Milwaukee Brewers Breakout MLB Prospects For 2025

Entering 2025, we’re projecting a number of Brewers prospects to have the potential for a breakout season.

To qualify, a player must rank outside the organization’s Top 10 prospects entering the year. All scouting reports are from Baseball America’s 2025 Prospect handbook, which you can purchase here.

You can find Top 10 prospect rankings for all teams here and all breakout candidates here.

Josh Knoth, RHP

Preseason Rank: 15
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Very High

Track Record: One of the youngest pitchers in the 2023 draft, Knoth had a fast arm and innate ability to spin a pair of breaking balls. A 17-year-old on draft day, Knoth went No. 33 overall to the Brewers as a supplemental first-round pick and signed for $2 million. He had a solid, though not dominant, pro debut in Low-A Carolina but missed time at the end of the regular season with elbow soreness.

Scouting Report: Knoth is an athletic righthander with a compact, efficient delivery and good arm action. His fastball has cut and ride and he pitches at 92-95 mph, touching 96 in 2024 after reaching a tick higher the previous year, so there could be more still in the tank. In high school, Knoth used his curveball as his out pitch, but he has adjusted his approach to use his curve as a pitch to freeze hitters for called strikes and lean on his slider as a putaway pitch. His plus curveball has outstanding rotation (typically 3,000-3,200 rpm) at 77-81 mph with big depth. His slider is another plus pitch with high spin that he can manipulate shape and speed on anywhere from 82-88 mph with a harder, tighter version and another with wider sweep. His changeup has solid fade but at 88-90 mph it comes in too firm off his fastball and isn’t a pitch he throws much. Knoth is typically a strike-thrower, though there are times where he will fly open and lose his direction to the plate.

The Future: Knoth has the potential to develop into a midrotation starter. He’s ticketed for High-A.

Scouting Grades: FB: 55. CB: 60. SL: 60. CH: 40. CTL: 50.

Braylon Payne, OF

Preseason Rank: 17
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme

Track Record: Payne was a surprise first-round pick out of high school in 2024 when the Brewers drafted him 17th overall and signed him for $3.44 million. Young for the class as a 17-year-old on draft day, Payne went to Low-A Carolina and showed more power than expected during his brief time there at the end of the season and in the playoffs.

Scouting Report: As a high school player on the showcase circuit in 2023, Payne stood out for his quick-twitch athleticism and plus-plus speed. It’s not a textbook swing; Payne will bail early at times, to where it looks like he’s hitting on skates, but he does have the hand-eye coordination to still put the ball in play. More of a slap hitter in 2023, Payne looked stronger in the spring of 2024 and showed surprising strength and power after signing with exit velocities up to 110 mph. Payne has the speed to stick in center field and a fringe-average arm, though he will need to sharpen his instincts and routes.

The Future: If Payne can produce average or better game power, that would significantly enhance his profile from where it was heading into the draft, but there’s still some rawness to his game he will have to refine. He should return to a stacked Carolina team to open 2025.

Scouting Grades: HIT: 45. POW: 50. RUN: 70. FLD: 55. ARM: 45.

Bryce Meccage, RHP

Preseason Rank: 20
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme

Track Record: Meccage comes from a baseball family. His father, Jeremy, spent 10 years as a pitching coach at Princeton and his uncle, Justin, was the bullpen coach for the Pirates from 2020-2024. Meccage made a strong impression on scouts with his combination of size, feel and power arm with the ability to spin multiple breaking pitches. The Brewers drafted Meccage in the second round (57th overall) of the 2024 draft and signed him for $2.5 million.

Scouting Report: Compared to righthander Josh Knoth and Bishop Letson, Milwaukee’s top high school pitchers from the previous draft, Meccage has more strength and polish, though he’s closer to his physical ceiling than Letson. Meccage pitches in the low-to-mid 90s with a high-spin fastball up to 96 mph with good armside run. Meccage has a chance for two plus breaking balls that can both spin above 2,800 rpm. His low-80s slider has the best chance to be an out pitch with its hard bite and two-plane break, but his curveball shows the ability to get whiffs as well. His mid-to-upper 80s changeup is a fourth pitch that will need the most work.

The Future: Meccage has the makings of a potential midrotation starter but has yet to be tested in pro ball. He should start in the Low-A Carolina rotation in 2025.

Scouting Grades: FB: 55. CB: 55. SL: 60. CH: 40. CTL: 50.