Brewers’ prospects mostly faring well
It’s certainly been an up-and-down season to this point for the Milwaukee Brewers.
The same could be said for the organization’s minor-league system, which has gotten some big performances thus far from its big-time prospects and a few other ascending players while injuries and inconsistency have hampered others.
With regard to the Brewers’ top 10 prospects as rated in January by the Journal Sentinel, No. 4 Ethan Small finally broke through to the major leagues last month while No. 5 Aaron Ashby is now a regular member of the starting rotation.
Brice Turang, ranked sixth, also appears to be primed for his first shot in the majors as he puts the finishing touches on his game.
There is also the supernova that is Jackson Chourio, an outfielder who in his first full professional season has been tearing the cover off the ball at Class A Carolina and has already rocketed up the prospect lists as a result.
Following is a look at how the Journal Sentinel’s top 10 is performing to date, as well as several others who have turned heads with a solid first couple months.
Top 10
1. Garrett Mitchell, OF – The Brewers’ first-round draft pick in 2020, Mitchell is back at Class AA Biloxi after closing the 2021 season there. He’s hitting .224 with two home runs, 11 runs batted and a .667 OPS in over 30 games but has been on the injured list since May 14 with a strained oblique.
He’s struck out 40 times in 107 atbats and gone 6 for 7 in stolen-base attempts while making 22 starts in center field and five in right.
2. Sal Frelick, OF – After slashing .291/2/9/.847 in 21 games at advanced Class A Wisconsin to start the season, Frelick was bumped up to Biloxi and has more than held his own there.
In 25 games with the Shuckers, he’s put together a .273/2/8/.750 line while showcasing tremendous bat-to-ball skills (18 strikeouts in 110 at-bats). He’d racked up five multi-hit games in his last six entering the week.
Frelick missed about a week last month after injuring himself attempt
ing to make a diving catch in the outfield. He’s made 20 starts in center, three in left and one in right thus far for the Shuckers.
3. Hedbert Perez, OF – A .197 month of May left Perez in a deep hole at the plate as he embarked on his first full professional season. Now in mid-June his numbers have improved slightly, to .211 with a .635 OPS. His six homers were tied for the team lead and his 24 RBI third.
Perez has started 20 games in center, 19 in right and seven more at designated hitter for the low Class A Carolina Mudcats.
4. Ethan Small, LHP – Milwaukee’s 2019 first-round pick finally broke through and made his major-league debut on May 30 with a 22⁄3-inning spot start against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.
A return to the Brewers at some point this season is well within the realm of possibility.
In Small’s nine starts at Class AAA Nashville he’s otherwise been terrific, going 3-2 with a 2.41 ERA and WHIP of 1.20 with 50 strikeouts in 41 innings over nine starts.
5. Aaron Ashby, LHP – The left-hander made his first opening-day roster with the Brewers and then bounced back and forth between the rotation and bullpen for the first six weeks before sliding into the rotation full-time after Freddy Peralta was injured.
The results have been mixed; Ashby struck out a career-high 12 in six innings against the Cubs on May 30, then was rocked for 13 hits and six runs in his last start at Washington on Friday.
All told, Ashby is 1-5 with a 3.91 ERA and WHIP of 1.44 and 60 strikeouts in 502⁄3 innings over 13 appearances (seven starts).
Once he finds consistency, Ashby should be a long-time contributor to the Brewers.
6. Brice Turang, SS-CF – Milwaukee’s first-round pick in 2018, Turang is another of the organization’s top prospects that manager Craig Counsell predicted in the spring would debut for the Brewers this season.
After getting off to a torrid start at the plate, he’s hitting .263 with three homers, an OPS of .672 and a team-high-tying 28 RBI for the Sounds.
He’s also taken a big step toward becoming a multi-positional player, starting nine games in center field for the first time in his career along with 44 more at his usual spot at shortstop.
7. Mario Feliciano, C – Aside from a one-game stint with the Brewers (MLB debut), the 2021 season was mostly an exercise in frustration as Feliciano was limited to 39 games (32 with Nashville) due to a right shoulder impingement.
This season has been much more successful, as Feliciano is hitting .293 with a .700 OPS and 13 RBI in 36 games while splitting time behind the plate with Alex Jackson for the Sounds.
8. Jeferson Quero, C – Like his teammate Perez, Quero is in the midst of his first full professional season with the Mudcats.
Now fully healthy after shoulder surgery in 2021, he’s slashing .247/2/21/ .680 in 43 games while throwing out 26.5% of would-be base stealers (18 for 68).
9. Joey Wiemer, OF – The Brewers have never been shy about pushing their prospects quickly through the minors, allowing them the opportunity to show they are up to the challenge.
Wiemer, Milwaukee’s fourth-round pick in 2020, is one such player. In his first 48 games at Biloxi, he’s hitting .285 with a team-leading 13 homers and team-high-tying 38 RBI to go along with an OPS of .931. Wiemer has also gone 17 for 18 in stolen-base attempts.
