The 5 best Brewers player development success stories in 2024

2. Tobias Myers

The player development of Tobias Myers is perhaps as surprising as it is important. Myers signed a minor league deal prior to the 2023 season after bouncing around with a few organizations. In Double-A last season, Myers ate up innings, but to the tune of a 5.03 ERA.

Coming into the year, Myers was nowhere on the radar for the starting rotation. He had an invite to big league spring training, but was among the first cuts from camp. Then an injury hit the starting rotation. Then another injury hit, then another injury and next thing you know, the Brewers are having to call upon Tobias Myers to make a start.

Myers did okay in his first few outings, but he was up and down throughout the early part of the season, pitching to a 5.40 ERA. The Brewers recalled Myers again on June 5th and he hasn't gone back down since. It started with a dominant performance against the Tigers, throwing eight shutout innings allowing just one hit. From that start forward, Myers has a 2.52 ERA in 107.1 IP the rest of the season.

In a year where the Brewers starting rotation desperately needed innings to fill following injuries, where their depth was depleted, Tobias Myers stepped up in a way no one saw coming. His rapid development from posting a 5.00+ ERA in Double-A last year to dominating major league hitters this year is nothing short of remarkable.

The player development of a top guy like Jackson Chourio is one thing, but to turn a guy like Myers, whom no one had on their radar, into a reliable and big time rotation piece is a completely different level of success.

3. Jared Koenig

Another surprising player development success this year was Jared Koenig. The 30 year old Koenig had only limited big league experience prior to this season, pitching for the 2022 Oakland Athletics with a 5.72 ERA. The Brewers brought him in on a minor league deal.

Similar to Myers, Koenig was a bit of an afterthought in spring training, being among the early cuts in camp and starting the year in Triple-A. Very quickly though, Koenig dominated the minor leagues and the Brewers bullpen was needing some reinforcements. They called on Koenig and he very quickly turned himself into one of their most valuable and trusted arms.

In 56 games, Koenig has a 2.47 ERA and has pitched in a variety of roles, including opener (six starts), closer (one save) and everything in between.

Koenig has always had talent, and he throws in the upper 90s from the left side, which is rare to see and it makes you wonder why he hasn't gotten more big league opportunities before. The Brewers saw the talent in him and have been able to finally tap into it. At 30 years old, Koenig is a late bloomer, but a major player development success this year.