Brewers: Complete Draft Grades Of The Brewers 2023 Draft Class

Brewers Draft Grades - Comp A Round (33) - Josh Knoth, Patchogue-Medford (NY) HS

This pick surprised me quite a bit. The Brewers have been practically allergic to high school pitching since they were burned by Kodi Medeiros and Caden Lemons the last few years. But Milwaukee dipped back into those waters to seemingly reach for a Northeast prep arm in Josh Knoth, ranked 98th by MLB Pipeline at 33 overall.

The Brewers may have to go over-slot here, and that much money to a prep righty, even a good one, is more often than not money well wasted.

Prior to the Draft, I wrote that high upside pitching was a need for the Brewers organization. While Knoth certainly qualifies, perhaps I should've specified that this pitching should be able to help at the big league level relatively soon.

Knoth is 17 years old, he throws 98 MPH and has a 3,100 RPM curveball and 3,000 RPM slider. His live arm and feel for spin will be a fun project for the Brewers pitching lab. They love guys with metrics like this.

But when are we going to see him? If all goes perfectly well, the earliest we'll see him is probably 2028. He's not going to make it to Milwaukee prior to that. Maybe, maybe late 2027 if he dominates and has no health problems, but that's not guaranteed. The upside is great, but it's going to be a while before we see it realized.

Grade: B-

Brewers Draft Grades - 2nd round (54) - Mike Boeve, 3B, Nebraska-Omaha

The Brewers went with a bit of an opposite approach with Wilken and Boeve. Where Wilken is a big power bat that may not make enough contact, Boeve is a contact hitter with very little power.

It was a little surprising to see Boeve listed as a third baseman/first baseman given his clear lack of pop and mediocre throwing arm. Defensively, he doesn't have an obvious home. He could be a first baseman but his lack of power doesn't make that an ideal fit either.

Boeve's exit velocities and high groundball rates leave a lot to be desired with his bat, even though he makes a ton of contact. He struck out just nine times this year but the hit tool is the only above-average tool in his profile and there's very little impact with it. He could add some power, but there seemed to be better options on the board.

Grade: B

Brewers Draft Grades - 3rd Round (87) - Eric Bitonti, SS/3B, Aquinas (CA) HS

Here's another power-over-hit profile, something the Brewers were previously allergic to. Eric Bitonti brings a ton of upside from the California high school ranks.

Bitonti is big and strong at 6 foot 4 with huge raw power. The Brewers have said they plan to send him out as a third baseman. There are questions about whether he'll hit enough. The Brewers must feel they can improve that area of his game, but they haven't taken on a lot of power over hit projects like this in recent years.

Bitonti was on the Crew's Area Code Team at the annual showcase event last year so the Brewers know him well and they believe they can make the adjustments necessary. If it all comes together, there's true impact potential.

Grade: A

Brewers Draft Grades - 4th Round (119) - Jason Woodward, RHP, Florida Gulf Coast

Jason Woodward wasn't on anyone's big board coming in, but the Brewers grab a small school pitcher in the 4th round to get some big slot savings.

Let's be honest, Woodward isn't worth a fourth round pick. He underwent Tommy John surgery a few months ago and won't be back on the mound until mid-2024. He made just three starts this year before getting hurt. He's got some good stuff with a fastball-changeup combo, but there isn't much of a book on him.

He's an intriguing arm but the Brewers didn't draft Woodward banking on him to be a big time piece of their future. They did it to save as much money in the 4th round as they could to sign Bitonti and their 6th rounder, Cooper Pratt. More on that coming up. If we didn't know this pick was to save money for other guys, the grade would be a lot lower.

Grade: C+

Brewers Draft Grades - 5th round (155) - Ryan Birchard, RHP, Niagara County CC

It wouldn't be a Brewers draft without a junior college pitcher being selected in the first few rounds. Ryan Birchard is the guy this year and there's good reason to like him. This year he had a 1.08 ERA in 50 IP with 95 Ks. Birchard has a fastball-curveball combo, sitting in the mid-90s and spins a beautiful curveball.

The Brewers love spin rates and Birchard has the pitch data they want. He dominated the Draft League which is where the Brewers probably saw him that caught their attention.

Birchard's a reliever, but the Brewers have found success in the JuCo pitching ranks, so there's good reason to believe in him.

Grade: A-

Brewers Draft Grades - 6th Round - Cooper Pratt, Magnolia Heights (MS) HS

When this pick came in, I audibly gasped. Once we got past the 5th round and Cooper Pratt was still on the board, everyone thought he was going to end up going to college. The Brewers instead scooped up a 1st-2nd round talent in the 6th round.

Pratt fell due to signability concerns, but the Brewers are expecting to sign him. There is true impact potential with the bat. He has the best bat to ball skills of any hitter in this high school class. Pratt drives the ball in the air almost effortlessly. There is plenty of raw power that he doesn't even have to try very hard to tap into.

He's big and strong at 6 foot 4 and 200 pounds and there's room for more muscle to be added. This is the highest upside pick of the Brewers entire draft and he could be the best player from this class in no time. Getting him in the 6th is incredible and being able to sign him will be a coup for the Brewers scouting department.

Grade: A+

Brewers Draft Grades - Rounds 7-10 - The Senior Signs

In order to afford the high upside prepsters Eric Bitonti and Cooper Pratt, the Brewers will need to go well over-slot. Pratt's low slot value of $309,900 means they have a lot of ground to make up to get a deal done. That's where the senior signs come in.

