Im going to use the top 20 prospect list off of minorleagueball.com as a top 10 reference. I will provide the stats up to date up today - and thoughts on the players. Feel free to add!
1. Jimmy Nelson AAA RHP - w: 4 L: 1; 1.76 ERA; .961 WHIP; 9.4 K/9 *1hr allowed in 50+ IP.
- Clearly Mr. Nelson is deserving of a starting spot in Milwaukee. There just happens to be no room right now. Kind of the same deal with Mr. Fiers who wont be on this list.
2. Victor Roache A+ OF .189 BA; .602 OPS; 6HR; 21 RBI Victor is 22 years old in A+ ball. That is pretty normal for a college draftee of just two years ago, but he has not shown progress in making better contact with the ball. He has obscene power, but will need to show he can hit for average a bit better.
3. Tyrone Taylor A OF .268; .816 OPS; 22 RBI; 4 SB Tyrone is a pretty exciting prospect he is over 2 years younger than the average A+ ball player at 20 years old and is holding his own at the level. Has a decent mix of speed and power.
4. Devin Williams R SP 3.38 ERA; 1.442 WHIP; 10.1 K/9 0 HR allowed. Devin (18yrs old) has put up decent numbers in rookie ball. His 0 HR allowed in 34 IP as well as his K/9 ratio are encouraging. Yet, he has walked 22 batters in this timeframe. He has the stuff, if he gains command over the next few years you could see him in Milw by 2017-2018.
5. Clint Coulter A C .298 BA; .996 OPS; 8 HR; 29 RBI Clint is over a year younger than the average A ball prospect. He is tearing the cover off the ball and could be the heir apparent to Johnathan LuCroy. There are questions about him being able to stay at C defensively, making him a likely candidate to be a 1b prospect.. especially if he continues to hit like he is. 21% CS percentage in A. I think he is our "top prospect" right now.
6. Orlando Arcia SS A+ .250; .668 OPS, .91 FP%, 0 HR; 8 RBI; 7 SB. Listed at 20 years old, 3.7 years younger than the average A+ prospect. Arcia is supposed to be a defensive wizard, but with 10 errors already on the season just at SS.. something is going on. He is either rushing things, or he is hotdogging.. who knows, we dont watch the games. But on paper.. something seems to be up defensively. He will never be a big offensive prospect, but he is many years ahead the curve being in A+ at 20... so, who knows. Looks to me like he will spend at least 2 years at this level. Not sure if he will ever amount to much, but he has a lot of time to put it together.
7. Mitch Haniger AA OF (-1.6yrs on lvl) 23yrs .226 BA .663 OPS; 3 HR; 17 RBI Mitch hasn't been hitting very well. He was always looked at as one of those gritty type of players, someone that doesn't do one thing exceptionally well, but rather is just solid in all facets of the game. He has not been able to offensively put it together this season so far; Fielding has been ok with a .97 FP. I was never very high on him as a prospect, but he could end up being a decent bench guy down the road.
8. Johnny Hellweg AAA 25 Johnny is done for the year due to injury. His numbers prior were not terribly great, but too small of a sample size to even bother with. We saw him last year, he seemed to do well at AAA.. but lose his **** in Milwaukee. The arm injury is concerning for his future in Milw. We shall see. Johnny is one of the other guys in that Grienke deal. No matter what happens, its a win because of Segura.
9. Taylor Jungmann AA 24 RHP 3.20 ERA, 1.28 WHIP; 8.4 K/9 4 HR allowed; Taylor was a University of Texas product drafted a few years ago by the Brewers along with the next prospect I will mention, in the first round. He is making progress on last years 4.3 ERA and 1.38 WHIP. That is good to see, it is likely we could see him in Milwaukee in September. I doubt he gets a call before that considering we have several pitchers in AAA pitching well headlined by Nelson/Fiers.
***executive decision**** im making Jed Bradley the number 10 prospect on this list.. because, well.. he is showing a pulse finally.
10. Jed Bradley A+ 24 LHP 3.20 ERA 1.11 WHIP 8.8 K/9 3 HR allowed. Jed as afforementioned was the 2nd 1st round pick of the Brewers 3 years ago. He has been injured and struggled mightily in the minor leagues so far. It seems he has now found the ability to miss bats again. Like Mark Rogers of several years back he is a big projectable lefty who has sick stuff. He should be in AA soon, id suspect within the next few weeks, or at very least early july. Disclaimer.. dont look at that draft.... it might make you sick to see who we passed on for Jungmann and Bradley... but I still have hope these guys figure it out and make a contribution in 2015 or 2016 and beyond.
Overall note on the system: There are some quality players in AAA right now, but not very projectable. We are thin throughout the system and we can not afford any more win-now trades at risk of severally crippling ourselves in future years. The cupboard is not stocked like it once was.