Spencer Michaelis

Matos definitely grabbing some attention. Exit velocities are strong from what I’ve seen and heard, seems like he gets to good angles too. Think there’s a little whiff so far, so that’ll be one thing to watch. Looking like a very interesting signing for sure.

Sort of late now, but the Gold game is being streamed again by the Orioles:

Fair point, I think they're still going to be able to get some guys in those rounds, but I'm just saying I'd be surprised if it's close to what we've seen these last three drafts. Somewhere between the two extremes, would be my guess. Maybe somewhere between $750-900k of the pool? Of course, they could also go heavy on senior signs in 5-10 and give themselves some more room for 11-20, so who really knows.

He was definitely grabbing at his leg after reaching on a dropped third strike last week. Looked like it was around the hamstring area but couldn't say for sure.

Think it is probably worth pointing out that this is the smallest pool the Brewers will have had in quite a while, so I could see it being a little more difficult for them to go as heavy on the HS types in 11-20 as they have been of late. It's a bigger pool than they had in 2022, when they only gave one player more than the $150,000 (Luke Adams), but the slot values have also moved up quite a bit in that time. Including the 5% overage (signings over the $150,000 mark post round 10): 2026: $8,445,045 2025: $13,795,005 (CJ Hughes, Luke Roupe, Rylan Mills, Chase Bentley, Ma'Kale Holden -- $1.59 mil of pool) 2024: $12,345,480 (Joey Broughton, Travis Smith, Jayden Dubanewicz, Tyler Renz -- $1.91 mil) 2023: $11,498,130 (Bishop Letson, Bjorn Johnson, Hayden Robinson, Josh Adamczewski, Justin Chambers -- $1.3 mil) 2022: $7,424,865 (Luke Adams -- $132,500 toward pool) 2021: $10,571,925 (Caden Vire, Quinton Low, Jace Avina -- $353,400 toward pool)

Image courtesy of © Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Cooper Pratt signed an eight-year, $50.75-million contract extension in April, and he got the call to the big leagues over the weekend. A lot happened between then and now, with many fans wondering when Pratt would come up—mainly due to the lack of production from the trio who have been patrolling the left side of the infield since Opening Day, in David Hamilton, Joey Ortiz, and Luis Rengifo. All of that is in the past now, though. Pratt is on his way to Milwaukee, and is expected to debut on Tuesday, June 16. As of this writing, a follow-up move on the 26-man roster has not been announced. Now, though, a new question arises. What should fans (realistically) expect from a rookie Cooper Pratt at the big-league level? On the field, one of the more reasonable expectations for any player is that good defense will translate at any level. Pratt was a 2024 Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner at shortstop, awarded to the best defensive player at each position in all of Minor League Baseball. While there is reasonable skepticism about these awards and how they are decided, the prevailing opinion on Pratt is that he is an above-average shortstop, or better. Baseball America gives him a 55 grade on the 20-80 scale, as does FanGraphs, while MLB Pipeline labels him as a 60-grade defender (considered "plus"). At Pratt's height of 6-foot-4, he can appear to be a bit slower going after groundballs than many smaller shortstops do, but his range is strong, due in part to his tremendous ability to read swings and read the ball off the bat. His arm garners 60s from all three sites as well, and he has shown a strong ability to make "off-platform" throws while on the run, or even airborne. Pratt Throw 2.mp4 Another tool that should translate well at the big-league level will be Pratt's baserunning. In terms of straight-line speed, he's an average runner, maybe a bit above average. However, he shows great instincts on the bases, and will pick pitchers apart if they don't pay close enough attention to him. He has successfully stolen nearly 90% of the bases he has attempted in his minor-league career (79/88), including 17 of 18 in Triple-A this season. Pratt 2 SBs - 1 Inning.mp4 At the plate, there will be more questions for Pratt in the immediate future. After a very slow start to the season, with a 41 wRC+ in his first 70 plate appearances, Pratt posted a 125 wRC+ in his next 188 plate appearances. The chart below, courtesy of TJStats, shows the difference in some of the peripherals during those same two time periods. The contact quality still does not indicate much game power, even during the much better stretch, but he does show tremendous bat-to-ball skills, and the angles at which the ball leaves the bat have improved over the course of the season. Pratt will probably not hit for much power in MLB this season, except on the rare occasions when he gets an opportunity to pull his hands in and pull a pitch, but his bat-to-ball skills have the potential to translate pretty well. Pratt HR.mp4 One thing to keep an eye on with Pratt will be how he handles the better breaking balls he will see in MLB. Handling fastball velocity has not been an issue for him this season, despite that being a concern of some evaluators heading into the season. When facing fastballs, in general, he posted a .358 xwOBA and only whiffed on 10.8% of his swings. To further emphasize the lack of struggle with velocity, he has seen 132 fastballs thrown at least 95 MPH, and against those offerings, he has posted an even better .393 xwOBA, while only whiffing on 9.8% of his swings. Breaking balls, on the other hand, have been a different story. When thrown a breaking ball, he's posted a .270 xwOBA, with a whiff rate of 26.3% in 325 pitches seen. Big-league teams will look to expose that more often than Triple-A pitchers did, and teams will have more pitchers equipped to do so. The Brewers believe there is power to come down the line, and Brice Turang could provide a blueprint for eventually realizing it. The Brewers believe Pratt can follow a similar path in that regard, but Turang also provides a crystal ball for how Pratt's inaugural season could go. Turang finished his rookie season with a 61 wRC+, 12 Defensive Runs Saved, and he went 24 of 30 on stolen base attempts. He did that over 137 games, meaning Pratt's first campaign will need to be scaled down for comparison, as the Brewers will only have 93 games remaining when he debuts. The general scope of the production, though, is most likely going to look similar to Turang's rookie year. Pratt's value will be derived from his defense and his baserunning, and the Brewers will hope that they get a bit more out of the bat than Turang gave them. That said, even the Brewers' internal projections probably project Pratt as a below-average hitter in 2026. The good news for Pratt is that he won't have a very high bar to clear at the position. A 59 wRC+ is all the Brewers have received from the shortstop position in 2026. Pratt is capable of clearing that mark, and could still be a relatively significant upgrade, even if he only winds up posting a 75-80 wRC+ line in 2026. That's what the Brewers are hoping for here. Patience could prove to be challenging for fans and the Brewers alike. Struggles at the plate should not come as a surprise when they crop up. As Turang has shown, though, patience can be rewarded in a major way. The former surprise sixth-round pick, Cooper Pratt, is officially a big leaguer. He earned the opportunity. Now, it's all about how he continues to grow while at the highest level, and how quickly he can show that growth. View full article

