Brewers: Garrett Mitchell, Ethan Small Lead List Of Non-Roster Invitees

The Milwaukee Brewers have announced their list of non-roster invitees to spring training this year and it includes 18 players, a mix of free agent signings and prospects.

It’s a sign of spring. On Tuesday, Gordy the Groundhog at the Milwaukee County Zoo did not see his shadow, which means an early spring. Then on Wednesday, the Brewers announced their non-roster invites to spring training, which starts in just two weeks, and won’t be delayed despite MLB’s efforts. Good call from Gordy.

The list of invites, combined with the 38 players currently on the 40 man roster means there will be at least 56 players to start in big league camp at American Family Fields Of Phoenix.

Here’s the list of players confirmed to have received an invite.

Some of these players we knew would be in camp because of the free agent contracts they signed. Some of the others are pleasant surprises.

The Brewers invited several of their top prospects to big league camp, including Garrett Mitchell, Brice Turang, and Ethan Small.

Garrett Mitchell is the highest profile name on this list, having been the Crew’s most recent first round pick, selected 20th overall in the 2020 MLB Draft. He’s the Crew’s top prospect on MLB Pipeline and has five tool potential in center field.

There’s virtually no chance Mitchell would make the roster out of camp, and this is just a way for the Brewers to get a closer look at him and get him some reps against some good competition.

Brice Turang is another highly ranked prospect and held that top spot until Mitchell was drafted. Turang might be a little closer to the big leagues, but despite the uncertainty in the Brewers infield at the moment, he also stands little chance of cracking the roster. He doesn’t have any at-bats above High-A although he was reported to have played extremely well at the Alternate Site in 2020 and at instructional league.

Turang is a year away and could compete for a roster spot starting in 2022 most likely.

Ethan Small gets an invite, and he’s the Brewers top pitching prospect that they have. Small has a newfound slider that he refined in Appleton last year and could be on the fast track to the big leagues. It’s doubtful he would get a roster spot for Opening Day, but later in the season, he might be on the radar if the Crew needs a starter.

Also included on this list is Tristen Lutz and Aaron Ashby, both of whom are Top 10 prospects in this Brewers system. Lutz is maybe a year away from contributing at the big league level and Ashby is probably a year away from being a regular contributor but might be in a position to get some big league innings later this year.

One intriguing addition is Quintin Torres-Costa. He’s been a dominant lefty reliever for the Brewers minor league teams in the past, but underwent Tommy John surgery near the end of the 2018 season when he was likely nearing a call up, missed most of 2019, and then with the 2020 season cancelled, didn’t get an opportunity. He could put himself in the bullpen mix coming out of camp with a strong spring.

The 2021 season is getting ready to begin, and pretty soon we’ll have baseball again.