Craig Yoho continues his rapid ascent, can he join the Milwaukee Brewers in 2024?

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Craig Yoho was the Milwaukee Brewers 8th round selection in the 2023 MLB Draft, overall pick number 242. Normally there is a few years between draft day and when prospects start hearing their names buzzed around the major league ball club. There are a few obvious exceptions, Jackson Chourio being the grandest example in the Brewers system.

However, Craig Yoho has entered the conversation and, more aptly, is banging the door down, to have his name in consideration to make it to the big leagues barely over a year after being drafted.

Craig Yoho has rocketed himself into contention for one of the Milwaukee Brewers most exciting pitching prospects and could find himself competing with Jacob Misiorowski for a September call-up spot.

Biloxi Shuckers play-by-play announcer and media manager Javik Blake was asked about the newly igniting race to the bigs between Yoho and Misiorowski and Blake said he believes Yoho could potentially beat Misiorowski to the big leagues. Blake mentioned that it will come down to what the Brewers value more (the two possess very different skill sets) but he wouldn't be surprised to see Yoho up in Milwaukee sooner than later if he mows through AAA hitters like he did in Wisconsin and Biloxi.

In the Brewers official MLB prospect re-rankings that took place earlier this week, Yoho was listed as the Brewers number 20 prospect. Yoho also made the list of best tools by having the highest graded changeup which we'll get to later.

There are however, some outlets who think Yoho should be ranked much higher given his mercurial rise through the Brewers system ranks in 2024, like Reviewing the Brew, who have Craig Yoho ranked fairly at number 11.

Craig Yoho has posted some very impressive stats across the three teams he's pitched for to this point in 2024, totaling a 0.76 ERA in 37 appearances, covering 47.1 innings with 90 strikeouts and just 14 walks across High-A, AA and AAA. Also across the three leagues Yoho is a perfect 9-for-9 in save opportunities and has a WHIP of .820 and opponent batting average of .148.

Where did Craig Yoho begin his 2024 season?

Yoho began the year pitching in Wisconsin for the Timber Rattlers, he appeared in 16 games, threw 20.1 innings, allowed only eight hits and six walks, 14 total baserunners, while striking out 37 of the 77 batters he faced. Yoho's WHIP for the T-Rats was an impressive 0.689, his opponent batting average was .119, his ERA was 0.44 as he allowed only one earned run in his 16 appearances and his strikeout advanced numbers were just ridiculous.

For the Timber Rattlers, Craig Yoho averaged 16.4 strikeouts per nine innings, struck out 48.1 percent of the batters he faced and had a strikeout to walk ratio of 6.17:1, for context, likely AL Cy Young Winner Tarik Skubal sports a strikeout to walk ratio of 6.21:1. For good measure, Craig Yoho also went 7-for-7 on save attempts for the Timber Rattlers before moving up to AA Biloxi to pitch for the Shuckers.

Craig Yoho went from High-A Wisconsin to AA Biloxi on May 30th and immediately continued his dominance, and quite possibly pitched even better than he did for Wisconsin. Yoho made 18 appearances covering 23.0 innings, allowed 14 hits and eight walks, 22 total baserunners, while striking out 46 of 99 total batters faced!

Yoho's ERA with Biloxi was 1.17 along with a 0.957 WHIP, .167 opponent batting average and some more impressive strikeout numbers. 18.00 strikeouts per nine innings, 46.4 strikeout percentage and 5.75:1 strikeout to walk ratio. Yoho was not long for Biloxi and earned his second promotion of the summer just over two months after his first.

On August 6th, Craig Yoho was promoted to AAA Nashville where he currently pitches. Yoho has made three appearances to date for the Nashville Sounds, covering 4.0 innings. His ERA sits at 0.00, WHIP at .750, opponent batting average at .200 as he's allowed just three hits against 15 batters faced. Yoho has not yet walked a batter in AAA and has struck out seven, marking a 46.7 percent strikeout percentage. His current strikeout per nine innings rate would be 15.75 and with zero walks his strikeout to walk ratio is currently 7:0.

