2026 July Farm Report: NL Central

It was a good month for the Brewers’ player development system, as Cooper Pratt and Luis Lara both made impacts at the big-league level. But there’s plenty more to be excited about for Milwaukee fans.

Andrew Fischer, now in Double-A, continued to show that double-plus pop that we’ve seen from him since college. Six home runs with Biloxi over the last month, plus a Pull FB% that was about as high as you’ll see in the Minors (see below). However, the swing-and-miss isn’t going anywhere.

Fischer tag-teamed with Blake Burke , who also hit six home runs over the last month and is up to 21 this season. Matthew Wood, Josiah Ragsdale, who was one of the top take hitters in the Southern League, and Josh Adamczewski each had four for Biloxi.

Down in High-A, former LSU infielder Daniel Dickinson had a big month. A slash line of .318/.471/.561 with four home runs and eight extra-base hits, plus 20 walks over 21 contests.

In Low-A, Brady Ebel — who will now be joined by his younger brother, Trey, in the Brewers’ organization — walked 20 times over his last 18 contests.

As for the pitchers, Josh Knoth is having a good run in High-A Wisconsin. No, don’t look at the ERA. Knoth gave up a lot of hits over the last month but keep in mind that he is a heavy groundball pitcher, and that will happen. Do look at the swing-and-miss numbers, as he posted a 30% Whiff% in the four weeks after the first half’s conclusion.

Cardinals

The Cardinals have something special with Yhoiker Fajardo.

Fajardo, acquired last winter from the Red Sox, has put up eye-popping strikeout numbers this season with High-A Peoria. The righty added 28 over the last month, which gave the 19-year-old 96 over 68.2 IP. While Boston did get a much-needed bat in the deal, Fajardo’s power stuff makes him one of the best high-upside arms in the St. Louis system.

He wasn’t the only Peoria pitcher to have a good month. Tanner Franklin (31.7% Whiff% from 6/22-7/20) struck out 19 over his 17 innings. Franklin was a second-round pick out of Tennessee last year.

Up in Double-A, Braden Davis dodged the walks (17 over 22.2 IP) to have a great month for Springfield. Twenty-nine strikeouts for the left-hander to lead the Texas League. The 23-year-old has been hit around a little bit more since his move to Double-A but he is still a big arm to watch, even though he may get size stereotyped at 5’11”.

Quinn Matthews (26% Whiff%) notched 25 strikeouts over 24 innings and posted a sub-2.00 ERA for Memphis.

Moving to the hitters, Jesus Baez had a great month with Double-A Springfield. The infielder, acquired from the Mets last summer for Ryan Helsley, hit eight home runs over a 20-game span with the Cardinals’ AA affiliate. It’s been a breakout year for Baez, who is up to 22 total home runs this season. And from an analytics standpoint, the pull-side pop will get attention.

But Baez wasn’t the only standout from Springfield. Rainiel Rodriguez slashed .292/.378/.569 with five home runs and 10 extra-base hits over 18 games. Won-Bin Cho blasted 10 home runs over the last month to lead the Texas League.

The Cardinals also may have picked up a nice, under-the-radar find in Brayden Smith , acquired from the O’s for Nick Raquet this past April.

Cubs

The Cubs are going to have some decisions to make at the deadline, which could mean parting with some notable prospects. No, that doesn’t mean expect any of the “big boys” to be moved. But, Chicago’s system is fairly deep at the moment.

Part of the reason why is that the Cubs have struck gold with players like Owen Ayers, who is now in Triple-A. Ayers picked up 19 hits, seven of which were extra-base hits, over his last 16 contests with Knoxville.

Jose Escobar, a 21-year-old infielder from Venezuela, came into play on July 23 on quite the tear. A stretch where he slashed .402/.448/.585 with two home runs and 10 extra-base hits across 21 contests. Plus, one of the lowest Whiff% in the Midwest League.

We’ll end our Cubs section with Jace Beck, who struck out 102 batters over 59 innings with Double-A Knoxville before he forced a promotion to Triple-A. A nice find for the Cubs, as Beck signed with the club in November 2025 after a lengthy stint in the Mets’ organization.

Pirates

Last summer, the Pirates picked up former second-rounder Sammy Stafura from the Reds for now-former Pittsburgh infielder Ke’Bryan Hayes. Stafura had tools — but didn’t have the production to back it up. Well, that changed over the last month.

Twelve home runs over his last 18 contests to lead the South Atlantic League, an impressive run for a Pirates team that has some impressive depth in Double-A and below.

Aside from Stafura, Jhonny Severino hit eight home runs over the last month for the Grasshoppers. Like Stafura, Severino was a grab from an NL Central club, as Pittsburgh acquired him three years ago for Carlos Santana. Edward Florentino, meanwhile, cracked seven blasts in High-A.

Lastly, one other player to watch is former Hofstra standout Dylan Palmer. A 20-grade power hitter, Palmer has some of the best bat-to-ball skills found in the Minors. Palmer slashed .321/.408/.393 over his first 26 contests with High-A Greensboro.

Murf Gray, a second-round pick by the Pirates last year, forced a second in-season promotion earlier this month. Gray has torn the cover off the ball this year, as he now has 25 home runs over 86 total contests this season.

One pitcher to watch: Jack Anker. A 35% Whiff% over the last month in High-A for Greensboro, where he picked up 29 strikeouts over his last 22 contests.

Reds

While Aaron Watson and Steele Hall, two of the Reds’ top 2025 MLB Draft picks, haven’t made it to full-season ball yet, we probably should touch on them at some point.

Watson, a second-round pick out of high school last year, has put up good numbers despite a high opponents’ batting average (.313). He struck out 36 over 27.2 IP, working largely off two low-to-mid-90s fastballs (two-seam & four-seam), plus a cutter. As for Hall, who is still 18 years of age, he had 30 extra-base hits (10 home runs) and 24 stolen bases across 58 contests in the ACL.

Moving up to full-season ball, former Rutgers infielder and Reds draft pick Ty Doucette had 29 hits, the second-most in the FSL, over the last month, along with five home runs.

Cam Collier hit five home runs over the last month, which pushed him to 13 overall this season. Remember, Collier had just five over 95 games last season in Double-A. Also, in Chattanooga, Ruben Ibarra led the Southern League in home runs (9). Lots of pull-side pop from Ibarra.

And, lastly for the offense highs, Hector Rodriguez cracked seven home runs (16% Barrel% from 6/22-7/20), second-most in the International League.

On the opposite end, catcher Jacob Friend slashed .182/.333/.379 over the last month with High-A Dayton. With 29 strikeouts over his last 19 and a sky-high Whiff%, it’s not hard to see why. Tyson Lewis, who batted .295 over the last month over the last month, was also among the Midwest League’s most egregious swing-and-miss hitters.