Brewers: Ethan Small

Lefthander Ethan Small had little choice but to figure out a new grip on his slider. 

The Brewers’ highly rated prospect was sidelined for an extended period during the second half of the 2021 season at Triple-A Nashville with an inflamed tendon in the middle finger on his pitching hand, shortly after appearing in the All-Star Futures Game.  

“I learned later that it’s a very common injury with rock climbers,” Small said. “But I hadn’t climbed any rocks, so it was weird. It wasn’t debilitating or anything; it was just sore. It had been bothering me for a while before we shut it down.” 

Small, 24, eventually linked that injury to the way he gripped his slider, necessitating a change. He experimented with throwing a cutter instead but wasn’t convinced it complemented his low 90s fastball, which had natural cutting movement. Instead, he settled on a new slider grip that took pressure of his middle finger. 

To make up for lost innings as well as assure the finger was fine, Small went to the Dominican Republic to make five winter ball starts for Escogido. He performed well there (2-1, 1.80 ERA), capping an impressive year that included stops at Class AA Biloxi and Nashville, where he went a combined 4-2 with a 1.98 ERA and 92 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings.  

A first-round draft pick in 2019 out of Mississippi State, Small has relied primarily on his deceptive fastball and a knee-buckling changeup, considered the best in the organization. 

“I wouldn’t be where I am without that pitch,” Small said of his changeup. “I’m biased but I think the changeup is the best pitch in baseball. The changeup blends so well with what I’m doing. It looks like a fastball but it’s not.” 

Small’s goals in 2022 are to stay healthy while continuing to make strides with his slider. He mixes in an occasional curveball to show hitters a slower breaking ball but was most pleased with the number of groundballs he induced last year by pitching inside more with his fastball and keeping his changeup down in the zone.  

“I don’t know if I’ve ever got that many groundballs in my life,” he said. “Even in the D.R., I was getting these weak groundballs off the fastball. I only throw four-seamers, so I’m not sure if that’s due to the cut on them or what.” 

The Brewers’ strength in 2021 was a deep, talented starting rotation that returns basically intact for next season. Small, who likely will return to Nashville, realizes his job is to be ready should an opening on the big-league staff occur at some point. 

“All things considered, Ethan is in a good spot with his development path and has put himself in position to impact the big-league team in the near future, perhaps as early as 2022,” Brewers farm director Tom Flanagan said.  

MICROBREWS 

*OF Garrett Whitley, a first-round draft pick (13th overall) by Tampa Bay in 2015, signed a minor-league deal with the Brewers with an invitation of Milwaukee’s spring camp. Whitley, 24, split the ’21 season at the Class AA and AAA levels. 

*1B Jonathan Singleton, 30, who sought to revive his career with a solid showing in Mexico in 2021 (1.196 OPS in 46 games), was signed to a minor-league contract by the Brewers without an invitation to big-league spring training.