4 Brewers prospects already off to hot starts in 2024

We're a few weeks into the minor league baseball season and already we're seeing prospects put themselves on the map with their performances. The Brewers have one of the best farm systems in the league filled with intriguing talent.

A hot start to the year can set a player up for a great rest of the season, but also promotions to higher levels of the minor leagues as these guys try to move up the ladder and make their way to the big leagues. While we generally don't see mid-season promotions until at least a month into the season, we're rapidly approaching that mark and if some of these players keep up these hot stretches, they could find themselves moving up soon.

While we're not trying to predict who will move up, these four Brewers prospects are playing some really good baseball right now.

Carolina Mudcats - Tayden Hall

We'll start in Low-A with the Carolina Mudcats where catcher Tayden Hall has been off to a blistering start in 2024. Through his first 21 games, Hall is hitting .400/.513/.554 with six doubles, two triples, and 15 walks to just 13 strikeouts.

Hall was a 9th round pick back in 2022 out of the State College of Florida - Manatee-Sarasota. He has experience at catcher, first base, and left field but he's spent all of his time defensively this year at first base. The lefty-swinging Hall is a well built 6'2" and 215 lbs, which profiles well at the position.

While the power has been slow to develop for Hall, with zero home runs in his minor league career to this point, there is a belief that more power is coming. He'll need it to arrive eventually, especially to stick at first base, a traditional power position. Still, hitting .400 with more walks than strikeouts and getting on base more than half the time is going to get you in the lineup no matter what your position is.

Keep an eye on Tayden Hall and if some more power develops, watch out because he could rise up prospect ranks very quickly.

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.