Cory Sparks

Image courtesy of © Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Brandon Woodruff needs season-ending surgery on his shoulder—a second operation on the anterior capsule. That leaves the Brewers rotation, which was already getting thin on the back end, further in need of reinforcement. Let’s break down three different starting pitchers Milwaukee should go after if they want to be serious contenders come the postseason. Tarik Skubal Tarik Skubal would be the home run pick. This would be the equivalent to what the team did for CC Sabathia in the second half of the 2008 season, and it’s no secret that even as a rental, Milwaukee would need to give up a lot of value to get the two-time Cy Young winner. Few teams are better-positioned to do that very thing, though. In addition to having the best record in the majors, Milwaukee boasts the best farm system, according to MLB Pipeline. Skubal is arguably the best pitcher in baseball, but he won't cost them top prospect Jesus Made. The team-friendly extensions signed by Cooper Pratt and Luis Lara make it unlikely that they'd be moved, either. That still leaves a long list of solid prospects whom the team could consider including, though. It’d be a gamble, but if all goes well, a 1-2-3 sequence including Jacob Misiorowski, Kyle Harrison and Skubal would give this team a chance to outpitch any team they encounter in October. Sean Manaea The New York Mets are clear sellers, and while Sean Manaea isn’t having the strongest season, he was a top-15 Cy Young Award finisher just two short seasons ago. Manaea is currently 2-5 with a 4.74 ERA and 81 strikeouts over 79 2/3 innings. Don’t let that discourage you; Milwaukee has taken many pitchers (Quinn Preister, Aaron Civale, Bryse Wilson) with similarly underwhelming recent numbers and flipped them into much better versions of themselves. Though he's in his age-34 season and has been relegated to the bullpen even in Queens, Manaea does do some things well enough to make him interesting. His plus-plus extension helps the 90.5-MPH fastball play up. The southpaw also has a remarkable chase rate, utilizing a five-pitch mix to get a chase 32.3% of the time. His contract is onerous, but one benefit of dealing with the Mets is knowing that they'll eat most of the money. In this case, even if they do so, the acquisition cost for the Brewers should be quite low. Trevor Rogers Trevor Rogers has the ability to be a wicked pitcher. Take one look at the Orioles hurler’s windup, and you’ll see the visual definition of the word 'deception'. Rogers releases the baseball at a low 22° arm angle, creating a rising effect on the majority of his pitches. The 2017 first-round pick is on a one-year, $6.2-million deal covering his final season of arbitration eligibility; he becomes a free agent this fall. He holds a 6-7 record with a 4.28 ERA this season, and has piled up 77 strikeouts in 96 2/3 innings. He induces one of the best chase rates in MLB at 33.0%, and he uses five different pitches. Overall, his sweeper proves to be the most lethal, breaking violently to his armside. The sweeper garners the highest whiff rate (31.3%) and lowest batting average (.200) of any of the options in an arsenal that also features the fastball, changeup, sinker and cutter. Combining Rogers’s deception with the Brewers’ pitching lab could make him into even more of a weapon. Any of these three hurlers could help the Brewers, who need sponges for innings down the stretch. However, their greater need—for a third playoff-caliber stud to lead the rotation—would only be filled if they can reel in Skubal, or if they nail it with Rogers. Whichever direction they go, the team is in a great position, but they must remain proactive. View full article

The Brewers' 6th-ranked prospect, Josh Adamczewski, has a chance to make a big league splash in the next year or two. The left-handed hitting outfielder is flexing a career batting average north of .300 and has made some key adjustments to be able to thrive with the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers this year. View full video

Top-tier verb

Any MLB comps that come to mind?

Plenty of farm talent to compete with too! I think the main hope just has to be that he makes the majors before being a possible trade piece - we'll see what the Crew does at the deadline!

100% agree - looks like they've been working on the ground ball stuff, and if he can stay true as a line drive hitter, the guy is in great shape!

