Brewers Weekly Prospect Watch: Fast rising pitchers getting closer to big leagues

The Brewers farm system continues to develop exciting pitching talent and this past week was a further example of that. The "pitching lab" is used as the all encompassing term for the Brewers pitching development and the success they've had. There's even more success coming down the line.

Two pitchers have recently been promoted to Double-A Biloxi and could continue to move quickly through the system as they've been thoroughly dominant. One of them is putting himself in line to be the first player from the Brewers 2023 Draft to reach the big leagues.

Two rising pitching prospects promoted to Double-A

This week, both Logan Henderson and Craig Yoho were promoted from High-A Wisconsin to Double-A Biloxi. Both are very exciting pitching prospects that are rising fast.

Let's start with Henderson. Henderson was the Crew's 4th round pick back in 2021 and has shown great pitch traits but only in limited action at the lower levels of the minors. He has just 103.2 IP in his career since being drafted three years ago. Injury slowed him coming out of the Draft and the Brewers have carefully managed his innings workload.

Henderson's made four starts this year and has a 0.79 ERA, 20 strikeouts, and just two walks in 11.1 IP. He had his longest outing of the year on Friday, going four innings, allowing just three hits and no runs while striking out seven for High-A Wisconsin. He started just two games for them after a pair of rehab starts in the ACL. Now's he's up to Biloxi.

Keep an eye on Henderson as a starting pitching prospect. The stuff is there and now that he's healthy, he could put himself in consideration for further promotion very soon.

The second pitcher quickly rising up the ranks is Craig Yoho. Yoho was the Brewers 8th round pick in the 2023 Draft and he was my pick for the first player to reach the big leagues from that class. He signed for just a $10,000 signing bonus as a senior out of Indiana.

Yoho had a 0.44 ERA in 16 appearances with High-A Wisconsin with 37 strikeouts and just six walks in 20.1 IP. He was a perfect 7-for-7 in save opportunities. He was promoted to Double-A Biloxi and shoved in his first outing, going two perfect innings with five strikeouts.

Yoho has wipeout stuff, a starter's arsenal, strong command, and has been flat out dominating the competition. These are big league quality pitches he's throwing and as a reliever there's not much more development the 24 year old will need.

Yoho is putting himself in very real consideration for a job in the Brewers bullpen during this 2024 season. He's rising fast through the ranks and his performance has put him squarely on the radar.

Other notable prospect performances

• Freddy Zamora, a second round pick in 2020, was promoted to Triple-A a few weeks ago despite substandard numbers. His offense has improved a bit in Triple-A. With the Nashville Sounds, Zamora is hitting .250/.308/.396 with a double and two homers. He hit both those homers in Saturday's game for the Sounds last week.

• The on-base streaks continue for Cooper Pratt and Dylan O'Rae. Pratt has a 13 game on-base streak for Low-A Carolina over which he's hitting .319/.432/.383 with three doubles. On the season, last year's 6th round pick is now hitting .262/.387/.357. O'Rae has a 14 game on-base streak in which he's hitting .326 with a .508 OBP and nine stolen bases. On the season he's already swiped 26 bags, tied for the Midwest League lead.

• Tyler Black hit a grand slam on Sunday for Triple-A Nashville. Since May 29th, Black is hitting .381 (8 for 21) with two homers and 11 RBIs.

• The Dominican Summer League starts action on Monday. The Brewers 2024 international signing class will begin their professional careers there and Milwaukee has two DSL clubs they're operating this year. The class is led by a pair of shortstops, Jorge Quintana, who received a $1.7MM signing bonus, and Jesus Made, who signed for $950,000. Some other top players to know on these squads include Luis Pena, Joandrew Pena, Luis Corobo, Handelfry Encarnacion, Victor Garcia, and Jeremy George.