Milwaukee Brewers: Crew Invites 9 Minor League Players To Spring Training
The Milwaukee Brewers will be heading into Spring Training next month with 54 players in Major League camp.
Today it was announced that nine minor league players will be joining the Milwaukee Brewers 40-man roster players and five non-roster invitees at the newly named “Brewers Fields of Phoenix”.
This list of minor league non-roster invites includes some of the Crew’s top prospects from their minor league system.
Who was invited from the minors?
The biggest name on the list is Brewers top prospect, second baseman Keston Hiura.
Hiura spent time with the major league roster last spring and split time between Carolina and Biloxi during the regular season. After hitting .293/.357/.464 during the season, he absolutely crushed it during the Arizona Fall League with Peoria. In 23 games, Hiura hit .323/.371/.563 with 31 hits, including 5 home runs.
Brewer fans will be calling for him to move up the major leagues sooner rather than later but GM David Stearns made it known he will start the season in Triple A.
The other big name prospect on the invitee list in number two prospect, outfielder Corey Ray.
Ray spent all last season in Biloxi and has been discussed by many all off-season as potential trade bait.
Ray will gain valuable experience in the major league camp this spring and will most likely start the season the Triple-A San Antonio.
Fourth ranked prospect, third baseman Lucas Erceg will also join his former Shucker teammates in the major league camp. Erceg, just 23, is most likely on the same path as Hiura and Ray, starting the season in Triple A. However fans that travel down to Phoenix will be excited to see him playing in his first major league camp.
Other non-roster position invitees include folk hero infielder Nate Orf and 21-year-old catching prospect Payton Henry.
Top pitching prospect Zach Brown, who was electric last year in Biloxi, will be headlining the pitching prospects they join the major league camp.
Brown, the eighth ranked prospect was 9-1 with the Shuckers last year with a 2.44 ERA, earning the Brewers Minor League Pitcher of the Year award.
Although Brown will most likely start the season in Triple-A, he will look to follow former Brewer MILB pitchers of the years Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes to the Brewers roster in 2019.
The Brewers have also extended invites to Right handed pitchers Bubba Derby, Jon Olczak and Miguel Sanchez.
It will be fun to watch the young guys gain experience and get exposed to the major league game.