When The Brewers Take It To 11 In The Draft

But while many people focus on the first round, there are many more rounds – and sometimes, the biggest contributions come not from the first round but way after that, with almost no fanfare.

These later rounds can be very hit or miss, but there is one round where the times the Brewers have hit that it has been huge. Five players made it to the majors with the Brewers from the 11th round. Four made at least an honorable mention as among the best at their respective positions in Brewers' history. Let’s look at these five players.

LHP Kevin Kobel (1971)
Kobel made his debut in 1973, with a rough debut. In 1974, though, he proved a solid starter for the Crew, posting a 3.99 ERA in 24 starts and another ten relief appearances. Arm trouble derailed his 1975 season, and he returned to the majors as an expanded roster callup in 1976. His contract was purchased by the Mets, where he had some success before he faded away.

OF Darryl Hamilton (1986)
Hamilton was nowhere near heralded as Gary Sheffield in the 1986 draft, but he took to Milwaukee much better, posting 11 of his career 16.7 Wins Above Replacement with the Brewers. Hamilton was primarily a backup who covered all three positions but took over center field in 1995. He played with four teams over the next six years. Hamilton was an excellent fourth outfielder.

3B Jeff Cirillo (1991)
The 1991 draft was, in many ways, a disaster for the Brewers. Pitchers Ty Hill and Judd Wilstead never got past AA. Fifth-round pick Nomar Garciaparra probably comes up as one of the biggest “ones that got away” in Brewers draft history. Mike Matheny was a decent catcher but was 1.5 wins below replacement value. Cirillo was arguably the second-best third baseman in Brewers history, posting 26.2 wins above replacement for the Crew in two stints.

OF/1B Corey Hart (2000)
The 2000 draft was another one of those drafts the Brewers would like to have back for the most part. First-round pick Dave Krynzel made it to the majors briefly in two seasons, and his biggest contribution was as part of the trade that brought Johnny Estrada to the Brewers after the 2006 season. But Corey Hart turned out to be one of the best right fielders in Brewers history, picked in the 11th round, producing 15.5 Wins Above Replacement in his tenure with the team.

RHP Brandon Woodruff (2014)
The 2014 draft is a real mixed bag. Some players provided the Brewers key assets for the magical 2018 season directly (Jordan Yamamoto and Monte Harrison were key parts of the Christian Yelich trade) or indirectly (Cy Sneed was traded for Jonathan Villar, who was traded for Jonathan Schoop). One pick they held on to was Woodruff, taken in the 11th round. All he’s done is become the Brewers’ all-time leader in ERA and adjusted ERA+, not to mention providing some offensive help before the universal DH took hold.

Future
Currently, the Brewers still have two 11th-round picks in the system: Cameron Wagoner and Max Lazar, both right-handed starters. Lazar looked like a big steal on the order of Woodruff before injuries derailed things, and Wagoner’s career is just getting started, but he already showed flashes last year. It’s rare for 11th-round picks to make the majors, but when a Brewers 11th-round pick makes the majors, their success on a scale from one to ten is an 11.