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

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.