Spencer Michaelis

Welcome to Brewer Fanatic's 2023 top 20 prospect rundown! The Brewers graduated a number of their top prospects throughout the 2023 season, so there are some new names to look at heading into the offseason. Let's look at the second installment of prospects, which will cover 11-15, as voted on and compiled by the Brewer Fanatic community. Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports #15 OF Yophery Rodriguez (DSL Brewers) The Brewers handed Rodriguez their biggest signing bonus in the 2023 international class, giving him $1.5 million to join the system. Rodriguez doesn’t have one standout tool. Instead, he has one of the most balanced skill sets you will find from a player his age. A patient hitter with an average ability to make contact, Rodriguez is very young and has plenty of projection ahead of him as he matures. He has already shown some in-game pop, but it’s safe to project even more in the future. He has a flat swing path, which is part of the reason the power hasn’t quite come around yet. That swing path also allows him to make such consistent contact, though, and reports have him handling velocity and spin extremely well early in his career. His BABIP of .289 in the DSL is abnormally low, especially for a guy who hits the ball as hard as he does and only carries a 10% infield fly ball rate. He likely had some bad luck this year, and his numbers could have looked much better. Rodriguez isn’t the fastest center fielder around, but he still has above-average speed overall, and he will likely be a capable base stealer as he advances through the system. Defensively, Rodriguez has excellent instincts and gets great jumps. He will have a chance to stick in center, but he also has a good enough arm to handle right field if needed. Rodriguez could have 55-grade tools across the board at his peak, making him a Top 100 prospect at minimum. His combination of advanced hitting skills and physical upside give him a pretty high floor, which is rare for his age, but also gives him a significant ceiling. Look for Rodriguez to follow the Luis Lara route next year, potentially skip the Arizona Complex League altogether, and make his full-season ball debut a month or so into the season. #14 RHP Logan Henderson (Carolina Mudcats) Henderson was the Brewers'. A fourth-round selection in 2021 out of McLennan Community College in Texas, and thus far, he’s looking like another fantastic find in the Junior College pitching ranks by the Brewers. He was committed to Texas A&M at the time of the draft, but Henderson chose to sign with the Brewers. Unfortunately, most of his first year and a half after signing was spent continuously bitten by the injury bug. Before the 2023 season, Henderson had only thrown 15.2 professional innings. Equipped with a low 90s fastball coming out of McLennan, he has raised his average velocity to a little closer to 93 and has even reached back for 97 MPH a few times. The fastball plays especially well when thrown up in the zone due to its high spin and spin efficiency. He spins his slider at nearly 3000 RPM, and it shows signs of being a nice pitch. At times, however, it seems that he loses the angle/tilt on the pitch, and in that scenario, the slider doesn’t move much. His best pitch, though, is his changeup. You would be hard-pressed to find a better changeup in the Brewers system. It has some airbender qualities when he’s really got it going. Like Devin Williams, the changeup is a great pitch on its own, but it also helps his fastball to play above the velocity readings. Striking out over twelve batters per nine innings while walking fewer than three per nine, Henderson showed exactly what the Brewers saw in him at McClennan to use a fourth-round pick on him. Henderson mixed all his pitches with regularity and used them all in tandem to have a fantastic and, more importantly, healthy season. Given all of that success in 2023 and that he’s a bit older than the average prospect at Low-A, it would not be a huge surprise to see him skip High-A altogether and the Brewers have him begin 2024 in Double-A Biloxi. #13 1B/3B Luke Adams (Carolina Mudcats) The Brewers twelfth-round pick in the 2022 draft. Adams was drafted out of Hinsdale Central High School in Illinois and appeared to have been a nice find by Area Scout Ginger Poulson. Adams spent the first few weeks of the 2023 season still an 18-year-old before turning 19 in late April. Standing 6’4, 210 pounds, he comes with a rare blend of patience at the plate to go along with his plus raw power and surprising speed for his size. Adams has played a very solid third base where he has the arm to handle the position and has shown an early ability to make off-platform throws, which is not easily done at 6’4. He also spent some time at first base, where he is a definite above-average defender. His plus arm would be a good fit in right field as well, which he has the athleticism to handle. At the plate, Adams has an… interesting swing, to say the least. It’s a very violent swing with a ton of moving parts. Yet, at the same time, he also shows an impressive amount of patience. The key for him will be continuing to find the balance between being passive and patient. Otherwise, that may be something that pitchers will be able to take advantage of as he begins to climb the organizational ladder. His loudest contact so far has been on the ground, though his overall batted ball profile suggests he has no issues getting the ball in the air. Early in the season, he struggled with hitting a lot of infield pop-ups, but he corrected that as the season progressed, and that was when he started to see his average climb. When you hit the ball as hard as Adams does, a pop-up is the only ball in play that doesn’t have a chance. His 90th percentile exit velocity this year was 106 MPH. The MLB average for 90th percentile exit velocity in 2022 was 103.7 MPH. As an 18 and 19-year-old hitter, fresh out of high school, Adams posted exit velocity data that would have been well above average in MLB. While the swing isn’t the most visually appealing operation, his results, and batted ball data all point to a very good offensive prospect. Combine that with his stealing 30 bases this year and some interesting defensive skills; Adams will almost certainly have some ups and downs over the next few seasons, but he has an extremely high ceiling if he can put it all together. If Adams had not signed with the Brewers as a twelfth-round pick and had gone to Michigan State and posted batted ball data like this, he would likely already be generating first-round buzz in the 2025 draft. #12 RHP Josh Knoth (Yet to make pro debut) The Brewers Competitive Balance Round A selection in the most recent draft, Knoth has arguably the highest ceiling of the Brewers' day one selection. Knoth has a smooth delivery that is easily repeatable. Going back to the summer of 2022, his profile was extremely enticing, even though he only threw his fastball in the 90-93 range and was topping out at 95 at the time. This past spring, however, he was up to 98 on occasion and sitting more in the 93-96 range. The fastball has a good life at the top of the zone and pairs extremely well with what might be the best secondary offering in the entire system. That offering is his hammer curveball. It’s a 3000 RPM pitch with a late bite and a ton of vertical movement. His slider could also be a plus pitch, coming in on a different plane than his curve but also having sharp movement and a spin rate of around 3000 RPM. Knoth also mixes in a changeup that shows some interesting fade but doesn’t take as much velocity off of it as you would hope. The Brewers will likely work with him to create more separation between the fastball and changeup. Knoth will be 18 for the majority of next season, and barring an incredible spring training showing, the Brewers will likely keep him in extended spring training next year before he makes his debut with the ACL Brewers in mid-summer. Knoth’s upside on the mound might be second only to Jacob Misiorowski in the Brewers system, and the Brewers will likely be careful with his innings load at the beginning. Knoth is far from a finished product, but if he can stay healthy and they can maximize the pitch mix he already has, the Brewers could have a top-of-the-line starter on their hands in a few years. #11 SS Eric Brown Jr (Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, Biloxi Shuckers) Brown Jr, the Brewers' first-round pick in the 2022 draft, is a premium athlete at a premium position. He plays a strong shortstop defensively, where his arm is above average, especially with the quick release he uses to get his throws off. His quick-twitch athleticism, good range, and good hands have allowed him to make impressive defensive plays. At times, he has seemed to lose concentration and make some errors in some of his routine plays, but that is not uncommon for younger players. On the offensive side of the ball, Brown came out of Coastal Carolina with a very low strikeout rate and an even lower chase rate, to go along with some pretty intriguing exit velocity numbers. Brown Jr fell slightly and further than his numbers indicated, mainly due to his peculiar-looking load and stance in college and some concerns about elevating the ball. He was an analytical darling, but traditional scouts weren’t as convinced due to his stance. Last offseason, he made some changes and came into 2023 with a load involving much less movement than the one he was sporting in 2022. With his new load, his hands are still starting in an awkward position, out in front of his head, but his big change was with his lower half. No longer using his big leg kick (he has gone to a much quieter leg lift), Brown seemed to have a bit of an adjustment period to get used to this new load in games. His wRC+ through the end of April was 39. He was hit in the face by a pitch on April 26th but luckily avoided major injury, and after returning on May 3rd, he started hitting much more like one would expect a first-rounder to hit. From May 3rd through the end of the season, Brown Jr would post a 122 wRC+ and an OPS of .781 in that span. The Midwest League is a tough-hitting environment, and Brown Jr did pretty well when he was healthy. He limited his strikeouts to a very reasonable 17.2% rate and walked at a high rate. While he didn’t tap into the power that he has shown flashes of with much regularity, he did steal 39 bases while only being caught five times. Brown Jr is taking part in the Arizona Fall League this offseason, and the hope is that he can take that experience to go along with what will hopefully be a healthier season in 2024 and show why the Brewers took him in the first round. His path thus far has been very similar to Tyler Black’s through Black’s first year and a half of pro ball. The hope is that Brown Jr will follow Black’s footsteps even further on his way to a breakout in 2024. He will likely begin next season in Double-A Biloxi. What stands out from 11-15 in this list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! View full article

