Brewers Minor League Report: Teenage Prospects Starting New Wave of Talent

Carolina Mudcats dominating in the early going

The Brewers have a new wave of young talent starting in the lower minors and it's looking it could be not just a wave but a tsunami. Led by top prospect Jesus Made, the Low-A Carolina Mudcats are flush with teenage talent that's teeming with potential.

Made, 17, is wasting no time in his stateside debut, already hitting .329/.420/.529 with three homers and eight stolen bases. He's further proving his top prospect status in the organization and will be quickly rising up Top 100 boards after already starting the season on most of them.

He's joined in the infield by Luis Pena, 18, Filippo Di Turi, 19, Josh Adamczewski, 19, and Eric Bitonti, 19. There's not a single infielder on the Mudcats active roster that's even 20 years old yet.

Pena is hitting .333 with a .900 OPS. Di Turi is hitting .263 with an .848 OPS. Adamczewski is hitting a whopping .346 with a .986 OPS. Bitonti is hitting .235 with a .690 OPS but he leads the team with eight doubles. 

And that's just the infield. In the outfield, there's Braylon Payne, last year's first round draft pick, who's hitting .273 with two homers, 13 stolen bases, and a .823 OPS. Behind the plate, Marco Dinges is hitting .400 with an 1.143 OPS and 10 walks to just six strikeouts.

The Mudcats are 17-6 and dominating the Carolina League. It's easy to see why and this group is forming a tidal wave of talent that will be coming up through the Brewers system.

Timber Rattlers led by under-the-radar pitching prospects

2023 11th round pick Bishop Letson and 2024 12th round pick Tyson Hardin didn't come into pro ball with a great deal of hype, but they're certainly starting to build some. 

"Just trying to do what we've been doing for so long, it's the same game we've been doing since we were kids. Just come out here, throw strikes, and have some fun" Tyson Hardin told Drew and KB of 97.3 The Game on Thursday. 

It's been working so far. Hardin has a 0.96 ERA through his first four starts this year with 20 strikeouts and just four walks. Letson has a 1.65 ERA in four outings with 17 strikeouts to three walks. 

Letson has already drawn the attention of prospect evaluators and was ranked 18th on Athlon's Top 50 Brewers prospects list to start the season. He had scouts buzzing at the Spring Breakout game. The development of young pitchers like these two are a pillar of the Brewers success.

"There's so many more resources in the Brewers org... in college we have the resources, we have one pitching coach. Here you've got a whole team of guys all in your best interest, only working for your career and developing you" Hardin said.

There's also 19 year old righty Manuel Rodriguez, who has a 1.80 ERA in five starts to begin the year with 25 strikeouts to just five walks over 25 IP. The pitching staff in High-A is dominating to begin the year in the cold weather of Appleton. 

The bats haven't gotten hot quite yet for the T-Rats, with the exception of first baseman Blake Burke, who's hitting .289 with a pair of homers and outfielder Hedbert Perez, who slugged his fourth home run and tenth extra base hit of the season on Thursday. 

The low levels of the minors are farthest away from the majors, but there's a ton of talent building a tidal wave that will be coming to Milwaukee in the near future.