James Zumstein

I agree completely. I'm hoping he's rejuvenated by joining a winning ballclub, because it had to be hard putting forth your best effort day in and day out for a T-Rats club that has struggled mightily all season.

Prep Baseball Report on Peyton Niksch - September 2024 UDFA Peyton Niksch threw a perfect game earlier this year while striking out 16 of 21 batters faced, finished third in DII JuCo in ERA and seventh in Ks.

Is Yerlin Rodriguez the first 4 True Outcome pitcher: BB, K, HBP, or WP?

I've been wondering how long until more teams start to draft in line with our philosophy. It's got to be obvious to anyone paying any amount of attention that we know how to build both organizational strength and depth. I guess other organizations still feel it's easier to continue to throw large wads of cash at 30+ year-old free agents than it is to invest much lower sums in scouting. Fine by me.

Out of curiosity, I looked at Lake Central's roster from this past year to look for any promising prospects for 2026. Didn't find any for next year, but SS Parker Robinson just completed an impressive sophomore season and could be a legit 2027 prospect. Here's Prep Baseball's write-up: Robinson is one of the marquee names on this squad and will bring a pro-look with his 6-foot-4, 200 pound frame. He moves with grace for the frame and has burned 60s into the 6.7s. There is a chance to stick at SS long-term but could transition with ease to 3B or another corner. Is presently well-above average in all facets at SS for the age, arm looks the part of a tool at 88 across with clean action and carry, hands are soft. Loose, linear swing, accurate hands with some ability to lift. Power projections feel safe, hit 12 doubles this spring in strong conference." Also for what its worth, Tennessee recruit Sean Dunlap is Prep Baseball's 2nd-ranked HS catcher in the 2026 class and he's from the same hometown of Crown Point, but plays for a different high school.

Of picks 11-20, I would hope we could sign Hughes, Brock, Coil, Mills, and at least two of the HS pitchers. Underwood and Lauridsen would seem the likeliest and biggest priorities, but time will tell.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it here, but with all of our young arms we've drafted the past few drafts, do we see some getting moved at the deadline to improve the big league club? As it looks now, there are way more arms than rotation spots at A+/AA for next year.

I like this pick as well. Obviously he was terrific throughout the CWS. I think he's only scratched the surface of what he's capable of.

I would imagine at the very least they have an idea of what it will take to get him signed.

It was risky of us taking a HS player with that pick, but I guess it wasn't as risky as passing on the guy you really wanted.

I think that says more about their rankings than it does about the way we draft.

I had us taking Cairone at #94 in my predictions, so do I get half credit?

I was really high on Ryan Mitchell. Thought the Rays would take him for sure, as they had been linked to him, but now he's a Cardinal. That's why it can be depressing getting attached to any prospect before we draft them.

I bet he signs for well under slot, maybe half a mil. That's another HS arm later on.

I predicted Conrad and had Fischer as my alternate. Mad the Cubs took Conrad but am happy to have Fischer!

Ten picks, two RHP, two LHP, and six SS. I guess we know where the strengths of this draft were.

Knowing the Angels, they probably shut their scouting department down in February.

The beauty of the MLB draft, as opposed to other sports drafts, is that, like the game of baseball itself, you have to take many things into consideration all at once. You not only have to consider the talent of the player, but also the cost that it will take to sign the player in relation to the slot value of the pick. With all due respect, you did not do this in your choices. You've selected four high school players, many of whom it is well know will be difficult to sign even at slot value. This is not how the Brewers operate, and it will not happen. As for the two players you say are Misiorowski clones, I again disagree. Bauer has some similarities in frame, arm speed, and below average control at this point, but he doesn't have any plus secondary pitches, while Miz has multiple. In Schoolcraft, his fastball is dead-straight and lacks life, something you cannot say about Miz's number one. If there was a left-handed clone of Misiorowski in this draft, you'd be sure that such a player would have been identified and be a consensus top-3 pick and would not be available for us to draft at 20, let alone drafting two at 20 and 32.

