Brewers Minor League Hitter of the Month: May 2024

Honorable Mentions
Ramón Rodríguez (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers)
71 PA, .263/.366/.456, 15 H, 5 2B, 2 HR, 6 R, 11 RBI, 9 BB, 6 K, 2 HBP, 1 SB

Rodríguez is a catching prospect that became a minor league free agent after six full seasons. His last season in the crowded Orioles system was lackluster, spending most of his time in Double-A with a .666 OPS. He signed a deal with the Brewers late last December and was initially assigned to the Biloxi Shuckers before being moved down. He’s a little old to be in High-A at 25 years old and even then, he struggled immensely in his first month with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. After posting a .495 OPS in April, he managed to turn things around in a big way and was one of the best hitters on the team.

His future with the Brewers is uncertain given several factors including his current level of play and the fact that Milwaukee is already rich in catching talent. Whether he’ll even be able to continue the momentum he started in May still remains to be seen.

Filippo Di Turi (ACL Brewers)
93 PA, .343/.505/.514, 24 H, 5 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 13 RBI, 5 SB, 21 BB, 15 K

Filippo Di Turi is an 18-year old shortstop out of Venezuela that signed a minor league contract with the Brewers in January 2023 and started off his career in the DSL. Since starting the year in rookie ball, he’s put his dominant on-base skills on full display, boasting a .500 on-base percentage so far this season. He’ll need to keep it up if he wants to make the majors one day as his power received a mere 30-grade from scouts. Despite his shortcomings, he's still the #29 ranked prospect for the Brewers.

Regarding his approach, MLB.com writes:

Quote

The switch-hitter has a smooth and mechanically sound swing that helped him make a healthy amount of contact in his first pro campaign. He also showed a relative unwillingness to expand the zone against wilder DSL arms. That will certainly be tested against arms with much better command, but the Brewers were pleased with the foundation he set with his approach. Power remains a question mark. Di Turi put 47.6 percent of his batted balls on the ground and only picked up 11 extra-base hits in his 52 games, none of which were homers.

Carlos Rodriguez (Biloxi Shuckers)
78 PA, .391/.462/.464, 27 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 8 R, 12 RBI, 9 BB, 5 K, 1 SB

Not to be confused with the #6 ranked pitching prospect (that’s Carlos F. Rodriguez), Carlos D. Rodriguez is an outfield prospect from Venezuela who signed his first contract with the Brewers back in 2017. In his first year in Double-A, he’s at a .744 OPS but saw a big jump in performance from April to May. After spending some time on the injured list, he came back healthier and better than ever, jumping from a .595 OPS in April to a .925 OPS in May. 

He’s been excellent at hitting for average but lacks threatening power, with just four of his 27 hits in May being for extra bases with no home runs. In fact, he’s still yet to hit his first home run of the season. He’s only 23 years old so he has time to continue growing and developing but with a total of just ten home runs in his 1,581 career plate appearances, he probably won’t ever be a long ball threat.

Best Minor League Hitter of the Month: Brewer Hicklen (Nashville Sounds)
90 PA, .230/.344/.622,17 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 16 R, 24 RBI, 11 BB, 23 K, 3 HBP, 6 SB

What can we really expect from a guy named Brewer who plays in the Brewers system? Unlike the other names on this list, Hicklen was more dependent on his power than his on-base ability to get the job done. His 46 total bases was the most out of any Brewers minor league player in May, largely driven by his eight home runs. 

Hicklen is an interesting player. At 28 years old, he’s already on the older end of players in Triple-A. He already made his major league debut with the Royals in 2022, accumulating a whopping four plate appearances before spending all of 2023 in Triple-A and signing a free agent contract with Milwaukee. I’m not exactly sure what conditions are necessary for him to be called up to the Brewers but given the sheer amount of competition in the outfield, it may be an uphill battle to make it back to the show. Nonetheless, he’s been a remarkable bat for the Nashville Sounds so far this year, posting a cumulative .983 OPS with 11 doubles and 11 home runs over 201 plate appearances.