Underrated 2024 Milwaukee Brewers Prospects: Starting Pitchers

[Harold Hutchison]

Starting pitching prospects are the lifeblood of small-market organizations like the Milwaukee Brewers. While the high-profile ones grab the headlines, though, depth and development from unheralded hurlers are just as important. The Crew have several lower-profile arms worth keeping tabs on in 2024.

Image courtesy of © Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK

In a system with a bevy of options, let's look beyond those high on the team's prospect list in search of others who might emerge as starters in the long run.

Enniel Cortez (FRk DSL Brewers 1)
4-1, 1.58 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 35 hits, 49 strikeouts, 5 walks over 45 2/3 innings pitched in 11 games (8 starts)
Cortez put together a dominating season for the DSL Brewers 1 squad, punching out more than one hitter per inning, and allowing less than one walk per nine frames. Shockingly, he made neither the Brewer Fanatic nor the MLB Pipeline top prospects lists, despite earning Brewer Fanatic’s Short-Season Pitcher of the Year in 2023 with his performance and allowing just one home run over the season. He looks ready for a jump to Single-A Carolina in 2024, where we'll learn much more about him.

Eric Prado (FRk DSL Brewers 1)
2-1, 1.54 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 24 hits, 37 strikeouts, 14 walks over 41 innings pitched in 11 games (7 starts)
Cortez is not the only DSL pitcher who got ignored by the prospect lists. Prado actually out-performed him by some metrics in 2023, and did so at age 17. While he was less hittable than Cortez, he did walk more batters and give up more homers.

Melvin Hernandez (FRk DSL Brewers 2)
2-2, 2.06 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 32 hits, 30 strikeouts, 9 walks over 35 innings pitched in 10 games (7 starts)
Hernández is about seven months younger even than Prado. He’s all of 5 feet, 11 inches tall. By all rights, he should have struggled a bit, even in the lowest level of organized professional competition. That didn’t happen. which speaks to some serious pitching ability that will likely be enhanced as Hernández develops physically.

Anthony Flores (FRk DSL Brewers 1)
1-3, 3.22 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 33 hits, 57 strikeouts, 16 walks in 44 2/3 innings pitched in 11 starts
Often, the numbers Flores posted would be considered indicative of the best pitcher a team had at the DSL/ACL level. Yet, he’s arguably the fourth-best pitcher for the Crew at that level, none of whom made the MLB or Brewer Fanatic lists. Flores improved virtually across the board in 2023 in just about every metric.

Brian Fitzpatrick (A Carolina/ACL Brewers)
1-2, 6.46 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 31 hits, 33 strikeouts, 18 walks over 30 2/3 innings pitched in 11 games (7 starts)
Fitzpatrick’s 2023 was derailed by a trip to the 60-day injured list, but he put up decent numbers at Carolina before getting rocked in the ACL. The lefty, a 10th-round pick in 2022, put up a very solid performance in the land down under, allowing a 1.02 WHIP and notching 10.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

Will Rudy (A Carolina)
5-3, 3.46 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 78 hits, 69 strikeouts, 26 walks over 80 2/3 innings pitched in 18 starts
Rudy made his professional debut in full-season ball. He stayed with the Mudcats all season, and posted solid numbers, even if he didn’t overpower hitters (7.7 K/9 IP). Increased durability as a starter will be what the Brewers are looking for in 2024.

Nate Peterson (A+ Wisconsin/A Carolina)
6-4, 3.75 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 64 hits, 78 strikeouts, 31 walks over 74 1/3 innings pitched in 19 games (12 starts)
Peterson made two-thirds of his appearances with the Mudcats and was very good in Zebulon, punching out 11.4 hitters per nine innings. After earning a promotion to Wisconsin in his first year of full-season baseball (despite spending about a month on the injured list), he struggled some, but he could wind up being a very solid option as a starter, if not a dominating reliever.

Brandon Knarr (AA Biloxi)
0-2, 8.25 ERA, 2.17 WHIP, 17 hits, 19 strikeouts, 9 walks over 12 innings pitched in 5 games (3 starts)
Knarr was an undrafted free agent signed in the pandemic season of 2020 who broke out for the Crew in 2022. His 2023 season was one lost due to injury, and he will be on the comeback trail in 2024. One bright spot, in the small sample of innings he did pitch in 2023, he punched out 14.3 hitters per nine innings.

Adam Seminaris (AA Biloxi/R ACL Brewers/AAA Nashville)
2-6, 5.95 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 76 hits, 64 strikeouts, 25 walks in 62 innings pitched over 16 starts
Seminaris, part of the return on the Hunter Renfroe trade, also struggled with injuries in 2023. He pushed the walk rate down some in the Arizona Fall League, though, and could earn a spot on the Milwaukee-Nashville shuttle.

Quinton Low (A Carolina)
1-3, 4.68 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 20 hits, 47 strikeouts, 29 walks over 32 2/3 innings pitched in 14 games (7 starts)
In some ways, Low is at a crossroads. He flashed intriguing two-way ability in 2022, splitting time between the bullpen and first base in the ACL. In Carolina, the batting took a backseat to development as a potential starting pitcher, where he was hard to hit, but also had trouble finding the strike zone.

Which of these starters do you think could really break out for the Brewers?

View full article

[Ro Mueller]

Thank you for this. There are soooo many players to watch.

I’d bet that at least one of Tyler Woessner, Alexander Cornielle or Edwin Jimenez makes a terrific mark at AA Biloxi this year.

Then I’m also praying for a bounce back year for Kevin Briceno and/or Brailin Rodriguez (in addition to Knarr and Seminaris whom you mentioned) after dealing with injuries.

Then there are the recent draft picks like Ryan Birchard and Mark Manfredi.

And what about 18-year old Manuel Rodriguez? The club has appeared relatively high on him in the past.

Let’s see some breakouts!!