Spencer Michaelis

Mike Boeve is healthy and back in AA after one rehab game in the ACL.

Sounds like Dubanewicz is throwing both a slider and a curveball now. Sat in the low-90's yesterday, and only allowed one hard hit ball (a double). The final line score doesn't really align with what I heard about his outing. Sounded pretty encouraging. Nice to see him stretched out enough to go that deep in the first game as well.

The guys recap the longest road trip of the year and an up-and-down first month of the regular season. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-brewer-fanatic-podcast/id1740648724 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CY8mWsQayqjDXqw9OT2Td iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-brewer-fanatic-podcast-166534588/ Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/ommzz627 Watch On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@brewerfanatic View full article

Jesus Made 60 OFP Struggling to stay healthy thus far, but all bad luck injuries. Production has been there for him already and he looks the part.Jeferson Quero 55 OFP Just need him to get healthy and see what the arm looks like. If the arm is still there, I still believe he’s got a chance to be an all-star level catcher.Luis Pena 55 OFP Wow, he looks incredibly advanced at the plate for an 18 year old in full-season ball. His swing is explosive and after maxing out at 106 MPH EV’s last year he’s already shown higher than that multiple times. Very athletic and looks the part defensively, despite some iffy errors thus far. He’s a T100 type of prospect, if not T50.Jacob Misiorowski 55 OFP I think there’s a pretty decent chance he sticks as a starter at this point… The zone rate is up over 50%, and the delivery is as repeatable and mechanically sound as I’ve seen it. It feels like the worst case scenario for him at this point is a souped-up, younger version of Trevor Megill with his fastball, curveball combo. That’s not even mentioning the slider.Braylon Payne 50 OFP He’s been extremely impressive so far, in fact he could probably be in the 55 tier. The power is showing up (HR with a 110 MPH EV!), the speed is evident on the bases and in center. Defensively the instincts are lacking a bit, and he’s had multiple miscommunications out there, but that can be cleaned up. He has 5 tool potential.Cooper Pratt 50 OFP I love Pratt and he doesn’t look out of place at all in AA as one of the younger players at the level. I don’t think he has the ceiling of most of the players above him, but the floor is pretty high. There’s a good chance he’s an everyday SS, which is very valuable.Logan Henderson 45+ OFP Still hoping to see at least one of the cutter/slider offerings become a solid third pitch, but we saw in his debut how good it can look when the fastball and changeup are working. Two borderline plus pitches. Bishop Letson 45+ OFP I love me some Bishop Letson. We’ve seen him into the mid-90’s with the most extension in all of MiLB, helping the velo play up even more. He throws both a 4 and a 2 seam fastball, has a filthy slider and a decent changeup. The command is going to be there. I think ceiling wise, he’s got the second highest for pitchers behind Miz.Robert Gasser 45+ OFP Not much to say here, we saw that he can perform in MLB, just need him to get healthy and hopefully return to where he was.Craig Yoho 45+ OFP He’s just filthy. I can’t imagine it will be very common for me to put a reliever in my top 10, but Yoho has forced my hand. He’s