Spencer Michaelis

If anyone’s interested in watching the ACL game tonight

Not on the main (Statcast) field against the Cubs today (apparently there’s a HS game on it lol) but a little birdie told me there were EV’s of 109 on the double and 112 on the single for Antunez’s two hits so far tonight.

I suppose that could be tied to the slugging, but I'm not sure I get how that would be connected to walks going up significantly as well? If you're encouraging more in-zone attacking vs trying to get chase, I'd think walks would be going down or at least holding pretty steady. My educated guess is that we're going to find out the baseballs are slicker, with less drag this year.

I've heard Baseball America is working on an article of some sort on this that should be out soon. It definitely feels like something has changed with walks and homers both up quite a bit across the board for non-AAA levels (the one level that they use MLB baseballs)

I am coming away from this extremely impressed with Frontado. This was an awesome AB from him. Covered all different areas of the zone, laid off of some well-placed breaking balls, hit a foul ball at 101 MPH, and then was able to reach out and poke one 93 MPH for an RBI single. hw52ne.mp4

I am the sicko. Here's a nice turn from Frontado and Rodriguez with a quasi-shift on. Very fluid looking for a couple of teenagers on the same side of the infield. Frontado, Rodrigeuz DP Turn.mp4

For the truest sickos... Here's a live link to the Brewers Blue DSL extended spring game against the Cubs DSL team and the lineup the Brewers are running out to start this one, which includes two of their top three signing bonuses from this past class in Jose Rodriguez and Diego Frontado.

