Late-round draft pick is off to a stellar start in Appleton

In recent years, the Brewers' front office has shown a keen ability to find undervalued talent in the later rounds of the MLB draft. Prospects like Josh Adamczewski (15th round), Brett Wichrowski (13th round), and Luke Adams (12th round), just to name a few, demonstrate the organization's impressive attention to detail in the latter half of the amateur draft.

In their No. 14 prospect, Bishop Letson, it appears the Brewers have struck gold once again. Letson had a stellar performance in the Timber Rattlers’ 2-1 loss to the Quad Cities River Bandits on Friday night, allowing just three hits and no walks while striking out eight opposing hitters in five shutout innings.

The 20-year-old right-hander has 12 strikeouts and a 0.72 WHIP in 8.1 innings pitched so far this season across his first two starts. Timber Rattlers' manager, Victor Estevez, is electing to take things slow with Letson to start the season, having him throw just 58 pitches in his first outing and 71 in his second.

Letson's young career suggests big things to come

Letson was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers out of Floyd Central High School in Floyds Knobs, Indiana, back in the 11th round of the 2023 draft. However, Letson didn't appear in a professional game until the following season, where he eventually made 14 starts for the Brewers Low-A affiliate, the Carolina Mudcats.

Opposing hitters posted a meager .195 batting average against Letson, who amassed 63.1 innings during the 2024 season. Letson's 1.11 WHIP, 3.13 ERA, and 57 strikeouts shot him up the Brewers' prospect rankings and earned him a promotion to High-A prior to the start of the 2025 season.

Standing at 6'4", Letson's mid-90s fastball plays up a few ticks thanks to the impressive extension that he's able to generate. He pairs his fastballs, of which he has both a four-seamer and a sinker, with a 55-grade slider and a 50-grade changeup (50 represents an average pitch on the 20-80 grade scouting scale) according to MLB Pipeline.

The Brewers have had a great deal of success developing starting pitchers in recent years, and Letson looks like another candidate to end up as a homegrown ace.

Letson is expected to make his third start of the season this coming Thursday against the Athletics' High-A affiliate, the Lansing Lugnuts. Look for Letson to stretch his pitch count a little more, assuming he can continue to replicate his early-season success.