Minor League Predictions 2025

[jay87shot]

I thought this might be a fun discussion with the big league ZIP's coming out. What would be you personal predictions in some categories. Feel free to add some categories if anyone has better ideas

1)Fast riser(s) (ie more than 2 levels)(IE Pratt, Yoho, Hunt 2024 (Pratt playoffs in AA), Chourio 2023

2)Out of no where (Hunt, Yoho)

3)Rise into consensus top 100 prospect

4)Comeback Player (re-establish lost prospect status or return from injury)

5)Struggles/Disappointment (feel free to skip if you worry about jinxing anyone)

6)Individual/team predictions

 

[ARobsBrewCrew]

1.) Fast riser- SS Jesus Made is the easy answer so I will go with RHP Jason Woodward

2.) Out of nowhere- LHP Wande Torres seems like a favorite so how about RF Handelfry Encarnacion

3.) Rise to Top 100- Many options here so I will say RHP Josh Knoth

4.) Comeback player- RHP Ryan Birchard

5.) Skip

6.) Prediction- Brewers will have #1 farm system one year from now despite a fair amount of prospect graduations in ‘25.

7.) Future star that doesn’t fit other categories- C Luis Corobo

[snoogans8056]

1)Fast riser(s): Travis Smith

2)Out of no where: Josh Adamczewski

3)Rise into consensus top 100 prospect: Eric Bitonti, Braylon Payne

4)Comeback Player: Jeferson Quero (too obvious?)

5)Struggles/Disappointment: Jesus Made (just because expectations are Chourio)

6)Individual/team predictions: Appleton and Carolina are absolute juggernauts, we get a league championship at the lower levels

[Playing Catch]

1) Fast Riser(s) - Blake Burke and Mike Boeve (Burke will get to AAA, and Boeve will be in MKE by June)
2) Out of Nowhere - Jorge Quintana
3) Rise to Top 100 - Braylon Payne
4) Comeback Player - Eric Brown Jr.
5) Disappointment - All the Biloxi hitters except Burke
6) Predictions - This goes with #5, but I think Cooper Pratt, Luis Lara, Jadher Areinamo, and Luke Adams all struggle in 2025.

[Spencer Michaelis]

Dang @ARobsBrewCrew stole a good chunk of my answers, so I'll toss in some alternates lol

1.) Fast riser- Woodward is the one I believe in most, but I'm also a big believer in RHP Jaron DeBerry, who was a personal favorite of mine going into the draft, so I'll go with him. Those two could probably fit into the next category as well.

2.) Out of nowhere-  OF Frandy LaFond (Encarnacion was going to be considered here) and RHP Dikember Sanchez (I think they use him as a starter and he blows up a bit)

3.) Rise to Top 100- OF Braylon Payne

4.) Comeback player- RHP Cameron Wagoner (I also would pick Birchard as my top choice) if we are just talking injuries. If we are just talking a bounce-back season, I'd go Wilken.

5.) Skip

6.) Predictions - Marco Dinges shows that he can stick at catcher and the bat plays and ends up a T30 guy on every list by the end of the season, Yophery Rodriguez has a higher OPS in High-A than he did in Low-A., Areinamo and Adames take some time to adjust to AA, Pratt hits 15+ HR and Brett Wichrowski raises his K% in AA by nearly 10% (idk, I'm just getting random with it now)

7.) Future star that doesn’t fit other categories - I'm copying this on Corobo, the defense/arm is special for his age and he has some pop, he has the Quero type of profile and potential breakout in him.

[ARobsBrewCrew]

2 hours ago, Spencer Michaelis said:

Dang @ARobsBrewCrew stole a good chunk of my answers, so I'll toss in some alternates lol

1.) Fast riser- Woodward is the one I believe in most, but I'm also a big believer in RHP Jaron DeBerry, who was a personal favorite of mine going into the draft, so I'll go with him. Those two could probably fit into the next category as well.