Now that you know the stats, what does Craig Yoho throw?

As previously mentioned, Craig Yoho spent just over two months in Biloxi pitching for the Shuckers in AA. I had the opportunity to catch up with Javik Blake, the play-by-play announcer and media manager for the Shuckers to ask him about Yoho's pitching breakdown.

Javik Blake informed me that Yoho is a three pitch pitcher, starting with a sinker that sits around 92 miles per hour with 20 inches of arm-side break (breaking in on a left handed hitter), this pitch is similar to the sinker that Elvis Peguero throws, just with less velocity. Where Yoho is sitting around 92 mph, Peguero averages 96.8 mph.

Next is Yoho's most devastating pitch, I mentioned at the top that we'd come back to his changeup and here we are, this is the money-maker. Yoho's changeup sits in the upper 70 mph range and has about 20 inches of horizontal break away from left handed hitters, in on right handed hitters. First thought to the mind is "how does that compare to Devin Williams' airbender?" Answer: extremely closely, Williams' changeup averages 84.8 miles per hour and 19.1 inches of horizontal break, so if Yoho is able to add just a little bit of velocity to his changeup, the Brewers could have two airbenders.

For your viewing pleasure, Craig Yoho's third appearance for the Nashville Sounds opened with three straight changeups and the batter stood no chance.

Lastly is Craig Yoho's slider, now this pitch with some work on the velocity, like the other two, could be another untouchable pitch. Blake said Yoho's slider is in the mid 70 miles per hour range with again about 20 inches of horizontal break. A slider with that much movement has to just eat up left handed hitters and induce some very silly looking swings from right handed hitters. If Yoho is even in the ballpark of 20 inches of horizontal break on his slider, it would be among the league leaders in baseball as one of the highest breaking sliders in baseball.

What else to expect from Craig Yoho when seeing him pitch

I asked Javik Blake some more questions about Yoho to get some perception on what he'll bring to the table as a pitcher.

Firstly, what the Sounds, and eventually the Brewers, should expect from Yoho, Blake said "Tons of strikeouts and ground balls!" He informed me that among players with at least 20 innings pitched in AA as of Yoho's call up that he ranked first in strikeout percentage and seventh in ground ball rate at 63 percent. Yoho was also first in fielding independent pitching (FIP) at 0.67 and his 1.17 ERA ranked seventh.

Next I asked what makes Yoho so effective against opposing batters and no surprise Blake's answer was the changeup, but also that Yoho plays it so well off of his sinker. Blake said that Yoho is a true three pitch pitcher and his "unicorn change takes it to the next level". Additionally, Yoho's effectiveness is more about movement than velocity.

What impressed Blake the most about Yoho while he was in Biloxi? The way that he carries himself is that of a pitcher who has thrown fewer than 85 innings including college (now exactly 85 as of Saturday night). Blake added that Yoho's ability to dot pitches and use movement to leave hitters clueless was incredible and it felt like the Shuckers bullpen had a big league arm in it while he was there.

I asked Blake for a hot take on Craig Yoho and his answer was that he is a future National League Reliever of the Year and hopefully settle into the back of the Brewers bullpen for years to come. Sound familiar?

I had to ask Blake for a pitcher to compare Craig Yoho to and the answer was simply Devin Williams, the changeup being the obvious draw on top of play-by-play announcers thinking he can already follow in the footsteps as a future Reliever of the Year, something that Williams has done twice. If Craig Yoho makes it to Milwaukee Before the 2024 season is over, we could see the Javik Blake named "unicorn change" and the airbender in the Brewers bullpen at the same time.

Also, in the "doesn't show up on the stat sheet" department, with the Milwaukee Brewers biggest advantage as a small market team in MLB, I was curious to know Blake's thoughts on Yoho's personality. Blake said "I loved having Craig in Biloxi" and added he is "Such an incredible human being and a great clubhouse guy."

Stay tuned to see if Craig Yoho can start and finish his 2024 season in the state of Wisconsin.

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