Dylan O'Rae

[Trail]

What does this guy have to do to get a little love?  No one says a word about him!  Just listened to the minor league pod (which was great, by the way) and he didn't even get mentioned?? Our stealth prospect?  Ya...there is no power (2 homers in his minor league career) but after a year off, he's hitting .313, .436 OBP and 29 steals.  No, I don't see a clear path to Milwaukee, but you could say that about a few prospects.  Slap-hitting lead-off hitters aren't at all sexy, but c'mon....

[liveforoctober]

He seems like such a Brewers guy too. Gets on base, steals the ones he doesn't get on. Scrappy, small.

The biggest issue with O'Rae isn't who is ahead of him, it is who is behind him. Adamczewski is the same player with power.

BUT O'Rae is my kind of prospect. He is the guy that allows you to deal the Top 100 guy that everyone loves (in this case Josh) while putting up 90+% of the output you would have gotten from the top 100 guy anyway.

I have mentioned him more than a few times this year on this board...

[snoogans8056]

He’ll be a mix of Perkins and Hamilton. That’ll play on this team more than any other.

But it’s not sexy.

[biedergb]

1 hour ago, liveforoctober said:

He seems like such a Brewers guy too. Gets on base, steals the ones he doesn't get on. Scrappy, small.

The biggest issue with O'Rae isn't who is ahead of him, it is who is behind him. Adamczewski is the same player with power.

BUT O'Rae is my kind of prospect. He is the guy that allows you to deal the Top 100 guy that everyone loves (in this case Josh) while putting up 90+% of the output you would have gotten from the top 100 guy anyway.

I have mentioned him more than a few times this year on this board...

O'Rae is a very intriguing prospect, he is a bit like Luis Lara "light", in that I don't know that he is an elite defender but is versatile (could play 2B and OF), and his hit tool and speed are the calling cards.  I am not sure he will generate much more power, and that will limit him.  He does have a solid UT/OF/PH/PR super sub type of player here, and that is always a valuable player.  I think like Erik Sogard/Jace Peterson who could have some productive seasons but more as a bench role.

[Spencer Michaelis]

We did talk about O’Rae! 1:32:35 mark 😉

(Fully understand how it could be missed during a 2 1/2 hour pod)

 

[LouisEly]

7 hours ago, liveforoctober said:

The biggest issue with O'Rae isn't who is ahead of him, it is who is behind him. Adamczewski is the same player with power.

Adamczewski is pretty much a LF at this point.  This year he's played 1.1 innings at 2B and 342 inning in LF.  Last year in the AFL he played 17 innings at 2B and 144 innings in LF.

[liveforoctober]

53 minutes ago, LouisEly said:

Adamczewski is pretty much a LF at this point.  This year he's played 1.1 innings at 2B and 342 inning in LF.  Last year in the AFL he played 17 innings at 2B and 144 innings in LF.

I could be wrong but I think they moved Josh out to the outfield because he is incredibly blocked as a middle infielder and I think Dylan is going to find that same fate. His move to the outfield is more challenging because of his stature, but I think his path of the big leagues also includes learning outfield positions.

[sveumrules]

I think it's mostly a byproduct of having such a deep system, there were 15 more or less consensus guys in the May voting which left Dylan as one of like a dozen guys fighting it out for those last five or so spots, though it looks like he did make it onto seven ballots with a high rank of #13 so did get some love.

With Drohan and Crow coming up on graduation, plus Pratt, Jett, Lara, Yoho and maybe even Hardin as possibilities by the end of the year that should open up a few slots in the Top 20. Guys like JD Thompson and Brock Wilken at the back of the list might be candidates to drop off too if their performance doesn't step up in the interim.

But yeah, couldn't ask for a much better return from injury than to come back strong in the Southern League where he was so overmatched (298 PA of 67 wRC+) back in 2024. Thought it was kind of interesting how similar his line this year is to his stint with Carolina back in 2023...

2023 Carolina (107 PA)
330/439/375 (137 wRC+)
15.9 BB% | 13.1 K%
.045 ISO | .387 BABIP

2026 Biloxi (220 PA)
313/436/381 (130 wRC+)
15.9 BB% | 17.3 K%
.068 ISO | .388 BABIP

2029 Milwaukee ?!?!?!?!? 

[LouisEly]

12 hours ago, liveforoctober said:

I could be wrong but I think they moved Josh out to the outfield because he is incredibly blocked as a middle infielder and I think Dylan is going to find that same fate. His move to the outfield is more challenging because of his stature, but I think his path of the big leagues also includes learning outfield positions.

I don't know that it matters why JA is no longer playing 2B.  But I would think that if the Brewers still envisioned him being potentially even a backup 2B he would still be getting some time there.  Dickinson isn't some top prospect that he's being bumped at 2B for.

Bottom line is that JA is no longer playing 2B at all, so I don't think that he is a threat to O'Rae's future.

[MilwaukeeBeers]

O'Rae seems like a David Hamilton type of player with a similar run tool. Have to think the front office values him higher than most outlets for that reason.

[Trail]

On 6/4/2026 at 5:58 PM, Spencer Michaelis said:

We did talk about O’Rae! 1:32:35 mark 😉

(Fully understand how it could be missed during a 2 1/2 hour pod)

 

Yea...somehow I missed it!  Mea Culpa.  Still...this guy gets very little run.  Had 2 more hits and an RBI yesterday, and a dinger on Friday.   I haven't read much about his defense, but I haven't seen any criticisms either.  Is he stuck at 2nd because of Made and overall organizational depth, or is it an arm thing?  In the pod, outfield was mentioned...

[Spencer Michaelis]

1 hour ago, Trail said:

Yea...somehow I missed it!  Mea Culpa.  Still...this guy gets very little run.  Had 2 more hits and an RBI yesterday, and a dinger on Friday.   I haven't read much about his defense, but I haven't seen any criticisms either.  Is he stuck at 2nd because of Made and overall organizational depth, or is it an arm thing?  In the pod, outfield was mentioned...

He’s played center before and looked solid out there. He’s a good defender at second but the arm probably limits him to that spot if he’s on the infield. 

[biedergb]

2 hours ago, Spencer Michaelis said:

He’s played center before and looked solid out there. He’s a good defender at second but the arm probably limits him to that spot if he’s on the infield. 

Agree. Arm is limitation, @Spencer Michaelis - how would you rate his range, as that seems to be another limitation, thoughts?  I thought he looked fine at 2B, but not sure he has that same range that you need on the left side of the IF, especially with a limited arm.

His speed plays on the OF and I imagine he could be CF, but his profile is limited if he is LF.  

[Spencer Michaelis]

3 minutes ago, biedergb said:

Agree. Arm is limitation, @Spencer Michaelis - how would you rate his range, as that seems to be another limitation, thoughts?  I thought he looked fine at 2B, but not sure he has that same range that you need on the left side of the IF, especially with a limited arm.

His speed plays on the OF and I imagine he could be CF, but his profile is limited if he is LF.  

I think the range is solid, but it’d just be hard to make that arm work. Agreed that it’s tough if he’s in left only.

[Trail]

20 hours ago, Spencer Michaelis said:

He’s played center before and looked solid out there. He’s a good defender at second but the arm probably limits him to that spot if he’s on the infield. 

All the scouting reports seem to be pre-injury.