Brewers dealt worst case scenario as top prospect heads for season ending surgery

One of the most exciting young players in the Brewers organization is going to miss the rest of the 2024 season. Top catching prospect and Milwaukee's #3 overall prospect per MLB Pipeline Jeferson Quero is undergoing surgery.

Quero jammed his shoulder back into first base on a pickoff attempt on Triple-A Opening Day and has been out ever since. The Brewers got imaging done which revealed a subluxed shoulder but needed to wait until the inflammation went down to know if the injury was any worse. It turns out, it was worse.

Jeferson Quero suffered a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder which will require surgery and the recovery period is nine months, meaning his 2024 season is over.

What does Jeferson Quero's injury mean for him and the Brewers?

Obviously, this is a terrible blow for both player and organization. Quero loses out on a year of development and at-bats in Triple-A that would've had him ready for the big leagues later this year or early next year. He'll still need those ABs before he's called upon to back up William Contreras, which will push his MLB debut likely to mid-late 2025.

For the organization, the Brewers now have just two healthy catchers on the 40 man roster, William Contreras and Gary Sanchez. Eric Haase was outrighted at the end of spring training and is in Triple-A Nashville. He's now in line to get the call should an injury happen to one of the Crew's top two catchers. Francisco Mejia was also recently signed to a minor league deal and has big league experience.

Heading into 2025, the Brewers will likely need to find another veteran backstop behind Contreras to bridge the gap until Quero is ready again. They were likely hoping 2024 would be the last bridge year until Quero came up but now they're going to need another.

A torn labrum suffered on a dive back into first base is eerily familiar to Brewers fans as seen with Jimmy Nelson back in 2017. Nelson missed a lot of time and was never the same kind of pitcher again. Quero is not a pitcher, but as a catcher, his throwing arm is quite important. Quero's arm is one of his defensive calling cards. It's a plus arm and after an injury like this, getting his arm back to the level it was will not be easy.

This is awful news for all involved. The Brewers will hope to have Quero ready to go for spring training 2025.