Welcome to Brewer Fanatic's 2023 top 20 prospect rundown! The Brewers graduated a number of their top prospects throughout the 2023 season, so we have some new names to look at heading into the offseason. Let's take a look at the first installment, as voted on and compiled by the Brewer Fanatic community. Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports 20. Juan Baez, IF (Arizona League Brewers, Carolina Mudcats) Baez was signed in the 2022 international class out of the Dominican Republic for only $10,000, one of the lowest bonuses in the entire class. After a run-of-the-mill showing in the Dominican Summer League (DSL) in his debut season, he was given a surprising assignment to the Arizona Complex League as a soon-to-be 18-year-old. Baez did his part to show why the Brewers were so aggressive with him, despite the numbers he had put up in the DSL. Equipped with plus feel for contact, he is said to have above-average speed as well, which shows in his 19 stolen bases in 21 attempts. Reports coming into the season suggested a strong defender up the middle, but he did end up finishing the season with 18 errors, while only playing 45 games in the field. A large majority of his errors were of the throwing variety, which is a bit easier to fix than errors that come with the glove. His arm is pretty strong, so it would seem likely that his footwork is not where it needs to be, and there could be a lack of focus as well. While the offensive profile is pretty interesting, the defensive side of the game is going to be something that will need to be monitored. On the offensive side, one thing Baez is going to have to work on is his patience at the plate. His bat-to-ball skills did all of the heavy lifting on his way to an extremely successful season in 2023, but succeeding at the MLB level with a 4.2% walk rate would make him a major outlier, as only three qualified hitters finished 2023 with that low of a rate. Baez was certainly able to make it work at the Complex level and in his short cup of coffee with Low-A Carolina, due in large part to his ability to get the bat to the ball so consistently. He has a pretty big leg kick and a swing that is somewhat reminiscent of Alfonso Soriano's. With that leg kick and swing path, he is more than a slap hitter, despite what the rest of the profile might suggest. He showed a decent amount of extra-base pop, with 27 total, including four home runs. He will, most likely, begin 2024 with Carolina, which will be his first year of full-season ball. He will have the opportunity to answer the questions about his defense, and to continue to develop his swing decisions a bit. If he can see more pitches and potentially draw more walks, this is the profile of a future MLB hitter. 19. Bradley Blalock, RHP (Boston Red Sox organization, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers) Acquired from the Boston Red Sox at the 2023 trade deadline in exchange for Luis Urias, Blalock is a bit more than a lottery-ticket arm. The Red Sox’s 32nd-round selection in 2019 had struggled with injuries early in his career, and returned from Tommy John Surgery this season after missing all of 2022. Throwing from an over-the-top arm angle, he came back this season throwing 93-95 on his fastball, even getting up to 97 at times. Due (in part) to that high slot, his fastball has really good shape, and it plays well up in the zone. He throws three secondaries: curveball, slider and changeup. The quality of the pitches goes in that same order. His curveball is a hammer that comes in around 77-82, with a ton of depth on it. The fastball and curveball are both plus pitches. His slider is the third offering. It’s a firmer breaking ball, getting into the upper 80s, and has more horizontal movement than vertical. It hasn’t been completely dialed in yet, and it can be inconsistent from start to start, but it has the makings of being a pretty good tertiary pitch for him. His changeup is a distant fourth pitch at the moment, and given his arm slot, that will likely remain the case. It can be hard to throw a changeup from that angle. The Brewers like their splitters, and that is often the changeup that works best from an overhand slot, so perhaps that will be something they work on moving forward. Blalock got fantastic results prior to the trade, posting a 2.19 ERA and nearly 10 strikeouts per nine innings with the Red Sox's Low-A and High-A affiliates and limiting his walks to only 2.2 per nine. The results did not carry over in his first four starts after the trade. He walked over four batters per nine frames, and his ERA was 5.27 in that stretch. Unfortunately, he left his final start after recording only two outs, and ended up being placed on the IL to finish the season. We don’t know the extent of that injury at the moment. Blalock is Rule 5-eligible this offseason, and since his fastball and curveball could play up out of the bullpen, it wouldn’t be a complete shock to see him get selected if the Brewers leave him unprotected. He will likely receive heavy consideration for a 40-man roster spot. 18. Daniel Guilarte, IF (Carolina Mudcats) Guilarte was an international signing by the Brewers in 2021, and is somebody the organization appears to be very high on. Guilarte can really pick it at shortstop, as well as third and second base. He has clean actions, good range and a strong arm. Offensively, Guilarte has a patient approach, though that patience may border on passivity at times. He struggles to tap into power, though he does hit the ball with some authority. He will need to do a better job elevating the ball in order to get to the extra-base power. His speed is above-average, and he’s a strong baserunner in general. The previously mentioned patience showed up for Guilarte in a strong 12.5% walk rate, but it also shows up in his batted-ball profile. Slight indecisiveness can lead to a profile such as Guilarte’s, in which he does not pull the ball much, and is often hitting it on the ground. Despite the profile not being exactly what you’re looking for, Guilarte got off to a pretty good start to his full-season career in 2023, and as he matures more, there is definitely the potential for more pop there. His 111 wRC+ means he was an above-average hitter for the level, and he did that while being about two years younger than the league's average. Even if he struggles to develop that power, Guilarte’s above-average-to-plus speed, defense and hit tools will keep him on prospect radars. 17. Dylan O’Rae, IF/CF (Arizona League Brewers, Carolina Mudcats) The Brewers selected O’Rae with their third-round pick in 2022, to the surprise of pretty much everyone. Unranked on all of the major publications at draft time, the MLB Pipeline gurus struggled to find information on him. The Brewers clearly dug deep for the pick, and the early returns have been very good. O’Rae is small in stature, standing only 5-foot-7, and is listed at 160 pounds--though he appears to have bulked up this offseason and that weight might no longer be accurate. It isn’t out of the realm of possibility that he has gotten taller, either, as he’s still a teenager. Even if the growth spurt never hits, O’Rae has the potential to be a top-of-the-order hitter, as well as handling the middle infield or center field defensively. He possesses an elite eye at the plate and very good bat-to-ball skills, but he is severely lacking in the power department. Even if he can't clear or dent the fences, though, he does have the ability to turn singles into doubles by stealing bases with his plus speed. In 2023, he showed his well-measured approach by posting a 20% walk rate and only a 6.7% swinging-strike rate to go with his 13% strikeout rate. All of those would be elite numbers for anybody, but especially for a teenager in his first real taste of pro ball. The absence of power does show in the numbers as well, with only nine total extra-base hits, none of which were home runs. However, an on-base percentage of nearly .500 and 44 steals is a good way to bring production without hitting the ball hard. On the defensive side, he mainly played second base early in the season, but as the year progressed, he spent some time in center field. After his promotion to Low-A Carolina, he actually spent more time in center than on the dirt. His speed, instincts and the fact that he has a decent arm should allow him to handle either of them without issue. There are a lot of Sal Frelick similarities with O’Rae, but Frelick had more juice in his bat, even at this young age. If he can continue to put on some good weight and deliver just a bit more thump, O’Rae has the makings of someone who could make a career out of annoying the heck out of opposing pitchers. 16. Eric Bitonti, 3B/SS (Arizona League Brewers) Selected in the third round of the Brewers' most recent draft, Bitonti won’t turn 18 until mid-November. Equipped with some of the biggest raw power in the high school class, Bitonti has a sweet-looking left-handed swing. Despite being a pretty good athlete for his size, it’s unlikely he will be able to stick at shortstop. He should be a pretty strong defender at the hot corner, however, and he certainly has the arm to handle the position. The question for Bitonti will come with his hit tool. He has some holes in his swing, and he has struggled with making solid contact on breaking balls. His issues there seem to be more aligned with his feel to hit them, rather than a failure to recognize them, as he doesn’t chase them much. This is a good sign. It means he likely just needs to get more comfortable with his bat path against spinners. He crushed fastballs in the prep circuit and should have no issues handling professional velocity. His short stint in Arizona started really well, as he hit two home runs in the first three games of his professional career. After that, he experienced some struggles. In his final eight games, he went a combined 2-24, though he did draw eight walks in that stretch. Brewers fans will need to remember to be patient with Bitonti. He’ll be 18 for the entirety of the 2024 season and he’s got a lot of development in front of him. This is a bit of a boom-or-bust pick, but the upside is a big-time, middle-of-the-order bat. What stands out from 16-20 in this list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! View full article

Thanks! I personally would have chose Rudy over Jarvis as well, but these were voted on by all the writers, so the honorable mentions were those that fell outside of the top 4 but received at least one vote.

To go along with the "random Juco arm they're bound to take" theme, Scott Rienguette is one I'll be watching. He's a pitcher who would be right up their alley. Very Matt Brash like stuff with the insane spin rates on all his pitches and tons of movement. Brash was more in the low-90's until he got to pro ball where he started pushing mid-upper 90's with regularity (averaged 98.1 MPH on the four seam this season, out of the bullpen).

I didn't really mention this in any part of the article, but all of the rankings and honorable mentions were "as voted on" by those that were polled. I just listed all the pitchers that got votes and missed the top 4 as "honorable mentions" 🙂

