Eight Brewers prospects will be participating in this year’s Arizona Fall League, including three of the Brewers’ top 15 prospects.
Luke Adams (No. 8) missed over two months with a left shoulder injury before returning to action yesterday. Adams is one of the better OBP guys (.414) in the Brewers’ organization and has an .879 OPS through 200 at-bats with the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers this year.
Marco Dinges (No. 10) was one of the major breakouts in the Brewers’ farm system this year. The 22-year-old
catcher slashed .300/.416/.514 over 77 games between Single-A Carolina and High-A Wisconsin. Dinges is able to produce impressive exit velocities at the plate as a result of his violent swing.
Josh Adamczewski (No. 13) also broke out this year, and his numbers are even better than Dinges’. Adamczewski slashed .320/.420/.490 across the ACL Brewers, Single-A, and High-A. He did falter a bit at the plate after receiving a promotion to High-A Wisconsin (.542 OPS) — albeit over a tiny, 56 at-bat sample size. Adamczewski has been an infielder since joining the Brewers organization, but he’s listed as an outfielder on the AFL roster — perhaps providing a glimpse at his eventual defensive home.
So, what do these three prospects have in common? They all missed a substantial chunk of their teams’ respective seasons. Adams missed two months due to a shoulder injury, Dinges missed a month and a half with a hamstring strain, and Adamczewski missed a little under two months with an injured back. All three of these prospects are supremely talented, but none of them are finished products. The AFL provides Dinges, Adams, and Adamczewski an opportunity to get live, in-game reps and make up for time lost to injury during the season.
Other than the three prospects mentioned above, Milwaukee is also sending five pitchers to the Arizona Fall League — Jesus Broca, Anthony Flores, Michael Fowler, Edwin Jimenez, and Brett Wichrowski. Broca had a 2.95 ERA over 30 relief appearances at High-A Wisconsin this year. Flores had a 3.86 ERA over 32 appearances (11 starts) with the Timber Rattlers. Jimenez hasn’t pitched in the Brewers’ organization this year after finishing last year on the full-season injured list.
Fowler was signed as a free agent on July 29 and was promoted from Low-A Carolina all the way to Triple-A Nashville after three straight hitless appearances out of the bullpen. He then gave up two hits, two runs, and three walks in one inning with Nashville before being sent back down to Carolina. Wichrowski was among the Brewers’ top 15 prospects to start the season, but ended up dropping out of the top 30 altogether despite sporting a 3.44 ERA through 22 starts with Biloxi. His K/9 (6.52) is too low and his BB/9 (3.99) is too high, but Wichrowski has the stuff to be a big-league starter someday if he can figure out how to harness it.
