Milwaukee Brewers: 3 RHP Prospects To Know For The 2019 MLB Draft

The 2019 MLB Draft is less than a week away! We’ll continue to profile some of the possible candidates for the Milwaukee Brewers first round selection at No. 28 overall.

“You can never have enough pitching” as the old saying goes. If you look at the Milwaukee Brewers big league club, you’ll see that the saying holds true. However, if you look at the minor league system, the Crew has gotten a little thin on pitching prospects in the lower minors.

In the past four drafts, the Brewers have selected hitters with their first round selection, instead opting for arms later on in the draft. Could this be the year that changes?

With such a late first round pick this year, the Brewers aren’t going to be getting any guarantees with any prospect they select, let alone a pitching prospect. But with every risk, there’s a possible reward. For Milwaukee, that could mean selecting a high school pitcher, and that demographic has the highest risk and lowest guarantees of any group in the MLB Draft.

But there’s still a ton of potential in these pitchers, and some could turn out to be great big leaguers. Let’s take a look at three right-handed pitching prospects that could make sense for the Brewers in the first round.

Brennan Malone, RHP, IMG Academy (FL)

Malone features a big fastball and a wipeout slider in his arsenal. He also has a solid curveball and changeup, giving him a four-pitch mix with improving command. He’s struggled with that command in the past, but he’s made strides with it during the spring season and that’s a big reason his draft stock has improved.

At 6’3″ and 203 pounds, Malone has an ideal starter’s build and could continue to add muscle. His fastball already gets up to 96 MPH regularly and can keep that velocity through the late innings.

MLB Pipeline has Malone ranked as their 20th best draft prospect, meaning there’s a decent chance that he may not even make it to the 28th overall pick for the Milwaukee Brewers to take him.

In Pipeline’s latest mock draft, they said “The Brewers would love for an arm like Malone to get here”. In that mock, Malone went a few picks before Milwaukee was on the clock, but this does point to interest on the Brewers part of selecting Malone.

If Malone has a mini-fall down the board on draft night, the Brewers could strike, landing the big righty with a big fastball.

Seth Johnson, RHP, Campbell U

Johnson is an intriguing pitching prospect. He was a shortstop up until recently and just converted to the mound full time this spring.

And scouts liked what they saw.

Johnson was lighting up radar guns, throwing up to 98 MPH, sitting 91-95 with his fastball. His delivery appears effortless and he looks like a natural up on the mound despite this being his first full year on it.

He does has a plus slider to go along with that big fastball, and there’s plenty of good break to it, but it’s inconsistent and Johnson’s command will need to improve. Johnson does have a four pitch mix, but his curveball and changeup will also need some work.

MLB Pipeline’s 31st overall Draft prospect should still be on the board when the Milwaukee Brewers make the 28th overall selection. But would he be the best option on the board? That depends on how comfortable the Brewers are with Johnson’s lack of experience on the mound.

Corbin Burnes, a 4th rounder a few years ago, didn’t have much prior experience on the mound in college before the Brewers selected him, and he quickly became their top pitching prospect and is already in the big leagues. But that was a fourth round pick, not a first round pick, meaning the risk on Burnes was way lower than it would be with Johnson.

For a first rounder as a college pitcher, Johnson needs more polish than you would expect, and that’s something that could turn teams away from him.

Righty pitchers are a dime a dozen in the MLB Draft, which means someone is going to have to stand out well above the crowd to be worthy of a first round selection. Johnson can touch 98 MPH with his fastball, which is great, but there’s a lot more to work on for him to be a successful pitcher in the big leagues.

Of these three righties, I would say JJ Goss would be my preferred selection for the Milwaukee Brewers, given his highly projectable frame and tremendous upside.