Brewers include several of their most exciting top prospects among non-roster invites

The Milwaukee Brewers remain competitive year in and year out not because they can afford to buy the best free agents or trade for superstars and rack up the payroll like the Dodgers do, but because they develop prospects so well and turn them into quality big league players.

Last year, we saw a rookie in Jackson Chourio explode onto the scene and play a big role in making the team competitive. We also saw a non-roster invitee like Tobias Myers, who was sent down not long after Cactus League play began, who ended up playing a big role on the team as well.

Non-roster invites for minor league players allow these prospects an opportunity to showcase their skills in major league camp for the big league coaching staff and even if they don't make the team right out of the gate, they can put themselves on the list for promotions later on.

The Brewers have begun to announce some of their prospects receiving non-roster invites to 2025 spring training.

Brewers invite Cooper Pratt, Jacob Misiorowski, Craig Yoho to big league spring training

Included among the non-roster invites are two of the top three prospects in the Brewers farm system.

Cooper Pratt has been regarded as "the steal of the draft" in 2023 by Brewers player development coordinator Brenton Del Chiaro. Pratt started in Low-A and worked his way up to Double-A by the end of the year. While he's still a little distance away from making the big league club, a chance to play in front of Pat Murphy and his staff can make a big impression and quicken his path to the majors.

Pratt is likely to begin the year in Double-A Biloxi and if he can create some momentum in spring training and carry that over, it's not unreasonable to think Pratt could put himself in line for a promotion to the majors by late in the season.

Jacob Misiorowski is the top pitching prospect the Brewers have, reaching Triple-A last year and coming very close to a big league promotion. He worked out of the bullpen in Nashville and posted a 2.55 ERA with the Triple-A Sounds.

Misiorowski enters 2025 with a real chance to earn an Opening Day roster spot. It'd likely have to be in the bullpen and the Brewers have previously stated that they're still going to try to give him a chance to start. What Misiorowski shows in big league camp in front of Pat Murphy and pitching coach Chris Hook will likely help them determine if they view Misiorowski as a starter or a reliever and get a clearer picture on when he might make his big league debut.

Craig Yoho is another candidate to earn a bullpen spot in big league camp. MLB Pipeline had Yoho ranked 21st at the end of the 2024 season, but he's likely to jump up when the 2025 rankings drop. Yoho pitched across three levels last year, dominating the competition at every stop, finishing with a 0.94 ERA with 101 strikeouts across 57.2 IP. His changeup is big league ready and he's primed to very quickly earn big league bullpen opportunities.

Yoho will get a chance to prove to that big league coaching staff that he's deserving of an Opening Day roster spot. While a lot of prospects getting non-roster invites are re-assigned to minor league camp fairly quickly, Yoho is going to be one that likely lasts pretty long in big league camp.

Another prospect getting a non-roster invite is outfielder Luis Lara. Lara spent last season in High-A Wisconsin as a 19 year old. It was an aggressive assignment and while Lara held his own, his overall numbers dipped, hitting just .245 with a .659 OPS. Still, he stole 45 bases with a low strikeout rate and doubled his home run output from the year before (from 2 to 4). Lara won't break camp with the club but he's an exciting young player.

23 year old catcher Darrien Miller also received a non-roster invite. With so many pitchers needing bullpen sessions to be caught, having an extra catcher in camp never hurts. Miller isn't a highly touted prospect, but the former 9th round pick had a .392 OBP in Double-A Biloxi last season.