Grading the Milwaukee Brewers first round picks from the last five years

2023 - RHP Josh Knoth, 33rd overall (Comp A pick)

Even rarer for the Brewers than drafting a power hitter in the first round is selecting a high school pitcher. In fact, the last time Milwaukee had done so was all the way back in 2014 when they took lefty Kodi Medeiros out of Hawaii 12th overall.

While it wasn't quite as high up in the first round this time, the Brewers finally did so again last summer when they took high schooler Josh Knoth out of New York. But then, this is a much better Brewers regime in terms of developing pitching talent than it was back then.

Knoth has two things the Brewers love out of their pitchers: a fastball that can reach the upper 90s and a breaking ball (a curveball in this case) with a boatload of spin. The fact that they were able to sign him below slot as part of an absolutely loaded 2023 draft class was an added bonus.

In his first year of pro ball at just 18 years old, Knoth is having as solid a season as one could expect for someone of his age. In 15 games, all starts, he is 3-5 with a 4.01 ERA and 1.41 WHIP. He is holding opposing hitters to a .231 batting average and has a pretty impressive 10.8 K/9, though he is also walking batters at a 5.25 BB/9 rate.

It is still way to early to know how Knoth's career will end up trending, but at least it's off to a good start. So this one will have to be evaluated for the talent received at the position drafted and the price that was paid for that talent. In that case, there are few complaints to be had with this pick. Grade: A-