Keep an Eye on These Under-the-Radar Non-Roster Invitees in Brewers Camp

For most established players with assured roster spots, the objective of spring training is to follow a gradual buildup; dial in mechanics and (for hitters) pitch recognition; and leave camp feeling healthy for Opening Day. It’s a bit different for non-roster invitees and those fighting for a job, as preseason play is a platform for proving their worth to their team—and others who may be watching.

Many of these players are well-known prospects who are getting a rare sampling of big-league competition. This site has covered them extensively and will continue to do so (thanks for your service, Spencer Michaelis), but we’re focusing today on other non-roster players who might otherwise be overlooked.

Barring a slew of injuries, these guys will not break camp with the team, but they could surface in the big leagues later in 2025 or beyond. Here are a few such non-prospect players to follow in the early weeks of Brewers camp.

RHP Easton McGee
A pitcher who has appeared in just two big-league games, owns a career 5.11 ERA in Triple-A, and missed chunks of the last two seasons while recovering from Tommy John surgery is as under-the-radar as it gets. McGee enters the second season of a two-year minor-league deal he signed midway through his rehab.

After going under the knife in May 2023, the 27-year-old returned to the mound last summer. McGee pitched to an ugly 7.03 ERA in 24 ⅓ Triple-A innings after his activation, but his more palatable 3.73 FIP and 105 DRA- indicate he threw better than his box score results imply. Most importantly, his strengths were intact.

Like many Brewers rotation options, McGee is not a “stuff” guy. Instead, he leans on pinpoint control, deception, and keeping hitters off-balance with a full arsenal. He features the four-seam, two-seam, and cutter triad the club loves, two distinct breaking balls, and a changeup. His unorthodox near-sidearm release slot from his 6-foot-6 height creates deception, particularly on that four-seamer. It has induced tons of whiffs at the top of the zone throughout McGee's career, despite its underwhelming low-90s velocity.

McGee walked just 2.8% of hitters in Triple-A last year. His sinker (25% hard-hit rate) and curveball (12.5%) missed barrels, and his four-seamer missed bats (42.5% whiff rate). He also tightened up his cutter shape. After it frequently backed up in 2023, McGee achieved more consistent glove-side movement upon his return.

The Brewers have nudged kitchen-sink hurlers like Bryse Wilson and Colin Rea toward higher cutter usage and may have a similar blueprint in mind for McGee. Minor-league pitch tagging is often imprecise, but he seemingly worked the revamped cutter more heavily last year. It’s the pitch to watch in his spring training outings.

LHP Bruce Zimmermann
Zimmermann has more big-league experience, but occupies the same territory as McGee on the depth chart. In 158 ⅓ innings, the southpaw has worked to a 5.57 ERA, 5.68 FIP, and 128 DRA-. He did not pitch in the majors last year, posting a 4.34 ERA, 4.10 FIP, and 92 DRA- in 76 ⅔ innings for the Baltimore Orioles’ Triple-A affiliate in Norfolk.

Whether the 30-year-old finds any big-league success hinges on whether he and the Brewers develop a capable fastball. His changeup and gyro slider have flashed potential as solid offerings, but opponents have destroyed anything hard, at all levels. Zimmermann’s fastball and sinker have combined for a -22 run value in his relatively small MLB sample and yielded a .731 slugging percentage. It’s been a similar story in Triple-A, where hitters have slugged .529 against them across the last two years.

The veteran has addressed this issue by refining his sinker. Over the offseason, he worked on its shape at Tread Athletics, where he was filmed generating up to eight more inches of arm-side run on his sinker than the 13.2 he averaged last year. Those movement numbers will be the ingredient to watch if he appears in a Cactus League game with Statcast tracking.

2B/C Anthony Seigler
Seigler was a unique talent in high school, starring as both a switch-hitting catcher and a switch-pitcher. The New York Yankees selected him with the 23rd overall pick in the 2018 draft, but injuries stalled his progression through the minors. Finally healthy in 2024, Seigler enjoyed something of a breakout season at Double-A Somerset, hitting .234/.350/.398 (118 wRC+) with 12 home runs.

The 25-year-old will be in Brewers camp after signing a minor-league deal in November, where he’ll get a chance to showcase a skill set the Matt Arnold-led front office has increasingly emphasized throughout its position player core. Seigler has an excellent eye at the plate, boasting a career 17.6% walk rate as a professional. He’s a versatile defender with experience behind the plate, at second base, and in the outfield. In 118 games last season, he stole 29 bases.

While he did not receive a big-league deal like Blake Perkins did two years ago, Seigler could join him as a late-blooming former Yankees prospect who settles into a valuable bench role. With continued progression in the upper minors to start the season, he could leapfrog a few catchers and infielders on the organizational depth chart.