Top 20 Brewers Prospects, May Update: One New Name Added, Luis Lara Jumps Five Spots

[Spencer Michaelis]

Image courtesy of © Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Brewers' farm system continues to impress despite several big-time graduations over the last few years. Some trades have brought new names in, and one of them is currently helping the big-league team out of the bullpen, which led to our lone brand-new addition to the list.

You can find the full list here!

#17 LHP Shane Drohan

Milwaukee acquired Drohan in the Caleb Durbin trade after spending most of his time in the Red Sox organization, as well as a spring with the White Sox. Injuries have impacted much of his professional career, including a 2024 Rule 5 stint with Chicago that resulted in his return to Boston. When healthy, however, he features a polished, deep pitch mix that seems scalable between the bullpen and the rotation.

In Nashville, Drohan was being stretched out as a starter, and he made his MLB debut against Boston as a starter as well. After being sent down, he made one more start in Nashville before injury forced Drohan back up to the big-league club. Since then, he's pitched exclusively out of the bullpen, both in single-inning and multi-inning roles.

His fastball typically sits 92-94 MPH as a starter and plays effectively enough to support the rest of the arsenal, though the secondary pitches are the foundation of the profile. Since moving into the bullpen role with the Brewers' big-league team, the fastball has averaged 95.3 MPH, and he has touched 97 at times. He also mixes in a cutter in the low-90s, and a sinker thrown about a tick slower than his four-seam. They both are best used against left-handed hitters, but the cutter can work as a bridge pitch for him against righties as well.

The slider is Drohan's best pitch and his primary swing-and-miss weapon. Since his move to the bullpen, the pitch has averaged 86 MPH, with a spin rate of nearly 2900, and a 33.3% whiff rate. He also mixes in a solid curveball in the 78-80 MPH range, also spinning around 2900 RPM as a reliever, and also with a 33.3% whiff rate against it.

His changeup has always been a reliable option against right-handed hitters with roughly 8-10 MPH of separation off the fastball. However, he seems to have switched to a splitter lately, as the spin rate has gone from ~1500 to ~990 on average. 

Drohan's command showed improvement in 2025, and since his move to the bullpen, he's only walked 3.2% of batters he's faced.

There is still legitimate rotation upside if he can stay healthy enough, though the arsenal and bat-missing ability are showing that they can translate very well in the bullpen right now. Drohan appears firmly entrenched in the Brewers' future pitching plans right now, though the role beyond 2026 is still up for debate.

Biggest Risers

#6 OF Luis Lara -- Up five spots from #11

Lara has shown some improvements in the power department, already nearly doubling his career high of four home runs, with seven at the time of this article. There is some reason to doubt the power output as of this moment, playing in some of the bandbox ballparks Nashville plays at and posting a wOBA of .409, compared to an xwOBA of .313. Despite that, there does still appear to be real growth in the power department as well, as evidenced by his 109 MPH max exit velocity. His 13.9% whiff rate is elite, and he’s limited strikeouts extremely well, while walking at a high rate as well.

Lara is 15 of 18 on stolen base attempts, and he’s a plus defender who could be elite in center field at the big league level. Lara looks like a player who will make his MLB debut at some point this season.

#16 Coleman Crow -- Previously Not Ranked (#19 in 2025)

Crow made his big-league debut in April and immediately put his ability to spin the ball on display. His spin rates rank among the highest in MLB on all of his offerings. The breaking balls are his best pitches, but his cutter has made nice strides from where it was in 2025 and is now a strong offering for him. Neither his four-seam nor sinker is a great pitch on its own, but they work well with the cutter to create enough hesitation for batters to struggle to square them up regularly.

Crow is a big-league arm that is waiting for his chance in Triple-A right now. Much like the next guy on this list had to do in 2025.

#3 RHP Logan Henderson -- Up three spots from #6

Henderson worked his way up to number three by significantly improving what has always been the biggest question mark in his game, his glove-side secondaries, this offseason. His slider is now thrown more like a slurve, and it has played pretty well in MLB games so far. The cutter has been inconsistent, but as a “bridge pitch,” it has fared pretty well against right-handed batters. 

Henderson has the look of a pitcher who may have graduated from this list next time the voting takes place, because he appears to have grabbed hold of a rotation spot, with Chad Patrick moving into more of a bullpen role. 

#9 OF Josh Adamczewski -- Up three spots from #12

Adamczewski has been destroying Midwest League pitching this season. After a slow start at the level in a small sample to close out the 2025 season, Adamczewski has returned with a vengeance. He’s currently posting a .992 OPS and a 150 wRC+. He has already surpassed his career high in home runs with seven (previously five in 2025), and he’s also kept his strikeout rate under 20%. 

His move to left field has also gone well, showing instincts that are better than expected, given his relative inexperience out there. Having just been added to Baseball America’s Top 100 this week, Adamczewski could continue his climb up this list over the course of this season. He could also continue his climb through the system, as a Double-A call-up feels like it can’t be too far away if he keeps up this production for much longer.

#13 OF Braylon Payne -- Up three spots from #16

Payne got off to a really hot start this season. He’s cooled off a bit over the last couple of weeks, but has still settled into an .863 OPS and a 118 wRC+ for the Timber Rattlers. His season has been highlighted by his ability to tap into even more raw power, both in terms of his exit velocities and his ability to hit the ball in the air. His PullAir% of 20.0% is in the 85th percentile for High-A hitters. One of his home runs left the bat at 115 MPH earlier this season. He’s also a plus-plus runner, though his 8/11 success rate on stolen bases leaves something to be desired.

The defense has taken a step forward in center, where his athleticism is always on display. The reads and jumps still need some work, but they are better than in 2025. Payne has the tools to be a power and speed threat, though he will still need to curb his whiffs (33.2%) and limit his strikeouts (27.4%) as much as possible.

Biggest Fallers

#18 3B Brock Wilken -- Down three spots from #15

Wilken got off to a very slow start in 2026, though he is currently in the midst of a 28-game on-base streak. During that stretch, he is posting a 118 wRC+ and has walked almost as much as he has struck out. The overall numbers are far less encouraging, though, as evidenced by his 77 wRC+ and his 28.5% strikeout rate. We will likely find out which version of Wilken is closest to the real version over the next couple of months.

#11 RHP Bishop Letson -- Down two spots from #9

Letson has gotten off to a tough start in Double-A this season. The walks have skyrocketed this season, rising from 7.5% in 2025 to 15.7% in 2026. The ERA is at 6.75, and the FIP is over 6 as well. The strikeouts are down nearly 10% as well. All that said, Letson’s stuff looks to be in a similar spot to where it was in the past, even getting the velocity up a bit higher than in the past. Letson’s drop is likely due more to the players below him forcing their way up the list, but he will need to rein in the command moving forward and limit walks at a much higher level to reach his full potential.

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