4 Brewers Prospects Who Could Be Written Off If They Fail To Produce In 2023

2. OF Joe Gray Jr

The Brewers drafted Joe Gray Jr in the 2nd round in the 2018 MLB Draft. He struggled early on with injuries, illness, and poor performance at the plate. He burst back on to the scene in 2021 with the Carolina Mudcats as he dominated the Carolina League early on. He turned that into a promotion to High-A Wisconsin and a spot back on prospect lists.

However, since then he's been slipping down those prospect lists. Gray struggled a bit in his promotion to High-A and then was sent back to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in 2022, where he struggled some more.

Gray hit just .193/.279/.353 with 15 homers, 17 stolen bases, and 177 strikeouts in 462 ABs. That's a 38.3% strikeout rate. By all accounts, Gray's 2022 season was a disaster.

Gray dealt with some eyesight problems. He got Lasik surgery during the offseason that left him with astigmatism that affected his vision throughout the season. He ended up getting it corrected but the damage to his season was still done and even after the correction, his performance didn't really improve that much.

At first it was health preventing Gray from reaching his potential. Then he was finally healthy and showed a flash of his potential in early 2021. Ever since then he's struggled. It has to be frustrating for Gray to have dealt with those issues. Gray and the Brewers know the talent is in there. But the strikeouts were a concern even before 2022 and the concerns just got a lot worse.

If Gray can't turn things around and perform like he did in Carolina this year, then he's going to be written off as a prospect.

3. OF Hedbert Perez

When it comes to prospect hype, few were as hyped coming in as Brewers outfielder Hedbert Perez. The Brewers signed Perez in the 2019 international signing period. His professional debut was delayed by the cancelled 2020 season, but reports of his hitting ability, power, and overall five tool package led to a lot of excitement. He even got some Cactus League at-bats in spring training.

Perez played well in 2021 in the Arizona Complex League, earning a late season promotion to Low-A Carolina for the final two weeks of the year. He struggled initially but played better in his second week as an 18 year old in Low-A.

The hype was there and now we were going to get a chance to see him over the course of a full season as a 19 year old. But Perez's 2022 season disappointed.

Perez spent the entire season in Low-A Carolina and posted a .216/.272/.393 slash line with 23 doubles, 15 homers, nine stolen bases, and 132 strikeouts in 407 ABs. That's a 32.4% K rate, which is not ideal to say the least.

Perez showed good power, but it seemed at times he was selling out for power and sacrificed the hitting and on-base ability. He's going to need to get back to focusing on just putting the ball in play and making good contact.

By all accounts, the ingredients are still there for a very successful player. The swing is smooth, but pitch selection and approach may need some adjustments.

For a much hyped international player, that first year in full season ball is a very important litmus test. He didn't exactly pass with flying colors in 2022 and is likely to start 2023 back in Low-A Carolina. If Perez struggles again in 2023, there may begin to be some concerns about whether Perez will be able to reach his enormously high ceiling.

Perez was one of the youngest players in Low-A last year, so struggles are somewhat to be expected. He'll enter the 2023 season as a 20 year old and even though he's still young, it's going to be an important season for his prospect status and for him to show that he's improving as a hitter.

4. OF Carlos Rodriguez

The Brewers signed Carlos Rodriguez in the 2017 international signing period. He was regarded as a great pure hitter with speed that didn't have much for power, but could really hit. He's essentially lived up to that scouting report.

In his four minor league seasons, Rodriguez has a career .294/.348/.389 slash line. However, that's buoyed by the strength of his 2018 and 2019 campaigns where he hit .325 and .329 respectively across two levels of rookie ball. Ever since moving up to full season ball in Wisconsin, he's been hitting .267 and .268 respectively over the last two seasons.

That's still not bad, but the issue with Rodriguez has been health. He's dealt with injuries that took out massive chunks of his last two seasons. He played in 94 games in 2021 and played in just 42 games this past season.

I'd like to see what Rodriguez can do in Double-A next year, but most of all I'd like to see what he can do with a full season of health. He's already gotten to Rule 5 eligible status and if he's going to have a future in the Brewers outfield, he needs to prove he can stay healthy. Plus, without the promise of really any power and being reliant on the hit tool to carry, Rodriguez will need to do a little better than hitting in the mid-.260s in High-A to have a big league future.

Perhaps Rodriguez's ceiling is only that of a backup outfielder, but if he's going to at least stay on the radar for the Brewers, he needs to perform in 2023 for the full season and improve that hitting ability just a little more.