When it comes to rookies who have made significant impacts on their clubs in 2020, Milwaukee Brewers reliever Devin Williams ranks among the leaders in the National League.
Pitching in high-leverage situations out of the bullpen, Williams has used his devastating fastball-changeup combination to seemingly strike out batters at will. Entering Saturday, he had whiffed 37 batters in 18 innings, a remarkable rate of 18.5 per nine innings.
Williams was 3-1 with a 0.50 ERA over 16 outings with a 0.611 WHIP. He has future closer written all over him, which could influence the Brewers to move Josh Hader at some point as his salary grows.
Who will be the next rookie to make an impact with the Brewers? Is there a hitter who can immediately help, as Keston Hiura did in 2019? That question is more difficult to answer, in large part because the minor leagues were shut down this year by the coronavirus pandemic, creating great harm to player development.
As many clubs have done, the Brewers invited several of their top prospects to their alternate training site, purely to provide coaching and development opportunities over the nine-week period that otherwise would have been missed. The group in Appleton includes everyone ranked in the Top 10 currently by the Journal Sentinel:
1. SS Brice Turang
2. LHP Ethan Small
3. C Mario Feliciano
4. LHP Aaron Ashby
5. LHP Antoine Kelly
6. OF Tristen Lutz
7. SS Eduardo Garcia
8. OF Hedbert Perez
9. RHP Drew Rasmussen
10. OF Corey Ray
Most players in that group are in the early stages of development and would not have been in the big-league picture for 2020 even with a full season in the minors. One exception was Rasmussen, advanced for his experience level (sixth-round pick in 2018) because he was a college pitcher and can throw 99 mph despite having two Tommy John surgeries. He already is pitching for the Brewers and could evolve in time as a high-leverage reliever, as Williams has done.
Ray is the other player in that Top 10 who should have made it to the big leagues by now, especially as an advanced college hitter taken in the first round in 2016 out of Louisville. Ray, 25, appeared ready to break through after being named the Brewers minor league player of the year in 2018 as well as the Class AA Southern League MVP for slugging 27 homers with 74 RBI and 37 stolen bases with Biloxi.
But Ray suffered through an injury-plagued, ineffective ’19 season at the Class AAA and AA levels, throwing a roadblock in his path to the majors. That made 2020 a huge year for him, only to see the minors shut down, relegating his action to Camp Appleton.
Ray, who will be 26 this month, obviously has not shown enough to warrant a first call to the big leagues even though opportunities were there to be had, with centerfielder Lorenzo Cain opting out of the season after one week and Ryan Braun being sidelined by injuries. Instead, the Brewers called up utility players Mark Mathias and Jace Peterson when fill-ins were needed, and most recently promoted Tyrone Taylor, who stood out with the way he swung the bat in Appleton.
“I think Corey is still progressing,” Brewers vice president of minor league operations Tom Flanagan said. “It’s a different type of environment. You don’t have that nightly report card with a game. We’ve had some good arms there, including some lefties, so Corey has been seen high-quality competition.
“That hand injury sidetracked him last year but I think this has been a good experience for him. even though at-bats are limited somewhat. For me, Corey is a no-doubt big-leaguer. He has had his ups and downs but defensively he can play in the big leagues and he can make an impact on the bases as well. It’s just a matter of improving his contact rate to do more damage consistently.”
Turang, who doesn’t turn 21 until late November, would have played at advanced Class A Carolina this season with a chance to move up to Biloxi if performing well. Whether he projects to an everyday player in the big leagues remains to be seen.
The pandemic stalled any chance Small, 23, had of being fast-tracked to the majors after being selected in the first round of the 2019 draft out of Mississippi State. An advanced pitcher with a good feel on the mound, he would have benefited greatly from a full season in the minors.
Lutz, who turned 22 last month, also could have used a full minor-league campaign after advancing to Carolina last year. He hasn’t had a banner season yet but is still young with pop in his bat and offensive upside.
“For whatever reason, he has always been a slow starter and then he starts swinging the bat better,” Flanagan said. “He has been a little under the radar in our system, but he has played all three outfield positions very well. Tristen just needs to accumulate more at-bats and let that power play more. He hits the ball hard. I think the quality of the competition in camp will help him.”
Young catchers need time behind the plate, so the pandemic did no favors to Feliciano, who doesn’t turn 22 until late November but was named the MVP of the Carolina League last season. His name constantly pops up as having impressive at-bats in Appleton and he certainly looks like the Brewers’ catcher of the future, though not for at least a couple of years.
“I think the way he finished last season, and then what he has done in Appleton, shows why we’ve always believed he’ll be a big-league catcher,” Flanagan said. “He has a special bat and we’re seeing that more and more. He has faced pitchers in camp with more experience than he has and has continued to make strides.”
Ashby, 22, a fourth-round pick in 2018 out of junior college in Missouri, was the Brewers’ minor-league pitcher of the year last season after impressing at two Class A levels, should eventually find his way to Milwaukee’s rotation but not anytime soon.
“I think we worry about the pitchers the most because of ramping up and down throughout the year,” Flanagan said. “We want to make sure they stay healthy. We’re keeping a close eye on them. That’s been our priority so they can build off this in 2021. Hopefully, we’ll have a normal minor-league season next year.”
The other top prospects are just getting their careers started. Pérez, 17, hasn’t even made his pro debut yet after signing out of Venezuela in July 2019. And García, 18, played only 10 games in the Dominican Summer League last year before breaking a leg on a slide and requiring surgery.
After trading away many of their best prospects in recent years, including four to acquire Christian Yelich from Miami and others in late-season deals to push for the playoffs, the Brewers’ system is ranked at or near the bottom of the 30 organizations. With the pandemic forcing cancellation of the minor leagues in 2020, it’s difficult to project any significant help coming by next year.
“We have traded a lot of our top prospects but that has helped us win at the big-league level,” Flanagan said. “It takes time to fill back in some of those spots. We focus on the guys we have. They know what other people say and they look at that as a challenge. It motivates them.
“I do feel we have several prospects who make an impact in the major leagues. It’s always a challenge to find that next guy and help him make that last step.”
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September 12, 2020 at 09:00PM
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Haudricourt: Who will be the next rookie to make an impact for the Brewers? The answer likely is in Appleton. - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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