I do believe Trey Ebel is flying up boards FWIW. I wouldn't be shocked if he doesn't make it to the 66th pick. Not sure I'd go round 1 on him personally though.

This week's Mock Draft Monday is free on my Patreon if people would like to read the write-ups for the players below. The tool makes it a little difficult for me to draft as many prep players as I'd like to. Nobody signs for the money that guys like Dorchies, Tobias, Vucinovich have signed for, but I think the Brewers will at least take a couple more prep guys in lieu of all the college players I have in there from rounds 6-10. I really like Schaffner the more I have looked into him. He has a ton of Brewers traits too.

I think the range is solid, but it’d just be hard to make that arm work. Agreed that it’s tough if he’s in left only.

He’s played center before and looked solid out there. He’s a good defender at second but the arm probably limits him to that spot if he’s on the infield.

Mission accomplished on the title then 😉 Thanks! I'm looking forward to seeing what he does too. It's just a really talented arm.

Image courtesy of © Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK Cameron Wagoner was an 11th-round selection by the Brewers in 2022, out of Eastern Michigan. He had not actually pitched for Eastern Michigan that season, due to academic ineligibility, but still caught the attention of area scout Ginger Poulson as a talented arm. He jumped into pro ball and quickly made a name for himself. For the rest of the season, he led all 2022 draftees in wins (3), innings (19 2/3), and K/BB ratio (24/2) while posting a 1.83 ERA between the complex and Low-A. Wagoner moved to High-A for the 2023 season and had an up-and-down season. His ERA (5.67) paints an uglier picture than the 4.20 FIP. Still, he struggled to generate strikeouts (19.2%), and his velocity was mainly in the 92-94 MPH range, rather than touching 97 MPH as he had shown in his brief professional debut the year before. Wagoner finished the season strong, including a tremendous August, even winning Midwest League pitcher of the month after going 4-0 with a 1.37 ERA in five games. However, he underwent Tommy John surgery after noticing problems in his elbow as he prepared for the 2024 season. As he was rehabbing from the surgery, fluid in his elbow required another six months of rehab, and then an elbow fracture set him back even further. When Wagoner returned to the game mound on May 2, it had been 972 days since he had last taken the ball in an official game. The return was not initially met by much attention, but that changed when he touched 99 MPH in a dominant three-up, three-down inning that included three strikeouts. That moment already made for a cool story, but Wagoner appears to be aiming for something more. Including that first outing, Wagoner is currently posting an ERA of 1.46 through 12 1/3 innings, with 19 strikeouts and only three walks. (He has hit five batters, as well.) His 40.2% whiff rate puts him in the 97th percentile for Double-A pitchers. The only two runs Wagoner has allowed have come via two solo home runs. Not only has Wagoner performed well, but the velocity continues to sit at the same level as he showed in his first outing. In fact, he even touched 100 MPH in the outing in which he recorded the first save of his career. While he has dropped down to 95 MPH on a couple of fastballs, the vast majority have been in the 97+ range. It's not just the fastball that deserves attention, though. His "cutter" (more of a short slider shape) has been elite, as well. Going into his most recent outing, he had generated whiffs on 64% of swings against that pitch. An overlay of the two pitches helps illustrate how well the two offerings can play off each other. Wagoner.mp4 This isn't just a good pitch mix for a Double-A reliever. Wagoner is showing a level of stuff capable of playing in a big-league bullpen. Given that he is Rule 5-eligible this winter, the Brewers may consider moving him up to Nashville soon, and once you're in Triple-A, a big-league debut is only one call away. Can he limit the free passes enough to let his stuff play? Will the velocity hold up as he continues to throw more innings? These are questions Wagoner will need to answer if he is going to push himself to that highest level. For now, though, his return is a tremendous story, and every inning he pitches in Double-A is must-see (MiLB) TV. View full article

We did talk about O’Rae! 1:32:35 mark 😉 (Fully understand how it could be missed during a 2 1/2 hour pod)