College seniors have no leverage in bonus talks. They aren't able to go back to school and they want to turn pro, so they take whatever bonus teams offer them. Milwaukee went with four straight college seniors to round out Day 2 and save as much slot money as possible.

Tate Kuehner, lefty out of Louisville, has a funky arm slot and has been Louisville's closer at times. The Brewers love themselves a funky lefty and he could legit be a big league reliever.

8th rounder Craig Yoho also has legit big league stuff. He missed the last two seasons with injuries, including Tommy John, but had a 63:19 K/BB ratio. He has a full four pitch mix that misses bats. Don't be surprised if we see him move quickly and help out the Brewers bullpen soon.

9th rounder Mark Manfredi is a big, funky lefty that gets a ton of ground balls and strikeouts. He pitched well in the Cape Cod League. He's another 23 year old relief pitcher that could move to Milwaukee quickly.

10th rounder Morris Austin was the only one of this group I didn't like. He has just 44.1 IP under his belt in three years with 39 walks and 49 Ks. When he has been on the mound, he hasn't been good with a career ERA of 6.50. At least the other options had some amount of success when on the mound. Yes, it's a 10th round senior sign, but surely there were some better ones still on the board.

Grade for Kuehner, Yoho, and Manfredi: A
Grade for Austin: D

Brewers Draft Grades - Day 3 Selections

We're just going to group all of these picks into one because so many of them aren't going to sign. Day 3 of the Draft almost felt like a throwaway for the Brewers. They would've been just fine with the Draft ending after Day 2 based on these picks.

The Brewers selected seven high school players on Day 3. Any signing bonus over $150k among these picks counts against the bonus pool. The Brewers don't have enough bonus pool money to sign all of these guys. They may not have enough to sign two or even one of these guys.

Why do this? The Brewers don't have enough minor league roster spots to add 21 new players. They don't want 21 new players and therefore pick guys they like but know they can't sign. If room opens up, maybe they could, but there just isn't room for 21 new faces.

Milwaukee started with RHP Bishop Letson in the 11th round. He was ranked 179 on MLB Pipeline's big board, so he's a legit target with upside. He has high spin rates, good movement on his pitches, athleticism, all the traits the Brewers desire with their pitchers. Generally, the earlier you pick a player on Day 3, the more confident you are that you can sign him and the more you are trying to sign him. The Brewers weren't confident enough to take him on Day 2, but they can try on Day 3 without worrying if they can't get it done.

Bjorn Johnson in Round 12 is a pitchability lefty. Even though he's an Auburn commit, perhaps the Brewers think he could be signable taking him here. They signed Luke Adams as a 12th rounder last year, so it depends on how much money he wants.

There were a couple of college picks interspersed. Brett Wichrowski in the 13th round out of Bryant University in Rhode Island and Josh Timmerman of Ohio State in the 16th round are the two players from these picks I expect the Brewers to sign. They're more potential relievers but they have a lot of improvement to do to get on the radar for that.

Dylan Watts in the 18th round is another college pick, but a JuCo pick out of Tacoma CC. He's just a freshman and is committed to Auburn after a season with a 0.23 ERA. He'll be a tough sign though.

Jacob Gholston is another highly rated prep pitcher, taken in the 17th round. I don't expect him to sign, but if he does, that's an easy Day 2 talent the Brewers grabbed. A tall (6 foot 6) arm from Texas with athleticism and nasty stuff, Gholston has big upside but a strong commitment to Oklahoma.

At best, the Brewers could probably sign one of these high school picks, maybe two but it's doubtful. Which one they sign will determine the grade. We won't know until the signing deadline on July 25th.

Grade if Brewers sign Letson or Gholston: A-
Grade if Brewers sign Johnson or Watts: B-
Grade if Brewers only sign Wichrowski/Timmerman: D

Brewers Draft Grades - Overall Class

Looking at the Brewers Draft class as a whole, there are a few players that stand out as the stars. Cooper Pratt is potentially the steal of the Draft, not just of Milwaukee's class, but the entire draft for the league. Eric Bitonti is another high upside pick that was a better talent than where they took him.

The Brewers essentially grabbed two second round picks in the 3rd and 6th rounds. They may have massively traded down in the 4th round and again in rounds 7-10, but it was a well managed Draft through the first two days.

Let's take stock of what the Brewers added here. They got a traditional, power hitting third baseman that they haven't had the likes of in years in this organization. They got a contact-oriented hitter that can also play the corner infield, addressing their two biggest positional needs in the system, 1B and 3B, with guys that have a plus tool at the plate.

They added a high upside pitcher in Knoth that they can work very well with, plus two very high upside infielders at great value. Bitonti and Pratt could be stars. On top of that, the Brewers added several pitchers who look like options in the big league bullpen in the not too distant future.

Milwaukee selected and will sign 5 of MLB Pipeline's top 100 draft prospects. That's tied for the most of any team in this year's Draft. This is despite starting with the 18th pick. The only team with a later first rounder with as many in the Top 100 was Seattle and that was due to their Prospect Promotion pick being added at 29 overall.

This was a very well done draft by Milwaukee. They addressed organizational needs, added high upside talent at key positions, and stocked up on pitching that could help out soon. We'll revisit this Draft class in about five years when we have a full picture on how this class turned out, but for right now, it's very well done.

Brewers 2023 Draft Class Grade: A