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They should join him at some point- hopefully sooner rather than later.

Thanks for doing this Mass! And wow @Jack Stern - impressive for Easton McGee. Hopeful he can have a breakout season.

Wow that media guide is impressive, and yes I love the optimism of his best guesses as Jesus Made is in the Shuckers guide. Alright Javik I would love to see him on the Shuckers during the Southern League championship games.

Interesting. Maybe a way to ensure more at bats and allow him time to get re-acclimated? He was Nashville opening day C so this is a “demotion” but hopefully more a “rehab assignment”.

Wow. Ok. Thanks for the update. Hopeful for a full recovery. He was one of my under the radar-ish favorite pitchers for this upcoming year. I will be ready for next with him.

Did I miss where he was injured. I’m bummed- M. Rodriguez, Cortez and B. Rivera were my Carolina pitching crushes last season (outside of the Knoth/Letson duo).

Can you or someone remind me what the colors mean again? I figured blue is switch hitting, but I didn't realize that Blake Burke and I am assuming Hedbert Perez were swith hitters? And Jheremy Vargas was a right handed hitter last year, so that is throwing me off. Also the light blue for DiTuri (who is switch hitter right?) and Hall (who is definitely LHH)? Anyway, no worries, as I am clearly scrutinizing this way too much. But minor league games can't come soon enough 😉

It was fun to watch Jesus Made, Luis Pena and Jose Anderson. Anderson with a HR was nice to see. Made and Pena made some hard contact, and both were caught stealing. Otherwise it was typical outings for Lara, Yophery and Bitonti. Even Adams had his HBP and sac fly. Solid game by Matt Wood with a double and a caught stealing. Miz was not so sharp - his control continues to be his barrier to breaking through. I didn't watch Letson's innings (internet was down). But did watch Wichrowski who was typical for him, big time stuff, but may not control it enough which leads to walks and full counts. I was impressed with Hardin and Hostetler. I watched Hardin's debut in Carolina and he seemed more in command or just knew what he had to do, and Hostetler has some intriguing raw stuff, I thought they said his last pitch was 97. Yoho was just Yoho. Fun game, outside of the 1st and 3rd innings for the pitching side. I would have to watch again, but the pitching was better with Wood (and even Miller) in the game which was either a catching effect, or due to the pitchers that were out there (Yoho, Hardin and Hostetler).

😬 whoops on Clarke. And ok , some of those guys will opt out to look for other opportunities. Also nice seeing the MiLB line up cards tonight.

Boeve may start the year on IL likely as he comes back from surgery - I can’t recall of it was his throwing arm, so he could see a lot of 1B when back. And Quero will likely DH. Alfaro and ?? Will most work at C for Nashville Monasterio may likely be odd man out for IF (probably behind Dunn, Capra and Durbin) so will play at AAA We also have Siegler who will likely play SS or 3B So I see Martinez, Delgado, Siegler, Monasterio in IF with Zamora UT OF- rotations of Bauers, Hicklen, Collins, Black. DH - Quero rotating with Bauers/Black. And Alfaro at C, along with ? Rodriguez or Diaz ?. Not sure of Canha makes the bigs or AAA. And no idea what to make of Spain or Herron.

And he makes us feel like it's 2024 again .... 0-2 with a K. Sigh EBJ with a hit, so that's a nice sign, and he had a SB to boot. And Bo Bowman with the stranded runner, first batter HBP, then two outs, and he earns the W.

Great post. I will defer to our esteemed minor league reporters and frequent posters here, but as one who signed up for MiLB TV package last season, I thought it was definitely worth it. You can watch most (not quite all due to some teams without TV/video) of the games. You can watch several games at once if you wanted to as well or just bounce back and forth - and watch them archived if you couldn't watch live. So to watch the prospects I think it is the way to go. There are a ton of players that are exciting at many levels. As far as Jesus Made, he should start at Carolina in low A, likely with Braylon Payne among others. So the Mudcats games will be worth watching. But as certain players start to make their name as well they will become must-watch (ie watching Yoho and Hunt come out of nowhere last season was a treat) And as a tip, I always have that day's minor league thread open as many of the posters (Jim, Joseph Zarr, Ro Mueller, Wiguy94, Sveumrules, Brewman, MudcatsFan among several others that I know I am forgetting and will kick myself for overlooking) will keep you updated and entertained. I had a blast trying to join this illustrious crew last summer and hope to do the same this year.

Well shoot. I missed that completely, and must have missed in the Forum here too. Ugh I will watch later, interested to hear the time frame for return. Thanks

Wow what a young squad. I mean 8 players have yet to play a professional season in the States. There are 3 former DSL players (Pena, Made, Anderson), 4 players from 2024 draft (Dinges, Meccage, Payne, Burke) and 1 UDFA (Hostetler). I thought last year we had more A/AA players on that squad. And we have a few 2023 draftees (Wilken, Pratt, Bitonti, Wichrowski, Letson, Yoho). Interestingly no Boeve, Hunt along with no Henderson or Black.

