Brewers lean into biggest strength to start Day 2 of 2025 MLB Draft

The second day of the MLB Draft is underway with the picks pouring in rapidly as teams look to add some exciting talent to their minor league systems. After selecting two infielders and three pitchers in the first three rounds of the draft last night, the Milwaukee Brewers leaned into their strength of pitching development by selecting two projectable pitchers, one from high school and one from college, with their first two selections on Monday.

While each of the two selections is most intriguing for what they could become after spending time in an organization like the Brewers' that excels at developing pitching, that's not to say that they don't already have exciting tools that should give them a great starting point as they join Milwaukee's farm system. Let's further break down the Brewers' first two picks of the second day of the 2025 MLB Draft.

Fourth Round: RHP Josh Flores (No. 125 overall pick) - Lake Central HS (IN)

At the end of Josh Flores' MLB Pipeline scouting report, it reads, "He'll be an intriguing project for a team that believes in its ability to develop pitchers." If that doesn't sound like someone who is right up the Brewers’ alley, I don't know who is. But Flores is more than just an "intriguing project" for the Brewers' pitching lab; he's a legit top 250 draft prospect with some serious upside.

As pointed out by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Curt Hogg on the social media platform X, the Brewers are no stranger to Lake Central HS in Indiana. In fact, as Hogg noted in his post, Milwaukee has now selected a player out of Lake Central in each of the last three drafts. Flores joins infielder Josh Adamczewski and pitcher Griffin Tobias as Lake Central alumni who will start their professional careers in the Brewers' farm system.

Flores has a plus fastball that sits in the low 90s but can run as high as 97 mph. He pairs it with a plus 12-6 curveball that, according to MLB Pipeline, sometimes moves so much that the 18-year-old right-hander has difficulty keeping it in the zone. Flores, who stands 6'1" tall, does have the ability to throw both a slider and changeup, but at this point in his development, it's the fastball and curve that give Flores' profile the most upside.

As you can see in the video below, Flores has a pretty loose arm that he drops down past his right hip during his delivery. The result is some issues with command that Flores will have to hammer out if he wants to remain as a starter in professional baseball. All in all, it's an exciting pick for the Crew, and one that should benefit greatly from joining an organization that emphasizes the development of their drafted pitchers.

Fifth Round: RHP Sean Episcope (No. 155 overall pick) - Princeton University

In general, college pitchers require less development to reach the big leagues than those drafted out of high school, which makes sense given that college pitchers have generally been honing their craft for 3-4 more years than prep pitchers. However, injuries can completely derail a player’s timeline, as is the case with the Brewers' fifth-round draft pick, Sean Episcope.

Despite being just 21 years old, Episcope has already endured two major elbow surgeries: a Tommy John surgery at the end of his high school career and an internal brace procedure in 2024. Even still, with a fastball that can touch 97 and a curveball that averages more than 3000 rpm, according to MLB Pipeline, Episcope possesses some exciting tools.

It's a relatively quiet delivery for Episcope, and as a result, the 21-year-old right-hander had very good command for Princeton a season ago. He walked just four total batters in 20 IP, en route to a stellar WHIP of 0.55.

The uncertainty in Episcope's profile, and therefore his need for an organization that excels at developing pitching, is almost entirely tied to his injury history. Injuries have limited the 6'0" starter to just 64 total innings in college, so while he made four strong starts in 2025, his full potential is yet to be realized.