not going back to AAA anytime soon.Mike Boeve 45 OFP Boeve needs to get healthy, but I really believe in the bat and I think there’s power that is going to start to show in games. Hopefully can handle third enough to make that an option for him defensively.Eric Bitonti 45 OFP As much raw power as I have seen from a Brewers prospect. Mostly showing in doubles in 2025, those will be homers soon. There’s a bit more of a hit tool than you’d think, though swing and miss will be a big part of his game. He seems to adjust very well pitch to pitch.Josh Adamczewski 45 OFP I’m nothing if not an Adamczewski truther. I really think he is going to hit his way to the big leagues eventually. The defense at second is solid enough, and he has good instincts in the field. Also has noticeably hustled to back up bases multiple times, saving bases/runs and even recording some extra outs.Luke Adams 40+ OFP Not surprising that he has struggled early at AA. Throw in a swing simplification (read: swing change) and it’s even less surprising. I still think that he will figure it out as he adjusts. He had a bit of a slow start in High-A as well.K.C. Hunt 40+ OFP Struggling a bit early on, but the stuff still looks pretty good. I do have slight concerns about how the fastball will play, but at the same time, the secondaries are so good. May have jumped the gun a bit on him last year, but he’s still a legit SP prospect.Brailyn Antunez 40+ OFP Hearing good things from down in the DR. He’s popping a decent amount of 100 MPH EV’s and showing pop. He’s a great athlete and I really like his swing. Very excited to see how he performs in the DSL.Bryce Meccage 40+ OFP Up and down in his first few pro starts, but you can see the stuff is there. Fastball in the mid-90’s, breaking balls look really good and the kick-change is a pretty nice pitch as well. Command has come and gone so far which is not surprising for a HS pick early in his career.Brett Wichrowski 40 OFP Hope to see him healthy soon. Rollercoaster 2024, but he adjusted well to AA by the end of the season. The stuff is good, the slider/sweeper is filthy. Excited to see what he looks like now that he’s more well-adjusted to the level.Josh Knoth 40 OFP Out for the season. Showed nice flashes last year. Probably punishing him too much here, but I do worry a bit about the developmental timeline for him after TJ. The fastball played really well last year and he can really spin the breaking balls. Changeup a big time WIP. Command also a WIP. Will be interesting to see what he looks like next year.Brock Wilken 40 OFP He’s impacting the ball decently, but he seems way too passive to me. Almost 60% of his PA’s have ended in a K or BB. Defense has looked really solid at third base. Some signs of a bounceback, but not enough to get super excited. I'll go T50 this time with my OFP tiers for the players: 40 OFP 21 Blake Burke 1B 22 Kenny Fenelon OF 23 Carlos Rodriguez RHP 24 Tyson Hardin RHP 25 Ernesto Martinez 1B 26 Caleb Durbin UTIL 27 Luis Lara OF 28 Marco Dinges C 29 Jadher Areinamo UTIL 30 Tyler Black UTIL 31 Yorman Galindez RHP 32 Jorge Quintana SS 33 Jose Anderson OF 34 Chad Patrick RHP 35 Jack Hostetler RHP 36 Jason Woodward RHP 37 Juan Baez UTIL 38 Manuel Rodriguez RHP 39 Coleman Crow RHP 40 Luis Corobo C 41 Yeuri Ramirez RHP 35+ OFP 42 Cristopher Acosta SS 43 Hayden Robinson RHP 44 Alexander Frias OF 45 Gerlyn Payano OF 46 Ryan Birchard RHP 47 Jaron Deberry RHP 48 Joseph Broughton LHP 49 Handelfry Encarnacion OF 50 Wande Torres LHP