2.) Out of nowhere-  OF Frandy LaFond (Encarnacion was going to be considered here) and RHP Dikember Sanchez (I think they use him as a starter and he blows up a bit)

3.) Rise to Top 100- OF Braylon Payne

4.) Comeback player- RHP Cameron Wagoner (I also would pick Birchard as my top choice) if we are just talking injuries. If we are just talking a bounce-back season, I'd go Wilken.

5.) Skip

6.) Predictions - Marco Dinges shows that he can stick at catcher and the bat plays and ends up a T30 guy on every list by the end of the season, Yophery Rodriguez has a higher OPS in High-A than he did in Low-A., Areinamo and Adames take some time to adjust to AA, Pratt hits 15+ HR and Brett Wichrowski raises his K% in AA by nearly 10% (idk, I'm just getting random with it now)

7.) Future star that doesn’t fit other categories - I'm copying this on Corobo, the defense/arm is special for his age and he has some pop, he has the Quero type of profile and potential breakout in him.

Great minds think alike @Spencer Michaelis 🤝 

[Brewcrew82]

8 hours ago, jay87shot said:

I thought this might be a fun discussion with the big league ZIP's coming out. What would be you personal predictions in some categories. Feel free to add some categories if anyone has better ideas

1)Fast riser(s) (ie more than 2 levels)(IE Pratt, Yoho, Hunt 2024 (Pratt playoffs in AA), Chourio 2023

2)Out of no where (Hunt, Yoho)

3)Rise into consensus top 100 prospect

4)Comeback Player (re-establish lost prospect status or return from injury)

5)Struggles/Disappointment (feel free to skip if you worry about jinxing anyone)

6)Individual/team predictions

 

1) Fast riser: Made is the easy answer, but I wouldn't bet on anyone else. Should at least end up in Appleton considering Yophery and Lara both got there last two seasons. Outside chance at Biloxi, which would truly be a Chourio redux and probably mean he's a top 10/5 prospect. 

2) Out of nowhere:

3) Rise to consensus top 100: Easy. Eric Bitonti, aka Mr. Coby Mayo clone.

4) Comeback player: Low hanging fruit is Quero, and I agree. I'll go with Wilken as my bounceback. Never going to hit for much average, but I think he'll hit many dingers this year, and perhaps even a few in Milwaukee. 

5) Struggles/Disappointment: Luke Adams. I think velo is going to be an issue that finally catches up to him in AA with his swing mechanics. 

6) Brewers end the season with 6 top 100 prospects, including two in the top 20. I'll go with Made, Bitonti, Pratt, Payne, Yophery, and Letson. Made and Bitonti as consensus top 20 guys. 

[biedergb]

 

 

1)Fast riser(s) - Bitonti sounds like an option- starts at low A but moves up; pitcher I think TSmith or DeBerry

2)Out of no where - I will go with Holobetz and D Sanchez as pitchers, and Tyler Rodriguez or Yannic Walter

3)Rise into consensus top 100 prospect - Payne, Bitonti

4)Comeback Player (re-establish lost prospect status or return from injury) - Lara

5)Struggles/Disappointment (feel free to skip if you worry about jinxing anyone) - no one I hope, but I will say someone like Boeve and/or Peña just because expectations are so high.  But likely this will be a injury or struggle we can’t predict  

6)Individual/team predictions- Victor Estevez leads his team to the playoffs again.

[jay87shot]

1)Fast riser= Jason Woodward (A-AA), Cooper Pratt(A+-AAA), Blake Burke A+ to AAA  Obviously placement at the beginning of the year will make some difference here. Woodward and Pratt are both borderline up to the next level so a couple good weeks could mean early promotions. Burke seems like a guy who could have a huge year if healthy.

2)Out of no where= Yerlin Rodriguez, Juan Ortuno     Probably not out of no where for our site but nationally neither get love. Hopefully Yerlin fills out a bit and adds another mph or 2 and that helps his control becoming a legit relief prospect. Ortuno is a guy who got lost with Made and Ortiz getting attention. With the need for A ball OF depth he could get an opportunity to skip rookie ball and take advantage.

3)Eric Bitonti, Yophery Rodriguez  Bitonti is going to hit a ton of HR as a 19 year in Aball/A+ball, Yophery takes a step on becomes a 15/15 player and at his age moves into the top 100. I hope am going to guess someone like Braylon Payne or Josh Knoth will be borderline top 100 prospects as well.

