Winners of the Brewers Minor League Roster Reveals

With the release of the minor league rosters for Biloxi, Wisconsin and Carolina came … well, not a ton of surprises. Most of the fairly significant choices were tipped by the minor league spring training lineups.

Still, the decisions and the confidence they show or opportunities they provide are significant for some of the Brewers prospects.

I considered making this a winners and losers column, but with all the negativity over how the season started, I'm going to focus on the bright side. So, here are some of the winners from the Brewers' minor league roster decisions.

Hitters

Jesus Made and Luis Pena

I said winners, not necessarily surprises. Made was considered a near-lock to make Carolina's opening roster, and Pena was a good bet as well.

Still, it is important to note just how rare it is for international free agent signings, especially those who sign at 16 or 17, to start their second campaign in full-season ball. Unless I missed someone, in the prior three seasons, a total of only 13 such IFA hitters didn't have a rookie ball at-bat in their second season.

It seems old hat to us because the Brewers happened to account for nearly a third of those with four players. They also had the only pair of teammates on the list with Jackson Chourio and Hendry Mendez. This is a significant accomplishment, and also why I don't find Jose Anderson starting the year in the ACL disappointing at all.

Looking at some of the other top DSL stars from last year, Emil Morales does not appear to have made the jump for the Dodgers. The Cardinals had arguably the second best DSL prospect duo behind Made and Pena, but last time I checked neither Rainiel Rodriguez or Yairo Padilla made it either. The Angels, who had one in each of the prior two years, appear to have not had either Joswa Lugo or Hayden Alvarez skip the Complex League.

There might be one or two other than Made, Pena and the Padres' Leo De Vries, but based upon history, I doubt there are more than that.

Demetrio Nadal

Speaking of players skipping the Complex League, last year was going to be a big season for Demetrio Nadal. He was going to be among the players to watch on the Brewers' ACL squad. He was coming off a DSL season almost as good as the ones that Made and Pena posted a year later and looking to prove that he was a legit prospect, not a second-DSL-season mirage.

Then he got hurt and missed the full season.

To some degree, it makes sense to have Nadal in Carolina given that it is his fourth season in the organization (although that didn't help Johan Barrios). But the Brewers giving him an A-ball spot over Barrios and Tyler Rodriguez shows they have confidence in the diminutive utility man. And that makes the assignment significant.

Every Single Healthy Outfielder (or Infielder Playing the Outfield)

The Brewers have exactly three top-30 outfield prospects on full season rosters, and they are spread out. With Luis Lara at AA, Yophery Rodriguez at A+ and Braylon Payne in A-ball, no outfielder is going to be buried on the bench, unable to get more than a handful of at-bats a week to show what they can do.

Moreover, the Brewers teams don't have many outfielders period. Only Wisconsin has four players who started off as outfielders. Jheremy Vargas and Zavier Warren (and maybe even Eric Brown Jr.) figure to get outfield time in Biloxi and Nadal and Luiyin Alastre both will likely see their fair share of outfield starts for the Mudcats.

For someone like Vargas, who struggled out of the gate in Low-A a couple of years ago and quickly got shoved into an organizational depth role, the aggressive promotion and playing time that will likely go with it represent a chance to really put himself on the team's prospect radar. For Nadal and Alastre, it gives them a chance to get playing time despite the horribly crowded Mudcat infield situation. Whether they or the other outfielders sink or swim, at least they all will likely have a fair shot at playing time.

Yoneiker Lugo & Freider Rojas

While this could change before Opening Day, it is looking increasingly likely that at least one of these ACL catchers will be making the move stateside this year.

Barring Yannic Walther dropping back to the ACL once that season starts, Eric Martinez and Luis Corobo are the only catchers left for the Complex League. Given that they will almost certainly roster at least three, that means at least one of Lugo or Rojas will be moving up.

Pitching

The IFA Class of 2022

Take it from someone who has spent much of the last month engrossed in DSL pitching success rates: Most DSL pitchers never reach full-season ball. That has historically been doubly true for the Brewers.

There will be more on this group coming at a later date, but for now I'd just like to say how heartening some of their placements are. Manuel Rodriguez was expected to start in High-A, but Daniel Corniel figured to be squarely on the bubble and Anthony Flores was one of the bigger surprises on the Wisconsin roster. Then in Low-A, along with a few fellow Class of '22 pitchers is Wande Torres, who came back from injury to strike out seemingly almost everyone he faced last season and then skipped the Complex League to join the Mudcats this year.

Alexander Cornielle and Stiven Cruz

Remember when Carlos Rodriguez, Alexander Cornielle and Stiven Cruz anchored the Carolina rotation, the three 20-year-olds looking like the next wave of Brewers pitching prospects?

Rodriguez pitched his way up to Nashville and eventually made his big league debut. Cornielle and Cruz, however, seemed to either stagnate or regress in Wisconsin. Cornielle in particular seemed to spend most of last year as the "likely next guy to be promoted" only to be passed up shortly before each AA rotation spot opened up.

That's why I'm liking that both made the Biloxi roster, with Cornielle likely grabbing one of the starting rotation spots. It feels like it has been a long time coming given how quickly some of the pitchers around them have ascended the ladder, but both are still young enough to use this promotion to put themselves squarely back on the prospect map.

Bjorn Johnson

Things did not go particularly well for the Brewers' 2023 12th rounder last season. That he was among the worst offenders on a pitching staff that really struggled in the rough Arizona pitching environment is really saying something.

The young lefty walked more batters than he struck out and allowed more than a hit an inning. He seemed to have righted the ship late in the season, with two strong outings before suffering another blowup in his finale.

None of this really pointed to him opening the season on the Mudcats' roster.

Here's hoping that Johnson earned that spot with an impressive spring, rather than this being a case where injuries left them with no better options.

Interested in learning more about the Milwaukee Brewers' top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!