In a stacked Shuckers outfield that also includes Mitchell and Frelick, the Brewers’ reigning minor-league player of the year has started 35 games in right and 12 more in right.
It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him advance to Nashville for the second half at this rate.
10. Joe Gray Jr., OF – After a breakout 2021 that saw the 2018 secondround pick challenge Wiemer for player of the year honors in the organization, Gray has backslid tremendously – perhaps due in part to disappointment at not being promoted to Biloxi.
Back with Wisconsin, Gray is slashing .185/7/23/.642 in a team-high 54 games for the Timber Rattlers with a .139 month of April the main culprit for his sub-.200 batting average.
He’s split time almost evenly between center (25 starts) and right (24 starts).
The physical tools remain obvious, however, and Gray still holds plenty of promise.
Breaking through
Tyler Black, INF – Milwaukee expected an advanced college hitter when they drafted the Toronto native and Wright State product 33rd overall last July.
He’s responded with a .286/4/26/ .861 line in 40 games for the Timber Rattlers.
And while he projects as a future second baseman as has made 24 starts there, he’s also started seven times in center and twice at third base in addition to DHing seven times.
Jackson Chourio, OF – Talk about a fast-rising prospect.
Chourio signed with the Brewers as an international free agent in January of 2021 and is slashing an incredible .368/ 6/28/1.050 through 338 games as an 18year-old in his first full professional season with the Mudcats.
Chourio was signed as a shortstop but all 30 starts he’s made in the field have come in center. And now, he’s considered by some talent evaluators as Milwaukee’s best overall prospect.
Lucas Erceg, RHP – The 2016 second-round draft pick was drafted as a third baseman but stalled.
So now he’s in the midst of his first full season on the mound as he attempts to make the major leagues that way. And so far, so good – he’s jumped from Biloxi to Nashville recently, where he’s been clocked at 100 mph with his fastball.
He still has work to do on the finer points of pitching and dialing in his offspeed stuff. But the arm alone will play at the highest level.
“I think Lucas has, with how he’s progressed, earned the right to get to Triple-A,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “We also have had a lot of moving pieces and we need arms there. We’ll see how it goes.
“There’s always a possibility (of being called up). We’ve shown that guys can move through our system quickly and get to the big leagues quickly if they’re performing. Lucas has a really gifted arm and he’s throwing the ball really hard.
“There are certainly steps he needs to take to consistently get major-league hitters out. But the velocity is exciting, and we’ll continue to see how he progresses.”
Antoine Kelly, LHP – Finally all the way back from surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome, the Brewers’ 2019 secondround pick is in the midst of his most productive professional season yet.
Kelly has finally dialed in his command – which had been the biggest drawback to his game – and walked just 28 in 54 innings over 11 starts at advanced Class A Wisconsin compared to 19 in 191⁄3 innings in 2021.
He’s also posted a 3.17 ERA and WHIP of 1.11 with 68 strikeouts and has a 13strikeout game to his credit. Opposing batters are getting to him at just a .174 collective clip.
Kelly’s fastball remains explosive; if he can continue to harness his other stuff, he should continue to move up the ladder.
Brandon Knarr, LHP – Kelly’s former rotation mate with the Timber Rattlers isn’t as decorated – he was undrafted out of Division II Tampa – but his 7-2 record, 1.57 ERA and WHIP of 0.98 over 10 starts might be the most impressive season line to date for any pitcher in the organization.
Knarr also struck out 65 in 571⁄3 innings, leading to a promotion to Biloxi. And his first start with the Shuckers fell right in line with his previous production as he struck out eight in six innings while allowing only one run.
Felix Valerio, INF – Viewed by some as a teenaged throw-in when the Brewers traded Keon Broxton to the Mets in January of 2019, Valerio has turned himself into a prospect with what’s been a terrific 2021 to date.
Following a two-homer, eight-RBI game last week for Biloxi, his season numbers stand at .253/9/36/.775 in 46 games – not bad at all for a 5-foot-7, 165pound mighty mite.
Valerio has started 32 games at his natural position, second base, but also has seven starts in left field and another at third.
Tristan Peters, OF – Another native of Canada, Peters was a seventh-round draft choice out of Southern Illinois in 2021 who’s currently leading the Timber Rattlers with a .301 average and .876 OPS in 51 games. He’s also homered four times and driven in 26.
Peters has logged 25 starts in left, 12 in right and another 13 at DH.
No question, outfield is a major position of strength throughout the minors for the Brewers.
Eduardo García, SS – A true shortstop, García joins Perez and Quero as another young international signee who’s faring well in his first full-season stop for the Brewers.
Through 51 games, he’s put together a .274/5/33/.707 line with the Mudcats and committed a reasonable total of 10 errors in 46 starts considering his age (19) and experience level.
With Turang, 2020 second-round pick Freddy Zamora and García, Milwaukee also has some shortstop talent in the pipeline in the coming years.