2023 Brewers Farm System Positional Preview: Relief Pitching

Not sure when this was originally written if you had prepared it over the course of the offseason or not, but Brady Schanuel, Christian Tripp, Leoni De La Cruz, and Junior Montero have all been released over the past 6-8 months.  As for my thoughts, there is a real lack of true relief options in the lower minors for Milwaukee, however, there are plenty of starters with good stuff that struggled at times (I.e. Vallecillo, Segura, Olguin, etc.) that could see their stuff play up in shorter outings which is exciting.  Way more promising young starting pitchers in the organization than starts to go around at the moment.

Raul Mendoza was also released by the Brewers last year.  My apologies as that had slipped my mind.

2 hours ago, ARobsBrewCrew said:

Not sure when this was originally written if you had prepared it over the course of the offseason or not, but Brady Schanuel, Christian Tripp, Leoni De La Cruz, and Junior Montero have all been released over the past 6-8 months.  As for my thoughts, there is a real lack of true relief options in the lower minors for Milwaukee, however, there are plenty of starters with good stuff that struggled at times (I.e. Vallecillo, Segura, Olguin, etc.) that could see their stuff play up in shorter outings which is exciting.  Way more promising young starting pitchers in the organization than starts to go around at the moment.

Would you put Figueroa in that group? I haven’t seen much of him, but the strikeouts made me question if moving to the bullpen might unlock something.

I am usually a wake me up when they hit AA guy when it comes to relievers. There might be a few more interesting ones than usual just for the reasons you said about more starters than spots.

Of the true relievers at the lower levels,  Pena probably intrigues me the most between the way they handled him and the positive Fangraphs scouting report.

2 hours ago, CheeseheadInQC said:

Would you put Figueroa in that group? I haven’t seen much of him, but the strikeouts made me question if moving to the bullpen might unlock something.

I am usually a wake me up when they hit AA guy when it comes to relievers. There might be a few more interesting ones than usual just for the reasons you said about more starters than spots.

Of the true relievers at the lower levels,  Pena probably intrigues me the most between the way they handled him and the positive Fangraphs scouting report.

I was very high on Figueroa heading into 2022 and he has certainly flashed great potential at times, albeit with worrisome inconsistency.  So to answer your question, yes, I would put him in that group as well.  It does worry me seeing releases like De La Cruz, Hasler, etc. though because, since there are so many talented young arms that have yet to establish themselves, there unfortunately won’t be enough innings (especially starts) to go around with Carolina, Wisconsin, in the ACL, or wherever.  There really isn’t enough space at the moment to give second chances either so I just hope they are able to get creative with getting guys work (and avoiding releases).  Jeison Peña, for example, was a guy they were hoping could try his hand at starting, although I like him better in a relief role, but I don’t see how they would even have an opportunity to try that.  The list of pitchers who could potentially start at either Carolina or Wisconsin is staggering, not even mentioning guys like Juan Geraldo and Jhoan Cruz that have shown nasty stuff.  It will certainly be an interesting season seeing how the organization handles this problem, a good problem to have I might add.  The guys that stick in the rotation will have to be very impressive in order to fight off the immense competition for those spots and, on the other side, we will come out of this season with some exciting new relief prospects that had been previously viewed as starters.

20 hours ago, Joseph Zarr said:

I am going to go out on a very strong limb: No way is Middendorf starting in High-A. Nope. I just can't see it happening given his ongoing career arc. He'll most likely be given the set-up opportunity for Uribe down in Biloxi but he very well might start in Nashville (he hasn't given up a run all Spring). He really has a chance to be special and, as I've been saying for several months, he might be our best 7th/8th inning prospect at present.

I consider Jakob Brustoski's #YearOfCommand 2023 season one of the more obscure but fun and exciting in all the Brewers Minor League. I really really hope his off-season posture assessments (neck issue in delivery) bear fruit. IF he could find control consistently, all the stuff is there to be a dominant high-leverage lefty. That's a big capital 'if', but that's largely the reason we love following and watching these guys. I'm rooting hard. 

As an aside, one of the pitchers that really caught my eye last summer in the ACL - despite inconsistent results and despite flashy numbers overall - was RHP Anthony Perez. Like many young pitchers, he struggled with command. IF, he can develop a more fine-tuned approach, there is a proverbial diamond in the rough here. Another young arm I am hoping to track in Carolina. Here's hoping he gets a shot in affiliated ball.

The reliever arms this team has stacked at Biloxi & Nashville is extraordinary imo.

Cousins, Miller, Yeager, Robinson, Peguero, Middendorf & Uribe are all legit stuff arms that could impact the big-club at some point this year.

That’s not even including Gasser, who, imo, is poised to pitch out of the MKE pen post-S2 or even Small, if he can fix his release-point.

This depth will imo, help strengthen the MKE bullpen as the season moves along. And if Ashby can get healthy and the team decides to pitch him out of the pen — jeesh.

14 hours ago, ARobsBrewCrew said:

Not sure when this was originally written if you had prepared it over the course of the offseason or not, but Brady Schanuel, Christian Tripp, Leoni De La Cruz, and Junior Montero have all been released over the past 6-8 months.  As for my thoughts, there is a real lack of true relief options in the lower minors for Milwaukee, however, there are plenty of starters with good stuff that struggled at times (I.e. Vallecillo, Segura, Olguin, etc.) that could see their stuff play up in shorter outings which is exciting.  Way more promising young starting pitchers in the organization than starts to go around at the moment.

I was looking through various transactions, and the names hadn't come up as released when I did.