Brewers may already have a prospect that could be even better than Jesus Made

The Milwaukee Brewers have a strong reputation for developing young talent. Whether it's through the MLB Draft, international signees, or players acquired from outside the organization, it's important that this small market team keep a steady influx of talented prospects in their system and the Brewers are as good as anyone.

Currently, all the hype is surrounding 17 year old Jesus Made. He signed during the 2024 international signing period and rose to the top of the prospect leader boards after show casing all of his skills over 51 games in the Dominican Summer League last year.

Interestingly, within the same international signing group was one of Made's friends growing up in the Dominican Republic. His name is Luis Pena and he also signed with Milwaukee. A season ago Pena performed very well similarly to Made, but it was Made who ended up getting all the attention.

Milwaukee Brewers prospect Luis Pena could be even better than Jesus Made

Pena, who enters the 2025 season as the Brewers 10th ranked prospect, won the Dominican Summer League batting title in 2024 when he had a .393 batting average. Through 44 games he also hit 16 doubles, six home runs, swiped 39 bases, walked 15 times, and struck out 15 times.

For context, Made played in 51 Dominican Summer League games last year, hit for a .331 batting average, had nine doubles, six home runs, stole 28 bases, walked 39 times, and struck out 28 times. When you compare the two players, one wonders why Pena hasn't gotten a similar level of love from prospect evaluators.

While the hype Made is receiving is justified, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com recently revealed that evaluators who visited Milwaukee's complex in the Dominican Republic last year did say that Pena might be just as talented, perhaps even more talented, than Made. The numbers certainly start to tell that story even though it was a still a pretty small sample against a questionable level of competition.

Ultimately, time will tell which of these childhood friends turns out a better baseball career, but for now both of their next steps include trips to Low-A Carolina where they will continue their development. Now that both Made and Pena are going to be seeing action in full season ball, we should get a better sense of what Milwaukee really has in these guys.

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