Brewers: 3 Prospects That Are Untouchable In Trade Talks This Offseason

Untouchable No. 2

LHP Ethan Small

To make it a trend, the Brewers 2019 first round pick joins the Crew’s 2020 first round pick on this list of untouchable prospects.

Ethan Small was another polished college player coming into the Draft and is on the fast-track to the big leagues.

A 6’4″ left-hander, Small was the first of a heavy dose of left handed pitchers in that 2019 Brewers Draft class. It was a long overdue infusion of southpaws into this farm system and he’s the been the best of the bunch so far.

Small had a sub-1.00 ERA across Rookie ball and Low-A last year immediately after getting drafted. In 2020, he was likely to be in High-A and might have even been able to make Double-A before the year was out. Instead, he simply pitched at the Alternate Training Site and was able to work on refining his arsenal.

He came into spring training in 2020 with a new pitch, a slider, that gave him a four pitch mix to work with. Through his reps up in Appleton, Small has reportedly refined and improved his slider and the other pitches in his arsenal.

When the 2021 minor league season begins, Small is likely going to be in Double-A and he could be pushing his way to the big league roster sooner rather than later. Small can be a solid mid-rotation starter for several years in the big leagues with his stuff, deception, and pitching IQ.

For the Brewers starting pitching depth to remain strong, they need to keep Small in the system. Small would carry a lot of value in a trade, but he’s more valuable to the Brewers as a member of the team than as a trade chip.