I think the other part is not burning the options/40 man spots on the AAA guys (like last year with CF Rodriguez who used a 40 man spot before he was really ready). If Quintana plays well great, if he is a pick up like Julio Teheran or more like Keuchel last year, then use the innings and you can always trade or DFA the pitcher later. AAA (or AA) will likely have some good arms, but may be a few months or a year away from being MLB ready (Miz, Henderson, Hunt, Wichrowski, Rodriguez)

Interesting question. Going back to MLB top 30 prospects and looking at the top 5-10, they haven't "blown" many prospects as several who were very high either became MLB starters at one point (T. Taylor, Arcia, Hader, Frelick, Mitchell etc), were ranked high but were way too far off (H. Perez among others) or were traded for quality players (Brinson, Harrison, I. Diaz, B. Phillips, T. Grisham). The last group of top prospects who failed to live up to the expectations was the 2019/2020 trio of Hiura, Ray and Lutz, and pitcher Small.

Shane Smith will now likely replace Reece Olson as the prospect I will miss the most. Fortunately the Brewers haven’t lost many prospects that have come back to bite them, but these two would be great pitching depth at a time when the team is looking for just that exactly. Ok - better now that I got that out. Havemt followed spring training much but getting excited for the season ahead.

Henderson with a 94-95 mph Fastball, a very good change up and a solid 3rd pitch goes from a middle relief / borderline 5th starter profile to a back to middle of the rotation profile. That would be great.

Thanks for the update ARobs ugh another gut punch. I was so stoked to watch some of our young pitchers (letson, knoth, meccage and the 2023-24 HS picks) progress this season, Robinson had his surgery last season mid year, correct? But we are expecting some who may return from injury - the aforementioned Shears, and hopefully healthy years from Woodward, Birchard. But Crow should be returning, and what was Galindez’s injury/rehab status? Am I missing anyone?

Interesting article. And given the recent few years with high interest rates, the team will want to minimize any loans it needs to keep cash flow in the positive territory. A few years ago they could probably average out some short term crunches with various measures, but may be more reluctant to now, so keeping the bottom line lower - as well as whatever they are doing to pay off the infrastructure of the buildings they have invested into such as Arizona and DSL. However, it still stinks that these things are factors for the club and they can't just dole out some extra cash for good players to augment the roster.

Add to the equation that we have a high end prospect with good defense, and some older but solid C prospects in the lower minors. I don't know they have completely given up on it, but they see the offense that Contreras can bring, and he and Quero split C reps in 2026 and 2027 then we can have a little of both, or even more than that if Quero can translate his bat to the MLB or Contreras improves his defense even some, But as noted robo-umps will change the framing qualities, although receiving and arm will still be valuable.

Here is a weird question - is there a statute of limitations of this - like if he plays international or independent ball for X years can he forgo the suspension? Otherwise that effectively kills a player’s chance of getting back to milb with a new team given roster limits etc. Wish him luck and wonder if that was another factor for his release (if known) but his poor performance at low A probably did it anyway.

Well, yes. But for a catcher he has some (low bar), but he has more offense right now than defense was more my point. But last year he had zero power, and his BA stunk, but prior to that he had good OBP (yes as noted it was primarily driven by his BB and HBP) and did have some power. Basically everyone's offense gets sucked into the Southern League and Biloxi vortex. I would argue there is some upside for him as a catcher, but I also agree last year his BB rate was all he had, and if that doesn't improve his BA or ISO, then he has then no real value unless his framing or arm become magically better. If he was forced to another position then his offensive "upside" is non-existent. I wonder if he is going to ST (Along with Rodriguez and I think Garcia) since they just need bodies at the catching position since there are like a zillion arms in spring training.

The can do far far better. Miller has some offensive upside, but stalled at AA (although who doesn't in Biloxi?) but his defense has left a lot to be lacking. He would have to really start hitting to be considered a real MLB catcher, as his glove work and arm will not get him there.

All valid point - prospects are just that - they are not known quantities and all is prospective predictions. But on the individual basis it is so difficult to predict, so taking the bigger picture of a large group, and particularly a deep pool like what Milwaukee has now, is how you hedge. If our division title last year was based upon Tyler Black's success (rather than Chourio), or our playoff chances in 2026/2027 are based upon Luke Adams progression then we are back in 1990s Brewers baseball (where the top 3-5 prospects HAVE to make it). But for example at 1B/3B alone we have Adams, Wilken, Bitonti, Baez, and a bevvy of 1b (Black, Burke, EMJ) or ss (Pratt, Made, Pena, Quintana) that could also fill in those roles in the next few seasons. And this team has done reasonably well in getting and developing those players. Our 2022 MLB Pipeline top 10 list had in order: Frelick, Wiemer, Ashby, Mitchell, Turang, Quero, Black, Small, H. Perez, and Chourio. If you told me we would have one likely All Star, 3 MLB regular players with solid traits, one pitcher who can succeed as a SP or RP, and a solid prospect who still could be a future MLB star, I'd take it. Now if that SP/RP had to be Small, then we struck out, but having Ashby turn out as decent is OK. If that star had to be Frelick or Weimer we would be struggling, but having Chourio become the face of the franchise makes it better. The fact we didn't need to Hedbert Perez and Joey Wiemer become our OF, but now have Chourio, Mitchell and Frelick in OF gives the team that benefit. So it is a gamble, but having multiple chips makes the gamble a little easier. And I do love the depth there is right now, and we know only a handful will fulfill their promises, but I will take it.