Underrated Brewers bullpen weapon has chance to show off in Arizona Fall Stars Game

The Milwaukee Brewers have come to be known for their incredible pitching development department in recent years. Their ability to turn underrated homegrown pitchers into household names has been a large reason for their sustained success over the last decade. While names like Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, and Freddy Peralta (who the Brewers acquired when he was just 19 years old) serve as the best examples of this unique ability, others like Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson also fit the mold as pitchers who have taken major steps forward in the Brewers' farm system.

With Misiorowski, Henderson, Chad Patrick, and Robert Gasser all expected to impact the big league roster in 2026, the attention now turns to who will be the next Brewers pitching prospect to break out in the minor leagues. With several options already making a name for themselves in the upper levels of the minors, one under-the-radar prospect is turning heads with his performance in the Arizona Fall League (AFL). His performance even earned him a spot in the AFL's "All-Star game" known as the Fall Stars Game.

Jesús Broca set to pitch in the 2026 Fall Stars Game after impressive performance in the Arizona Fall League

Jesús Broca's minor league baseball career got off to an inconsistent start. The now-22-year-old southpaw, whom the Brewers signed in July of 2023, made two appearances in the Dominican Summer League (DSL) during the 2023 season, but his first full season of minor league ball came in 2024. He went from making four uninspiring appearances in the DSL to start the season, to looking very sharp in the Arizona Complex League (the other Rookie league that the Brewers compete in) to being promoted to Low-A all in one season.

Despite his performance in Low-A for the Carolina Mudcats not looking good on paper during the final weeks of the 2024 season and him struggling out of the gates in 2025, Broca was promoted to High-A on April 22 of this past year. Once he joined the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, everything clicked. Broca maintained a 2.95 ERA through 30 appearances out of the bullpen for the T-Rats, earning him another promotion, this time to Double-A, before the end of the season. He logged just five outings for the Biloxi Shuckers before the Brewers decided that they wanted him to compete in this year's Arizona Fall League, to get a better look at what he has to offer.

In the AFL, which is an offseason league that pits some of the games' best prospects against one another, Broca has picked up right where he left off. He's allowed just two earned runs -- two solo shots -- in nine innings of work, while striking out an impressive 15 batters during that span. As a result of his impressive performance, Broca has been asked to participate in this year's Fall Stars Game, as initially reported by MLB.com's Adam McCalvy on the social media platform X.

As McCalvy notes, Broca will join Brewers prospects Josh Adamczewski and Dylan O'Rae in this year’s Fall Stars Game, giving Brewers fans plenty to tune in to MLB Network for at 7:00 p.m. CT on Sunday night.