Finally Putting It Together: Could Two Former Top Prospects Be Making Comebacks?

[Harold Hutchison]

Image courtesy of © William Glasheen / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Brewers fans are impressed with Luis Pena and Jesus Made, and for good reason. Both players seem poised to follow the rapid-ascent trail that Jackson Chourio blazed up the mountainside of the Brewers’ farm system—particularly since the two play on the left side of the infield, a real area of doubt for the current team. But not all prospects rise so quickly.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Eduardo Garcia and Hedbert Perez were two of the more exciting international free-agent prospects the Brewers had picked up. Both had plus tools (power for Perez, defense for Garcia) and looked like high-upside prospects. For each, though, the journey has been less like a blitz up the cliff face and more like a zigzagging, boulder-strewn corniche.

Hedbert Perez
The Brewers signed Perez in July 2019. He didn’t see action until 2021, when he had a strong debut in the Arizona Complex League—but one marred by a stint on the 60-day injured list. After that, he went to Low-A Carolina in 2022, where he flashed power, but also had trouble making contact. In 2023, he returned to Carolina, where another injured list stint kept him out of action. In 2024, he again missed a lot of time due to injury, playing only 19 games for the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.

By this point, he was arguably bypassed by Yophery Rodriguez, part of the Brewers’ 2023 international free agent class, and both players were assigned to the Timber Rattlers for the 2025 season. However, the Brewers traded Rodriguez to Boston as part of the package for Quinn Priester.

Perez seems to be making something of this second chance stemming from the trade. The strikeout total is still high (39 in 125 at-bats), but he’s taken a big step up in plate discipline, with 20 walks in 25 games. That's just two short of his 2023 total, which he took 63 games to accumulate. It means Perez could end up as a version of Jake Bauers who could play center field: not a superstar, but a solid asset off the bench.

Eduardo Garcia
Garcia arrived with the international free agent class of 2018. In 2019, he saw all of 10 games for the DSL Brewers before a horrible injury wiped out the rest of that season. In 2021, he went to the Arizona Complex League, where he posted a solid offensive season before a brief stint with the Carolina Mudcats.

In 2022, he split time between Carolina and Wisconsin. He’d spend 2023 repeating in Appleton, where he also missed some time with injuries in addition to struggling offensively. The one thing that remained solid, though, was his defense.

In 2024, Garcia missed a lot of time with an injury after starting at Double-A Biloxi. Over the course of the season, 2023 draftee Cooper Pratt bypassed Garcia due to Garcia missing time with his injury. Garcia began to see significant time at other positions, and has now shown defensive versatility at third base, second base, and center field in addition to playing shortstop.

In 2025, though, Garcia is putting together a decent offensive season, and like Perez, he’s made a big improvement in his OBP skills, drawing 13 walks in 36 games. In 2024, he drew nine walks in 80 games. He may not be the shortstop of the future, but he could be a bench asset who provides excellent defense, along with some power and speed.

Overview
Despite their lengthy tenures in the Brewers farm system, Perez and Garcia still have time to become solid assets. Both players are still in their age-22 seasons, only a year younger than top pitching prospects Carlos Rodriguez and Logan Henderson.

As Ernesto Martinez has demonstrated, sometimes the path to being major league-ready is a longer, more winding one for some prospects. Garcia will be a minor-league free agent this offseason, while Perez will be Rule 5-eligible. While they may not be cornerstones, there is a very good chance they could become assets for the Brewers in the 2027/2028 timeframe, if the team can keep them around.

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