What the Brewers Did With Their Day Two Picks in the 2024 MLB Draft

[Jason Wang]

Milwaukee picked up a ton of pitching on the second day of the draft, spending just one of their eight picks on a position player.

Image courtesy of © Mitch Alcala/For The Oklahoman / USA TODAY NETWORK

Round 3, Pick #93 - RHP Jaron DeBerry
Slot Value: $788.7K

A 6’3” starter out of Dallas Baptist University, DeBerry had a strong college career, capped off by a strong showing in his second season. He posted a 3.50 ERA and 1.23 WHIP over 90 innings pitched, with 8.9 strikeouts per nine innings (K/9) and a 2.3 strikeout-to-walk ration (K/BB). His four-seam fastball sits in the low 90s, and he has a deep arsenal that contains a devastating sweeper in the mid-80s and a strong curveball. 

Round 4, Pick #123 - C Marco Dinges
Slot Value: $583.4K

This was the first season in which Dinges accumulated a considerable body of work with the Florida State Seminoles. At 6’0” and just under 21 years old, he slashed .323/.415/.583, with 12 doubles, two triples, and 15 home runs over 288 plate appearances. In addition to his great power, he struck out just 37 times against 38 walks.

While officially listed as a catcher, he made just one appearance at the position and has more career games in right field than he does as a backstop. He primarily served as a designated hitter last season. He's a bat-first backstop, but maybe the Milwaukee pitch-framing infrastructure can work its magic here.

Round 5, Pick #156 - RHP John Holobetz
Slot Value: $422.9K

The 6’3” Holobetz just wrapped up his junior year with Old Dominion University, where he pitched 62 ⅔ innings, with a 4.31 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. His four-seam fastball has been able to get up to the mid-90s, often paired with a low-80s slider.

He’s listed as a reliever, but of his 15 total appearances in 2024, only five were outings fewer than four innings. He’s got excellent stamina for a bullpen arm, but developing more variety in his arsenal will be key if he wants to make the move to being a starter.

Round 6, Pick #185 - RHP Chandler Welch
Slot Value: $328.7K

A 6’0” junior from Tulane University, Welch had a 4.65 ERA and a 1.49 WHIP over 89 innings pitched. He managed 8.9 K/9, but gave up a whopping 11.0 H/9 with 2.4 BB/9, so expanding the zone in search of weaker contact might be a good thing to work on in the future.

Round 6, Pick #215 - LHP Mason Molina
Slot Value: $257.4K

Molina was most recently a starting pitcher for the University of Arkansas, after spending the first two years of his college career at Texas Tech. In his lone year with the Razorbacks, he put up a 4.47 ERA and 1.29 WHIP over 58 ⅓ innings pitched. 

He’s a crafty 6’2” lefty, and his strikeout numbers were stellar at 12.5 K/9, but his command suffered--as shown in his 5.6 BB/9. His fastball sits in the low 90s, and he also throws a decent changeup and curveball combo, rounding things out with an average slider. 

Round 8, Pick #245 - LHP Sam Garcia
Slot Value: $210.7K

A 6’4” starter for Oklahoma State, Garcia spent his first three college years with High Point University. He pitched well in his senior campaign, amassing a 3.64 ERA and 1.08 WHIP over 89 innings pitched. He even managed 11.6 K/9 and 6.05 K/BB.

Round 9, Pick #275 - RHP Griffin Tobias
Slot Value: $190.9K

The first of two high schoolers taken on the second day of the draft, the 6’0” Tobias has a strong commitment to playing baseball for Indiana University, which may make it more difficult to get him to sign. While pitching for Lake Central High School in 2024, he posted an impressive 0.95 ERA over 66 ⅓ innings pitched with 98 strikeouts.

Round 10, Pick #305 - RHP Ethan Dorchies
Slot Value: $180.4K

Last but not least, the 6’5” Dorchies managed a 3.50 ERA and 94 strikeouts over 63 innings pitched in his senior year with Cary-Grove High School. He’s currently committed to the University of Illinois-Chicago, and throws a low 90s fastball with a slider/curveball combo.

It looks like the Crew will also have some money to throw around on Day 3 of the draft, so it'll be interesting to see how they spend it. In the meantime, this is an interesting bumper crop for a farm that knows it needs to be fertile when it comes to pitching in the coming years. What do you think of the team's choices?

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[Trax]

What happens today is paramount to this draft.  As it is I am a little suspect....

[balsamlaker]

The 9th and 10th round picks are interesting as the Brewers don't tend to go HS there.  So either they have a lot of money to spend and/or they thought the high schoolers they were interested in and could be signed were running out fast.

[jay87shot]

I don't hate any of these picks but I really wish we would have taken 1 big swing on a higher ranked prospect.

With the guys taken today I feel like we left some potential money unspent. Unless the 2 hs pitchers in the 2nd round are going to cost more than I think or maybe I am sleeping on a day 3 pick.

[balsamlaker]

They usually leave very little money on the board (including using the 5% overage).

[CheeseheadInQC]

3 hours ago, jay87shot said:

I don't hate any of these picks but I really wish we would have taken 1 big swing on a higher ranked prospect.

With the guys taken today I feel like we left some potential money unspent. Unless the 2 hs pitchers in the 2nd round are going to cost more than I think or maybe I am sleeping on a day 3 pick.

I wonder if they decided that going $300,000 over on 5 guys was a better strategy this year than going $1.5 million over on one.

[balsamlaker]

Other than one year, this is been their international signing model.

[Jim Goulart]