4 Brewers prospects already off to hot starts in 2024

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers - P Brett Wichrowski

Perhaps no prospect in the Brewers system has as big an up arrow next to his name than Brett Wichrowski. He arrived at spring training with a blazing 100 MPH fastball and has continued to open eyes ever since.

Wichrowski has made four starts for the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, posting a 2.45 ERA across 14.2 IP with 21 strikeouts and just three walks.

The big fastball and a plus slider have helped vault Wichrowski into a known name in prospect circles in a short amount of time. His prospect status came from humble beginnings. Wichrowski was a 13th round pick in last year's Draft out of Bryant University, which isn't exactly known as a powerhouse program for professional prospects.

His fastball topped out at around 95 MPH, and sat more in the low 90s. Now he's topping at 100 MPH and sitting around 95-97 MPH. That's a massive increase in a short amount of time. The Brewers pitching lab is very well known for maximizing pitchers' potential and with Wichrowski, some minor tweaks have helped him find a few more miles per hour.

When the mid-season updates come out, Wichrowski's name is going to be somewhere in the Top 30, perhaps even the top half or even the top 10. If you're looking for an exciting pitching prospect that's popping up and could be a big piece of a future Brewers pitching staff, Wichrowski is your guy right now.

Biloxi Shuckers - 3B Mike Boeve

Mike Boeve started the season in High-A Wisconsin. He torched the Midwest League to the tune of a .553 batting average and 1.274 OPS. No, that is not a typo. In 13 games, he collected 21 hits, drew 13 walks, and struck out just five times.

Very quickly, he earned a promotion to Double-A Biloxi. In his eight games with the Shuckers, he's hitting .323/.432/.613 with three doubles, three triples, and a 1.045 OPS.

There is quite simply no hotter hitter in the Brewers system and possibly all of baseball than Mike Boeve.

Boeve was the Crew's 2nd round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft. A corner infielder, Boeve was known more for his contact than his power. He struck out just nine times in his entire college season last year and hit over .400. The Brewers believed there was more power inside and he slugged five homers in 28 games after signing last year.

While Boeve has yet to leave the yard in 2024, his bat to ball skills have been exceptional and power is certainly coming. Hitting the ball out of the park in Biloxi when that wind is coming in off the gulf is difficult sometimes and has killed home runs for many left handed hitters.

There's a lot of hitters to be excited about from last year's Draft class, and Boeve has been the best one so far in 2024.

Nashville Sounds - 1B Tyler Black

The highest ranked position player prospect not in the majors (Jackson Chourio) or on the IL (Jeferson Quero) is Tyler Black, and he is playing like it. Once thought to be competing for the starting third base job in spring training, Black has primarily been playing first base this year following the arrival of Joey Ortiz and Sal Frelick's potential third base ability.

A Competitive Balance Round A pick back in 2021 out of Wright State, Black has been steadily climbing and increasing his prospect stock ever since. The book on him coming out of college was great bat to ball skills but limited power and a lack of a clear defensive home. The contact ability was legit enough to make him a top pick. He was a second baseman at the time with a weak throwing arm, but the Brewers put him at third and he was playable there. Now, they've moved him over to first.

He's taking to his new position like a fish to water and his bat has shown no signs of suffering either. Through his first 25 games and 99 ABs, Black is hitting .303/.393/.525 with a double, three triples, and five home runs. He's walked 13 times and struck out 16 with three stolen bases and a .918 OPS.

While he hasn't been on pace to repeat his 55 stolen base performance last year, the numbers are incredible, and it feels like it's only a matter of time until he earns the call up to the big leagues this season. He's hitting for average and power and he's not striking out much. Jake Bauers has struggled in the backup role behind Rhys Hoskins and Black could present an upgrade at that spot. However, the Brewers will also want to get Black regular at-bats which he may not necessarily get behind Hoskins at first base and there aren't many at-bats available at third or DH either.

At some point though, Black's production will prove to be too much for the Brewers to keep him down any longer. He's doing a great job of that through the first month of the Triple-A season and if he keeps hitting like this and playing solid defense at first, he'll be up in no time.