Milwaukee Brewers 2023 Post-Draft Superlatives

The 2023 MLB Draft is done and the Milwaukee Brewers made their 21 selections even though they don't plan to sign all 21 of them.

The Brewers addressed some of their biggest needs early on, adding power hitting and corner infield talent. They also went heavy on pitching, adding some high upside arms and some high floor arms that could move up the system quickly.

Just like we did with our pre-draft superlatives, we'll take a closer look at this year's Brewers draft class with some post-draft superlatives to help describe this year's class.

Biggest surprise - Just 2 college hitters

For years, the Brewers have stocked up on college bats. They love college hitters, especially up the middle ones. It was presumed they'd stock up on more of them this year. It seemed that was going to be the case on Day 1, when they started with the selection of Wake Forest's Brock Wilken and Nebraska-Omaha's Mike Boeve.

But then the Brewers didn't select a college position player the rest of the way. None on Day 2 and none on Day 3. For comparison, the Brewers drafted 7 college position players in each of the past two drafts. This year, that number drops down to just 2. It's quite a drop, and reflects a seeming change in draft philosophy in Milwaukee.

The Brewers are pretty well stocked on hitting because they've targeted so many college position players the last few years, so it does make some sense to not need as many. Still, it's surprising that it's only two college bats and didn't take a single flier on one later on in the draft.

Favorite pick - SS Cooper Pratt, 6th round

This was the pick that made the class for me. Most were thinking Cooper Pratt was heading to school when he was still on the board as the 6th round got started, but the Milwaukee Brewers had built a strong relationship with Pratt and ultimately felt they could sign him and snatched him up with the 182nd overall pick. Spoiler alert, Pratt is better than the 182nd best talent in this draft.

The selection of Pratt makes so many of the other picks make sense. The Brewers went heavy underslot in the 4th round with an off the radar Jason Woodward pick. The Day 1 guys, college hitters Wilken and Boeve also seemed like they could be underslot picks. Were they saving all that money for Josh Knoth in the Comp A round and Eric Bitonti in the 3rd? It didn't seem like they needed to save that much, there had to be someone else they were targeting. Turns out, it was Pratt.

Pratt could very well end up as the best big league player from this Brewers draft class. He has the best bat to ball skills and strike zone discipline of any high school player in this class. He's big at 6-foot-4 and strong, with solid power presently and room for a lot more as he grows into his frame and matures.

He can stick at shortstop and has high upside and star potential at the shortstop position with defense, hitting for average and for power. I know we've said this about Brice Turang and Eric Brown, but Pratt could be better than both of them and be Milwaukee's shortstop of the future. Getting him in the 6th round is even sweeter.

Head-scratching pick - Josh Knoth, Comp A Round

When looking at the whole picture, most of these picks make a lot of sense. I thought about putting Jason Woodward, the Crew's 4th round pick here, just because he's coming off TJS, is a small school arm, and doesn't really fit as a 4th rounder, but that pick was all about big slot savings for the two high school bats. So I get it, it makes sense.

The one that's unusual for me is Josh Knoth with the 33rd overall pick. Yes, he's talented. Yes, he can throw 98 MPH with a 3,100 RPM curveball. The Brewers picked him because they fell in love with those pitch traits and it's understandable why.

But the high school pitching demographic is so incredibly risky, more often than not it's a bad investment. That's why the Brewers have stayed away from it for the past several years. They haven't taken a Day 1 prep arm since 2017 when they took Caden Lemons 46th overall. Who's Caden Lemons? Exactly. Made 4 appearances in Low-A and that was as far as he got. Kodi Medeiros in 2014 was selected one spot ahead of college shortstop Trea Turner. Yeah, that Trea Turner.

The track record of high school arms is not good, especially ones from the northeast, where Knoth is from. The Brewers making an early investment in a prep arm, likely having to go overslot, for a guy at best you'll see in 2028 or 2029, just is a bit of a head-scratcher when there were other good options on the board.

Don't be shocked that - No outfielders for two years in a row

The Brewers went through this entire Draft without selecting a single outfielder. This is the second draft in a row Milwaukee has avoided adding more outfield depth.

Really though, the Brewers are already so stocked in the outfield that they don't need to. The big league club has the first big wave of outfield prospects at the ready, and Jackson Chourio isn't far behind. Throughout the organization, the outfields are loaded with prospects. The international signees of the last few years are making their way up the system and a lot of them are outfielders. They are supplying the lower levels with the outfield talent now, the Brewers don't need to draft them.

It's been an area of focus for so long, now the Brewers can turn their attention elsewhere in the Draft.

Best value - Cooper Pratt, 6th Round

There's no doubt about this one. Cooper Pratt is a second round talent. He was even mentioned by some mock drafts in the first round, and the Brewers grabbed him in the 6th.

Pratt could very well end up the best player from this Brewers draft class. You don't see that often from sixth round picks. It'll cost way over slot, so they won't be signing him for sixth round money, but just being able to grab him on top of getting the guys they did in the early rounds is excellent surplus value for your Draft class.

3 Words to describe Draft Class - Power, Upside, Change

The Brewers were able to add some things to their farm system that they've been lacking. They added power. Years of targeting hit-over-power players have left the system short on middle of the order bats. They have a lot of top of the order guys, but not many that can hit in the heart of the order and slug homers when you need them.

That also involved addressing the corner infield. Brock Wilken and Mike Boeve are both corner infielders, a position group that has been barren in the farm system for years and led to a revolving door at both third base and first base in Milwaukee. Third round pick Eric Bitonti is also going to be sent out as a third baseman, giving the Brewers three corner infielders in the first three rounds. He has a lot of power as well.

Upside is another word to describe this class. The Brewers targeted high upside players who are a bit riskier, but the reward is potentially greater. Typically, the Brewers have targeted safer picks with perhaps a lower ceiling but a higher floor and greater chances of making the big leagues. Knoth, Bitonti, and Pratt are high upside selections that could one day give the Brewers some All Star appearances.

The final word to describe this class is change. The Brewers made a lot of changes to their MO in this draft. Their philosophy changed. In previous years, the Brewers targeted bat first, up the middle players with high floors. They avoided high school players and risky upside plays. They avoided pure power hitters. This year, they targeted both demographics they've avoided.

As previously stated, the Brewers addressed their top needs in this Draft. In order to do that, they needed to make changes. If they stayed the same, they'd have more shortstops and centerfielders, but no power hitters and no one to take on third base and first base and those two key positions would continue to be black holes in Milwaukee's lineup.

They drafted power, they drafted upside, and they did it because they made a change to their draft philosophy. Time will tell if this change works out.