We continue to hand out minor league awards this week. Today, we have our first repeat winner. Continue reading to get a ton of detailed content on the top four starting pitchers this season, four prospects that have a chance to be a part of the Brewers future. There were a handful of notable performances this season, within the Brewers organization. With every organization putting such a premium on developing pitching, having players stand out early at the lowest level is a must. Being able to continue to foster that growth throughout their experience in professional baseball is what hopefully will translate to major-league success. Before getting into the top four, here are a few others that received votes. Honorable Mentions RHP Patricio Aquino, 20, Carolina RHP Edwin Jimenez, 21, Carolina/Wisconsin RHP Justin Jarvis, 23, Biloxi/Nashville **Jarvis’ numbers only include his time in the Brewers organization (he was traded to the New York Mets in a one-for-one deal for outfielder Mark Canha)** Brewers Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year Here are the top four vote-getters for the Brewers Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year. 4. RHP Jacob Misiorowski, 21, Carolina/Wisconsin/Biloxi In terms of pure ceiling, the Brewers' second-round selection in the 2022 draft has one of the highest in all of baseball. A Junior College standout from Crowder College in Missouri, Misiorowski is a freak athlete on the mound, with long levers and a fastball that regularly touches triple digits and has been up to 102. He also throws a wicked slider in the 89-91 range, and has even seen the velocity up to 94 on the slider. His third offering is his curveball that is usually in the mid-80s and can have a slider shape to it at times. During the Futures Game, Statcast had labeled his slider as a cutter, but Misiorowski refers to them as a slider and curveball. His fourth offering is a changeup that has been used more sparingly as he struggles to throw it for strikes, though it has shown flashes of having some decent depth to it as well. The changeup registers in the low 90’s. Since selecting Misiorowski, the Brewers have been extremely cautious in terms of managing his workload. He only appeared in two games in 2022, and in spring training of 2023 he was built up very slowly. That continued as he began making starts for Carolina in April. Misiorowski did not throw a pitch in the fifth inning until May 25th. In that appearance he went five hitless innings, only allowing one base runner on a hit by pitch, and he struck out nine hitters in the process. Following one more strong start on the final day of May, Misiorowski was aggressively promoted to High-A Wisconsin, where he continued chugging along to the tune of a 1.15 ERA in June. The strikeout numbers did come down a bit at High-A, as he began to see more hitters that were able to keep the bat on their shoulder when his fastball command wasn’t at its best. When given the chance to make a name for himself on the national stage in Mid-July though, Misiorowski took advantage. He threw one inning in the previously-mentioned Futures Game appearance and took the baseball world by storm. Touching 102 MPH on his fastball and getting up to 94 MPH on his slider. Pitching Ninja even took notice and that seemed to be what put Misiorowski on everyone’s radar. After that outing in Seattle, Misiorowski had one more outing in Appleton before getting the call to Double-A, where he pitched at his third level in only 3 1/2 months. His first two starts at that level did not go how he would have liked, allowing nine earned runs in only 6 1/3 innings, while allowing thirteen free passes. After his rough start though, he was able to adjust and eventually finished his season with three outings where he struck out eight, nine and twelve. In his final appearance of the season, Misiorowksi threw a career-high six innings, allowed one hit, and struck out twelve. He was already approaching his career-high in innings at the time, and when his arm didn’t bounce back how they were hoping, the Brewers decided to shut him down for the remainder of the season. While he likely would have preferred to finish the season a bit differently, he was able to go out on a high note with that final start, and hopefully will be able to carry it over into 2024. He will likely return to Double-A next season, where an arm as lively and electric as his could be knocking on the doorstep to the majors in short order. 3. RHP Logan Henderson, 21, Carolina As was the case with Misiorowski, the Brewers selected Henderson out of a Junior College. A member of their 2021 draft, Henderson was drafted out of McLennan Community College and bypassed his Texas A&M commitment to sign with the club. Unfortunately for Henderson, during the early part of his professional career he struggled mightily to stay healthy. Prior to this season, he had only thrown 15 2/3 innings in his first year-and-a-half of pro ball. Equipped with a low-90s fastball coming out of McLennan, he has raised his average velocity to about 93 and has even reached 97 MPH a few times. The fastball plays especially well when it’s thrown up in the zone, due to its high spin rate and spin efficiency. He spins his slider at nearly 3000 RPMs, and it shows signs of being a really nice pitch. At times, however, it seems that he loses the angle/tilt on the pitch , and in that scenario the slider doesn’t move much. His best pitch is his changeup. You would be hard-pressed to find a better changeup in the Brewers system. There are some airbender qualities to it when he’s really got it going. Much like with Devin Williams, the changeup is a great pitch on its own, but it also helps his fastball to play up above the velocity readings. Due to past health issues, Henderson had battled prior to this season, he began the season in Extended Spring Training. His first appearance of the season didn’t come until May 9th. Even then, he had to be built back up and that first start only lasted 1 1/3 innings. He began an impressive run where he struck out 22 batters in his next four starts, which encompassed a total of 15 1/3 innings. He allowed one earned run in each of those starts. His sixth start of the season is probably the start he would most like to have a shot at a do-over. In that appearance, he went three innings, only striking out one batter while walking four and allowing five earned runs. After that start, Henderson went on a tear over his final 12 starts. In those 12 starts, Henderson never allowed more than three earned runs in a start, and he only allowed three earned runs one time. He did have one start mixed in where he was essentially acting as an opener and only went one inning. In the other eleven starts, he struck out at least five batters and punched out at least eight in seven of 11 starts. When it was all said and done, Henderson finished with a 2.29 ERA in his final 12 starts and had a 12.4 K/9 rate while limiting his walks to a 1.98 per nine clip. It was an extremely impressive finish to his first professional season. He put the cherry on top of that stretch in his final start, when he went six innings of one run baseball, struck out a career high ten batters and did not issue any free passes. Given all of his success and being a bit older than the average prospect at Low-A, it was a bit surprising that Henderson never got a promotion to High-A this year. At his age, it would not be a huge surprise if we see him skip that level altogether and have him begin 2024 in Double-A Biloxi, where hopefully he can build upon his first full season of professional baseball and continue to stay healthy. If he can, be on the lookout for Henderson to shoot up prospect lists and begin to put himself on the major league radar. 2. LHP Robert Gasser, 24, Nashville Gasser was acquired as part of the prospect return in the infamous Josh Hader trade with San Diego at the 2022 trade deadline. He throws three above-average or better pitches in his fastball, slider, and cutter. His four-seam fastball sits in the 91-93 range most days and can get up to 94 at times. His slider is best described as a sweeper and is a pitch he can throw in any count or situation. The sweeper sits in the low 80s and is his biggest swing-and-miss pitch. He mixed his cutter in more with the Brewers than he had with the Padres, and while it wasn’t always perfect, it showed some flashes of being a really good pitch for missing barrels and as another counter to right-handed hitters. He also uses a changeup and a sinker. Both show flashes but are considered a work-in-progress still. His changeup is a bit more firm than you would want, but it has good late action and could act as a counter to right-handed hitters. The sinker is a newer pitch for him. He was able to get the sinker in the zone more often than any other pitch. It generated a 52% ground ball rate in 2023. Unfortunately, he also gave up a lot of his hardest contact against the sinker, as hitters had an average exit velocity of 91.4 MPH against it. As a Padres 2021 draft pick, Gasser was in the midst of his first full season when the trade happened in 2022. He finished his Padres career at the High-A level, having thrown 90 1/3 innings for the Fort Wayne TinCaps. The Brewers decided that was plenty of experience at that level and assigned him to Double-A Biloxi to begin his Brewers career. Four starts later, Gasser and his 2.21 ERA and 11.5 K/9 were headed to Triple-A Nashville. This is where he would finish the 2022 campaign and where he spent all of 2023. Gasser didn’t get off to the best start in 2023, as he struggled to adjust to a very strong hitting environment in Triple-A in April and May. Through his first nine starts, Gasser was checking in with a 4.59 ERA. Having never walked more than 2.79 batters per nine innings with the Padres organization, Gasser had raised that number to 3.5 in his four Biloxi starts. Once he reached Triple-A, that number had jumped up to 5.5 in 2022. In April of 2023, he had the same number at 5.5 per nine. His walk numbers in May did show some improvement, as he brought that number down to 4.2 per nine. While still higher than you would want that number to be, it was a sign of progress and something he would look to continue to improve upon as the season continued. When June rolled around, Gasser did exactly that. In his four starts that month, Gasser walked only 1.4 per nine, and the rest of the results followed. He posted an ERA of 2.84 and went at least six innings in all four starts. His July didn’t go as well. The walk numbers went back up to 3.4 per nine, while he couldn’t get through the sixth inning in any of his starts. His ERA in July would end up at 4.71, and unfortunately, those struggles came at a time when the Brewers were likely considering him for a promotion due to the injuries at the major-league level. Gasser never did get that call, but he did finish the season on a very high note in August and September. Over the course of his final seven starts, Gasser posted a 2.93 ERA, walked only 2.7 per nine and struck out 11.7 per nine. During that stretch he never allowed more than three earned runs in one game, and he had two games with 10 strikeouts and a game with nine strikeouts. His last two starts were his two worst during that stretch and the Brewers elected to skip his final start of the season as Nashville had been eliminated from playoff contention. Gasser’s final season line may not look special in comparison to what we expect from a MLB starting pitcher. When the numbers are looked at in the Triple-A environment, however, Gasser stacks up extremely well. Among the 38 pitchers who threw at least 100 innings in Triple-A, Gasser finished first in total strikeouts and strikeouts per nine innings. He finished second in ERA and FIP while also having the second-highest K:BB ratio. Considering it took him about two months to adjust to the league, those numbers are very impressive. Assuming the Brewers move on from at least one of their top starters this offseason, Gasser will likely be given a chance to make the major-league rotation out of spring training. He appears to be ready. 1. RHP Carlos F. Rodriguez, 21, Biloxi/Nashville For the second straight season, the Brewer Fanatic choice for Brewers Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year is Carlos F. Rodriguez. Rodriguez was selected by the Brewers in the sixth round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Florida Southwestern State Junior College. That means that three of the top four pitchers on this list were drafted out of junior college. Pretty impressive work on the part of the Brewers area scouts. Rodriguez is a six-pitch pitcher who throws the kitchen sink at hitters and keeps them off balance. Don’t assume that he’s just a junk-baller with a bunch of average offerings. A number of his pitches are above average. First of all, he throws three different “fastballs.” He throws a four-seam fastball, a sinker and a cutter. The four-seamer is a riding fastball that he can throw up in the zone and miss bats with. He throws the four-seamer in the 90-93 range and can get all the way up to 96 on occasion. His sinker moves quite a bit and is the pitch he gets the majority of his ground balls with. The sinker sits in a similar velocity band to the four-seam. His cutter is a bit slower, usually in the upper 80s, around 86-88 most days. He uses it to keep the ball off the barrel. It isn’t a big swing-and-miss offering for him at this time, but he can get soft contact with it, especially against left-handed hitters. To go along with the three fastballs, he also throws three different offspeed pitches. His offspeed offerings include a changeup and two different breaking balls, a slider and curveball. The changeup is probably his best pitch out of any of the six. Usually thrown in the 82-85 MPH range, it’s his go-to swing-and-miss pitch and can generate ground balls. It pairs really well with his sinker. The slider is his second-best offspeed pitch. With a velocity usually hovering around 80 MPH, it shows flashes of being another big time swing-and-miss pitch, but with some inconsistencies in the command of the pitch, the results he gets have a lot of variance. His curveball is mainly used to “steal a strike” by landing a slow one in the zone. When he’s throwing it as a swing-and-miss pitch, the velocity is usually around 73-75 MPH. When he wants to land it for a strike, he has dropped into the 60’s at times. It isn’t a great pitch on its own, but he can use it to help all his other offerings and to give a hitter more velocity bands to think about. Rodriguez used his entire six-pitch repertoire to dominate for basically the entirety of 2023. As a 21-year-old who hadn’t pitched above rookie ball prior to 2022 and hadn’t thrown in Double-A prior to this season, Rodriguez didn’t waste any time adjusting to the level. Over the course of the first two months, Rodriguez made nine starts and came out of it with a 2.82 ERA. He was striking out 12.5 batters per nine during that stretch and had two starts where he struck out double digits. Included in those two starts was an outing on May 27th when he went seven complete innings while striking out eleven and allowing zero free passes. His next start came in June and did not go very well, as he allowed six earned runs in only 3 2/3 innings. Including that start, from the start of June to the end of the first half, he posted a 3.29 ERA and went into the break at 3.00 exactly. It should be noted that the Southern League was using the pre-tacked baseballs during the first half of the season. A lot of Southern League pitchers saw a decline in results after that change. Is it possible Rodriguez was a product of the baseball? If you believe he was, good luck proving it. After the Southern League made the change to go back to the regular MLB baseballs in the second half, Rodriguez actually posted a 2.44 ERA in his remaining ten starts at Double-A. While his strikeout numbers did see a bit of a decline in the second half, going down to 10.1 strikeouts per nine, his results improved from really good, to great. The biggest improvement from Carlos came in the form of his control. He only walked 2.9 per nine in the second half, which was down from 4.5 in the first half. Another improvement as the season went on was his ability to get himself a little deeper into games. That goes hand in hand with the walk totals, but while he struggled to keep his pitch count down at times, he was able to work into the sixth or later in all of his final three starts at Double-A. Rodriguez finished the Double-A season ranked first in ERA and OPS against. He came in third in Swinging Strike rate and WHIP and then fourth in strikeout rate and fifth in FIP. His impressive season and the signs of growth ended with Rodriguez being rewarded with a promotion to Triple-A in the final week. Giving him an opportunity to make one start at the level before he makes his likely return there to begin next season. Rodriguez will be a candidate to help the MLB rotation in 2024. So there you have it. The Brewers decided to go with co-Pitchers of the Year. We selected Carlos Rodriguez just ahead of Robert Gasser. How would you have voted? View full article

