It has been a long time coming, but it is finally here. After the struggles that came along with the pandemic in 2020, minor league baseball returns to America’s cities, including a few here in the Dairyland, starting on Tuesday night. Some of the 30 MLB club’s top prospects are going to spread across both low and high minor-league levels all over the country. So, where are the Brewers’ crop starting out, and who should be watched closely at each level? That is what we here at Wisconsin Sports Heroics are going to take a look at today. This is the Brewers Minor League Watchlist for 2021.
Low-A: Carolina Mudcats
- MLB Pipeline Top 30 Prospects on Opening Day Roster: 4
- SS Freddy Zamora (No. 8)
- Second-round draft pick of MIL in 2020
- C Zavier Warren (No. 11)
- Third-round draft pick of MIL in 2020
- OF Micah Bello (No. 28)
- Competitive balance B draft pick of MIL in 2018
- RHP Abner Uribe (No. 30)
- Signed as an international free agent in 2018
- SS Freddy Zamora (No. 8)
The Rundown
With the switch in classification between Carolina and Wisconsin for this season, not as many eyes are going to be on the former. However, that should not take away from the wealth of young talent this Mudcats team has. Two top-11 prospects are the highlight with Zamora and Warren both making their debuts in the Brewers organization this year. After a suspension and ACL injury dropped his stock out of Miami, the Brewers nabbed the 6’1 shortstop Zamora in the second round of last year’s draft.
Warren, a convert to the backstop position, will be looking to make an impact in his first Minor League season and compete in a crowded catcher prospect scene in Milwaukee. A pair of lower-ranked prospects in Bello (.236 average in rookie ball in 2019) and Uribe (seven games in rookie ball in 2019) will also look to prove their worth while in Carolina.
High-A: Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Top 30 Prospects on Opening Day Roster: 6
- OF Garrett Mitchell
- 2019 First-round draft pick
- OF Carlos Rodriguez
- Signed as an international free agent in 2017
- SS Hayden Cantrelle
- 2019 Fifth-round draft pick
- C Nick Kahle
- 2019 Fourth-round draft pick
- C/INF Thomas Dillard
- 2019 Fifth-round draft pick
- SS/2B David Hamilton
- 2019 Eighth-round draft pick
The Rundown
The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers have seen many top prospects come to northeast Wisconsin, including Keston Hiura. Garrett Mitchell is listed as the #6 prospect in the 2020 draft by MLB Pipeline to the Brewers at #20 after a stellar career at UCLA.
Along with Mitchell, five other top 30 prospects join the fray in Grand Chute. Shortstop Hayden Cantrelle will also be making his Minor League debut, while Kahle and Dillard should pair to make a solid backstop combo for the Timber Rattlers. One thing for sure, though, is that Wisconsin should have a lineup that deserves a second look by all teams in the High-A Central.
Double-A: Biloxi Shuckers
- Top 30 Prospects on Opening Day Roster: 4
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- SS/2B Brice Turang (No. 2, No. 83 overall)
- 2018 First-round draft pick (21st overall)
- LHP Ethan Small (No. 4)
- 2019 First-round draft pick (28th overall)
- OF Tristen Lutz (No. 12)
- 2017 Competitive balance A draft pick (34th overall)
- C Payton Henry (No. 19)
- 2016 Sixth-round draft pick
- SS/2B Brice Turang (No. 2, No. 83 overall)
The Rundown
The Shuckers group is headlined by first-round picks of 2018 and 2019 respectively in Turang and Small. Drafted out of high school, Turang hit .256 with 30 stolen bases across low-A and high-A in 2019 and looks to make an impact at the next level.
Small, a 6’4” lefty, had a solid, albeit short, debut season in 2019. With an ERA of 1.00 and 31:4 K/BB ratio in 18 innings at Wisconsin in 2019, Small impressed enough to make his way up to AA to start the year. In addition, Lutz (.255 at Carolina in 2019) and Henry (.242/14 HR/75 RBI in 2019) are looking to make strong cases for the future in Milwaukee.
Triple-A: Nashville Sounds
- Top 30 Prospects on Opening Day Roster: 4
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- C Mario Feliciano (No. 5)
- 2016 Competitive balance B draft pick
- LHP Aaron Ashby (No. 7)
- 2018 Fourth-round draft pick
- OF Corey Ray (No. 24)
- 2016 First-round draft pick (5th overall)
- LHP/OF Clayton Andrews (No. 25)
- 2018 Seventeenth-round draft pick
- C Mario Feliciano (No. 5)
The Rundown
The Nashville Sounds have returned to the Milwaukee farm system! Formerly affiliated from 2005-2014, the team has since bounced around the AL West, with affiliations with Oakland and Texas in the years since. A team that has not seen a lot of success at the AAA level in recent years, the Brewers hope this crop of talent can help with that.
A couple of players with experience in this group are Feliciano and Ray. Feliciano is the highest-regarded prospect of the four, having hit .273 with 19 home runs and 81 RBI at Carolina in 2019. Ray, on the other hand, has struggled significantly since being drafted 5th overall in 2016, hitting just .218 across primarily AA and AAA in 2019.
Ashby has advanced past both levels of A ball across just two seasons. According to MLB Pipeline, look for him to make his way to Milwaukee soon. Rounding out the field is Clayton Andrews, a diminutive two-way player who was a late-round pick back in 2018. Holding fairly equal experience as a hitter (55 games) and pitcher (39 games) in 2019.
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