Image courtesy of © Dave Kallmann / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The Milwaukee Brewers’ farm system is as rich in talent as it’s ever been, and there’s another top-end prospect finding a groove in the upper levels of the minor leagues. Josh Adamczewski may be the next household name to enter the conversation for breakout prospect of the year, and his well-rounded game is important to monitor while he continues to climb. Adamczewski's Background Adamczewski is a 5-foot-11, 190-pound 21-year-old in the Brewers’ loaded pipeline. He’s ranked sixth in the team’s farm according to both Brewer Fanatic and MLB Pipeline, but the left-handed hitting phenom could be due for a bump up the list with Cooper Pratt and Luis Lara recently entering the big leagues. Three of his five tools grade out at a 50 (average) or better, according to MLB Pipeline’s 20-to-80 scouting scale. Adamczewski’s hit tool is a 55, and his power and run tools are both at the average level of 50. The 2023 15th-round pick is in his third full professional season after being selected right out of high school, and this has been his most promising season yet. An Elite Hit Tool The Crew’s outfield prospect rose all the way up to the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers during the home stretch of last season, but he slashed just .196/.292/250 over 16 games with the club. This year, he returned to Appleton and laid waste to the Midwest League. Adamczewski slashed .331/.464/.572 for the T-Rats, earning a promotion to Double-A roughly a month ago. He's refused to slow down, and has hit .304 with an .883 OPS over 21 games with the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers. The approach is augmenting his sheer bat-to-ball skills. Adamczewski has walked 51 times this season compared to 55 strikeouts, which is in keeping with his track record over 186 career minor-league games. It's especially remarkable to see him adjust so rapidly and find such instant success with Biloxi; the jump from High-A to Double-A is the toughest one short of that from Triple-A to the majors. Developing a Potent Bat The high-end hit tool and ability to work an at-bat have been constants in Adamczewski’s professional career so far. His power, on the other hand, has really burst onto the scene this year. He swatted just eight home runs over his first 115 career games. Through 71 games in 2026, however, he’s managed to eclipse that total and then some, throttling 12 long balls with a career-best 55 runs batted in already. Part of this has come from his decision to lower the hands in his batting stance, allowing him to drive through the ball and cut down his ground-ball rate by 10 percentage points. He's even cracked six doubles and three homers since rising to Double-A. If his power is showing up in a whole new and lasting way, it marks a change in his profile from probable future role player to possible future star. Room To Improve While Adamczewski has made significant strides at the plate, he isn’t a complete prospect, by any means. Originally profiled as a second baseman, he moved to the outfield grass due to his below-average glove. His arm is his lowest-rated attribute, earning just a 40 from MLB Pipeline, so he won't be elite even in a corner outfield spot. He will go as far as his bat takes him, and try to shore up his skills in the field enough to be average out there. ETA to Milwaukee Between Garrett Mitchell’s loudly ticking service clock; Christian Yelich’s age and health record; and long-term commitments to Jackson Chourio and Luis Lara, Adamczewski will have both an opportunity to make a firm case for himself—and plenty of competition. I’d anticipate he rounds out this season in Double-A Biloxi and spends plenty of time developing with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds before getting a call-up as soon as late 2027. With a hitter this gifted, though, a faster track is always possible. View full article

Aidan Knaak sports a 60-grade changeup and loads of potential for the Milwaukee Brewers' farm system. In this video, we'll dive into what he can harness, his pitfalls, and the overall projection for his progression within the Brewers' pipeline. View full video

Image courtesy of © Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network South Carolina / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images The 2026 MLB Draft is behind us, and the Milwaukee Brewers found some high-upside players even outside of the first couple of rounds. Aidan Knaak is one of them. Milwaukee selected him in the fifth round, at 163rd overall. Let’s dive into his story, strengths, weaknesses and overall projection within the Brewers organization. Knaak’s Background Knaak is a 6-foot-1, 215-pound right-handed pitcher out of Clemson. He was already a high-profile prep product, as the righty showed great ability to keep hitters off balance as a member of the Bishop Verot High School (Fort Myers, FL) rotation. After going undrafted due to the strength of his commitment to playing in college, Knaak started his Tigers career strong, earning All-ACC honors in each of his first two seasons. He tumbled this year, though, as the Florida native posted an ugly a 5.81 ERA. His production didn't match, but his scouting report still garnered enough appeal for him to be a top-250 draft recruit, per MLB Pipeline; he slotted in at No. 210. Knaak has gained a reputation for sticking around the edges of the strike zone and mixing it up, with an arsenal consisting of a fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. What’s There to Harness? The main appeal with Knaack is his changeup, a pitch that’s earned a 60 grade on MLB Pipeline’s 20-to-80 scouting scale. He’s able to manipulate and alter it, bringing it into the mid-80s or dropping it into the 70s and (either way) showing above-average arm-side run. With pristine pitch tunneling, this could make for an elite weapon at the professional level. If he’s able to make the changeup stick in the 70s, it only increases the effectiveness of a low-90s fastball. With the changeup being his best offering, I’m curious how he’ll work around it. He could either set up his best pitch by getting to a two-strike count on the fastball and then bury the offspeed offering in the dirt, or he could pitch backward a bit. Starting some at-bats with the changeup to set up the breaking stuff or a heater as the out pitch might work, based on the way he commands the cambio. There have been reports of him generating almost two feet of horizontal break and generating a whiff rate in the 50s (via Driveline). That would be considered elite at the minor-league and major-league levels. Points of Improvement Knaak and the Brewers could work on his fastball velocity, as a pitch currently topping out at 96 miles per hour is around average. (His average velocity is a few ticks lower.) He may not need to push the ceiling higher, but to profile as a future starter, he probably needs to bring up the floor and center line of his velocity band. His primary issue this spring was limiting hard contact with his other offspeed pitches. His slider and curveball are graded at 45 and 40 on the scouting scale, respectively. The righty allowed an opposing slash line of .476/.500/.714 against those two pitches to college hitters; he needs a lot of work in the spin department. Overall Projection Knaak may have had a bumpy spring, but he’s entering the right organization to make some tweaks to his game. He doesn’t need to be a hard thrower, by modern standards. Look at the early success of pitchers like Quinn Priester in 2025 (93.9 mph fastball average) or Logan Henderson (93.1 mph fastball average) this year. The main objective will be working around Knaak’s potentially elite changeup, something that has been his prized possession for years. From there, it’ll be on the pitching laboratory to generate more spin on his other pitches. If he can get ahead and garner better whiff rates on other pitches, this could be someone who turns into a future rotation piece. View full article

Bang on take - you can always flex someone over to the DH spot more times than not too!