Jackson Chourio Stud. Superstar. Best position prospect the Brewers have had in decades. Barring injury, we will see him next year.Jeferson Quero Always has been one of my favorites, had him top 3 early on in the 2022 season. He's a stud defender, great leader, and the bat could be quite good. Likely see him in 2024 as well.Jacob Misiorowski The arm talent is insane. Probably the best of any pitcher in the minor leagues. Can he hold up as a starter and can the command be serviceable? I lean more toward yes than no, but they're real concerns.Tyler Black He's ready for MLB at bats, wouldn't totally shock me to see him make the 26 man out of spring training next season. Potentially at first base with Santana and (likely) Rowdy gone. Luis Lara I think this is a 70 grade defender in center field with hit-ability traits and more power that he will tap into as he matures. 60 grade baserunner but he's faster than that. Just needs to work on his jumps and that could turn to a 70 as well. Even if the power doesn't come, it's easy to see a lot of similarities to Sal Frelick, but as a switch hitter.Robert Gasser Most seasons we would have already seen him in MLB. If the Brewers do trade Burnes (which I expect), I think Gasser will get a real chance to make the rotation out of Spring Training.Eric Brown Jr Still a huge believer. Excited to see him in the AFL, hopefully the start of better injury luck and overall health. I think he's an electric player to watch on the bases and in the field and that the bat is going to be there for him once he gets consistent reps.Brock Wilken If you read my draft breakdown, you know I was a little down on Wilken's fit with the Brewers. Having seen him play in person twice while he was in Appleton, and watched him at all three levels... He's grown on me. I still worry about the defense (though less than at draft time), and I think the K's are going to start to show more at the upper levels. But he's more of a gamer than I expected, showing some great instincts on the bases. and the hit tool is better than I thought as well.Carlos F Rodriguez I think we will see Carlos in MLB next season as well. Southern League Pitcher of the Year, the command will need to continue to get better, but he's a bulldog competitor with really good stuff and a starters mix. Cooper Pratt Still hard to believe the Brewers got Pratt where they did. Huge upside in pretty much every facet. Will need to be patient with him, but the payoff could be a Gunnar Henderson type.Josh Knoth Ceiling wise, only Miz has a higher ceiling in the system. Mid-Upper 90's fastball with great life, two nasty breaking balls. Really just need to see how it looks in pro ball, but he's one that has TOR stuff, which isn't easy to find.Luke Adams I remain extremely high on Adams, I think both his glove and his baserunning are heavily underrated. He might not be the most visually appealing player of all time, but I expect him to be able to get it done as he climbs the ladder.Logan Henderson I'm surprised we never saw him in Appleton. I think they just wanted him to lead the Mudcats rotation during their playoff push. Best changeup in the system, fastball with ride that has jumped in velo since draft day. I want to see how it goes at tougher levels and if he can continue to stay healthy like he did in 2023. But this is a potential mid-rotation arm.Yophery Rodriguez Slowed down toward the end of the DSL season. Not uncommon for players in their first season. I think he's the guy this far down that could make the leap to top 5 or so in the system by next year.Mike Boeve Big time hit tool, started to tap into the power more in pro ball. I think it's there, but it may not be there consistently for a year or so. Similar hitter to Tyler Black, but not going to steal bases like Black. Likely a better defender at third and second though, has cleaner actions, though still needs some work to be sure.Eric Bitonti Huge raw power, the strikeouts will be something to monitor. A very good athlete for his size, he's likely a third baseman. Really one that I am in wait and see mode on, but the ceiling is very high if he can make contact consistently.Ryan Birchard I liked Birchard as a potential Brewers target from the start and I really loved this pick. He shows 60 grade stuff across the board in his FB/CV/SL mix. The fastball had an induced vertical break of 20" in the MLB Draft League which is elite. He can touch up to 98 with the fastball. The curve is a near 3000 RPM hammer and the slider is a 2500 RPM pitch with 12-15" of horizontal break. It's a tiny sample, but I'm hoping we get some video from instructs. Big time ceiling.Patricio Aquino Great slider that carries the repertoire. He strikes a lot of people out, he limits walks decently, he's young for the level and can get into the mid-90's with his fastball. A lot to dream on, hopefully the success can continue as he climbs the ladder.Bradley Blalock Didn't really get to see him throw much in Appleton and when he did, he may have been battling an injury that eventually shut him down. Wait and see on this one.Dylan O'Rae Lots of similarities to Sal Frelick, especially now that he's playing the outfield. He has even less pop than Frelick though. The ceiling is probably a Frelick type, but the total lack of ability to drive the ball currently does make the floor a punchless hitter that fades in the upper minors. Did not include Uribe because he graduated, but he would've been #13 and 50+ OFP as a future closer. I'll give a quick run down of my tiers and then I'll extend to the rest of the last tier containing my top 20. I lean a little more toward the ceiling on OFP than someone like Fangraphs does with FV. Especially after the top 30 or so, the tiers are way more important than the ranking that goes with them. Tier 1 (70 OFP) Chourio Tier 2 (60 OFP) Quero Tier 3 (55 OFP) Misiorowski at 3 through Lara at 5 Tier 4 (50+ OFP) Gasser at 6 through Adams at 12 Tier 5 (50 OFP) Henderson at 13 through Bitonti at 16 Tier 6 (45+ OFP) Birchard at 17 through O'Rae at 20 AND 21 Daniel Guilarte SS 22 Jadher Areinamo INF 23 Juan Baez INF 24 Jace Avina OF 25 Tyler Woessner RHP 26 Hendry Mendez OF 27 Matthew Wood C 28 Jesus Rivero RHP 29 Will Rudy RHP 30 Robert Moore 2B 31 Freddy Zamora SS 32 Blake Perkins OF 33 Evan McKendry RHP 34 Tayden Hall C 35 Alexander Cornielle RHP 36 Shane Smith RHP 37 Wes Clarke 1B 38 Filippo Di Turi SS 39 Quinton Low Two Way 40 Stiven Cruz RHP 41 Edwin Jimenez RHP 42 Luis Castillo OF 43 Gregory Barrios SS 44 Satchell Norman C 45 Kevin Ereu SS 46 Noah Campbell UTIL Tier 7 (45 OFP) 47 Bishop Letson RHP 48 Josh Adamczewski SS 49 Joseph Hernandez RHP 50 Ernesto Martinez 1B 51 Craig Yoho RHP 52 James Meeker RHP 53 Cameron Wagoner RHP 54 Ethan Small LHP 55 Zavier Warren 1B 56 Yorman Galindez RHP 57 Cam Devanney UTIL 58 Harold Chirino RHP 59 Darrell Thompson LHP 60 Kay-Lan Nicasia OF 61 Ethan Murray SS 62 Yeison Perez OF 63 Ryan Middendorf RHP 64 Johan Barrios SS 65 Carlos Rodriguez OF 66 Darrien Miller C 67 Aidan Maldonado RHP 68 Eduardo Garcia SS 69 Justin Chambers LHP 70 Hedbert Perez OF 71 Ryan Brady RHP 72 Cam Robinson RHP 73 Clayton Andrews LHP 74 Max Lazar RHP 75 Manuel Rodriguez RHP 76 Nate Peterson LHP 77 Justin Yeager RHP 78 Tanner Shears RHP 79 Adam Seminaris LHP 80 Alexander Vallecillo RHP 81 Felix Valerio 2B 82 Jheremy Vargas 3B

Jackson Chourio Stud. Superstar. Best position prospect the Brewers have had in decades. Barring injury, we will see him next year.Jeferson Quero Always has been one of my favorites, had him top 3 early on in the 2022 season. He's a stud defender, great leader, and the bat could be quite good. Likely see him in 2024 as well.Jacob Misiorowski The arm talent is insane. Probably the best of any pitcher in the minor leagues. Can he hold up as a starter and can the command be serviceable? I lean more toward yes than no, but they're real concerns.Tyler Black He's ready for MLB at bats, wouldn't totally shock me to see him make the 26 man out of spring training next season. Potentially at first base with Santana and (likely) Rowdy gone. Luis Lara I think this is a 70 grade defender in center field with hit-ability traits and more power that he will tap into as he matures. 60 grade baserunner but he's faster than that. Just needs to work on his jumps and that could turn to a 70 as well. Even if the power doesn't come, it's easy to see a lot of similarities to Sal Frelick, but as a switch hitter.Robert Gasser Most seasons we would have already seen him in MLB. If the Brewers do trade Burnes (which I expect), I think Gasser will get a real chance to make the rotation out of Spring Training.Eric Brown Jr Still a huge believer. Excited to see him in the AFL, hopefully the start of better injury luck and overall health. I think he's an electric player to watch on the bases and in the field and that the bat is going to be there for him once he gets consistent reps.Brock Wilken If you read my draft breakdown, you know I was a little down on Wilken's fit with the Brewers. Having seen him play in person twice while he was in Appleton, and watched him at all three levels... He's grown on me. I still worry about the defense (though less than at draft time), and I think the K's are going to start to show more at the upper levels. But he's more of a gamer than I expected, showing some great instincts on the bases. and the hit tool is better than I thought as well.Carlos F Rodriguez I think we will see Carlos in MLB next season as well. Southern League Pitcher of the Year, the command will need to continue to get better, but he's a bulldog competitor with really good stuff and a starters mix. Cooper Pratt Still hard to believe the Brewers got Pratt where they did. Huge upside in pretty much every facet. Will need to be patient with him, but the payoff could be a Gunnar Henderson type.Josh Knoth Ceiling wise, only Miz has a higher ceiling in the system. Mid-Upper 90's fastball with great life, two nasty breaking balls. Really just need to see how it looks in pro ball, but he's one that has TOR stuff, which isn't easy to find.Luke Adams I remain extremely high on Adams, I think both his glove and his baserunning are heavily underrated. He might not be the most visually appealing player of all time, but I expect him to be able to get it done as he climbs the ladder.Logan Henderson I'm surprised we never saw him in Appleton. I think they just wanted him to lead the Mudcats rotation during their playoff push. Best changeup in the system, fastball with ride that has jumped in velo since draft day. I want to see how it goes at tougher levels and if he can continue to stay healthy like he did in 2023. But this is a potential mid-rotation arm.Yophery Rodriguez Slowed down toward the end of the DSL season. Not uncommon for players in their first season. I think he's the guy this far down that could make the leap to top 5 or so in the system by next year.Mike Boeve Big time hit tool, started to tap into the power more in pro ball. I think it's there, but it may not be there consistently for a year or so. Similar hitter to Tyler Black, but not going to steal bases like Black. Likely a better defender at third and second though, has cleaner actions, though still needs some work to be sure.Eric Bitonti Huge raw power, the strikeouts will be something to monitor. A very good athlete for his size, he's likely a third baseman. Really one that I am in wait and see mode on, but the ceiling is very high if he can make contact consistently.Ryan Birchard I liked Birchard as a potential Brewers target from the start and I really loved this pick. He shows 60 grade stuff across the board in his FB/CV/SL mix. The fastball had an induced vertical break of 20" in the MLB Draft League which is elite. He can touch up to 98 with the fastball. The curve is a near 3000 RPM hammer and the slider is a 2500 RPM pitch with 12-15" of horizontal break. It's a tiny sample, but I'm hoping we get some video from instructs. Big time ceiling.Patricio Aquino Great slider that carries the repertoire. He strikes a lot of people out, he limits walks decently, he's young for the level and can get into the mid-90's with his fastball. A lot to dream on, hopefully the success can continue as he climbs the ladder.Bradley Blalock Didn't really get to see him throw much in Appleton and when he did, he may have been battling an injury that eventually shut him down. Wait and see on this one.Dylan O'Rae Lots of similarities to Sal Frelick, especially now that he's playing the outfield. He has even less pop than Frelick though. The ceiling is probably a Frelick type, but the total lack of ability to drive the ball currently does make the floor a punchless hitter that fades in the upper minors. Did not include Uribe because he graduated, but he would've been #13 and 50+ OFP as a future closer. I'll give a quick run down of my tiers and then I'll extend to the rest of the last tier containing my top 20. I lean a little more toward the ceiling on OFP than someone like Fangraphs does with FV. Especially after the top 30 or so, the tiers are way more important than the ranking that goes with them. Tier 1 (70 OFP) Chourio Tier 2 (60 OFP) Quero Tier 3 (55 OFP) Misiorowski at 3 through Lara at 5 Tier 4 (50+ OFP) Gasser at 6 through Adams at 12 Tier 5 (50 OFP) Henderson at 13 through Bitonti at 16 Tier 6 (45+ OFP) Birchard at 17 through O'Rae at 20 AND 21 Daniel Guilarte SS 22 Jadher Areinamo INF 23 Juan Baez INF 24 Jace Avina OF 25 Tyler Woessner RHP 26 Hendry Mendez OF 27 Matthew Wood C 28 Jesus Rivero RHP 29 Will Rudy RHP 30 Robert Moore 2B 31 Freddy Zamora SS 32 Blake Perkins OF 33 Evan McKendry RHP 34 Tayden Hall C 35 Alexander Cornielle RHP 36 Shane Smith RHP 37 Wes Clarke 1B 38 Filippo Di Turi SS 39 Quinton Low Two Way 40 Stiven Cruz RHP 41 Edwin Jimenez RHP 42 Luis Castillo OF 43 Gregory Barrios SS 44 Satchell Norman C 45 Kevin Ereu SS 46 Noah Campbell UTIL Tier 7 (45 OFP) 47 Bishop Letson RHP 48 Josh Adamczewski SS 49 Joseph Hernandez RHP 50 Ernesto Martinez 1B 51 Craig Yoho RHP 52 James Meeker RHP 53 Cameron Wagoner RHP 54 Ethan Small LHP 55 Zavier Warren 1B 56 Yorman Galindez RHP 57 Cam Devanney UTIL 58 Harold Chirino RHP 59 Darrell Thompson LHP 60 Kay-Lan Nicasia OF 61 Ethan Murray SS 62 Yeison Perez OF 63 Ryan Middendorf RHP 64 Johan Barrios SS 65 Carlos Rodriguez OF 66 Darrien Miller C 67 Aidan Maldonado RHP 68 Eduardo Garcia SS 69 Justin Chambers LHP 70 Hedbert Perez OF 71 Ryan Brady RHP 72 Cam Robinson RHP 73 Clayton Andrews LHP 74 Max Lazar RHP 75 Manuel Rodriguez RHP 76 Nate Peterson LHP 77 Justin Yeager RHP 78 Tanner Shears RHP 79 Adam Seminaris LHP 80 Alexander Vallecillo RHP 81 Felix Valerio 2B 82 Jheremy Vargas 3B

