3 top Brewers prospects who earned offseason promotions with their 2025 performances

The 2025 season was not only highly successful for the Milwaukee Brewers' big-league club, who broke a franchise record for the most number of wins in a single season, but it was also a strong year for their minor league affiliates. Despite the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers being the only affiliate to qualify for the postseason in their respective leagues, three of the Brewers' four full-season minor league squads finished with a record above .500.

With great team success came several impressive individual performances from a few of the top prospects in the Brewers' organization. While many of the team's top prospects were promoted to the next level of the minor leagues at some point throughout the 2025 season, several others ended the year with a team that they are unlikely to start the 2026 season with. Here are three such players, whose performances in 2025 are worthy of them taking the next step before the 2026 season begins.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, and there will be plenty of other prospects in the Brewers' organization who begin the 2026 season a level higher than they finished in 2025.

3 Brewers prospects who should earn promotions this offseason

1. 3B Brock Wilken (Double-A to Triple-A)

After a rollercoaster of a season with the Biloxi Shuckers in 2024, Wilken was back in the Mississippi Delta for the 2025 season. Once again, Wilken's season was impacted by a freak injury, as he dislocated his patella during the team's celebration of their first half championship a season after he missed several weeks following a scary hit-by-pitch that resulted in multiple facial fractures.

Even still, Wilken had the best season of his professional career in 2025, and while there were some ups and downs, taken as a whole his season is more than worthy of a promotion to Triple-A to start the 2026 season. His best months came at the beginning of the season, during which he slugged nine homers in the month of May and six more in June. Wilken was named the Southern League Player of the Month for his incredible performance in May, and some Brewers fans even started calling for his promotion to the big leagues, as the big-league club was in need of a third baseman at the time.

All in all, Wilken slashed .226/.387/.489 after cooling off when he returned from his knee injury in late August. The power that led to Wilken being the 18th overall pick in the 2023 MLB Draft was on full display in 2025. His 18 homers, which he collected in just 79 games, were the most on the Shuckers last season and ranked third in the entire Southern League.

The combination of Wilken's strong 2025 season, him being Rule 5 Draft eligible next offseason, and the numerous infield prospects climbing through the Brewers farm system makes his promotion to Triple-A this offseason likely. At that point, if the 23-year-old slugger gets off to another hot start, he could be in the big leagues before you know it.

2. OF Braylon Payne (Low-A to High-A)

From one first-round pick to another, Braylon Payne, whom the Brewers selected in the first round of the 2024 MLB Draft, played the entire season with the Low-A Carolina Mudcats, and it was an inconsistent year for the 19-year-old outfielder.

Payne got off to a hot start, posting an OPS of .823 in the month of April, but he quickly cooled off with a .517 OPS in the month of May. An impressive July during which Payne posted a 1.155 OPS with three homers gave hope that he had officially turned things around, but an injury late in the month derailed things slightly. He wasn't the same player when he returned in the second half of August and ultimately finished the season with a slash line of .240/.354/.382, with 31 stolen bases in 77 games.

The flashes of excellence that Payne showed at various points throughout the 2025 season should be enough to earn him a promotion to High-A before the 2026 season gets underway. At just 19 years old, what is more important than numbers on the statsheet is that the Brewers continue to challenge Payne so that his development progresses at a normal pace. Playing for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers to start the 2026 season should do just that.

3. OF Luis Lara (Double-A to Triple-A)

Luis Lara is in a similar boat to Wilken in that he will be Rule 5 Draft eligible next offseason, meaning the Brewers will need to add him to their 40-man roster next winter or risk having him snatched up by another team. Additionally, Lara too spent the entire 2025 season in Double-A with the Biloxi Shuckers.

That said, while Wilken's season was rather inconsistent, Lara was the epitome of consistency in 2025. He got off to a slow start in April, but he was excellent throughout the summer and finished the season strong with an impressive month of September. In the end, Lara slashed .257/.369/.343, good for a .712 OPS that was a significant improvement from the .659 mark he posted in High-A a season ago. Lara will never be a huge power threat, but he makes up for it with excellent bat-to-ball skills, lightning-quick speed on the basepaths, and an exceptional glove in center field.

Triple-A feels like the natural starting place for Lara in 2026. He has continuously been challenged by the Brewers throughout his minor league career, and in every instance he has responded impressively by adjusting to the improved opposing pitching at each stage. He has given the Brewers every reason to believe that he will once again find success at the Triple-A level.