Image courtesy of © Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The Brewers' farm system continues to impress despite several big-time graduations over the last few years. Some trades have brought new names in, and one of them is currently helping the big-league team out of the bullpen, which led to our lone brand-new addition to the list. You can find the full list here! #17 LHP Shane Drohan Milwaukee acquired Drohan in the Caleb Durbin trade after spending most of his time in the Red Sox organization, as well as a spring with the White Sox. Injuries have impacted much of his professional career, including a 2024 Rule 5 stint with Chicago that resulted in his return to Boston. When healthy, however, he features a polished, deep pitch mix that seems scalable between the bullpen and the rotation. In Nashville, Drohan was being stretched out as a starter, and he made his MLB debut against Boston as a starter as well. After being sent down, he made one more start in Nashville before injury forced Drohan back up to the big-league club. Since then, he's pitched exclusively out of the bullpen, both in single-inning and multi-inning roles. His fastball typically sits 92-94 MPH as a starter and plays effectively enough to support the rest of the arsenal, though the secondary pitches are the foundation of the profile. Since moving into the bullpen role with the Brewers' big-league team, the fastball has averaged 95.3 MPH, and he has touched 97 at times. He also mixes in a cutter in the low-90s, and a sinker thrown about a tick slower than his four-seam. They both are best used against left-handed hitters, but the cutter can work as a bridge pitch for him against righties as well. The slider is Drohan's best pitch and his primary swing-and-miss weapon. Since his move to the bullpen, the pitch has averaged 86 MPH, with a spin rate of nearly 2900, and a 33.3% whiff rate. He also mixes in a solid curveball in the 78-80 MPH range, also spinning around 2900 RPM as a reliever, and also with a 33.3% whiff rate against it. His changeup has always been a reliable option against right-handed hitters with roughly 8-10 MPH of separation off the fastball. However, he seems to have switched to a splitter lately, as the spin rate has gone from ~1500 to ~990 on average. Drohan's command showed improvement in 2025, and since his move to the bullpen, he's only walked 3.2% of batters he's faced. There is still legitimate rotation upside if he can stay healthy enough, though the arsenal and bat-missing ability are showing that they can translate very well in the bullpen right now. Drohan appears firmly entrenched in the Brewers' future pitching plans right now, though the role beyond 2026 is still up for debate. Biggest Risers #6 OF Luis Lara -- Up five spots from #11 Lara has shown some improvements in the power department, already nearly doubling his career high of four home runs, with seven at the time of this article. There is some reason to doubt the power output as of this moment, playing in some of the bandbox ballparks Nashville plays at and posting a wOBA of .409, compared to an xwOBA of .313. Despite that, there does still appear to be real growth in the power department as well, as evidenced by his 109 MPH max exit velocity. His 13.9% whiff rate is elite, and he’s limited strikeouts extremely well, while walking at a high rate as well. Lara is 15 of 18 on stolen base attempts, and he’s a plus defender who could be elite in center field at the big league level. Lara looks like a player who will make his MLB debut at some point this season. #16 Coleman Crow -- Previously Not Ranked (#19 in 2025) Crow made his big-league debut in April and immediately put his ability to spin the ball on display. His spin rates rank among the highest in MLB on all of his offerings. The breaking balls are his best pitches, but his cutter has made nice strides from where it was in 2025 and is now a strong offering for him. Neither his four-seam nor sinker is a great pitch on its own, but they work well with the cutter to create enough hesitation for batters to struggle to square them up regularly. Crow is a big-league arm that is waiting for his chance in Triple-A right now. Much like the next guy on this list had to do in 2025. #3 RHP Logan Henderson -- Up three spots from #6 Henderson worked his way up to number three by significantly improving what has always been the biggest question mark in his game, his glove-side secondaries, this offseason. His slider is now thrown more like a slurve, and it has played pretty well in MLB games so far. The cutter has been inconsistent, but as a “bridge pitch,” it has fared pretty well against right-handed batters. Henderson has the look of a pitcher who may have graduated from this list next time the voting takes place, because he appears to have grabbed hold of a rotation spot, with Chad Patrick moving into more of a bullpen role. #9 OF Josh Adamczewski -- Up three spots from #12 Adamczewski has been destroying Midwest League pitching this season. After a slow start at the level in a small sample to close out the 2025 season, Adamczewski has returned with a vengeance. He’s currently posting a .992 OPS and a 150 wRC+. He has already surpassed his career high in home runs with seven (previously five in 2025), and he’s also kept his strikeout rate under 20%. His move to left field has also gone well, showing instincts that are better than expected, given his relative inexperience out there. Having just been added to Baseball America’s Top 100 this week, Adamczewski could continue his climb up this list over the course of this season. He could also continue his climb through the system, as a Double-A call-up feels like it can’t be too far away if he keeps up this production for much longer. #13 OF Braylon Payne -- Up three spots from #16 Payne got off to a really hot start this season. He’s cooled off a bit over the last couple of weeks, but has still settled into an .863 OPS and a 118 wRC+ for the Timber Rattlers. His season has been highlighted by his ability to tap into even more raw power, both in terms of his exit velocities and his ability to hit the ball in the air. His PullAir% of 20.0% is in the 85th percentile for High-A hitters. One of his home runs left the bat at 115 MPH earlier this season. He’s also a plus-plus runner, though his 8/11 success rate on stolen bases leaves something to be desired. The defense has taken a step forward in center, where his athleticism is always on display. The reads and jumps still need some work, but they are better than in 2025. Payne has the tools to be a power and speed threat, though he will still need to curb his whiffs (33.2%) and limit his strikeouts (27.4%) as much as possible. Biggest Fallers #18 3B Brock Wilken -- Down three spots from #15 Wilken got off to a very slow start in 2026, though he is currently in the midst of a 28-game on-base streak. During that stretch, he is posting a 118 wRC+ and has walked almost as much as he has struck out. The overall numbers are far less encouraging, though, as evidenced by his 77 wRC+ and his 28.5% strikeout rate. We will likely find out which version of Wilken is closest to the real version over the next couple of months. #11 RHP Bishop Letson -- Down two spots from #9 Letson has gotten off to a tough start in Double-A this season. The walks have skyrocketed this season, rising from 7.5% in 2025 to 15.7% in 2026. The ERA is at 6.75, and the FIP is over 6 as well. The strikeouts are down nearly 10% as well. All that said, Letson’s stuff looks to be in a similar spot to where it was in the past, even getting the velocity up a bit higher than in the past. Letson’s drop is likely due more to the players below him forcing their way up the list, but he will need to rein in the command moving forward and limit walks at a much higher level to reach his full potential. Thank you to all of you who voted! View full article

