Milwaukee Brewers 2020 Top 25 Prospects List: Nos. 11-15

Our Brewers Top 25 Prospect list continues with a group of strong individuals who are looking to continue their professional careers. We start with someone who is looking to prove themselves after a disastrous 2019 season.

After breaking down the first couple groups of prospects from our Top 25 list, we’ve reached the outskirts of the Top 10 farmhands in the Brewers system.

15. 3B Lucas Erceg

Lucas Erceg was once looked at to be one of the top 10 prospects in the Brewers farming system. But with a 25.1% strikeout rate, .218 batting average, and a .305 OBP, it’s no surprise that 2019 was Erceg’s worst professional season.

Fans aren’t very confident in Erceg for the 2020 season. With both Travis Shaw and Mike Moustakas gone, the Brewers added Jedd Gyorko, Ryon Healy, and Eric Sogard to the roster, all of which have third base experience. The third base situation going into the 2020 season is something that the Brewers are continuing to struggle with as they need to find someone that’ll make a long-term fit at that position.

Although the recent acquisitions add depth to the 40-man roster, that spot for third base is still up for grabs and it’s possible that they’ll be starting the season off with a platoon.

A second round pick in 2016, Erceg was quick to show just how good of an athlete he truly was. Ranking at the top in the Carolina league with 15 homers, and a .256 average, Erceg also led the league in RBI’s (81). In 2018, he didn’t show much improvement at the plate as he finished with a .248 average and only hit 13 homers. By far, his 2019 season was rough, to put it into nicer terms.

As a third baseman, Erceg has a very strong throwing arm, which is the best of his tools. He also has a lot of power, but needs to make enough contact with the ball for that to play up over a whole season.

He was invited to major league camp in ’19, but his performance was very inconsistent, batting by far his worst of .215 and had a 25% strikeout rate. He did hit three home runs, and four doubles, respectively. This spring is the time for Erceg to really prove himself to the majors, otherwise it’s possible he’ll be spending yet another season in Triple-A.

Had he not had a rough 2019 season, Erceg could’ve very well been put on the 40-man roster given his potential, but he didn’t put up good enough numbers for the Brewers to give him that shot just yet. He’s got a lot of high expectations thrown on him and 2020 could possibly be his comeback year.

13. C Payton Henry

Still just 22 years of age, catcher Payton Henry is one of the Crew’s top catching prospects. Henry was given an invite to big league spring training in 2020. The chances of him earning a roster spot are quite slim, however. Given he hasn’t yet played above High-A, it wouldn’t be right to put him against the big league guys, but his talent could benefit the Brewers in other ways.

Drafted out of high school in the 6th round in 2016, Henry has slowly and methodically moved his way through the Brewers farm system.

He spent 2016 and 2017 in Rookie ball, spending the first year in Arizona and then moving up to the now defunct Helena Brewers the following season. Henry spent all 2018 with Low-A Wisconsin and all of 2019 with High-A Carolina. Collectively, he’s posting .242/.326/.395 slash line through his entire minor league career. He’s projected to spend some time in the 2020 season with Double-A Biloxi but there’s a chance he ends up back in Carolina, at least to start the season.

There’s a lot of very exciting tools in Henry’s arsenal. A strong defender, Henry is elite at throwing out base-stealers, with a career clip above 35%. Henry is also considered to be an above-average thrower and receiver, as well as possessing strong leadership skills in handling a pitching staff.

Offensively, Henry has a ton of raw power that he’s starting to reach in games more often, with 14 home runs in 2019. He had 10 long balls the year before and seven homers the year before that. The power numbers keep on trending up for Henry, and that is key for his future. If he’s going to be an everyday regular catcher down the road, he’ll need his bat to keep him in the lineup, but his glove is not going to keep him from the big leagues.

Henry and Mario Feliciano were selected in the same 2016 draft class, both out of high school and made up a powerful tandem for the Carolina Mudcats last year. Feliciano is considered the better prospect of the two, and we’ll see his final spot on this list later in the week.

With a non-roster invite to spring training, there is a chance Henry could be closer to the big leagues than originally thought. While we most likely won’t see him in Milwaukee this year, we could see him here in 2021 at the earliest.

12. OF Carlos Rodriguez

For only being 19 years old, Carlos Rodriguez is proving himself to be a potential big league regular down the road.  At the time of his signing, the Venezuelan native was only 16 years old and was ranked 26th in the Top 30 International Prospects in 2018 by MLB Pipeline.

Between Rookie levels Arizona and Rocky Mountain in 2019, Rodriguez posted a .329/.346/.416 slash line, which isn’t bad for a 19-year old player, especially in his first full season stateside. He still has a lot of growing to do, but with him being so young, he’s got all the time in the world to develop and show why he could be a viable addition to the Milwaukee Brewers big league roster one day.

Rodriguez’s two best tools are his speed and defense in centerfield. Sticking in centerfield is key for his value in the big leagues, considering he doesn’t hit for much power. If he can continue to hit above .300 like he did last year, the lack of power will not be a concern. Rodriguez would profile as a top of the order type hitter with his speed and contact ability.

His maturity level and overall talent could put him on a faster track to the big leagues. He’s not quite a raw of a prospect as other 19 year old international signees might be. Rodriguez will likely start the 2020 season in Low-A and if he succeeds there, could find himself in High-A before the year is over. If he continues to hit this well in full season ball, Rodriguez will continue to make gains up this list. For now, he falls at No. 12.

11. RHP Zack Brown

Expected to be added to the 40-man roster in 2019, Zack Brown fell just a little shy of making the cut. Instead the Brewers chose Corey Ray and J.P. Feyereisen. Brown was not selected in the Rule 5  Draft, so he stayed in the organization and could come at 2020 with a vengeance.

In 2019, he spent all of his season in Triple-A with the San Antonio Missions. It was a downward spiral for Brown as he posted a 5.79 ERA and gave up 16 home runs in his 23 starts and two relief appearances. Compared to his 2018 stats where he posted a 2.44 ERA with just eight home runs allowed in Double-A, it was obvious that the Brewers weren’t the happiest with his 2019 season, hence why he wasn’t added to the 40-man roster.

Triple-A began using MLB baseballs last year, and both leagues saw a massive surge in home runs, which could have negatively impacted Brown’s season last year. It could’ve simply been a fluke year because of the baseball change.

Prior to his 2019 season, the Brewers saw him as a potential key member of their pitching staff in the future, with his performance resulting in him being ranked as one of the best pitching prospects in their system.

Brown sits in the mid-90s with his fastball and has a bunch of different variations of that pitch he can throw. He also has a plus-curveball and his changeup is pretty solid as well. When all three of his pitches are working, Brown can be unstoppable on the mound. He’s a ground ball pitcher, which is the type of pitcher you want to be when Miller Park is your home stadium.

He has high expectations set upon him since being made the Crew’s 5th round pick in 2016 and had a bad year at the worst possible time. Every year prior to 2019 was filled with mostly positives.

2020 should be a better season for Brown, but given his struggles in Triple-A last year, he falls to No. 11 in our initial prospect list, with high bounceback potential. He could find himself in Milwaukee before the season is over if he can get back on track.

We’ve made it through over half of our Top 25 Brewers prospects list now, and the Top 10 is coming up soon.