw somewhere he's unlikely to get past the brewers however

[CheeseheadInQC]

With Bradfield, it is all dependent on how often you think he's going to get on base. Billy Hamilton with a .350 OBP is valuable. Billy Hamilton with a sub-.300 OBP is, well, Billy Hamilton.

He is toward the bottom of my list for 18 (I'd probably go the Whitman, save money for later route before him) but I wouldn't write him off if he's the pick either. He's a projected first rounder for a reason.

[MVP2110]

The Brewers are very model heavy but it's mainly worked out for them the last few years. I haven't really studied anyone in depth but I trust them to make solid picks

[LouisEly]

ESPN flashed Skenes as the Pirates pick just before Manfred took the stage...

[wiguy94]

Actually pretty happy the Pirates took Skenes. We can see Skenes at most 4 times a season compared to 13 times a season against a position player

[SRB]

4 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

Actually pretty happy the Pirates took Skenes. We can see Skenes at most 4 times a season compared to 13 times a season against a position player

We'll be seeing him about as many times as we see Mark Appel 😈

[Never Outhustled]

1 hour ago, CheeseheadInQC said:

With Bradfield, it is all dependent on how often you think he's going to get on base. Billy Hamilton with a .350 OBP is valuable. Billy Hamilton with a sub-.300 OBP is, well, Billy Hamilton.

He is toward the bottom of my list for 18 (I'd probably go the Whitman, save money for later route before him) but I wouldn't write him off if he's the pick either. He's a projected first rounder for a reason.

 

He's a projected 1st rounder only because teams make huge mistakes. Bradfield doesn't belong in the 1st 2 rounds of this draft. He doesn't hit, at all. 

 

I'm petrified we might take him, based on the rumors, even though he didn't fit what we look for. 

[Oxy]

If we get a big stick at 19 or 33 I'll be happy.  Of course, I think Keston Hiura should be our everyday DH too.

[trwi7]

"Grand Union University."  I would say what a delightful idiot but there's nothing delightful about Manfred.

[narwhalattack]

I’m not even gonna guess who we’re taking. Anytime I get my hopes up they pick someone hardly anyone seems to think about 😆