4)Dylan O' Rae   He was pushed to AA to early last year, I think if he can spend all year at AA without being pushed we will see numbers like early in 2024.

5)pass

6)All teams above .500 again. Eric Bitonti hits like 34 HR, Mike Boeve hits above .300 again and gets some big league time after the all star break. All the super young higher end prospects play well but not at the highest level. A bunch of starters have great years and the over crowded upper levels staffs gets more congested,

[CheeseheadInQC]

1)Fast riser(s) (ie more than 2 levels): Yah, Made is the obvious choice. Other than him, I'd be tempted to go Yorman Galindez if I was sure he was going to be healthy to start the season (does anyone remember what procedure he had?)

2)Out of no where (Hunt, Yoho): Most of my initial thoughts here have already been said. So I will say while I don't believe either end up being Hunt or Yoho, I think Juan Martinez and Enderson Mercado jump a couple of tiers from where they are now.

3)Rise into consensus top 100 prospect: I think there are too many guys low on him from draft time who will be too stubborn to put Payne in the top 100 this soon unless he puts up absolutely absurd numbers, so I will go Yophery Rodriguez.

4)Comeback Player: Tempted to go with Quinton Low because of the upside or Pedro Ibarguen because can someone really go from that good in the DSL to looking completely out of place in the ACL two years in a row? I'll play it safer, though, and say Hedbert Perez

5)Struggles/Disappointment: Skipping

6)Individual/team predictions: The Brewers will once again have the youngest ACL team. One of the 2024 prep pitchers other than just Meccage breaks camp with Carolina and has a Bishop Letson type season.

[ARobsBrewCrew]

3 minutes ago, CheeseheadInQC said:

1)Fast riser(s) (ie more than 2 levels): Yah, Made is the obvious choice. Other than him, I'd be tempted to go Yorman Galindez if I was sure he was going to be healthy to start the season (does anyone remember what procedure he had?)

Galindez underwent a procedure to repair a ligament in his elbow, but it was not Tommy John surgery and, as of the end of the season, he was hoping to be full go for spring training.

[duewizard]

1)Fast riser(s)- Made, Bitonti (can see him in Biloxi),

2)Out of no where- Tate Kuehner. I like the slider and the arm slot. Im not saying he will be the next Hunt but I think he can make it to the top 30.

3)Rise into consensus top 100 prospect- Bitonti

4)Comeback Player- Lara, Quero, Wilken

5)Struggles/Disappointment- Payne. I wish him all the best but I'm not conviced. Hope he proves me wrong.

6)Individual/team predictions- Wisconsin has a great playoff run. Made is in the top 15 by season's end.

 

[Joseph Zarr]

OK, I'm getting to this a tad later so I'm going to try to zig where others have zagged. I think it's quite obvious who some of the candidates 'should' be in some of these categories. I'm going to intentionally go beyond the front-runners to add a little more depth to the concensus. Without further ado, let's give this a proverbial whirl:

1) Fast Risers: I too, absolutely love what I saw from RHP Jason Woodward in 2024. Quite frankly, it was a distinct highlight of my season of viewing and it was a real real bummer he got injured before the playoffs. He quite easily had some of the most electric stuff I saw all year at any level. Jesus Made and Eric Bitonti, like others here and for good reason, are my low-hanging solid bets here given what we know coming into the year. Young 1st Rd, apparent phenom, OF Braylon Payne would be another obvious choice here given what we saw in our brief sample and given he'll now take that incredible work ethic and can do attitude into his first professional off-season. However, I'm going to 'zig' here and bring back a name who has quieted in hype since his early power output in the DSL. I'm going with OF Jose Anderson. Granted, I haven't seen him play (none of us have) and he didn't get the DSL hype Pena and Made did and he tapered off at the end of his season. But, I believe he has several things working in his favor: he obviously has a penchant for hitting for power; he will likely start in the ACL so the promotion route is there; the Brewers have a dearth of high-end OF prospects stateside - ergo Payne's route to fast rising; and I think some of his drop-off may have been related to (unsubstantiated) playing through nagging injury as he sat out the last week or so in a playoff chase. The runway is there should he find success early that he makes it to High-A Wisconsin by season's end. This being said, this is likely aggressive. He likely finishes the season in Carolina. 

