Milwaukee Brewers 2020 Top 25 Prospects List: Nos. 21-25

With spring training getting underway soon, it’s the season of prospect list reveals. We’ll make our own Brewers Top 25 prospect list reveal here at Reviewing the Brew.

It’s no secret that, entering the 2020 season, the Milwaukee Brewers farm system is among the worst in baseball. After the recent graduations of Keston Hiura, Freddy Peralta, and Corbin Burnes, the Brewers lack top-end talent in their system. In fact, they are the only team in baseball to not have a player in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospect list.

While the system is bad, it’s not completely devoid of talent. There are some good prospects in the system, but they don’t have any “sure things”.

While there will be many top prospects lists across the Internet, we’ll add our own list to the group as well.

We’ll list out our Top 25 Brewers prospects over the next week or so, and we’ll start right here at no. 25.

25. INF Felix Valerio

The Milwaukee Brewers acquired Felix Valerio last January from the Mets in the Keon Broxton trade. Valerio, just 19 years old, spent last season with the Rookie-level Arizona Brewers Gold. In 41 games, Valerio hit .306/.376/.389 with 13 doubles. Valerio is an on-base/speed type player that doesn’t hit for much power.

Valerio stole 16 bases last year and was caught five times. He’s basically a lottery ticket prospect that could hit big if everything goes right, but there’s a high chance that he never sees the big leagues. He’s a very raw prospect considering he’s so young. Still, he’s been hitting so far, with a career .314/.397/.417 slash line with 32 stolen bases over 420 at-bats between the past two seasons spent in the Dominican Summer League and Arizona.

He’s entering his age-19 season and is likely to see time in Rookie-Advanced Rocky Mountain this year. The Brewers will have to take it slow with Valerio and we aren’t going to see him in Milwaukee for a long time, if we see him at all. But if he continues to hit like he has so far, Valerio could end up as a solid leadoff hitter down the road.

23. RHP Noah Zavolas

Noah Zavolas makes his initial appearance on our Brewers top prospects list after a very strong 2019 season with the Brewers. An 18th round pick in 2018 by the Mariners, Zavolas came to the Brewers along with Ben Gamel in the Domingo Santana trade.

Last season, spending the year with the High-A Carolina Mudcats, Zavolas started 22 games, posting a 2.98 ERA over 133 innings, striking out 102. He walked just 23 batters, which comes out to a miniscule 1.56 BB/9.

Zavolas went to Harvard University, the same school as Brent Suter and GM David Stearns, and as a more advanced college pitcher, he has a better chance to move quickly through the farm system and is likely to see time in Double-A Biloxi this season. Once you get to Double-A, you’re just a phone call away from the big leagues.

Zavolas possesses a four-pitch mix, throwing a fastball, curveball, slider, and changeup, mixing and matching all four of them and throwing them for strikes. He doesn’t throw hard, topping out at 91 MPH with his fastball, which means he has success with deception and executing a strong game plan, which is pretty similar to Suter and his plan for success.

He also succeeds by keeping the baseball on the ground, getting ground balls on 47.5% of all balls put in play against him.

If Zavolas can continue this kind of success for a second consecutive season in 2020, he’s really going to jump up prospect lists and could find himself in Milwaukee in relatively short order. He has the arsenal to become a starter, but could find himself in relief in Milwaukee, at least to begin with.

After his strong 2019 campaign, Zavolas comes in at No. 23 in our preseason Top 25 Brewers prospects list.

22. LHP/OF Clayton Andrews

The two-way player trend is something the Milwaukee Brewers have gotten in on, with Clayton Andrews being the latest in group led by Shohei Ohtani of the Angels and Brendan McKay of the Rays. Andrews is slightly different than both of those players, however.

Drafted in the 17th round in 2018, Andrews stands at just 5’6″ tall and 160 pounds, but he hasn’t let that stop him so far. After all, it’s not unprecedented for a player of that height to have success at the big league level, Jose Altuve of the Astros is the same height and he’s done quite well.

Let’s take a look at Andrews as a pitcher first. He doesn’t throw very hard, similar to Zavolas, topping out in the upper 80s, but he pairs it with a plus changeup and a hammer of a curveball. The changeup is his best pitch and he mixes all three together quite well, which helps his sub-par fastball seem tougher to hitters.

In 59.1 IP last year, Andrews struck out 77 batters, and in the Arizona Fall League, Andrews struck out 20 batters in just 11.2 IP.

Andrews, 23, is suited for a bullpen role on the mound, but he can pitch multiple innings and in late-game situations, kind of similar to the role Josh Hader has, except their arsenal and style of pitching are completely opposite. Andrews probably won’t ever reach Hader level of success, but he can make it as a solid big league lefty reliever.

As a hitter, Andrews plays the outfield, normally manning center field. He employs a patient approach at the plate, and is a solid contact hitter. He does not have much for power, and likely never will, but with his speed and contact ability, he could make for a solid leadoff hitter down the line if he continues to improve on offense.

Andrews was drafted as a pitcher and that’s likely to be his main role in the big leagues. But if his bat continues to develop, there’s a chance he could be the next two-way threat in baseball. He’s got a ways to go, and the odds are against that, but he’s been beating them so far, and he has already made his way to Double-A and could be in the big leagues sooner rather than later.

He’s certainly a player to keep an eye on moving forward with his two-way ability and proximity to the majors. He lands at No. 22 on our Top Prospects list.

21. RHP Dylan File

Just like Rodney Dangerfield, Dylan File didn’t get any respect last year. Prospect sites didn’t include him on their radar and few outside the die-hard Brewers farm system aficionados recognized File’s success.

In 2019, File made 26 starts between High-A Carolina and Double-A Biloxi and finished with a 3.24 ERA over 147 IP, struck out 136 and allowed just 22(!) walks. In the opinion of some of us here at Reviewing the Brew, File was snubbed for the Brewers Minor League Pitcher of the Year award last year that went to Aaron Ashby.

File dominated after a mid-season promotion to Double-A, starting 14 games and pitching to a 2.79 ERA in those games. He got better after moving to the more competitive level.

File was a 21st round draft pick in 2017 out of Dixie State in Utah, which could be part of the reason why prospect sites aren’t all over him, since he doesn’t have that early round pedigree. It would also explain why Noah Zavolas hasn’t received much recognition either.

He was a mid-season All Star in 2018 for the Timber Rattlers and in 2019 with the Mudcats.

Throughout his minor league career, File has appeared in 63 games with a 3.65 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. His BB/9 stands at a miniscule 1.71 for his career.

File is a strike-thrower but doesn’t throw very hard, normally in the low-90s with his fastball. His plus-slider is his best pitch, and if his changeup can continue to develop into an average third-pitch, he could be a solid back-end starter in the big leagues.

At some point in 2020, File will likely reach Triple-A San Antonio, and could be called upon in an emergency situation for the big league club. The Brewers have starting pitching depth on the 40 man roster, but File has put himself in a situation where he could get the call for a spot start or two in 2020 if he continue to pitch well.

As long as his changeup continues to develop and improve, File stands a chance of being a big league starting pitcher.

This is the first group reveal of Reviewing the Brew’s Top 25 Brewers Prospects list reveal. We’ll announce 16-20 in the next iteration.