Brewers Video
There are two main ways for a team to make roster improvements in the second half. One way is to be buyers at the trade deadline and give up a part of the future to try and win now. In a very minimalist way, the Crew did that on Tuesday, when they traded for veteran southpaw Dallas Keuchel.
The other way is our focus today: they can call up a young name and hope for fireworks. The Brewers have an excellent collection of prospects, which bodes well for either option, but assuming they aren’t able to cook up a deal bigger than Keuchel's arrival in the short term, who could they promote from within?
RHP Chad Patrick
Chandler “Chad” Patrick was drafted in the fourth round of the 2021 MLB Draft, out of Purdue University. He’s been climbing the minor-league ranks at a consistent pace ever since, spending all of 2024 with the Triple-A Nashville Sounds as a starting pitcher. This year, he's thrown 71 ⅔ innings, with a nifty 2.76 ERA and 1.12 WHIP.
He has a five-pitch arsenal, consisting of a four-seam fastball, cutter, sinker, slider, and changeup. His primary weapon has been the cutter, throwing it 46.6% of the time with a strikeout rate of 32.7% and a .172 batting average against it this year. The pitch sits in the upper 80s, so it’s not flying by batters with the steam of Corbin Burnes's cut piece, but he’s still got gas--in the form of a mid-90s four-seam fastball that has been known to touch 96 when he’s had his Wheaties in the morning.
As his only true breaking pitch, his slider has yet to concede an earned run, striking out opposing hitters 30% of the time and generating a measly .311 OPS.
One of his main weaknesses comes as a downside of his aggressive approach, especially on his four-seamer. Although batters are averaging just .158 against the pitch, they’re hitting home runs at a 4.6% clip. Furthermore, he’s walking batters at a 11.5% rate, overall.
Patrick could be a good option to bolster the already ravaged major-league rotation. The team already called up Carlos Rodriguez,with pretty disappointing results, but there are reasons to believe Patrick is more prepared for major-league hitters. He’s been quite successful in Triple-A recently, and is averaging just under six innings per outing, so he’s got the longevity part of things down. He may not have the same pedigree as some other options, but the numbers and film don’t lie.
RHP Jacob Misiorowski
I have a feeling that if I didn’t list Misiorowski as a potential option, I would have received quite a few messages from fist-shaking Brewers fans. The 22-year-old phenom has been the talk of the town, and as the #1 prospect in Milwaukee’s system and the #21 prospect in baseball, he deserves it.
Misiorowski has spent his 2024 season with the Biloxi Shuckers in Double-A, and has accumulated a 3.44 ERA and 1.34 WHIP over 52 ⅓ innings in 13 starts. There’s definitely some work to be done, especially when it comes to limiting traffic on the basepaths, but let’s not get it twisted: he’s a top prospect for a reason.
He’s still a strikeout king, punching out opposing batters at a 29.0% clip. His 70-grade fastball only seems to be getting better, with his velocity starting to touch the triple digits. The raw stuff for which he’s known is still great and is a big reason for his success.
The biggest problem continues to be command. His walk rate is a brutal 14.3%, a major driver behind his somewhat high WHIP. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is the lowest that it has been in any of his minor-league seasons. That being said, his walk rate for the month of June is just 6.3% compared to the 18.8% we saw in May. The price he's paid has been more hard contact against him. Despite the big improvement in walk rate, his ERA for the month swelled from 1.71 in May to 4.34 in June.
So what does Misiorowski bring to the table? His raw talent and his ceiling make him a wild card. There once was a young man by the name of Corbin Burnes who began 2018 in Triple-A with the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. After 78 ⅔ innings, he had a 5.15 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. What did the Brewers do after seeing thesesus numbers? They promoted him to the major-league bullpen that same year, and he was great. The rest is history.
Could Misiorowski follow a similar path?
Assuming he gets brought up to the bullpen, rather than the rotation, he could very well end up in a long relief role, a position last held by Bryse Wilson. With the added reliever workload likely to start rearing its ugly head more and more as the season drags on, his stamina could be an invaluable asset to the team. Furthermore, additional major-league experience could jumpstart his increasingly bright future.
Internal reinforcement has made possible all of the Brewers' recent success, including five playoff appearances in six seasons. The team will need more of that this year, to patch the many holes that keep appearing in one of the league's most effective run-prevention units. It'll be interesting to see who gets the next call, and for which role.