Jesus Made 60 OFP Struggling to stay healthy thus far, but all bad luck injuries. Production has been there for him already and he looks the part.Jeferson Quero 55 OFP Just need him to get healthy and see what the arm looks like. If the arm is still there, I still believe he’s got a chance to be an all-star level catcher.Luis Pena 55 OFP Wow, he looks incredibly advanced at the plate for an 18 year old in full-season ball. His swing is explosive and after maxing out at 106 MPH EV’s last year he’s already shown higher than that multiple times. Very athletic and looks the part defensively, despite some iffy errors thus far. He’s a T100 type of prospect, if not T50.Jacob Misiorowski 55 OFP I think there’s a pretty decent chance he sticks as a starter at this point… The zone rate is up over 50%, and the delivery is as repeatable and mechanically sound as I’ve seen it. It feels like the worst case scenario for him at this point is a souped-up, younger version of Trevor Megill with his fastball, curveball combo. That’s not even mentioning the slider.Braylon Payne 50 OFP He’s been extremely impressive so far, in fact he could probably be in the 55 tier. The power is showing up (HR with a 110 MPH EV!), the speed is evident on the bases and in center. Defensively the instincts are lacking a bit, and he’s had multiple miscommunications out there, but that can be cleaned up. He has 5 tool potential.Cooper Pratt 50 OFP I love Pratt and he doesn’t look out of place at all in AA as one of the younger players at the level. I don’t think he has the ceiling of most of the players above him, but the floor is pretty high. There’s a good chance he’s an everyday SS, which is very valuable.Logan Henderson 45+ OFP Still hoping to see at least one of the cutter/slider offerings become a solid third pitch, but we saw in his debut how good it can look when the fastball and changeup are working. Two borderline plus pitches. Bishop Letson 45+ OFP I love me some Bishop Letson. We’ve seen him into the mid-90’s with the most extension in all of MiLB, helping the velo play up even more. He throws both a 4 and a 2 seam fastball, has a filthy slider and a decent changeup. The command is going to be there. I think ceiling wise, he’s got the second highest for pitchers behind Miz.Robert Gasser 45+ OFP Not much to say here, we saw that he can perform in MLB, just need him to get healthy and hopefully return to where he was.Craig Yoho 45+ OFP He’s just filthy. I can’t imagine it will be very common for me to put a reliever in my top 10, but Yoho has forced my hand. He’s not going back to AAA anytime soon.Mike Boeve 45 OFP Boeve needs to get healthy, but I really believe in the bat and I think there’s power that is going to start to show in games. Hopefully can handle third enough to make that an option for him defensively.Eric Bitonti 45 OFP As much raw power as I have seen from a Brewers prospect. Mostly showing in doubles in 2025, those will be homers soon. There’s a bit more of a hit tool than you’d think, though swing and miss will be a big part of his game. He seems to adjust very well pitch to pitch.Josh Adamczewski 45 OFP I’m nothing if not an Adamczewski truther. I really think he is going to hit his way to the big leagues eventually. The defense at second is solid enough, and he has good instincts in the field. Also has noticeably hustled to back up bases multiple times, saving bases/runs and even recording some extra outs.Luke Adams 40+ OFP Not surprising that he has struggled early at AA. Throw in a swing simplification (read: swing change) and it’s even less surprising. I still think that he will figure it out as he adjusts. He had a bit of a slow start in High-A as well.K.C. Hunt 40+ OFP Struggling a bit early on, but the stuff still looks pretty good. I do have slight concerns about how the fastball will play, but at the same time, the secondaries are so good. May have jumped the gun a bit on him last year, but he’s still a legit SP prospect.Brailyn Antunez 40+ OFP Hearing good things from down in the DR. He’s popping a decent amount of 100 MPH EV’s and showing pop. He’s a great athlete and I really like his swing. Very excited to see how he performs in the DSL.Bryce Meccage 40+ OFP Up and down in his first few pro starts, but you can see the stuff is there. Fastball in the mid-90’s, breaking balls look really good and the kick-change is a pretty nice pitch as well. Command has come and gone so far which is not surprising for a HS pick early in his career.Brett Wichrowski 40 OFP Hope to see him healthy soon. Rollercoaster 2024, but he adjusted well to AA by the end of the season. The stuff is good, the slider/sweeper is filthy. Excited to see what he looks like now that he’s more well-adjusted to the level.Josh Knoth 40 OFP Out for the season. Showed nice flashes last year. Probably punishing him too much here, but I do worry a bit about the developmental timeline for him after TJ. The fastball played really well last year and he can really spin the breaking balls. Changeup a big time WIP. Command also a WIP. Will be interesting to see what he looks like next year.Brock Wilken 40 OFP He’s impacting the ball decently, but he seems way too passive to me. Almost 60% of his PA’s have ended in a K or BB. Defense has looked really solid at third base. Some signs of a bounceback, but not enough to get super excited. I'll go T50 this time with my OFP tiers for the players: 40 OFP 21 Blake Burke 1B 22 Kenny Fenelon OF 23 Carlos Rodriguez RHP 24 Tyson Hardin RHP 25 Ernesto Martinez 1B 26 Caleb Durbin UTIL 27 Luis Lara OF 28 Marco Dinges C 29 Jadher Areinamo UTIL 30 Tyler Black UTIL 31 Yorman Galindez RHP 32 Jorge Quintana SS 33 Jose Anderson OF 34 Chad Patrick RHP 35 Jack Hostetler RHP 36 Jason Woodward RHP 37 Juan Baez UTIL 38 Manuel Rodriguez RHP 39 Coleman Crow RHP 40 Luis Corobo C 41 Yeuri Ramirez RHP 35+ OFP 42 Cristopher Acosta SS 43 Hayden Robinson RHP 44 Alexander Frias OF 45 Gerlyn Payano OF 46 Ryan Birchard RHP 47 Jaron Deberry RHP 48 Joseph Broughton LHP 49 Handelfry Encarnacion OF 50 Wande Torres LHP