After naming the Brewer Fanatic choices for short-season Hitter and Pitcher of the Year the past two days, today we will name our choice for Brewers Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. There were several candidates, but ultimately, our selection won the vote in a landslide. There were a handful of notable performances this season. With every organization putting such a premium on developing pitching, having players stand out early at the lowest level is a must. Being able to continue to foster that growth throughout their experience in professional baseball is what hopefully will translate to major-league success. Coming off a year with no minor-league action, these guys really stepped up when returning to the mound. Before getting into the top three, here are a couple of others that received votes. . Honorable Mention RHP Gerson Calzadilla (ACL Brewers/Carolina) LHP Justin King (Wisconsin) LHP Luis Amaya (Wisconsin/Biloxi) RHP Thyago Vieira (Nashville) RHP Miguel Guerrero (Carolina/Wisconsin) RHP Ryan Brady (Wisconsin/Biloxi) RHP Chase Costello (Carolina) Brewers Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year Here are the top four vote-getters for Brewers Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year. 4. LHP Clayton Andrews, 26, (Nashville) **Unranked by all major publications** Drafted in the 17th round in 2018, Andrews stands in at only 5’6, and if we’re being honest, that might be a bit generous. Despite his stature, his ride through the minor leagues has been an exhilarating one. In 2019, he was not only pitching, but also playing center field and racking up a batting average hovering around .300. After COVID he did get a few more plate appearances during the 2021 season, but would undergo Tommy John surgery shortly thereafter. He returned from the surgery during the 2022 season to mixed results. He was striking out nearly two batters per inning. Unfortunately he was also walking close to a batter an inning and had an ERA over nine. He had become an afterthought for many. That changed a bit when he came into a spring training game this year and immediately caught a lot of people’s attention when he touched 96 MPH and sat in the 94-95 range. For a left handed pitcher, that type of velocity will always create some intrigue. When that left handed pitcher is 5’6 or shorter? Then it creates a lot of intrigue. He also throws a 3000 RPM slider and a very interesting changeup as his secondary pitches. His April in Triple-A did nothing to slow down the excitement he had generated in spring training. Again striking out close to two batters an inning, Andrews did a much better job of limiting his walks, and baserunners in general, this time around. He struck out 14 in 8.1 innings and only walked three, on his way to a 1.02 ERA for the month. He followed that up with a strong May and June where he posted a 1.85 ERA between those two months to go with striking out 10 per nine. He did however walk nearly five per nine during that stretch. The command was an issue at times all season long, and in July it really showed in the results. In nine appearances Andrews pitched 7 1/3 innings and walked nine. His ERA that month was 7.36. In the midst of this month he made his MLB debut which unfortunately did not go as he would’ve hoped either. After a really tough month of July, it was great to see Andrews bounce back with a strong last two months. In his final 17 innings he posted a 2.12 ERA and struck out over 11 per nine. He also appeared in a couple more MLB games during that stretch. Unfortunately his other MLB appearances did not go much better than his debut and there will be some questions about the quality of his stuff as he moves forward. While the fastball velocity is pretty fun for a guy as short as he is, the shape and movement of the pitch are not what you’d want and for hitters, the fastball is extremely hittable. One has to wonder if the Brewers might attempt to teach him a sinker or something other than the four seam fastball this offseason. If they can, it’s possible we will see the fantastic Triple-A results start to translate a bit better to MLB. 3. RHP James Meeker, 28 (Biloxi/Nashville) **Unranked by all major publications** Meeker was signed out of independent ball in August of 2021. Meeker has moved from Low-A to Triple-A since signing and has done it with the use of a five-pitch mix. He throws a four seam fastball, a sinker and a cutter. The fastball and sinker sit in the 91-93 range and he may end up settling on one of them, as they can blend together at times. His cutter is a pitch he uses to get a lot of soft contact, coming in around 88 MPH regularly. He also throws a curveball and a changeup. The curveball comes in around 78-81 and has been a good swing and miss pitch for Meeker against right-handed hitters. His changeup is in the mid-80’s and is his best strikeout pitch against left-handed bats. In a lot of ways, there are some Matt Albers similarities with Meeker’s repertoire and that is the type of pitcher we could see Meeker becoming in MLB. Meeker is able to land all five pitches for strikes and throughout 2023 he used all five of his pitches to keep hitters off balance, landing himself third place on this list. He began the season on a tear out of the bullpen in Biloxi. Over the course of his first 34 1/3 innings pitched, Meeker had struck out 44 batters and only walked three, for an otherworldly 14.67 K:BB ratio. At that time his ERA sat at 2.62 and he seemed to be on his way to an incredible season. Unfortunately for Meeker, some injuries in the Shuckers rotation actually forced him into a starters role for eight starts. He made his first start on June 23rd and his final start on August 6th. In that time he posted a 5.14 ERA over 35 innings and he only struck out 17 batters. That stretch really tanked his season long numbers, as he went right back to his dominating ways while being used as a reliever again. He finished his Double-A season with 19 1/3 innings out of the bullpen, allowing only one earned run, which was good for a 0.46 ERA. He struck out 19 batters and only walked four during that stretch. He sacrificed to help the team by starting games, but it was clear that his future lies in the bullpen and the numbers show it. Meeker did make two appearances at Triple-A to close out the season and they did not go very well. Allowing four earned runs in four innings while walking three batters to only one strikeout. It may take some time to adjust to the highest level of the minors, but assuming he does eventually get there, Meeker will be right on the fringe of contributing to the 2024 Brewers bullpen shuttle. 2. RHP Tanner Shears (Carolina/Wisconsin): **Unranked by all major publications** An Independent league signing by the Brewers this past offseason, Shears had to work through some command issues all season, walking nearly eight batters per nine innings. Despite the command issues, he got fantastic surface level results. This is due, in large part, to having arguably the best stuff of any relief prospect in the system. His splitter is an elite pitch that completely kills spin and sits around 83-86. His fastball has arm side run, but sits mid-90's and touches upper 90’s. It does a great job riding up in the zone and plays well with the big splitter. He mixes in a slider that gets some sweep in the mid-80's as a pretty strong third pitch as well. Shears’ stuff is pretty ridiculous to watch. It’s so nasty that catchers struggle to catch his pitches, even when they’re in the zone. Because of that, it’s not hard to believe that he would have fewer walks if there was an automatic strike zone in place. That said, the inability to command his pitches is a real concern and the walks really caused his peripheral stats to look quite a bit worse than his ERA. Shears began the season in Carolina where his stuff was just overpowering for the hitters he was facing. He struck out nearly 15 per nine in his 20 innings at Low-A, and only allowed an opponent batting average of .171 at the level. He was promoted to High-A after his June 9th appearance and would finish the rest of the season there. Shears would get off to a strong start at High-A as he posted a 2.21 ERA from the time of his promotion, through the end of July. He struck out 12.7 per nine during that stretch, and while the walks were still up, he was showing that he belonged at that level. In August though, he turned things up a notch. Shears did not allow a single earned run in his 9 2/3 innings and struck out over 12 per nine once again. He would finish the season with three September outings, in which he struck out seven in 3 1/3 innings and only allowed one earned run. In the end, Shears posted very similar numbers at both levels and showed signs of being a potential shut down reliever. It will come down to his ability to rein in his command and nothing more. When he is around the zone consistently, hitters are going to struggle. As he reaches the upper levels though, hitters will become even more patient and he will need to work even harder to avoid the walks. Shears has a wide range of outcomes, from a possible MLB reliever in 2024 to someone that walks too many to stick around in pro ball. Based on the glimpses of dominance that he showed this season, let’s hope it’s closer to the former. 1. RHP Shane Smith (Carolina/Wisconsin): **Unranked by all major publications** Smith was a member of the undrafted class following the 2021 draft, signed out of Wake Forest, where he had been their closer in 2020. Unfortunately for Smith, he was in the midst of Tommy John rehab during the draft, which played a big role in him not being selected. Prior to this 2023 season he had only thrown three professional innings, all of which had come at the complex level. This season he was able to move from Low-A all the way up to Double-A, using his three pitch mix. Smith comes equipped with a mid-90’s fastball that he uses up in the zone, and pairs extremely well with his sharp curveball that he often goes to as his “out” pitch. He also mixes in a cutter that shows good shape and life as well. It’s possible that he also sprinkled in a slider at times, but those could have been cutters that are generating a bit more movement than average. Starting his season at Low-A Carolina, Smith struck out an impressive 14.4 per nine while only walking 2.87 per nine at that level. He ended up with a 2.59 ERA, which was a really strong number. However, he finished his time at Low-A with a bang, throwing 14 1/3 inning scoreless while posting a 19:3 strikeout to walk ratio in that time. That stretch earned him a promotion to High-A where the scoreless streak would be extended one more inning, before Smith allowed one earned run in his second appearance at that level. Following his promotion, Smith kept showing improvement and hitters continued to be mystified by his fastball/curveball combination. While his strikeout numbers weren’t quite as ridiculous as they were in Carolina, he still ended up with a very strong 11.6 per nine number with the Timber Rattlers. His ERA actually dropped quite a bit at the more advanced level, going down to 1.37 over the course of his 26 1/3 innings. His performance at both of the Class A levels did end up getting Smith a cup of coffee in Double-A, where he made two appearances for the Biloxi Shuckers. He threw a total of two scoreless innings, allowing one hit, one walk and striking out two. When Smith was closing games at Wake Forest, he was once considered one of the better relief prospects in college baseball. Tommy John obviously ended up hurting Smith in more ways than one, but his loss at the time may have ended up being a positive for both him and the Brewers. Smith landed with one of the best pitching development organizations in baseball and the Brewers took a flier on a pitcher who now looks like somebody that could be a high leverage reliever at the major league level as soon as the next year or two. Smith is part of the eight-player Brewers contingent in the Arizona Fall League. Congratulations to Shane Smith and each of the Brewers minor league relievers that have been recognized today. Please join us in congratulating them and discussing them in the Comments below. View full article

June 12th, as they attempt to get through the Super 2 Deadline is my guess.

