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.