2) Out of Nowhere: Well, Hunt was a UDFA and Yoho was a draft pick. To that end: <Insert (as of today) unknown UDFA, draft pick or Indy Ball signings here>. And, well, that's not all that exciting. So, let's go elsewhere to a player I continue to just really like every time I see footage of him. He appears to have the size (despite originally being listed at 5'10" he looks more like an athletic stout 6'0" to me), the athleticism, the smoothness, and the early stateside consistency to really come on the scene in 2025: INF Tyler Rodriguez. I, for one, can't wait to watch Rodriguez and Adamczewski start the year together in Low-A Carolina. 

3) Rise into a Consensus Top 100 Prospect:

I see how hard it is for unknown pitchers with lesser pedigrees to garner Top 100 attention - heck, just consider how long it took for RHP KC Hunt, who I was pointing every Brewer fan to in his first week of relief work in Carolina, to get his due respect. I really want to dream into RHP Jason Woodward here. His stuff is absolutely that good. But, he's not even really firmly on the national consensus map. This is likely his 'Breaks onto the Scene' year if he can stay healhty. BUT, I'm going to join the herd and go for the lower hanging fruit here. I just think OF Braylon Payne has such an incredible work ethic and the right attitude to take an even bigger step in his first professional off-season. He has all the make-up for a fast riser and has the tools to be a legit Top 100 guy.

4) Comeback Year: There's quite a number of hopeful storylines here. Obviously, it's no secret I found RHP Cameron Wagoner's 2023 second half turnaround one of the better stories of 2023. C Jeferson Quero is an obvious choice given his status and his unfortunate early injury in 2024. LHP Brandon Knarr hasn't pitched in over a season after just getting his feet wet at Double-A Biloxi. On and on. For me, however, all roads lead to one of my favorite 'still under-the-radar' guys in RHP Tanner Shears. I sincerely can not wait to watch him toss that knuckling splitter again. It is absolutely one of my favorite pitches in the system. Seeing him come off TJ and back to the bump is definitively one of the things I look most forward to in 2025.

4b) Bounceback Year: I refuse to believe the quagmire that was EBJ's swing and set-up consummates the total player EBJ can be. I see it as a player lost in the fields of his own searching. I believe he soul searches in the off-season and he comes back with a vengeance looking to reclaim prospect status in 2025. We already know the defense is elite. He simply needs to find some semblance of consistent offense. I invest in: 2024 was a 'toss it in the trash' anomaly. 

5) Disappointments: Capital SKIP. It's too early and I'm never going to project a Brewers player disappointing me before they are given an opportunity to prove the merits of their off-season growth. Baseball is hard enough as it is. This is my time to invest in dreaming players overcome their obstacles and they find new grooves and new means of being their best selves.

6) Individual/Team Predictions: I think we see very similar lower level results in 2025 - with the addendum it is likely going to be very hard to replicate the really solid outcomes we saw across two squads in the DSL in 2024. Is it possible? Absolutely. Was 2024 an anomaly? Surely could be given the nature of that international FA class. I think the ACL remains a lotto pick prognostication given the immense youth; the change of the season schedule (ie the draft is much later than the season start now); and the first stateside exposure for so many a young player. Regardless, the Brewers appear to really have something in terms of prepping any and all players for that Low-A transition - just look at the incredible pitching performances we saw when young men left the ACL. It was uncanny. To that end, I think both the Muddies, in their last season as catfish, and the T-Rats continue to challenge for Titles. The one change I do see this year is the Shuckers are starting to get legit boosts in talent from those lower level clubs. With Pratt starting in Double-A, a bounceback year from EBJ, Luke Adams and Ramon Rodriguez bringing their skills and savvy, Areinamo making his mark etc. I just see a team primed to surprise in the Southern League. I think 2025 may be the year where the lower level talent takes another step and starts solidifying the upper levels.