Milwaukee Brewers: Looking at the Top-10 Prospects
10- Jacob Nottingham- Catcher/First Base
These next two players have made huge strides during the last couple of seasons. First, we’ll take a look at Jacob Nottingham, whom the Milwaukee Brewers acquired in exchange for Khris Davis.
Davis has gone on to flourish in Oakland and has become one of the best home run hitters in MLB. Nottingham, on the other hand, has struggled to find solid footing during his time in the Brewers Minor League system.
That is until last season when Nottingham really seemed to put things together defensively. Nottingham has put in a lot of hard work and is turning himself into a legitimate option behind the dish. Last season, Nottingham lowered his errors from 21 during 2016 to only nine while throwing out 40% of stolen base attempts against him.
That’s a good thing because Nottingham has not had as much success as expected offensively. He hit .229 during the 2015 season while playing in Double-A and followed that up with a measly .209 batting average last year. However, the 2018 season has been a different story as Nottingham has had an offensive resurgence.
He’s hitting .286 with a .352 on-base percentage in Triple-A and has even had a chance with the Milwaukee Brewers. Although he struggled, .200 batting average with a .333 on-base percentage, it’s a tiny sample size. He played in just seven games with only 24 plate appearances but it is a glimpse of what’s to come. We’ll be seeing more of Nottingham by September and he could end up playing a big role during the stretch run.
9- Zack Brown- Right-Handed Pitcher
Zack Brown has emerged as a future Major League weapon during this season and has vaulted up the Milwaukee Brewers prospect rankings. The former third-rounder has excelled while playing for Double-A Biloxi.
The University of Kentucky product is yet to lose a game for Biloxi through his first 18 starts (19 games). Brown has nine wins with a 2.34 earned run average in a career-high 111 2/3 innings pitched. His 1.021 walks plus hit per innings pitched (WHIP) is tremendous and shows that he’s not afraid to attack the hitter.
The 23-year-old also averages a solid 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings per nine innings along with 2.6 walks per nine innings and has the makings of a quality MLB pitcher. The debate remains, will he be in the rotation or in the bullpen? Milwaukee has kept him in the rotation to this point in the Minors and I hope that’s where he stays.
MLB Pipelines gives him a 55 grade for his fastball and 60 for his curveball along with a 50 for his changeup. With three average or better pitches, Brown has a chance to be an impact big leaguer with a little bit more seasoning.
Following the trade of Luis Ortiz, Brown is now the Brewers second-ranked starting pitcher in the Minors. He has an outside chance of earning a September call-up if he continues his dominant performance. However, chances are we won’t see him in the Cream City until 2019, at the earliest.
Next up, we have an outfielder who is new to the organization as well as an infielder Milwaukee Brewers fans need to remember.