In my opinion, it will be first base long term. He's made legitimate improvements this year on the defensive side of the ball, so I'm not ready to rule out third or second, but I think that would be in more of a Ben Zobrist role where he's rotating around and getting different guys days off. I actually think he's best suited in the outfield, but given the current depth of outfield talent in the upper levels, I can't imagine the team wants to move him out there yet, and are hoping he can prove to be at least somewhat capable in the infield. In a pinch, I think he could handle short in an MLB game. I'm guessing they wouldn't want it happening regularly though. I think he's at his best at third base. If I had to guess which current AAA catcher the Brewers are highest on, I'd bet they're higher on Brian Navarreto than Henry. Navarreto is a fantastic defender and I think the Brewers value that in the backup catcher more than the bat. I always liked Henry though, I had him higher than Feliciano on most of my lists. Turns out both of them might just be AAAA types. Henry's decent defense and baseball acumen will give him a chance if the bat plays enough. That said, I wouldn't be shocked if he's the backup catcher to start 2024 though, with Quero knocking on the door to take his spot.

I tried to give as much info as I could in the July Relief Pitcher of the Month article Smith came in at #2 that month 🙂

We conclude our August awards series by looking at which relievers in the Brewers organization had solid months of August. author-tracker.gifauthor-tracker.gif Image courtesy of Wisconsin Timber Rattlers We close out our MiLB Player of the Month series with our top five Relief Pitchers for the month of August. It wasn’t the most dominating month from the system’s relief group, but a few stood out from the pack. Beginning with a couple of honorable mentions. HONORABLE MENTIONS RHP - J.B. Bukauskas - Nashville Sounds - 9 G, 10.1 IP, 1-0, 1.74 ERA, 2.71 FIP, 1.06 WHIP, 8 H , 3 BB, 9 K LHP - Clayton Andrews - Nashville Sounds - 8 G, 9.0 IP, 0-0, 2.00 ERA, 2.14 FIP, 1.11 WHIP, 7 H , 3 BB, 11 K TOP FOUR RELIEF PITCHERS FOR AUGUST #4 LHP - Ethan Small - Nashville Sounds - 9 G, 10.1 IP, 1-0, 1.74 ERA, 2.91 FIP, 0.88 WHIP, 9 H , 0 BB, 10 K, 1 SV Unranked by all publications The Brewers first round selection in 2019, everyone knows what the deal is with Small at this point. If he can command his pitches on any given day he will have success. His fastball is a good pitch in terms of its characteristics, and his changeup is a great pitch. The issue is that he doesn’t often command his pitches, and he has been unable to develop a consistent breaking ball to use as a third offering, though his slider has shown some signs of life this year. While command has been an issue for Small, he showed some great signs in August, not allowing a free pass of any kind. 10 strikeouts to zero walks is about as good as it gets. Small has also had some issues with the home run ball in the past and he was able to limit the gopher ball to only one this past month. Small is an extremely smart guy with an understanding of what works best for him. It’s not fair to expect Small to completely eliminate free passes moving forward, but hopefully August was a sign of things to come, in terms of his control and he is able to provide the Brewers with some help in the future. #3 RHP - Cam Robinson - Biloxi Shuckers - 11 G, 13.1 IP, 1-0, 0.67 ERA, 3.61 FIP, 1.05 WHIP, 8 H , 6 BB, 9 K, 6 SV. The Brewers 23rd round selection in the 2017 draft, Robinson blew up last season moving all the way up from High-A Wisconsin to Triple-A Nashville, forcing his way onto all of the prospects lists along the way. He performed so well that the Brewers added him to their 40 man roster in order to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Unfortunately 2023 has not gone very well for Robinson, and he has not only been DFA’d off of the 40 man roster, he is actually back at Double-A. In 2022, Robinson was showing a cutter up to 96 and using his slider and curveball, all to great success. In 2023, his cutter has been sitting closer to 92-93 and he has struggled to command his offspeed offerings, as well as the cutter itself. The good news is that in August he did a much better job of being in the zone consistently and his results followed suit. While Robinson wasn’t striking batters out at the same clip as he became accustomed to in 2022, he was limiting baserunners. His WHIP through July of this season was a staggering 2.31, but he was able to keep it to 1.05 in August. While he had walked 8.7 per nine through July, he was able to keep that number to 4.05 in August. His month was highlighted by a 1-2-3 inning to record a save on August 3rd, in which he struck out two of the three he faced. Despite the dip in velocity, Robinson’s stuff hasn’t stepped back all that much. If he can regain his command he could still have a future at the big league level. #2 RHP - Thyago Vieira - Nashville Sounds - 9 G, 9.0 IP, 1-0, 1.00 ERA, 2.25 FIP, 0.78 WHIP, 3 H , 4 BB, 15 K, 4 SV. Unranked by all publications A minor league signing this past offseason, Vieira is a player with MLB experience as a member of the Mariners, as well as the White Sox. He had spent the last few seasons in Japan before returning stateside. A Future’s Game participant in 2017, Vieira is equipped with a fastball that reaches triple digits, and a wipeout slider to go with it. In the past his command was, to put it nicely, lacking. So far in 2023, he is only walking 2.3 batters per nine innings and that will be huge for him moving forward. Vieira throws his four seam and his two seam fastball in the 97-98 MPH range, he uses the four seam up in the zone more and the two seam down more often. The four seam has generated a higher ground ball rate, interestingly. His slider is his go-to out pitch. It’s a very sharp breaking pitch. Not a huge sweeper, but late moving and sharp. He is getting whiffs on 43% of the swings against it this season. Vieira’s best outing of the month came on the 24th when he went 1-2-3 with three strikeouts to close out a game and record one of his four saves on the month. Once again a minor league free agent this offseason, it would not be a huge surprise to see the Brewers add him to the 40 man roster to keep him in the system. That is, assuming he doesn’t get added before the end of the season, which is looking less and less likely. #1 RHP - Tanner Shears - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - 9 G, 9.2 IP, 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.84 FIP, 1.45 WHIP, 3 H , 11 BB, 13 K, 2 SV Unranked by all publications An Independent league signing by the Brewers this past offseason, Shears has continued to work through some command issues all season but he has really good stuff. His splitter is a borderline elite pitch that completely kills spin and sits around 83-86. His fastball has arm side run, but sits mid-90's and touches higher. It does a great job riding up in the zone and plays well with the big splitter. He also mixes in a slider as a solid third pitch that gets some sweep in the mid-80's as well. Shears’ stuff is pretty ridiculous to watch. It’s so nasty that catchers have been struggling to catch his pitches, even when they’re in the zone and I feel quite confident that he would have fewer walks if there was an automatic strike zone in place. That said, the walks are a real concern and they are killing his FIP. Despite the FIP being as high as it is, Shears earned the number one spot this month. This is in part due to a bit of a down month across the system, but also because he refuses to let these walks hurt him. Despite walking over ten per nine, he did not allow a single earned run in August. Only allowing three hits and striking out over 12 per nine went a long way toward helping him wiggle into and out of trouble all month. In August Shears had his best appearance on August 8th. He went 1 1/3 hitless innings that night, striking out three and only allowing one walk. Shears is 24 years old, and the command issues are pretty legitimate, but he has the type of stuff you find in MLB relievers. His range of outcomes is very big, but there’s a possibility that Shears could see time in the MLB bullpen as early as next season. His command will need to improve for that to happen, though some help from his catchers would go a long way as well. Thanks for following along with this three part series on the Brewers minor league system. Please let us know your thoughts in the comments. We hope you learn something new each time around! View full article

