Brewers top prospect Jesus Made's big league debut may follow very familiar blueprint

It hasn't taken long at all for Milwaukee Brewers prospect Jesus Made to be the talk of the town. When the Brewers signed Made last January, he was a well-regarded international prospect that did not rank among the top 20 international prospects in his class. Times have changed very quickly as an impressive pro debut now has Made as the Brewers' top prospect before he has even made it to full season ball.

There is a ton to like with Made. In addition to posting a very impressive .331/.458/.554 line in 216 plate appearances in the Dominican Summer League which appeals to the counting stats crowd, Made also passes the analytics/projection tests with flying colors as he showed a mature approach at the plate while also hitting the crap out of the ball. In all of baseball, Made's debut in full season ball is one of the most anticipated storylines in the minors.

However, the next question is when Brewers fans could see Made in the big leagues. While he is still very young and a LOT can happen between now and if/when he makes it to the majors, it isn't out of the question that Made's path could end up looking very similar to the one Jackson Chourio took.

Assuming the Brewers like what they see, Jesus Made's development timeline could look very similar to Jackson Chourio's

Lets get the caveats out of the way first. Yes, we know that every prospect's development is different and is often not linear. Chourio and Made are similar in a number of ways, but there are some key differences. Made is a switch-hitting infielder while Chourio is a righty outfielder. Those are very different skills that need refining and no one is arguing otherwise.

However, if we are thinking about both Chourio and Made as international hitter prospects who got started at the same age, there is at least some merit to thinking the Brewers could treat them similarly assuming Made excels in a comparable way once he starts playing in full season ball. Here is how Chourio and Made each performed in the DSL at age 17 before coming stateside.

• Jackson Chourio (2021) - 189 PA, .296/.386/.447, 5 home runs, 8 stolen bases
• Jesus Made (2024) - 216 PA, .331/.458/.554, 6 home runs, 28 stolen bases

Before you start getting too excited given Made's better numbers overall in the DSL, there is a limit to how aggressive any team, including the Brewers, is going to be based on performance in the Dominican Summer League. Made has clearly earned a shot at full season ball, but there is no world where he is going to be in the big leagues in the first half of 2025 because Made beat up on a bunch of other teenagers.

However, Milwaukee has a history of being aggressive with hitting prospects (like Chourio) that perform. After getting into full season ball, Chourio quickly ascended the minor league ranks in 2022 and 2023 thanks to a .879 OPS across three levels in 2022 followed by an .803 OPS in 2023. The Brewers moved him quickly to be sure, but it was because he was performing.

That last part matters a lot. If Made comes over and struggles in low-A this coming season, the Brewers are going to take their time with him as he is too talented to mess up his development. There are too many cases where teams promoted guys too quickly because of how big their bonuses were while ignoring their actual development was at the time. However, if Made comes over and continues to mash, he could get on the fast track like Chourio. Getting to Double-A in 2025 isn't a pipe dream and forcing his way to Triple-A and possibly as a late season call-up to the majors in 2026 is theoretically possible here, but 2027 seems like a safer bet assuming all goes well.

More Brewers News from Reviewing the Brew