After Graduations, Brewer Fanatic Has a New #1 Brewers Prospect

[Seth Stohs]

Since Jackson Chourio arrived on the scene a couple of years ago, he's not only been the Brewers top prospect but also been a top three prospect globally. However, the outfielder has graduated from "prospect" status. So who is the new #1 prospect for the Brewers? 

Image courtesy of Lin Marijnissen

Over the past couple of weeks, we have had open prospect voting for Brewer Fanatic writers and for the community. The results of the rankings have now been updated on the site. Here is a brief summary. 

There are certainly some quality candidates to take over at #1. Would the very young, very talented catcher at Triple-A who is out for the year move up a spot? Would the flamethrower that no one can hit at Double-A jump into that top spot? Could the Canadian hitter who made his debut this year, or the southpaw who debuted just last week with a fantastic outing jump into the spot? The Brewers have a strong system even after the graduations. 

The last time that we had a vote for Brewer Fanatics Top 20 Prospect rankings was in February. In many cases, there was minimal change from the end of the 2023 season. Players acquired or lost in a trade can create change. Maybe a solid prospect does something remarkable in the Winter Leagues. Or maybe a report comes out about a pitcher at Instructional League suddenly hitting 99 mph rather than 95. Or an injured player works his way back. 

With the mid-May voting, we now have six or seven weeks of 2024 performances by hitters and pitchers. Some players get off to fast starts. Others start out slow. There are injuries and promotions. In other words, we all have more data points for helping us better rank those players. You can find all kinds of stats online, which is great. But you can also watch games online and see the players or attend games at minor-league parks. 

With that, we did have the Brewer Fanatic writers rank their top 20 prospects first, and then we opened it up to the community rankings. We truly thank you for taking time to rank prospects. Because there was such a huge community turnout, the community rankings take on a higher weight. Those rankings were used in conjunction with the writers vote in a formula to give us the updated rankings you can see today. 

Let’s get to some of the interesting things we find within the updated rankings. 

GRADUATIONS: Jackson Chourio, DL Hall, Joey Ortiz. 
All three of these guys have easily surpassed the limits to still be called a “prospect.” I think it’s fair to say that there is reason to be excited about each of them. Chourio has had his struggles, but he’s also had some great moments. Hall has spent time on the IL, but the southpaw has potential to stick as a starter. Ortiz has played a lot more of late and come up with some big hits and even shown some power. 

BIGGEST RISERS: Mike Boeve, Brett Wichrowski
Mike Boeve had a nice pro debut last summer after he was the Brewers second-round pick in the draft out of Nebraska-Omaha. He began this season with the Timber Rattlers, but when he was hitting .553 with a 1.273 OPS after 13 games, he forced his way up to Double-A. He is hitting .311 with an OPS of .818 in 26 games with the Shuckers. He jumped from #15 to #8. 

Of players who entered the season Not Ranked, right-hander Brett Wichrowski. One year ago, he was finishing up his time at Bryant University in Rhode Island. The Brewers took him in the 13th round and he didn’t pitch in 2023. He started at High-A Wisconsin and posted a 2.45 ERA in four starts. He has now made three starts at Biloxi. In 27 2/3 combined innings, he has 32 strikeouts to go with nine walks. He also has a fastball that touches 98 mph and a really good slider. 

BIGGEST DROPS: 
Maybe it’s because of the three players who graduated, but this prospect ranking shows only two players who rank lower than they did in the preseason rankings, Jeferson Quero and Eric Bitonti. Quero dropped from #2 to #3 after getting hurt on Opening Day. He had shoulder surgery and will miss the full season. Bitonti was the Brewers third round pick in 2023 out of high school. He has not yet debuted in Carolina. However, in 12 games, he is hitting .300/.407/.620 (1.027) with two doubles, a triple and four home runs. A promotion should be coming soon. 

THE NEXT FIVE: Gregory Barrios (#21), Tyler Woessner (#22), Bishop Letson (#23), Dylan O’Rae (#24), Ryan Birchard (#25). 
As you would expect, the group that just missed the top 20 is a very young but very talented group of players. Tyler Woessner is the “old” guy of the group, and he’s just 24, and he’s already at Triple-A after being drafted less than two years ago. 