Our series of August awards continues this morning with a look at the top starting pitcher performances in the Brewers minor leagues. Image courtesy of Wisconsin Timber Rattlers The starting pitching wasn’t as exciting as it’s been in prior months, but there were some big performances from some of the top pitching prospects in the system. We will take a look at the top five starters in the month of August, but first we begin with our lone honorable mention. Honorable Mention RHP - Carlos F Rodriguez - Biloxi Shuckers - 4 G, 4 GS, 20.0 IP, 1-2, 3.15 ERA, 4.01 FIP, 1.00 WHIP, 12 H , 8 BB, 19 K. If you’d like to read more about Rodriguez, he has made a number of these lists in the past. Including taking the overall top spot in the July article. TOP FIVE STARTING PITCHERS OF APRIL #5 RHP - Yorman Galindez - ACL Brewers & Carolina Mudcats - 4 G, 2 GS, 22.0 IP, 3-0, 2.45 ERA, 4.95 FIP, 1.18 WHIP, 15 H , 11 BB, 18 K. Unranked by all publications Signed by the Brewers in the 2022 international signing class out of Venezuela, Galindez was 19 at the time of his signing and is 20 now. His promotion to Carolina was most likely based more on his pure stuff than his production early on, and he rewarded the Brewers by getting off to a strong start at the full season level. Galindez comes at hitters with what appears to be mainly a two pitch mix. His fastball sits in the low 90’s and has touched 94. It appears to have some run on it, but it still plays well at the top of the zone. His best pitch though, is his hammer of a curveball. He seems comfortable throwing it in any count and can land it for strikes or use it as his out pitch to generate chases. In August, Galindez did have some struggles with the free pass, but his overall surface numbers ended up being quite strong and his stuff is worthy of a mention. His lack of a third pitch that he can trust means that he will likely move to the bullpen long term, but for now they will likely continue to stretch him out and attempt to add to his repertoire. If he can, he could see his stock rise quite a bit, as the curveball is a legitimate plus pitch for him. https://x.com/brewerspd/status/1680962130135367681?s=46&t=SKmvvOvpW97ZHJEZeJBiMg #4 LHP - Brian Fitzpatrick - Carolina Mudcats - 5 G, 3 GS, 18.2 IP, 0-0, 1.93 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 1.07 WHIP, 12 H , 8 BB, 15 K. Unranked by all publications Fitzpatrick was the Brewers 10th round selection in 2022 out of Rutgers. A lefty who had put up decent numbers his senior year of college, but really showed some potential in the Cape Cod League where he threw 19 scoreless innings with a 19 to 2 K:BB ratio. Despite an imposing 6’7 frame, Fitzpatrick is more of a finesse pitcher than a flamethrower. He throws his fastball in the 89-92 range, though he can get up a little higher than that at times; it also appears to have some cut action on it at times. His slider has been better in pro ball and is a really good swing and miss pitch against lefties. He has done a better job of using it against right handed hitters as well in pro ball, but his go-to secondary against righties is his changeup, which might be his best pitch. He is able to kill the spin on the changeup and it generates a lot of his swings and misses. Fitzpatrick is more of a “pitch to contact” type of pitcher, and that held true in August as he only struck out around seven per nine innings. What he did really well was limit hits and especially extra base hits. He only allowed four doubles in August, no triples and also no home runs. While his eight walks are a bit high, it’s still hard to allow big innings when you limit the offense to singles. Fitzpatrick’s best outing of the month came on August 16th when he went four hitless and scoreless innings while only walking one batter. He struck out five in that outing as well. The White Sox affiliate was really struggling to square him up and he had all three of his pitches working very well that evening. At 23 years old, Fitzpatrick will likely see High-A next year as he continues to adjust to pro ball. A bit of a bump in his velocity would go a long way, but there are the makings of an interesting long reliever or swing starter if he can continue to rein in his command. #3 RHP - Logan Henderson - Carolina Mudcats - 4 G, 4 GS, 22.0 IP, 1-1, 2.86 ERA, 3.52 FIP, 1.05 WHIP, 17 H, 6 BB, 29 K. Henderson was the Brewers fourth round selection in 2021, out of McLennan Community College in Texas. He was committed to Texas A&M at that point but chose to sign with the Brewers. His first year and a half after signing, he was extremely injury plagued. He had only thrown 15 2/3 professional innings before this season. He’s had good results the majority of this season, but his innings have continued to rise and he has now placed in the top three on both the July and August lists. Equipped with a low 90’s fastball coming out of McLennan, he has raised his average velocity to a little closer to 93 and has even reached 97 MPH a few times. The fastball plays well up in the zone due to high spin and high spin efficiency. He spins his slider at near 3000 RPM’s but at times it seems that he loses the angle/tilt on the pitch and it doesn’t actually move much. His best pitch though, is his changeup. You would be hard pressed to find a better changeup in the Brewers system. There are some airbender qualities to it when he’s got it going. Much like with Devin Williams, the changeup allows his fastball to play up above the velocity readings. He used all three pitches in unison during the month of July to have his most productive month in professional baseball. Henderson tossed 22 innings this month in only four starts for an average of 5 ½ per start and went five or more innings in all four of his starts. He posted strikeout totals of 9, 8, 5 and 7 in his four starts. His nine strikeout game matched a career high (though he just surpassed it in his first start of September). This was his first start of the month of August and also happened to be his best start of the month. He went six innings and only allowed one earned run to go along with those nine strikeouts. He also completely avoided the free pass, with no walks and no hit by pitches. Henderson’s efforts would seem to have been good enough to reward him with a promotion to High-A Wisconsin by now, so one has to wonder if the Brewers are keeping him in Carolina to help with their playoff push and get him valuable experience as the ace of a team in a playoff hunt. Even if he doesn’t see High-A this year, it would not be a complete shock to see him begin 2024 with the Biloxi team, as he will be rule 5 eligible following next season’s completion and is pretty advanced for either of the Single A levels. #2 Robert Gasser LHP - Nashville Sounds - 4 G, 4 GS, 24.0 IP, 4-0, 2.63 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 0.96 WHIP, 18 H, 5 BB, 33 K. Gasser was acquired as part of the prospect return in the infamous Josh Hader trade with San Diego. He throws four above-average pitches in his fastball, slider, changeup, and cutter. The regular fastball probably being the worst of the four, closest to average. His slider is best described as a sweeper, and is a pitch he can throw in any count or situation. His changeup is a bit firmer than you would want, but it has good action and is a good counter to right-handed hitters. He mixed his cutter in more with the Brewers than he had with the Padres, and while it wasn’t always perfect, it showed some flashes of being a really good pitch for missing barrels and as another counter to right-handed hitters. He did not throw many curves for the Brewers, and that will likely continue as it lags behind his other offerings. After struggling with his command early on this season (you can read more about those struggles in the June version of this article, in which he took home the number one spot), Gasser has really locked in his command the last few months and his results have backed that up. In August, Gasser had a ridiculous 6.6 K:BB ratio and struck out over 12 batters per nine. He went exactly six innings in all four of his starts and had two starts with ten strikeouts in each. While he didn’t have any bad starts in the month, his best was definitely on August 4th, when he threw six innings of shutout ball and struck out ten. He only allowed two hits, though it was his worst outing in terms of walks with three free passes allowed. Gasser is ready for a shot at the MLB level. Unfortunately for him, the circumstances may not allow that to happen this year, but he is most likely going to have a chance to win a rotation spot with the big league club in spring next year. #1 RHP Cameron Wagoner - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - 5 G, 4 GS, 26.1 IP, 4-0, 1.37 ERA, 3.19 FIP, 0.95 WHIP, 16 H , 9 BB, 27 K. Unranked by all publications The Brewers 11th round selection in the 2022 draft, Wagoner opened some eyes with his short stint in the Arizona League, as well as a couple of appearances in Low-A Carolina last season. Getting his fastball up to 97 MPH and flashing a nasty slider in the mid-upper 80’s as well. Due to academic ineligibility, Wagoner had not pitched his senior season at Eastern Michigan, and the early returns were looking like the Brewers may have found a major steal. He was sent to the Australian Winter League with a number of other Brewers farmhands, where he didn’t quite have the same results as he had in his pro debut. His ERA came out a solid 3.46, but he walked four per nine and only struck out 8 per nine. Unfortunately those walk issues and the lack of strikeouts followed Wagoner into the 2023 season. In 2022 Wagoner had seemed to be throwing mainly a four seam fastball that was able to blow by hitters at the top of the zone with his mid-90’s heat. In 2023 Wagoner has been throwing a lot of sinkers, which he sat more in the 92-93 range with. It has had a propensity to flatten out early on and was getting hit quite well. He still uses the four seam as well, which sits around 92-95. His slider has been in the low to mid-80’s and he also uses a pretty good looking curveball that sits in the mid 70’s but has been as low as 72 MPH at times. It’s hard to tell if he’s mixing in an upper 80’s changeup or if those are just sinkers that are coming out a bit softer, but he may be using a five pitch mix if they are changeups. The repertoire seems too good for him to have been hit as well as he has all season, so one has to wonder if the pitch mix was causing some of the problems. Prior to August, Wagoner had a 7.53 ERA on the season. He had fallen victim to the “big inning” in almost all of his starts, and the ERA was representative of that issue. He avoided the big inning in August and the ERA followed suit. Wagoner allowed exactly one run in all of his appearances, though in his August 30th start the run was unearned. He also struck out at least five hitters in all of his appearances. Including in his 3 2/3 innings out of the bullpen in his lone appearance that wasn’t a start. One thing Wagoner has done a good job of all season is limiting the home run ball and that continued, as he only allowed one home run in August. You could pick any of his outings as his best this month, but he started his month off on a very high note on August 2nd. In that start he threw 6 2/3 IP with seven strikeouts, only one walk and only one earned run. It set the tone for what will hopefully be a month we can look back on and say, “that was when Wagoner figured it all out”. If Wagoner has a strong September, it’s possible he will start the 2024 season in Biloxi, but a return to High-A could also be beneficial. Hopefully this month will be used as a jumping off point for a pitcher who clearly has the talent and the repertoire to be successful. Please share your opinions! Who should have made it that didn’t? Who made it, but should not have? View full article

As we continue to look back at the top performers in the Brewers organization during August, today we discuss the best hitters of the month. Image courtesy of Mike Krebs, Biloxi Shuckers While July was a fantastic month for the Brewers top prospects, August’s top performances came from some of the lesser-known names, and those that are scrapping for a Major League spot. We will take a look at a couple of honorable mentions for the month, as well as our top five hitters for August. Honorable Mentions UTIL Cam Devanney - Nashville Sounds - 24 H, .333/.400/.569 (.969 OPS), 140 wRC+, with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, 12 R, 14 RBI, 8 BB, 12 K. IF Pedro Ibarguen - DSL Brewers 2 - 15 H, .341/.436/.659 (1.096.OPS), 172 wRC+, with 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, 12 R, 14 RBI, 7 BB, 5 K, 2 SB, 3 CS THE TOP FIVE AUGUST HITTERS #5 1B Keston Hiura - Nashville Sounds - 26 H, .344/.400/.622 (1.022 OPS), 148 wRC+, with 4 doubles, 7 home runs, 12 R, 24 RBI, 5 BB, 25 K Unranked by all publications Unfortunately for Keston Hiura, it seems very unlikely that he will be donning a Brewers uniform in 2023, for a myriad of reasons that aren’t important to this particular article. To his credit, he just continues to hit at the Triple-A level. He still isn’t walking much, and the strikeouts are about where they were last year at the Triple-A level, but the production is consistent and very strong. In August Hiura posted a .344 batting average and showed off the power we have all seen from him at the major league level, hitting seven home runs on his way to driving in 24. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== Barring a horrific bout with bad injury luck at the major league level, Hiura will likely continue to grind away in Triple-A the rest of the season. The Brewers have him under minor league control for one more season, so expect to see him back next year as well, in what will truly be his last shot to show the club what they’re looking to see from him. #4 2B Jadher Areinamo - Carolina Mudcats - 33 H, .359/.388/.544 (.931 OPS), 159 wRC+, with 14 doubles, 1 home run, 15 R, 14 RBI, 4 BB, 16 K, 4 SB, 2 CS A member of the Brewers 2021 International signing class, Areinamo will be 19 years old until the end of November. Equipped with really strong bat to ball skills, Areinamo is much more of a hit over power type player at the moment. He does not draw many walks, but he is also only striking out at a 12% rate for the season. Many of the players possessing the bat to ball skills that Areinamo has are heavy ground ball hitters. Areinamo has a very reasonable ground ball rate of 39%. Instead, he hits the ball on a line pretty often, checking in at a strong 24.6% rate on the season. In August Areinamo tapped into a bit more power than in other months. Not in the form of home runs, but in the form of 14 doubles. The next highest double total for the month amongst all the players in the Brewers system was eight, so Areinamo nearly lapped the field in that stat. While his above average speed hasn’t quite shown up in huge stolen base numbers for the season (though 13 for 18 is a decent success rate) he does use it in order to turn singles into doubles and to go from first to third or second to home. While his bat landed him on this list for the month of August, Areinamo’s glove will likely be his calling card as he climbs the ranks, while he could use some polish at times he shows a lot of the traits that elite defenders do. He also loves to add some flash to his highlights defensively and is a joy to watch every time he’s out there. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== Areinamo will be 20 years old for all of next season. He probably deserves to start 2024 in High-A, but with the amount of prospects that could potentially end up at that level, it will be interesting to see if there’s enough room in the middle infield to make that happen. #3 1B Jesus Chirinos - Carolina Mudcats - 22 H, .319/.484/.565 (1.049 OPS), 195 wRC+, with 5 doubles, 4 Home Runs, 11 R, 9 RBI, 19 BB, 15 K Unranked by all publications Signed as a 16 year old in 2018, Chirinos has been in the Brewers organization for quite some time. Which means, despite this being his sixth year in the organization, he actually only turned 22 years old in July and is basically playing at the league average age for Low-A. After some struggles at the High-A level to start this season, Chirinos returned to Low-A Carolina and has been tearing the cover off of the ball. He really went off in July and August was a continuation of that. Chirinos is a large human being, and he possesses quite a bit of raw power, but he has struggled to get to it in games at times. He is not fleet of foot, and his defense can be a little underwhelming at first base. He does, however, tend to hit the ball hard when he makes contact and he has been making more and more contact lately. Chirinos followed up his two homer month of July with a four home run month in August, which matched his total before the month. With his bat carrying the profile, tapping into his power more consistently is going to be important for him moving forward, and the last couple of months are a step in the right direction. Chirinos’ month was highlighted by his August 23 appearance when he had three hits in three at bats, including a home run. He also drew two walks, reaching base in all five of his plate appearances. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== Chirinos likely doesn’t have much more to prove at Low-A, but despite the promotion of Ernesto Martinez Jr to Double-A, the Timber Rattlers are still pretty full in their infield and have used a number of players at first base. While Chirinos has likely earned another shot at that level, he may not get it in 2023. #2 OF Jace Avina - Carolina Mudcats - 24 H, .333/.484/.611 (1.095 OPS), 204 wRC+, with 8 doubles, 4 home runs, 15 R, 15 RBI, 16 BB, 20 K, 1 SB, 2 CS Unranked by all publications Drafted in the 14th round of the 2021 draft out of Spanish Springs in Nevada, Avina has had a great start to his professional career. Including forcing his way to full season ball last season as a young 19 year old. Equipped with a smooth looking swing and very quick hands, Avina packs a punch you might not expect from any player that just turned 20 years old in June. Especially someone who is 5’11 and weighs around 180 pounds. Defensively, Avina can handle any outfield spot with his strong arm and he uses his consistently good jumps and routes to cover for what is a bit less speed than most center fielders. That lack of speed, mixed with the depth of the system in center field, will likely keep Avina on a corner, but he can handle center if needed. Avina put all of his tools on display in August, showing his extra base hit power, as well as making some outstanding plays in the outfield. At the plate he had 12 extra base hits, including 4 home runs. His strikeout rate has always been a bit of a concern, as it was 35% his first two seasons. In August he limited his strikeout rate to 21.5%, which brought him down to 30.1% for the full season. That isn’t a great number overall, though it’s important to note that over the last three months it is at a very reasonable 25.9%. It seems to have taken him some time to get used to the full season level, but after adjusting he has been doing very well at the plate and August may have been the pinnacle. Defensively he made a number of good plays, but nothing tops the play shown below where he robbed a potential walk-off home run, even after a bobble. Avina had skyrocketed up prospect lists last season, but after struggling with strikeouts and a tough start to begin this season in general, he fell off of all of the main lists. Given that he has started to lower the strikeout rate and is now carrying a 132 wRC+ for the season, while being younger than the league average, he is likely putting himself squarely back into the conversation for all of those lists. Assuming he continues to finish strong, it wouldn’t be a complete shock to see Avina get a cup of coffee at High-A to end the season. #1 C/1B Wes Clarke - Biloxi Shuckers - 25 H, .284/.442/.659 (1.101 OPS), 185 wRC+, with 6 doubles, 9 home runs, 20 R, 20 RBI, 22 BB, 30 K, 1 SB, 1 CS Unranked by all publications Similar to Avina, Clarke was not an early round selection. The Brewers 10th round selection in 2021, Clarke has done nothing but hit since entering the system. Disregarding his 8 plate appearances in complex ball, he has never posted a wRC+ lower than 115 at any level as he has moved up the ladder. Known for having huge raw power, Clarke was originally drafted as a catcher. Despite making 28 starts at catcher in 2023, he is very unlikely to stick there. His most likely landing spot in the longer term will be first base where he has pretty good hands, but limited range. Wherever he ends up playing in the field, his bat is going to be the driving factor toward playing time and toward a potential MLB roster spot in the future. While Clarke was drafted as a known power commodity, he had not been getting to it in games as much as you might expect. Through his first 508 career plate appearances, Clarke had hit 19 home runs which is a home run every 26.7 PA’s. Certainly nothing to scoff at, but also not as many as you might expect from someone who is said to have 70 grade raw power. That has improved in 2023 where he has hit a home run every 19.7 PA’s and especially in his extraordinary August when he hit a home run every 12.6 PA’s. That 70 grade raw power showed up quite a bit, as the homers he hit were not wall scrapers and included a 115 MPH exit velocity, which is higher than any player on the Major League roster has hit this season. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw== While Clarke hit the most home runs of any Brewers minor leaguer this past month, and did it at a very impressive rate, it was more than just his power that landed him the number one spot. Always willing to take his walks, Clarke was able to post an on base percentage of .442, largely thanks to free passes. As has been brought up with some of the past winners (namely Luke Adams), Clarke will have to be able to walk the narrow path between patient and passive. 30 strikeouts in the month is a pretty high mark, and while his bat to ball skills aren’t the best, he seems to take a lot of hittable strikes as well. Finding that right balance between attacking pitches to hit, and still being patient, is a battle that every hitter faces. Those that can strike that balance with regularity are often the ones that will be able to stick at the Major League level. Only 23 years old, Clarke is age appropriate for the Double-A level. It wouldn’t be too big of a surprise to see him finish the year in Triple-A, but if not, he’s very likely to begin the 2024 season there. If one were to speculate, he could be a candidate for the Arizona Fall League as well. Though the Brewers will have a lot of interesting candidates this season. Regardless, Clarke’s consistent production offensively is very hard to overlook, and he could be a bit of a sleeper candidate to impact the Brewers MLB roster next year. View full article

