The Milwaukee Brewers had been heavily connected to Sawyer Strosnider in mock drafts throughout the weeks leading up to the 2026 MLB Draft. Ranked as a top 30 talent in this Draft, including 13th overall by Baseball America, the Brewers were ultimately able to select Strosnider, but not at 25 overall where he was expected. Milwaukee gets their guy at 66 overall.
In the first round, the Brewers went with a likely heavy under-slot selection with Corona (CA) HS shortstop Trey Ebel.
Strosnider fell likely
due to some struggles late in the season for TCU, but he has one of the best power-speed combinations in this entire class. Both tools grade out as plus with legendary home runs and blazing speed. He hit .273/.415/.590 on the season for the Horned Frogs with 13 homers and 12 stolen bases. Strosnider drew as many walks as he had strikeouts (43) as well.
The Brewers have historically loved great athletes, especially multi-sport athletes and Strosnider was a three sport star in high school. He played basketball as well as track and field on top of baseball. Strosnider’s event of choice was the high jump, which bodes well for potential home run robberies in the outfield. That athleticism should give him a much better chance to make any adjustments necessary to be successful at the next level.
Strosnider has an aggressive approach at the plate, which has led to him chasing a few too many pitches outside of the zone, leading to lower quality contact sometimes. The Brewers historically preach smart swing decisions and that’s likely something they’re going to work on heavily with him once he gets in the organization.
The slot value for this selection was $1.35MM. With Strosnider expected to go earlier in this Draft, I’m curious if that will require an above-slot signing bonus and they have to use some of the savings they made with the Ebel selection.
The Brewers still have a few more selections on Day 1 of this Draft. They’ll pick again at 102 overall and 130 overall in the 3rd and 4th rounds. With two hitters in the class already, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Brewers start to switch to pitching with their next picks.