Barrios is just 20 years old. Not only is he already in High-A Wisconsin, but he’s hitting over .300 and showing improved doubles power while playing strong defense at shortstop. 

O’Rae is also 20. He was the team’s third-round pick in 2022 out of secondary school in Canada. A spark plug in the lineup, he is getting on base at about 40% in Wisconsin. And, he’s got 20 stolen bases in 40 games. 

19-year-old Letson was the Brewers 11th round pick a year ago out of high school in Indiana. At 6-4 and just 180 pounds, he looks the part of a future starting pitcher. Long, and lanky, already a good fastball with potentially more to come as he matures and gains strength. He has pitched 16 innings this season for Low-A Carolina over five games. He has 23 strikeouts but also 10 walks. 

Another 2023 draft pick, Birchard made one appearance this year for Carolina. He has been on the IL since with an oblique injury. 

Will some of these players jump into the Top 20 when we re-rank the players around the draft? 

Updated Brewer Fanatic Top 20 Brewers Prospects
Here is the list with links to their prospect page which includes links to Brewer Fanatic articles or videos that they have been tagged in.

#1 - RHP Jacob Misiorowski (Biloxi)
#2 - 1B/3B Tyler Black (Nashville)
#3 - C Jeferson Quero (Nashville)
#4 - LHP Robert Gasser (Milwaukee)
#5 - 3B Brock Wilken (Biloxi)
#6 - RHP Carlos F. Rodriguez (Nashville)
#7 - OF Luis Lara (Wisconsin)
#8 - 3B Mike Boeve (Biloxi)
#9 - SS Cooper Pratt (Carolina) 
#10 - OF Yophery Rodriguez (Carolina)
#11 - RHP Josh Knoth (Carolina)
#12 - SS Eric Brown Jr (Biloxi)
#13 - RHP Brett Wichrowski (Biloxi)
#14 - RHP Logan Henderson (Carolina)
#15 - 3B Luke Adams (Wisconsin)
#16 - RHP Bradley Blalock (Milwaukee)
#17 - IF Juan Baez (Carolina)
#18 - SS Eric Bitonti (ACL Brewers)
#19 - 1B Wes Clarke (Nashville)
#20 - SS Daniel Guilarte (Carolina) 

BIG QUESTIONS: Three players graduated from this ranking in the season’s first six or seven weeks. Tyler Black and Robert Gasser have spent some time in the big leagues as well. Black is back at Nashville, and Gasser has been quite solid in his two big-league starts and earned more. 

Do you think that Black or Gasser, or both, will graduate during the 2024 season? Just as important, which other prospects in the Top 20 do you think will be called up at some point during the season and hopefully get some opportunities to help a winning club in a pennant race? Bradley Blalock was called up recently and is yet to get into a game. What kind of role could he have? Can Misiorowski gain enough command to move up as a starter, or could they have him spend September in the big-league bullpen? Is this the season that Carlos F. Rodriguez makes his MLB debut? Could “The Other” Carlos Rodriguez move up from Biloxi and get an opportunity? Could Mike Boeve play at four levels this season, including the big leagues? Wes Clarke continues to rake. Could he get plate appearances down the stretch? 

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[CheeseheadInQC]

Probably the biggest surprise to me was Guilarte making the list. I know he is apparently the toolsiest of that group of middle infielders, but I just can’t get past the fact that when faced with four middle infielders of basically the same age for three spots in Wisconsin, he was the odd man out.

Also, if he keeps playing like he is, how high will Di Turi debut after missing the top 25 this time?

[sveumrules]

42 minutes ago, CheeseheadInQC said:

Probably the biggest surprise to me was Guilarte making the list. I know he is apparently the toolsiest of that group of middle infielders, but I just can’t get past the fact that when faced with four middle infielders of basically the same age for three spots in Wisconsin, he was the odd man out.

Also, if he keeps playing like he is, how high will Di Turi debut after missing the top 25 this time?

Agreed on Guilarte, though believe Barrios was #21 so probably just a few points separating them.

For me Barrios was an easy call over Guilarte since the org thought he deserved the higher placement & was performing better at the time of voting - still is with Guilarte at 101 wRC+ and a concerning 28.9 K% versus Barrios at 119 wRC+ and an encouraging 10.0 K% entering tonight.

