2023 International Reviews: Milwaukee Brewers

It’s been a little more than two years since the Brewers signed center fielder Jackson Chourio out of Venezuela for $1.8 million on Jan. 15, 2021. Now he’s the No. 1 prospect in baseball, a potential franchise cornerstone who is still 19 but should be helping in Milwaukee within the next year or two. 

The Brewers have been one of the most active teams signing Venezuelan prospects in recent years, including the 2019 acquisition of catcher Jeferson Quero, another top 10 prospect in the system. That trend continued this year with six of the organization’s top eight bonuses going to players from Venezuela. 

Top Of The Class

The Brewers signed three players for bonuses of more than $1 million this year, with Dominican outfielder Yophery Rodriguez their top prospect. Signed for $1.5 million, Rodriguez is an advanced hitter for a 17-year-old with a well-rounded skill set. He has an athletic build at 6 feet, 175 pounds and was one of the better offensive performers signed this year out of the Dominican Republic. He tracks pitches well and has good plate discipline. With a flatter swing path from the left side, Rodriguez makes frequent contact, can turn around good fastballs at the top of the zone and has the components to get on base at a high clip. Rodriguez was physically behind his peers early in the scouting process, but he has gained considerable strength since then to drive the ball with more impact, giving him a chance for above-average power with a good mix of patience and extra-base damage. A tick above-average runner, Rodriguez doesn’t have typical center field speed, but his athleticism and good reads off the bat will allow him to continue developing in center field.

Venezuelan shortstop Kevin Ereu signed with the Brewers for $1.4 million. At 5-foot-10, 165 pounds, Ereu isn’t that tall, but he has a strong, compact build for 16 with easy bat speed and impressive power for his size. The ball carries well off his bat and he could end up a 25-plus home run hitter. It’s likely a power-over-hit shape to his offensive game, with the scouts highest on him thinking that there’s enough feel for hitting for him to tap into that power against live pitching. An average runner, Ereu is a skillful defender at shortstop, where he has good lateral agility and extremely quick footwork with good body control, hands and an above-average arm.

Another Venezuelan shortstop, 17-year-old Filippo Di Turi, signed with the Brewers for $1.3 million. He’s 6 feet, 180 pounds with a strong lower half and promising offensive components as a switch hitter with good ability to recognize spin, control the strike zone and put the ball in play at a high clip. Di Turi’s swing works well with good rhythm, though he doesn’t have the same power as Ereu, with more doubles pop to the gaps. He’s a fringe-average runner who looked to be headed toward third base or possibly second base early on, but his defensive progress has given him a greater chance to continue at shortstop. He has good body control with the hands and actions to stick in the infield, along with an easy plus arm that’s his best present tool. With the way Di Turi is built, with impressive arm strength and lower half flexibility, some scouts were intrigued by the possibility of a catcher conversion, though the Brewers plan to develop him at shortstop. 

Names To Know

Antony Gomez, OF, Dominican Republic: Gomez, 17, signed for $600,000 with a long, lean 6-foot-2 frame. He’s an above-average runner whose instincts stand out in center field, where he breaks well off the bat with efficient routes for his age. He’s a lefty who manages his at-bats well, showing a good eye for the strike zone and solid contact skills for his age, with a chance for his gap power to grow once he starts to pack on more size and strength. 

Joan Gutierrez, SS, Venezuela: Signed for $325,000, Gutierrez is a 17-year-old shortstop who projects to stick at the position. He’s 5-foot-11, 165 pounds with soft hands, a solid-average arm and a good internal clock, allowing his defensive tools to translate well in games. He’s a lefthanded hitter who has shown solid contact skills with a line-drive approach and gap power.

Luis Lameda, SS, Venezuela: Lameda, 17, is 5-foot-10, 160 pounds and projects to play somewhere in the infield, possibly in a utility role moving around between shortstop, second and third base, as a steady, reliable defender. Signed for $320,000, Lameda is around an average runner and a switch-hitter who has good bat-to-ball skills and grasp of the strike zone with doubles power. 

Pedro Tovar, OF, Venezuela: Tovar, signed for $235,000, is a lefthanded outfielder with a sweet swing. He has similar contact skills as other prominent Brewers international signings from this class, though with a much different body type. He’s a skinny 6-foot-4, lacking much strength right now at 16, but with the potential for his power to grow in the next several years once he fills out. He could see some time in center field but likely slides over to right field, where he has an average arm that could also tick up with strength gains. 

Luiyin Alastre, SS, Venezuela: Alastre is an impressive athlete for a stocky 5-foot-10 infielder. Signed for $150,000 at 17, Alastre has quick-twitch actions and is at least a plus runner. With the way he’s built, some scouts think he could move off shortstop, possibly filling a utility role with a chance to fit in center field, too, given his speed, but his athleticism, quickness and above-average arm should give him a chance to continue at shortstop. He’s another switch-hitter with a high-contact bat and gap power. 

Eric Prado, RHP, Mexico: Most Mexican players sign after being part of a Mexican League team’s academy, but Prado trained outside that system and signed for $130,000. He’s a slender 6 feet, 175 pounds with a loose delivery and more projection to add to a fastball that sits around 89-91 mph and has touched 94 as a 17-year-old. What makes his fastball special is the elite carry he gets on the pitch, with a high arm slot that helps him generate significant ride to fly past barrels when he pitches up in the zone. Prado’s disappearing fastball is his best pitch, but he has a starter look, too, with some feel for both a curveball and changeup as well. 

Sleeper Watch

Venezuelan righthander Aldrin Gonzalez signed for $40,000, but his talent level is commensurate with some of the best pitching prospects in his age group. Gonzalez, who just turned 17 in April, is 6-foot-1, 180 pounds with a fastball that was up to 93 mph when he was 16. That’s good velocity for his age, but the separator for him is his feel to spin a breaking ball, with a hard curveball he can crank above 3,000 rpm with a chance to be a plus pitch. He’s learning a slider as well that should be another effective pitch for him given his innate ability to spin the ball. Gonzalez has a long, winding arm action, but he’s been a solid strike-thrower so far. 

So far this year, there have been 10 players signed from Nicaragua. Four of them signed with the Brewers. The most notable of that group is 17-year-old righthander Enniel Cortez, who got $25,000. Cortez has a compact build (6 feet, 180 pounds) without a ton of physical projection, but he has a loose, fast arm and a fastball that has been up to 94 mph. It’s a well-rounded pitch mix for his age with feel for a changeup and curveball as well. 

With two Dominican Summer League teams, the Brewers signed more than 30 players so far this year. Among sleepers on the position player side, one to watch is shortstop Roderick Flores. Signed for $65,000 out of the Dominican Republic, Flores is 5-foot-9, 170 pounds, and while he’s not that big, he has excellent bat speed and solid contact skills from the right side, with the juice to go deep to his pull side now. He’s 16 until Aug. 24, so he’s one of the youngest players in the class and wouldn’t have been eligible to sign until next year if he had been born eight days later. He has an average arm and could move around the infield.

Pedro Ibarguen, a $60,000 signing from Venezuela, is another infield sleeper in the class. Ibarguen, 16, trained as a shortstop, though he might fit best at third base, where he has an above-average arm, but he could see time at shortstop and potentially all three outfield spots as well given his athleticism. He’s a strongly-built 5-foot-10, 180-pound righthanded hitter with a good mix of hard contact and athleticism.