On Monday, December 12 the Brewers were involved in a three-team trade. William Contreras, Justin Yeager, and Joel Payamps ended up coming to the Brew Crew. On the surface, this trade was greatly executed by Matt Arnold and company. Contreras could be the Brewers catcher for several years to come, they got two pitchers, and gave up just one player in Esteury Ruiz.
Of the pitchers coming over to the Brewers in the deal, Justin Yeager has some interesting upside. The 33rd round pick in the 2019 draft has some serious velocity on his fastball. He also has a nasty splitter and slider.
Here is a video of new Brewers pitcher Justin Yeager throwing heat as well as his off speed.
Pro Remote Program S/O
Justin Yeager (@JYeagss) off to a great start with @GreenJackets!
Stats📈:
6 G / 6.0 IP / 0.00 ERA / 12 K’s / 0.84 WHIPFB — 96-99mph 🔥T100mph🔥
Splitter — 88-91mph (check the video 🤮🤮🤮)
SL — 86-89mph
Nice work Yeags!@premierpitching @Braves pic.twitter.com/fS6PRFo1hZ
— Mitch Plassmeyer (@Mitch_Plazz40) May 22, 2021
With this repertoire, Yeager has an astonishing 13.9 K:9 ratio throughout his minor league career. He has worked his way up to a high leverage reliever role and has pitched as high as Double-A. Given the talent he already possesses, that velocity will play at the big league level.
The most worrisome aspect of Yeager’s game is control. He does tend to walk quite a few batters. If he can tone that down, he will be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come. Addressing his command problems should be something that the Brewers pitching staff looks into right away. If he can figure this out in the pitching lab, he could be a big contributor in 2023.
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