Depending on when the next voting is there could be a lot of competition for just one spot opening naturally with Gasser the only pending graduate. If it’s after the deadline that could potentially open some spots up too.

I had my “top younger guys tier” at #7 through #10 with Yophery, Lara, Pratt, Knoth. Would probably slot Fillipo between Lara and Pratt if we re-voted today.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

Weirded out by the lack of Craig Yoho on this list. That guy could get MLB hitters out at a decent clip today with his stuff. Barring injury, I know that guy is going to get to the majors. There's zero chance that every one of the current BF Top 20 makes the show. I don't care that he's a reliever. A surefire major leaguer is more valuable than toolsy prospects who each need about twenty things to continue to go right to get to the bigs.

Either way, having a guy well on track to be a high leverage MLB reliever who can't crack your top 20 is a good problem to have.

[jay87shot]

I had Guillarte on my list, at the time he was hitting .260's with power. A week or two later he is at .233 and I would prefer to put someone else in. Probably Di Turri up to 15 or so with how hot he has been.

[brewerralph]

This is the deepest group of players I have ever seen with this team. The next five or six could be in the top 20. With the players that have graduated to the big leagues {Turang,Mitchell,Ortiz,Frelick,Dunn and soon to be Gasser} could they trade away two or three of some prospects for a pitcher. That is a great group of young players, but you will always need veterans.

[Playing Catch]

On 5/26/2024 at 7:07 AM, brewerralph said:

This is the deepest group of players I have ever seen with this team. The next five or six could be in the top 20. With the players that have graduated to the big leagues {Turang,Mitchell,Ortiz,Frelick,Dunn and soon to be Gasser} could they trade away two or three of some prospects for a pitcher. That is a great group of young players, but you will always need veterans.

Yeah, back in the days of (what was it called?? Toby's Top 50 or something like that?). the Brewers would have one or two legitimate prospects, and a bunch of guys that would never sniff a big-league roster. This system has future MLB contributors all over the place.

[biedergb]

1 hour ago, Playing Catch said:

Yeah, back in the days of (what was it called?? Toby's Top 50 or something like that?). the Brewers would have one or two legitimate prospects, and a bunch of guys that would never sniff a big-league roster. This system has future MLB contributors all over the place.

Yes. I think it was Toby’s top 40.  Remembered the list but forgot it had a title - or there was something like. 
 

Although the other thing to remember is that a lot of those prospects were considered legitimate prospects, only in hindsight did we see Brad Nelson, Ben Hendrickson, Dana Eveland fail to live up to the hype. Even more recently Gatewood, Harrison and later C. Ray Brinson, Diaz, L. Ortiz, DiPlan didn’t pan out (although Brinson and Diaz were involved in a trade that got Yelich). So we do have a deeper list, but many may not pan out. Or may pan out for someone else like Jorge Lopez among others.

Recency bias can make us think it’s so much better. But I know it was stacked 2004-2006, felt good 2007-2009. And again 2016-2018. Those years were pretty top notch - Woodruff, Burnes, Hader and later Williams were ranked those years. 

[wiguy94]

3 minutes ago, biedergb said:

Yes. I think it was Toby’s top 40.  Remembered the list but forgot it had a title - or there was something like. 
 

Although the other thing to remember is that a lot of those prospects were considered legitimate prospects, only in hindsight did we see Brad Nelson, Ben Hendrickson, Dana Eveland fail to live up to the hype. Even more recently Gatewood, Harrison and later C. Ray Brinson, Diaz, L. Ortiz, DiPlan didn’t pan out (although Brinson and Diaz were involved in a trade that got Yelich). So we do have a deeper list, but many may not pan out. Or may pan out for someone else like Jorge Lopez among others.

Recency bias can make us think it’s so much better. But I know it was stacked 2004-2006, felt good 2007-2009. And again 2016-2018. Those years were pretty top notch - Woodruff, Burnes, Hader and later Williams were ranked those years. 

