The Brewers Are Buying Into Shane Drohan's Upside at the Right Time

[Jack Stern]

Image courtesy of © Rick Cinclair/Telegram & Gazette / USA TODAY NETWORK

Kyle Harrison is the more recognizable of the two left-handed pitchers the Brewers acquired from the Red Sox in the Caleb Durbin trade earlier this week. However, president of baseball operations Matt Arnold stressed that the club also thinks highly of Shane Drohan, who owns an unassuming 4.29 ERA and 4.52 FIP across five minor-league seasons and has yet to make his big-league debut at age 27.

“Our scouts really, really like this guy,” Arnold said on Monday. “He was a very big part of [the trade] for us as well.”

After Boston made him its fifth-round pick out of Florida State in 2020, Drohan made it to Triple-A Worcester in 2023, but injuries and control issues stalled his progress there. Shoulder surgery wiped out most of his 2024 campaign (which included a brief stay in the Chicago White Sox organization as a Rule 5 pick), and he missed three months last year with forearm inflammation. When healthy, he has walked 11.4% of hitters over his minor-league career.

Drohan’s ability to miss bats, however, has always been apparent. Thanks to a deceptive arsenal delivered from a low arm slot, he owns a career 26.3% strikeout rate as a professional. By cleaning up that five-pitch mix last year, the southpaw elevated his game to new heights, posting a 2.27 ERA, 68 DRA-, and 35.3% strikeout rate in 47 2/3 Triple-A innings.

“He’s kind of flown under the radar a little bit more than Harrison, but this guy dominated in Triple-A last year,” Arnold said, adding that the club has no concerns related to that forearm injury. “I mean, he was very good. Strikes out a lot of guys and has really good stuff.”

Visually, Drohan’s delivery looked more athletic. Here’s a comparison of the southpaw throwing a breaking pitch in his previous healthy season in 2023 and in 2025, both with the bases empty.

Drohan moves quicker in the earlier clip, but his delivery is stiffer. Pitching out of a fuller windup in the 2025 clip, he takes longer to get to his release point, but he gets deeper into his back leg before rotating more explosively toward the plate. The result is a well-located, sharper slider that gets a chase low and away.

With those changes, Drohan added a tick of velocity to each of his pitches, increased the backspin-induced carry of his four-seam fastball, and tightened his cutter and slider into more consistent and distinct shapes. His control also improved, as he cut his walk rate to 8.4% in Triple-A.

Those developments turned Drohan into one of the top swing-and-miss pitchers in minor-league baseball. He generated whiffs on 37.3% of swings, which ranked in the 99th percentile of Triple-A pitchers. His riding cutter, which opponents tagged for a .504 xwOBA, was the only pitch not to produce a plus whiff rate.

The rest of his arsenal was dominant. Drohan’s improved four-seamer played well at the top of the zone, and his fading changeup baffled hitters, thanks to nearly 10 mph of separation off the heater. His shortened gyro slider remained in the strike zone longer before its late movement took effect, leading to more chases and weak contact. His curveball, regarded by some evaluators as his best pitch before he refined his slider, offers bigger movement when necessary from a similar slot to the rest of his pitches.

Drohan could scrap his cutter in a relief role, where his fastball-slider pairing would be enough to carve through most hitters. If he remains a starter, he and the Brewers must determine the best way to use the pitch. He found the most success when back-dooring it to right-handed hitters, which is how Quinn Priester began using his similarly shaped cutter to lefties throughout last summer.

Drohan’s swing-and-miss upside has never been in question, and with improved control, he’s closer to missing big-league bats. The question is how consistently he’ll tap into that upside, and in what role. He figures to be further down the depth chart than the myriad bona fide starters in camp, but he has the arsenal to start. Don’t be surprised if he’s recording pivotal outs in Milwaukee by season’s end.

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[Jake McKibbin]

Hi Jack! Curious to hear your thoughts, but what do you think makes his delivery so deceptive?

[Terry]

I'm sensing Eric Lauer vibe, but his above average changeup likely give him a better floor than Lauer's. The only concern I have is durability issue.

[keephopealive]

Drohan is 27 and hasn't even debuted in the Show.  He could turn out like Trevor Megill.  At age 27, he debuted in the Majors spending the year on the shuttle between AAA and the Cubs to the tune of a an 8.37 ERA with the Cubs and a 5.14 ERA in AAA.  At age 28, he was with the Twins, where he had a 4.80 ERA with the Twins and 3.00 ERA at AAA. After an awful 12.03 ERA start to the season at AAA, the Brewers acquired him at age 29. The next year he was closing for us, and last year he was an All-Star.  . 

[Terry]

Those two had literally nothing in common, but if your're just randomly throwing names then sure I guess.

[Bassball]

As usual a very interesting and detailed analysis

[eddiemathews]

6 hours ago, Terry said:

I'm sensing Eric Lauer vibe, but his above average changeup likely give him a better floor than Lauer's. The only concern I have is durability issue.

It's hard to imitate Lauer's middle/middle invisipitch.

[eddiemathews]

The next Koenig

[Joseph Zarr]

7 hours ago, Jake McKibbin said:

Hi Jack! Curious to hear your thoughts, but what do you think makes his delivery so deceptive?

Has Jack ever commented or responded to a single question in any of the numerous articles he has posted here? Press Box Maxi. 😅

[eddiemathews]

1 hour ago, Joseph Zarr said:

Has Jack ever commented or responded to a single question in any of the numerous articles he has posted here? Press Box Maxi. 😅

Doesn't wanna mix with the hoi polloi.

[long ball]

I expect everyone on the 40 man to pitch important innings next year. Hall, Ashby, and Zastryzny have all dealt with injuries the last few years. I expect Drohan is likely going to stretch out in spring, but factor more into the bullpen shuttle. 

[SF70]

I get excited for every arm this team brings in by trade. Not sure there’s a better professional pitching acquisition department in the game than this one.

What they are building with their organizational pitching is amazing to follow.