Luiyin Alastre appears to have been promoted to High-A Wisconsin!

89-90 MPH sinker that gets a lot of grounders, 78-80 MPH changeup is his best secondary, 76-78 curveball looks decent as well. Secondaries are where he will get some swing and miss, the sinker is where he can get early, weak contact. It's definitely an interesting mix. Hopefully can add some mass to his frame and add a little velo as he develops. At his listed weight, you'd certainly think that is possible for him.

The Brewers, once elite defensively, have not looked that way recently. Jack and Spencer break down the MLB debuts of Caleb Durbin, Logan Henderson, and Craig Yoho, the Brewers' rough defensive showing in San Francisco, and more. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-brewer-fanatic-podcast/id1740648724 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CY8mWsQayqjDXqw9OT2Td iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-brewer-fanatic-podcast-166534588/ Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/ommzz627 Watch On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@brewerfanatic View full article

Hey @Brock Beauchamp can you reset mine as well? Was trying to hit shift+enter and hit ctrl+enter which submitted it 😂

@Brock Beauchamp I'd add new IFA signings OF Brailyn Antunez and OF Kenny Fenelon, probably worth including SS Cristopher Acosta too.

"Live arm" is usually related to velocity, but sometimes it also relates to the way the fastball plays, or even just arm speed in general. This one is tougher, as it's pretty organization dependent. The Brewers seem to like fastballs with carry, and people who can spin the ball well in a lot of different directions. They also seem to like under the radar HS arms that have a lot of physical development left (Letson, Renz, Vire, etc).

Yoho can even end up with around 40" in separation between the change and curve. Both get 20" of movement at times. Changeup arm-side, curve glove-side of course. Limited data out there for him, but Mannell is a bit different, as his changeup gets around 13-15" of horizontal movement instead of 20". It's also not a high-spin changeup like Yoho's, though it does have good depth. However, he has a sweeper that gets 20" of glove-side movement and a curve that has more vertical movement. It's not quite the same as Yoho, but there are similarities here. His two-seam does get around 17-20" of run on it, like Yoho's.

Kevin Mannell is my Yoho for this draft. Was hoping they’d take him out of his Juco last year. He’s at Mississippi State now. He’s got that type of changeup movement, though not quite to the extent that Yoho does. But I think he’s just a perfect fit for what the Brewers like.

Woody's on his way back to Milwaukee while Caleb Durbin is already here. Jack and Spencer analyze the Diamondbacks and Tigers series, takeaways from Brandon Woodruff's first rehab start, the outlook at third base with Caleb Durbin replacing Oliver Dunn, and more. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-brewer-fanatic-podcast/id1740648724 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CY8mWsQayqjDXqw9OT2Td iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-brewer-fanatic-podcast-166534588/ Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/ommzz627 Watch On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@brewerfanatic View full article

I think the slider is pretty solid, the problem is that it doesn’t really tunnel well with the fastball that usually will play best at the top of the zone. He threw a couple curves in spring. I'd love to see him use that a bit more often.

Per someone in attendance, Hardin was touching 96 on the stadium gun, sitting 94-95. In college he did get into the upper 90’s at times but that was in shorter stints, as he was a reliever at Mississippi State.

Cooper Pratt 2R Homer!

Castillo made a sliding attempt in the first inning and got his knee caught in the ground, creating a huge divot. Tried to stay in, but obviously eventually had to come out.

After a rough start, the Brewers are back over .500 and in first place. The guys review the series in Colorado, the current state of the starting rotation, and Brice Turang's newfound power. Spencer also gives his thoughts on the first full week of minor-league baseball. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-brewer-fanatic-podcast/id1740648724 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5CY8mWsQayqjDXqw9OT2Td iHeartRadio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-the-brewer-fanatic-podcast-166534588/ Pocket Casts: https://pca.st/ommzz627 Watch On YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@brewerfanatic View full article

I have been trying to get even one single velocity reading from an announcer, but haven't heard a single one in either outing. I do think it has to be up a bit from where it was in 2023 though, it certainly appears that it is on the surface. I would say the breaker is ahead of the changeup now, but the changeup is still a solid looking pitch.