Brewers: How Did the Team’s Prospects Perform at Arizona Fall League?

Milwaukee Brewers prospect watchers got a bit of a treat over the last few weeks as a handful of players competed in the Arizona Fall League. It was the first iteration of it since the 2020 season was cancelled for the league due to COVID-19.

Eight Milwaukee prospects were originally selected to take part in the 2021 season – three position players and five pitchers – with two more position players joining midseason. Four of those players were members of MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Brewers prospects list.

Regardless of the final stat lines, it’s often nice just to see some of the players who get to take part in the league get a little extra development as well as a chance to play against other teams’ higher level prospects. Still, there were some standouts among the Crew’s attending minor leaguers.

Here is how the Milwaukee Brewers’ prospects fared at the 2021 Arizona Fall League.

Position Players

No. 9 Joe Gray Jr: 18 G, .069/.229/.138, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 R, 6 RBI, 1 SB

Joe Gray Jr was one of the Brewers’ breakout stars of the 2021 minor league season, but he unfortunately never quite got going in Arizona. He had a couple hits late in the season, but overall will look to shake this performance off before the 2022 season comes around.

No. 13 Mario Feliciano: 13 G, .318/.348/.432, 5 2B, 8 R, 4 RBI

Catching prospect Mario Feliciano, on the other hand, started a little slow before turning in quite a nice stat line. He was the only catcher on the team to hit over .250 and his five doubles tied for the team lead. It was a nice bounce back after a 2021 regular season that was plagued by injury.

No. 23 Joey Wiemer: 9 G, .467/.568/.667, 3 2B, 1 HR, 6 R, 4 RBI, 2 SB

It’s extremely unfortunate that Joey Wiemer only ended up getting to play in nine games because the outfielder was on an absolute tear before a thumb issue ended his fall. It was still enough to get him named to the Fall Stars Team and makes one wonder just how far he’ll rise in next spring’s prospect rankings.

No. 16 David Hamilton: 14 G, .293/.453/.463, 3 2B, 2 3B, 5 R, 5 RBI, 4 SB

David Hamilton was one of the Brewers’ late Arizona Fall League entrants but still found his way into 14 games for the Salt River Rafters. His two triples led the team, his four stolen bases tied for the team lead, and his .916 OPS placed third.

Weston Wilson: 4 G, .214/.353/.286, 1 2B, 3 R

Weston Wilson was the other Milwaukee prospect to join Arizona Fall League late. His four games played were the second least on the team but a .353 on base percentage was at least a decent number to write home about.

Pitchers

No. 26 Abner Uribe: 0-1, 9 IP, 13.00 ERA, 2.89 WHIP, 16 K, 17 BB

Fireballer Abner Uribe had just the up and down fall that fans have come to expect from him. His 16.0 K/9 led the team, but so did his unsightly 17.0 BB/9. He still ended up being named a Fall Star, though he didn’t end up making an appearance in the All-Star game.

Justin Jarvis: 2-1, 17 2/3 IP, 5.60 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 15 K, 14 BB

Right-handed starter Justin Jarvis ended up leading the Rafters with his five starts, tying for the lead with two wins, and finishing third on the team with his 17 2/3 innings pitched. But the 5.60 ERA and 1.53 WHIP didn’t end up being that far off of his numbers at High-A Wisconsin in 2021 (5.40 ERA, 1.55 WHIP).

J.T. Hintzen: 0-1, 14 1/3 IP, 5.02 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 16 K, 5 BB

After a solid year at Double-A Biloxi that saw him finish with a 3.88 ERA and a 79-to-18 K/BB ratio, J.T. Hintzen saw his ERA rise in Arizona. He still came away with a strong K/BB ratio, though, and he held hitters to a .184 average, the fourth best mark on the team.

Taylor Floyd: 0-0, 8 2/3 IP, 7.27 ERA, 1.96 WHIP, 10 K, 6 BB

Fellow righty reliever Taylor Floyd was another one who had a good 2021 regular season for the Brewers, putting up a 2.89 ERA and collecting 10 saves between High-A and Double-A. He struggled a bit this fall, though, allowing batters to hit over .300 against him.

Jolon Zhao: 0-0, 7 IP, 5.14 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, 4 K, 7 BB

Jolon Zhao has only played in a handful of games for the Milwaukee organization after being signed as a teenager in 2018 and missing 2019 due to injury. His extended look in Arizona saw him pitch in the second least amount of innings for the team and collect more walk more batters than he struck out.

There were ups and there were downs for the Brewers prospects at Arizona Fall League, but it was nice either way just to have the opportunity back this season.