I wish I could tell you what the logic was, but all I can come up with is he feels like it creates rhythm for him. I'm hoping he can find a different way to create that rhythm lol.

Joey Wiemer has always had a, shall we say, “interesting” setup, approach and swing at the plate. How can he fix his issues? Jason Wang wrote about Wiemer’s current issues last Friday. Now that we’ve established some of the problems with his swing, how can Wiemer’s swing be fixed? Surely, it will take a huge overhaul, right? At least for now, the solution may not be as complicated as you would think. Before diving into that, we need to note that a swing change (beyond some minor tweaks) for a hitter is a big deal, especially when it is done at the Major League level and in the middle of a season. Coaches do not take it lightly, and players do not want to do it prematurely. Joey Wiemer is a contributor to a Major League Baseball club that is competing for a playoff spot. He flew through the minor league system over the last two seasons. Wiemer’s swing did not hold him back during that ascension, and there is risk involved in going away from the swing that brought him to this level. This is not to say that Wiemer shouldn’t be open to and willing to change but to point out some of the potential reasons we haven’t seen any major changes implemented, at least to this point. As Jason pointed out in his article last week, Wiemer’s hands move quite a bit more than most hitters. You’d be hard-pressed to find anybody in baseball who moves their hands as much as Wiemer does during his load. Going from above his head to his shoulders, almost all the way down to his waist, and then back up to his shoulders. While a number of concerns could be raised from this excessive hand movement, the common denominator in almost all of those concerns is that this many moving parts make it extremely hard for Wiemer to be in the correct “launch position” at the correct time. When they begin to move to the ball, the launch position is where a hitter wants, or more accurately, needs to be. Hitters want to be consistent with their launch position because any inconsistency with it is going to, in turn, cause inconsistency in the hitter's timing. Because of the movement with Wiemer’s hands, he rarely “fires” from the ideal spot and struggles to be on time. The Fix The question then becomes, how can the Brewers and Wiemer fix this issue? I believe that the fix is much more straightforward than it may appear. I believe most of Wiemer’s issues can be solved by putting him into a metaphorical time machine and sending him back to August and September of 2022 when he was playing for the Brewers Triple-A affiliate, the Nashville Sounds. Using one of the videos Jason posted in his article, we can see where Wiemer may have gone wrong at the MLB level and why his hand movement could be causing it. The first screenshot shows where Wiemer is at as the pitch is being released. The second shows him close to his true “launch position.” Consider that the amount of time a player has to react to a 90 MPH fastball is 0.4 seconds. However, the human brain and eye will take around 0.25 seconds to process what they see. This means a hitter has around 0.15 seconds to react and decide. Now, consider that Wiemer is not in the correct launch position until the ball is nearly halfway to the plate. Because of this, he has to begin “firing” his hands the moment he gets to that position. It leaves him with no time to react and essentially forces him to sell out for a fastball if he wants to be on time for it. Now, with those screenshots in mind, take a look at the video below. This is a full at-bat of Wiemer’s while he was in Triple-A last season, and when you watch it, keep an eye out for a few different things in both his setup and his load. First, you will likely notice the setup seems a lot simpler. He stands at the plate with his back leg already pre-set into his load. His bat is resting flatly on his shoulder. When he begins his load, the furthest his bat tilt gets is about 80 degrees, which is a pretty common occurrence with hitters around the league, and his hands remain around chest high or above. In 2023, he is at times getting to nearly 180 degrees with that tilt, and as was mentioned earlier, his hands will often drop to his beltline or below. When he actually gets to the point where he needs to make his decision to either take or pull the trigger on a swing, you will notice that with all of those previously mentioned factors working in his favor, Wiemer gets himself into his launch position when the ball is much closer to the release than in the screenshot shown earlier. Because of that, he is able to attack pitches that he likes, and it is easier for him to adjust to pitches that he can’t do much with. Using the video above, these are screenshots from Wiemer at the same points in his swing as the one from the Pirates video that was used earlier. At first glance, there isn’t a huge difference, and the difference in camera angles is not making it any easier. The only somewhat noticeable difference is that he was able to get to that ever-important launch position with the ball a bit further away from home plate. Those few feet can make all the difference for a hitter and their timing or adjustability. Not only is Wiemer’s timing causing him to have to sell out for the fastball in 2023, and still struggling to be consistently on time for the heater, but selling out for the fastball takes all of that previously mentioned adjustability out of his swing, and makes it very tough to make solid contact against any offspeed pitches. Having to start their swing earlier also makes it extremely difficult for a hitter to abort their swing and keep their hands back enough to avoid going after a breaking ball out of the zone. As Jason pointed out last week, Wiemer’s numbers against breaking balls show this very clearly, as he is swinging and missing close to 40% of the time. Run Value BA wOBA Whiff% K% Slider -8 .160 .221 37.4 28.3 Curveball -4 .217 .240 46.5 43.8 Sweeper -5 .083 .144 34.0 32.0 Wiemer is an elite athlete, and because of this, he still gets the barrel to the ball with more regularity than you might expect. Unfortunately, as someone like Christian Yelich has demonstrated many times over the last few years, poor timing trumps solid contact the majority of the time. A player who is late on their swing is unlikely to be catching the ball out in front and thus will struggle to create lift. As we have seen with Wiemer, his ground ball rate has largely coincided with his success, or lack thereof, so far in 2023. Wiemer’s best month of the season thus far came in June, when he posted a very strong wOBA of .360 over the course of the month. He also posted a season-low 35% ground ball rate in June. Wiemer is unlikely to completely overhaul his swing and suddenly become a mild-mannered gentleman in the box. His swing will most likely always have a bit of a “caveman swinging a club” aggressiveness to it, and there will always be swing-and-miss to his game. However, a return to the setup and load that he used in Nashville would go a long way toward limiting his hand movement, allowing him to get to his launch position more consistently, and that would allow him to not only be on time more often but also leave him some room for adjustability. We should never expect Wiemer’s swing to be one that coaches will teach to kids or one that kids will want to emulate. The good news is that you don’t win style points in baseball. Hunter Pence has been somebody that Wiemer was compared to while he was coming up through the system. Pence had a fantastic career despite his very interesting hitting mechanics. In the end, a swing has to work for the hitter. There is no cookie-cutter way to build a swing. There are certain non-negotiables, though, and being able to be on time is the biggest non-negotiable out there. Along with the timing aspect of things, one piece that probably isn’t talked about enough with young players, in general, is that there will be an adjustment period for them at the Major League level. Then, once they adjust, the pitchers will adjust to them, and the young hitters will have to undergo another adjustment period. Wiemer is likely more susceptible to longer adjustment periods due to all the moving parts discussed in this article and Jason’s article. It should also be noted that, despite it not being the most appealing swing in the world, there are plenty of good qualities with Wiemer’s swing as well. His bat path is actually in a pretty good place, and as long as he gets moving on time, his bat stays in the zone for a long time. His stride isn’t simple, but he is pretty consistent with it and does a decent job limiting his head movement during his stride. To go along with those qualities in his mechanics, he definitely has the bat speed and the power to be a solid hitter in the majors. If he can get back to a slightly simpler load and get through these adjustment periods, the bat could develop into a consistent threat with his elite defense and speed. Wiemer’s ceiling is as high as anybody's if the bat does come around. View full article