Brewers: Ranking the Team’s Top 15 Prospects for 2021

The calendar has officially turned to March, which means plenty of things for Brewers fans. Spring training is officially underway with the first game having taken place yesterday. Position battles are currently taking place. And some fans are even getting a chance to watch spring training games in person.

And for minor league fans, it is officially prospect ranking season.

Even though 2020 came and went absent of a minor league season that was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, things like the 2020 draft, activity at team alternate training sites, and action at independent leagues allow a chance for a shakeup in prospect rankings heading into this upcoming season.

With all that said, here is our Reviewing the Brew list of the Top 15 prospects in the Milwaukee Brewers organization for 2021.

15. C Nick Kahle

Once an area where the organization lacked depth, positionally, the Brewers put a focus on drafting a new crop of catchers over a few years. As a result, you see quite a few of them across top prospect lists for Milwaukee. So it’s no surprise that we’re starting with a catcher right off the bat.

Nick Kahle gets the honor of making the first appearance by a catcher on our top 15 Brewers prospects list. The former Washington Husky was selected in the 4th round of the 2019 draft after slashing .296/.423/.458 in three years of college ball.

Kahle was mostly solid in his first year of pro ball with the organization in 2019, slashing .247/.343/.459 with six homers in 40 games. With no minor league season last year, Kahle did manage to stay active, playing independent league ball with the Fargo-Moorehead RedHawks of the American Association during the summer and overseas with the Brisbane Bandits in Australia over the winter.

Kahle isn’t necessarily one to bring a ton of pop, but he has a solid hit tool and so far has shown a decent ability to get on base in most stops of his pro career. He also brings above average defense to the position, per his 55 grade via MLB Pipeline, and even threw out 53% of baserunners in his time with the former Brewers rookie level Rocky Mountain Vibes in 2019.

14. C Jeferson Quero

Well would you look at that, it’s another catcher already! Just about a month after the Brewers added to the organization’s catching depth by drafting Kahle (among others), Milwaukee decided to continue to address the position via the international class.

Just 16 at the time, Jeferson Quero was signed out of Venezuela as part of the 2019 international class for $200,000. Similarly to Kahle, Quero has an above average hit tool and even more stout defense behind the plate, but he also has some raw power that is still developing with age.

Quero hasn’t gotten to start his trek through the Brewers minor league system yet, but he did receive an invite to last summer’s Instructional League. According to Will Sammon of The Athletic, he was one of the players who made a big impression per his Instructs update piece ($$). Quero will be one to watch as he begins his pro debut in 2021.

13. OF Carlos Rodriguez

Our next prospect stops the streak of catchers for a bit but brings about another of the team’s international signees. Back in 2017, the Brewers signed two of the top 30 international prospects per MLB Pipeline, one of them being Carlos Rodriguez for $1.355MM.

Rodriguez was highly regarded for his hit tool coming out and he has shown that off so far in his first two years in Milwaukee’s minor league system. He hasn’t hit lower than .300 at any stop so far in the minors and slashed .331/.350/.424 in his most recent season with the Vibes in 2019.

Rodriguez could stand to work some more walks at the plate as he has just a 3% walk rate in his minor league career. But that’s not to say he’s not patient as he also has just a 9.4% strikeout rate in his career thus far.

Adding to his impressive profile are high grades on defense (60 defense, 50 arm per MLB Pipeline) and speed (60). A speedy, defensive outfielder with a highly rated hit tool is just the type of player the Brewers love to have around.

12. C Payton Henry

We’re back to catchers again with our second-highest ranked backstop on the list. Payton Henry, who was drafted in the 6th round out of high school back in 2016 parlayed a strong 2019 season into talk about a potential add to the 40-man roster this last offseason.

Henry paired up with fellow Brewers prospect Mario Feliciano (who we’ll touch on later) to form a fearsome catching duo with the High-A Carolina Mudcats in 2019. Though Feliciano got much of the attention, offensively, Henry had a fine season in his own right, slashing .242/.315/.395, finishing second on the team behind Feliciano with 14 homers and 75 RBI, and earning a Carolina League All-Star nod.

That led some to speculate whether Henry might earn a long shot add to the 40-man roster this past offseason on account of being eligible for the most recent Rule 5 draft. The Brewers chose to leave him exposed, likely on account of being earlier in his development, and he went unclaimed in the draft.

Though he lags a bit behind Feliciano, offensively, Henry makes up for it with his defensive game that features a 55-grade defense and arm. He has thrown out at least 28% of potential base stealers in each of the past three seasons and caught 40.5% of them in 2018 and 2019 combined. He should start the 2021 minor league season in at least Double-A Biloxi.