I think recency bias is one factor, but also better access plays a role as well. It's kind of the social media dilemma. Like an example is violent crime rate in the US is way, way down compared to 20/30 years ago, but some people think the opposite is true because their social media feeds are filled with stories about violent crime. Now this isn't to say the Brewers farm isn't super deep right now, just that the better access can help influence someone's beliefs.

[Brian]

What about Coleman Crow?

https://www.mlb.com/prospects/brewers/coleman-crow-689441

[sveumrules]

4 minutes ago, Brian said:

What about Coleman Crow?

https://www.mlb.com/prospects/brewers/coleman-crow-689441

An intriguing long term play for sure, but just too many guys healthy and performing for him to warrant Top 20 consideration for me right now.

Houser (-1.1 rWAR) has been brutal to start the year and Taylor (81 wRC+, -0.1 WAR) has been replacement level, so Coleman won't have a very high bar to clear for the Brewers to win the trade as it stands currently.

[Seth Stohs]

On 5/26/2024 at 6:15 AM, True Blue Brew Crew said:

Weirded out by the lack of Craig Yoho on this list. That guy could get MLB hitters out at a decent clip today with his stuff. Barring injury, I know that guy is going to get to the majors. There's zero chance that every one of the current BF Top 20 makes the show. I don't care that he's a reliever. A surefire major leaguer is more valuable than toolsy prospects who each need about twenty things to continue to go right to get to the bigs.

Either way, having a guy well on track to be a high leverage MLB reliever who can't crack your top 20 is a good problem to have.

Relievers never get the credit they deserve, especially in the minor leagues... Even in the big leagues, if it's not the closer, the only time you hear their names is if they mess up. 

[CheeseheadInQC]

On 5/26/2024 at 6:15 AM, True Blue Brew Crew said:

Weirded out by the lack of Craig Yoho on this list. That guy could get MLB hitters out at a decent clip today with his stuff. Barring injury, I know that guy is going to get to the majors. There's zero chance that every one of the current BF Top 20 makes the show. I don't care that he's a reliever. A surefire major leaguer is more valuable than toolsy prospects who each need about twenty things to continue to go right to get to the bigs.

Either way, having a guy well on track to be a high leverage MLB reliever who can't crack your top 20 is a good problem to have.

He was in a couple of the iterations I went through, but ultimately the why hasn’t he been promoted yet question was enough that he missed my list (the top end might not be as good as last year, but there are a lot of guys who feel like they should be in the 15-20 range).

[brooks_quichenick]

On 5/26/2024 at 6:15 AM, True Blue Brew Crew said:

Weirded out by the lack of Craig Yoho on this list. That guy could get MLB hitters out at a decent clip today with his stuff. Barring injury, I know that guy is going to get to the majors. There's zero chance that every one of the current BF Top 20 makes the show. I don't care that he's a reliever. A surefire major leaguer is more valuable than toolsy prospects who each need about twenty things to continue to go right to get to the bigs.

Either way, having a guy well on track to be a high leverage MLB reliever who can't crack your top 20 is a good problem to have.

He was just outside my top 20. But I just have a hard time putting relievers above any starting pitcher prospects in general, especially a 24 year old in high-A ball. If he gets promoted soon and continues to dominate, I'll probably have him in one of my updated lists later this season.

[True Blue Brew Crew]

Ho hum just 5Ks in 2 innings for non BF Top 20 prospect Craig Yoho in his AA debut

[sveumrules]

35 minutes ago, True Blue Brew Crew said:

Ho hum just 5Ks in 2 innings for non BF Top 20 prospect Craig Yoho in his AA debut

Pretty great encapsulation of the depth in the system currently and also a testament to the Brewers scouting and development staff to nab him as a 10K eighth rounder which freed up cash for some of the over slot guys to boot.

He’s not in the MLB Top 30, He wasn’t on the FanGraphs Top 42 (or one of the 19 “other prospects of note”).

I don’t subscribe to BPro or BA, but I’m guessing he isn’t on either of their lists either.

I put him #20 on my ballot because the results and grainy internet footage of his stuff are too much to deny, even if he was a 24 year old reliever in A+ ball at the time of voting.

Looking back on the voting thread it looks like he turned up on five ballots with a high rank of #14.

If he keeps it up at AA twixt now and the next iteration I could see more voters jumping aboard.