I've posted my predictions for today's picks on the draft page so I won't rehash them here. I've likened the Brewers drafting strategy to being value shoppers. They're shoe closet doesn't have one pair of Air Jordan's and fifteen pairs of Crocs. They put a price value on each player and then draft whoever is available at the price they are willing to spend on each round. This works very well for them, and I don't expect it to change anytime soon. This means we likely won't be drafting high ceiling, high risk HS arms early. Regardless who they draft, I will cheer each player on as they make their way through the minors.

I agree with your assessment of how things could possibly shake down for this draft. As for potential, but not for certain, catchers, I have been locked on Iowa high schooler and Oregon commit Taitn Gray for months now. Devastating offense potential and he has been committed to catching, even if others think he'll eventually end up in the OF. Other possible catchers include current Oregon Duck Anson Aroz, Richmond's Jack Arcamone, Tennessee's Dalton Bargo, Utah Valley's Luke Iverson, and two JuCo players, Brendan Brock and, quite possibly my favorite name in the draft, Blade Carver. Murf Gray had a solid offensive season and was a finalist for a Gold Glove at 3rd base, but his lack of speed hurts his profile overall. He may not stay at 3rd as a pro and might have to move across to the cold corner.

Here are my predictions on who the Brewers will take on Sunday (Number in parentheses is final BF Consensus Board ranking): #20) Ethan Conrad – OF, Wake Forest (#27) - Average or better skills across the board, and excelled on the Cape with a wood bat last summer; should be a solid everyday corner outfielder Alternate: Andrew Fischer – 1B/3B, Tennessee (#26) – Plus power, average hit, proven offensive weapon #32) Ryan Mitchell – SS, Houston, TN (#41) - Very athletic up-the-middle defender with some of the best bat-to-ball skills in the draft; plus hit with everything else being average or above Alternate: Korbyn Dickerson – OF, Indiana (#75) – Well-rounded player with plus speed, defense, and bat speed #59) Taitn Gray – C/OF, Dallas-Grimes, IA (#77) - Switch-hitter with massive power from both sides of the plate and average hit tool; tremendous athlete, strong work ethic, and still 17 years old Alternate: A.J. Russell – RHP, Tennessee (#55) – Plus FB and SL, above-average control, pitched 25.1 effective innings this season after elbow surgery in 2024 #68) Antoine Jean – LHP, Houston (NR) – 23-year-old was the Big 12 pitcher of the year in 2025 while leading NCAA in BAA (.168) and 2nd in K/9 (14.8); three above average pitches and great control Alternate: James Quinn-Irons – OF, George Mason (#93) – A10 POY, four above-average tools #94) Frank Cairone – LHP, Delsea, NJ (#107) – Still 17 until this fall, his fastball is now nearing mid-90’s and his slider approaches 3,000 rpm with plus extension; lots of traits the Brewers love here Alternate: Uli Fernsler – LHP, Novi, MI (#87) – Above-average control with three average or better pitches

In each of the last two drafts, the Brewers have selected considerably more pitchers (16 in 2023 and 17 in 2024) than position players (5 in both 2023 and 2024). While this makes sense to a degree, considering our International Free Agent classes are always weighted heavily towards position players, I see this draft potentially being closer to even in numbers of pitchers and position players. As our amazing Minor League correspondents Jim Goulart, Joseph Zarr, and Ro Mueller have commented on from time to time, some of our minor league teams have had to play games with very few players on the bench. I see around 13 pitchers and nine position players being about the right mix.

It's hard to be more impressed with the ACL high school draft pick trio of Tobias, Dorchies, and Dubanewicz. I couldn't agree more. And don't sleep on Tyler Renz and his 3.07 ERA and 1.098 WHIP in Arizona while waiting for his chance at Carolina. I hope we continue to stock up on high upside HS arms in the later rounds of the draft this year rather than spending millions for guys early on. We are consistently finding talent at lower costs than other teams, and it's going to keep paying off for many years. Don't change a thing!

There's another Illinois HS catcher that I've been monitoring named Zach Bava that has a lot of similar stats (pop times, arm velo, max EV's, etc.) to Fauske, but would be a much easier sign. Bava doesn't have the projection of Fauske, but could be available in rounds 11-20 for a fraction of the cost as an Illinois State recruit.

I totally agree that there is nothing with going that route as well. If it's someone they are confident will sign for a reasonable amount, I'm all for drafting them. Drafting a senior helps that case, but it's not a necessity.