11. SS Freddy Zamora

We officially have our first 2020 draftee of the list. Freddy Zamora was drafted by the Brewers out of Miami in the second round just last summer. And despite not playing a single game that season, his potential lands him just shy of the top 10 on our prospects list.

Coming off a strong first two seasons for the Hurricanes in which he slashed a combined .300/.391/.429 with 33 stolen bases in 40 attempts, Zamora was set to be a borderline first-round pick in 2020. Unfortunately, he would suffer an ACL tear that would derail his entire 2020 season with Miami.

The Brewers saw enough in those first two years, though, to know that they wanted him and ended up taking him with the 53rd overall pick last summer. In doing so, they added another shortstop to the minor league stable, which, like catcher, is a position in which the organization now finds themselves with some good depth.

Zamora is another one of those prospects with a solid hit profile, above average defense, and good speed. He is the first one on this list, though, to really see the speed aspect translate to steals, something that will definitely help his dreams of making the majors one day.

8. LHP Antoine Kelly

For a majority of the 2010s, Milwaukee’s farm system suffered from a severe lack of left-handed pitching depth. The organization made it a point to focus on that area in recent drafts and the result is a trio of southpaws that land in the top 10 of our prospect rankings, starting with Antoine Kelly.

Kelly was taken in the second round of the 2019 draft by the Brewers out of Wabash Valley Community College in Illinois. Though he was seen as a little raw coming out of that draft, the pure talent and possible ceiling was too much for Milwaukee to pass up.

Early returns have been very encouraging so far for Kelly. The lefty dazzled in his first stop with the team’s rookie league squad in Arizona in 2019 as he gave up just a 1.26 ERA and 0.907 WHIP over 28 2/3 innings with an outstanding ratio of 41 strikeouts to just 5 walks.

Kelly’s high-90s fastball is definitely his bread and butter and he has a solid slider to go along with it. The Brewers clearly believe enough in his potential considering he was a member of the team’s alternate training site last summer and reportedly looked very impressive in his time there. Should he continue to develop at his current pace, watch out.

7. OF Tristen Lutz

Drafted with the team’s Competitive Balance A pick back in the 2017 draft, Tristen Lutz has been a fixture on Milwaukee’s top prospect lists each year since then. Last year, he was the team’s highest ranked outfield prospect on many lists, including ours.

Though he drops a bit this year, that has less to do with his own performance as it does with the Brewers adding extra talented players to the organization plus the emergence of a couple other prospects. Lutz very much remains on a solid track for his career in his own right.

In his most recent season, Lutz slashed .255/.335/.419 in 2019 with the Mudcats while finishing second on the team in doubles (24) and third in both home runs (13) and RBI (54). His slash line wasn’t far off the .245/.321/.421 line that he posted in 2018 at Low-A Wisconsin.

His 13 homers at Carolina matched the amount he had the year prior with Wisconsin, so it may not come as a surprise that he grades out well in the power department. Should he stay consistent with the bat, he could find his way to the big leagues in the next couple years, though he may want to focus on cutting down on the strikeouts before he gets there (at least a 27.6% strikeout rate in each of his last two seasons).

6. LHP Aaron Ashby

The second of the trio of lefty pitchers on our list, Aaron Ashby had a similar story to his counterpart, Kelly. The Brewers also drafted Ashby as an intriguing junior college prospect, selecting him in the fourth round out of Crowder College in Missouri back in 2018.

Ashby has put up good numbers since making his pro debut in the Milwaukee organization and in his most recent season in 2019, he put up a 3.50 ERA and 1.278 WHIP while striking out 9.6 batters per nine and serving up just five long balls. That performance was good enough for him to be named the team’s minor league pitcher of the year after the season.

Ashby’s top tool in his arsenal is his slider, which at 65 is the highest graded slider of any of the team’s top 30 prospects on MLB Pipeline. Combine that with an above average fastball and changeup and it’s easy to see why he can have batters looking like this.

Even having not pitched above the High-A level, though a lost minor league season obviously plays heavily into that, Ashby may be one of the prospects closest to actually reaching the big leagues. Another good performance in the minors in 2021 could make that happen sooner rather than later.

5. OF Hedbert Perez

In the same 2019 international signing period that brought the Brewers the aforementioned Luis Medina, Milwaukee signed fellow outfielder Hedbert Perez for $700,000. When all is said and done, he may end up being the headliner of that signing class.

Though still just 17 years old, Perez appears to have the potential to be a true five-tool outfielder with MLB Pipeline giving him at least 55 grades to every tool except power (which still sits at 50). And by the time he is fully developed, his power may join the rest of his tools in their high grades.