Jesus MadeLuis PenaJett WilliamsLogan HendersonCooper PrattJeferson QueroAndrew FischerBraylon PayneLuis LaraBishop LetsonTyson HardinJosh AdamczewskiMarco DingesBlake BurkeLuke AdamsJD ThompsonColeman CrowEthan DorchiesShane DrohanBryce Meccage

Antunez and Frias (likely going off Brewers internal data) have weighed in, and... It has not helped clarify anything 😂

My final "verdict" is that the Statcast at Goodyear probably isn't reliable. However, odds are those five batted balls were still all smoked. I had a source confirm Frias had popped 115 MPH on internal data 3 or 4 times in spring, so you can't totally rule out 117, but I would guess it was a bit lower. I know Antunez had broken 110 multiple times as well, so I'm guessing his were also a bit lower (but still very well hit). Had some other people confirm a lot of Reds prospects and players had their highest EV's ever at Goodyear in spring too, so it just seems to be hot somehow.

Looks like it yeah. There were a few ACL teams playing yesterday though. Maybe make-up games or something.

It's not a perfect science because you're relying on a timely camera flip that didn't mess with anything, but I grabbed a few of them a couple weeks ago, and the flip looked very good from what I could tell, so they should be pretty accurate. Every time I've checked this year, they have been in the 1.85-2.05 range. Haven't seen anything higher than 2.05. He double-clutched one early in the season because he didn't have a grip so I wouldn't count that one. It's not an elite arm like it once was, but I'd say it's moving back into the above-average category personally.

Indeed it was!

Handelfry remains blazing hot

Cameron Wagoner also got assigned to a full-season team, as he's headed to Double-A for the first time.

Per the transactions page: LHP J.D. Thompson assigned to Wisconsin Timber Rattlers from ACL Brewers.

Very excited for some ACL ball, especially because I imagine there will be a *lot* more Statcast data than in the past with all the teams spring stadiums having it installed now. Frias and Antunez are my two guys that have legit breakout potential down there on the offensive side. Mayorquin and Bryan Regalado are two international arms I'll be keeping an eye on, and of course the healthy draft picks from last year.

Little late to the party, but yeah 107 with wood is nothing special. It's fine, but Eric Brown Jr was doing that in college. Luis Lara is the same age as Sasaki and he got up to 110 last year with wood, and he's 5'7. That said, that's just a random output and I'm sure he's been higher than that at times with wood, and his EV's compare very favorably to the rest of college baseball this season, though I'm not sure what the exact numbers are. He's definitely made some legitimate strides though, and I know for sure that he has been up to at least 114 MPH this year. I think he's a fringy day one guy, but not sure he's one I'd be overly interested in the Brewers drafting at that point. Maybe a bit more intrigued if not for Burke's existence and so many other potential first base options in the upper levels right now. Here is Burke's data from his final season FWIW. Much better bat-to-ball and a bit higher EV's, worse swing decisions.

Here's some video of Broughton throwing in extended spring games recently: MiLB clips by Paul (@prospectsaz) • Instagram reel WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM 7 likes, 0 comments - prospectsaz on April 22, 2026: "Joey Broughton on the mound in extended Spring Training yesterday 🎥 The Brewers left-hander was drafted out of High School in...

I’ve had college players I coach get pretty close to passing out, having major cramping issues, etc. in that type of 60-70 degree weather because they don’t recognize the need to hydrate when they don’t feel like it’s crazy hot. Being as he’s so used to DR/AZ heat I could easily see a young kid like Peña doing something similar. My educated guess is that this is more of a pure dehydration situation than truly "overheating", but I don't know for sure. Like you said, I'm certain they're running tests to make sure there's nothing underlying though.

The Brewers were quite excited about what they were seeing from Manfredi in spring from what I heard. Purely speculation but would not be surprised if he's in Nashville soon.