Perez has so much potential that the Brewers even ended up inviting him to join the squad at the alternate training site last summer, easily making him the youngest player in Appleton. The next step is playing in actual games to continue showing off that full spectrum of talent.

4. LHP Ethan Small

We’ve reached not only the highest ranked southpaw on our top prospects list, but the highest ranked pitcher period. Ethan Small also is the first of three recent first rounders who make an appearance among the team’s top five players on this list.

Small was taken 28th overall by the Brewers in the 2019 draft after a successful stint at Mississippi State. As a Bulldog, Small went 16-6 with a 3.05 ERA and a 1.098 WHIP over three years. His final year saw him go 10-2 with a 1.93 ERA and a 0.869 WHIP while leading his team to a College World Series berth.

Small didn’t skip a beat in his first bit of pro ball after being drafted. After a quick few innings with the team’s rookie league team in Arizona, he headed to Low-A Wisconsin and dominated. In 18 innings across five starts, he gave up just two earned runs on 11 hits and four walks while striking out 31, good for a 15.5 K/9.

The pitch mix for Small is a nicely balanced one with a low to mid 90s fastball, a curve, and a change that all grade out above average, as does his control. It’s the type of profile that could see him hit the majors as a long reliever or mid to backend rotation piece, possibly sooner than expected like Ashby.

3. C Mario Feliciano

Our third spot brings us to the leader of the minor league catching depth for the Brewers farm system. Mario Feliciano has been one of the highest risers in the organization over the last couple years, having finished 2018 ranked just 23rd on MLB Pipeline’s end of season prospect rankings for Milwaukee.

But when you have the type of season like Feliciano had in 2019, you make your organization take notice. That year, the backstop slashed .273/.324/.377 with a team-leading 25 doubles, 19 homers, and 81 RBI, a stat line that earned him the Carolina League MVP and a late-season promotion to Double-A Biloxi.

As if that weren’t enough, Feliciano not only was added to the team’s alternate training site roster last summer, he was also added to the 40-man roster this past offseason in order to protect him from the Rule 5 draft, a sign that he is now a clear part of the team’s future.

Feliciano has some of the best power in the system and a solid hit tool, it was just a matter of whether he could reach his full defensive potential. Reports are that he improved quite a bit in that area while with Carolina, though, meaning he may now be set to be Milwaukee’s catcher of the future.

2. SS Brice Turang

Like Lutz, Brice Turang takes one step back in the rankings this year, but not necessarily by any fault of his own. He remains one of the most talented position players in the organization after the Brewers opted to select a middle infielder in the first round for the second year in a row.

Turang was picked 21st overall by Milwaukee in the 2018 draft out of high school and chose to forgo his commitment to Louisiana State to sign with the Crew instead and begin his pro baseball career. So far that career has looked pretty steady considering it began at the age of just 18.

In his two seasons in the Brewers’ minor league system, Turang has a career .263/.374/.343 slash line. He really started to impress at Wisconsin in 2019, slashing .287/.384/.376 with 21 steals in 82 games while being named a Midwest League All-Star.

A midseason promotion to Carolina saw a dip in production for Turang, with his batting average dropping to .200 and his strikeout rate rising. He did, however, continue to draw walks at a high enough rate to keep his on base percentage at a respectable .338 there. There are no worries about Turang’s potential as he wouldn’t be the only prospect to struggle for a bit after a jump in competition.

Though Turang likely won’t develop much pop, he is one of the top defenders in the system regardless of position, has an above average hit tool, even for his age, and has the speed to be an above-average base stealer. He should fit nicely into the Brewers infield in a couple of years.

1. OF Garrett Mitchell

It’s not often that you see a first-round pick head straight to the top of a team’s top prospects list immediately upon being drafted. But that speaks to just how special of a player the Brewers got when they drafted Garrett Mitchell.

The outfielder from UCLA was in the top 10 on many draft boards, but a Type 1 diabetes condition, which he has managed since he was nine, and questions about whether his power will show fully in games caused him to drop on draft day. Thus, the Brewers ended up getting a steal when he was still around at the 20th overall pick of the 2020 draft.

Mitchell mashed in his three years as a Bruin, slashing .327/.393/.478 with 24 doubles, 15 triples, and six homers in 121 games. He also scored 94 runs, stole 28 bases in 37 attempts, and had a respectable 15.5% strikeout rate.

Mitchell is as five-tool of an outfielder as they come, with a 60-grade arm and defense and elite 70-grade speed per MLB Pipeline. As mentioned, the only real question is whether his 50-grade power can translate to games. If it does, Milwaukee likely has their center fielder of the future.

It feels great getting to rank Brewer prospects once again, but it feels even better knowing we’ll get to see these players in games once again this season.