Arizona Fall League Preview: Milwaukee Brewers
By Mason Grant ·
All nine Milwaukee Brewers AFL representatives join the Scottsdale Scorpions. The group skews young and Double-A-heavy, with two prospects from inside 80Grade's top 100 at the front and a pitching bloc that has more strikeout upside than command certainty.
Braylon Payne's Power Breakout Gets a Desert Audition
Payne, a 20-year-old center fielder, put together a standout offensive season in 2026. Across High-A Wisconsin and Double-A Biloxi, he slashed .277/.358/.552 with 28 home runs, 25 stolen bases and 49 walks in 467 plate appearances. 80Grade's Prospect Rank has him 95th overall and fourth in the Brewers system.
The nuance is in the contact numbers. Payne swings at 51.4 percent of pitches, well above the minor-league average of around 45 percent, and makes contact on only 64.9 percent of those swings. The result is a 29.1 percent strikeout rate across levels, which is not fatal to the profile but explains why the hit tool projects as average rather than better. In his 25 games at Double-A, the walk rate compressed (6.4 percent versus 11.8 percent at High-A) while the strikeout rate stayed elevated, a predictable first exposure to better pitching.
Payne profiles as an everyday center fielder who creates problems with 70-grade speed, and the power surge, if it holds, keeps pitchers from treating him as a slap-and-run threat. The fall tests whether he can make cleaner contact against high-spin stuff and sharper sequencing before his 2027 assignment is set.
Jett Williams Needs the At-Bats
Williams, a 22-year-old shortstop, spent 2026 at Triple-A Nashville and hit .233/.340/.384 across 81 games, with nine home runs, 47 walks and 21 stolen bases. The 13.1 percent walk rate and the steals are genuine strengths, and his 79.4 percent contact rate is much better than Payne's. Still, a .233 average and .384 slugging percentage at Triple-A is a bat that has not yet cleared the upper-level threshold.
His 44.1 percent swing rate is disciplined, but selective does not automatically mean productive, and Triple-A pitchers found enough ways to beat him to keep the hit tool below average. 80Grade ranks him fifth in the system and 100th overall, with a projection as a second-division regular at second base or a versatile bench piece depending on how the bat develops.
His speed and his ability to handle shortstop and second base give him multiple paths to a roster. What to watch in Scottsdale is whether he can square pitches with more authority against premium stuff.
Eric Bitonti Has the Power. The Rest Is Still Being Figured Out.
Bitonti, a 20-year-old first baseman, leads the Brewers' position players here in raw power. At High-A Wisconsin, he hit 25 home runs with a .525 slugging percentage, drew 81 walks for a 16.6 percent walk rate and stole 24 bases. The power grades above average and the walk rate is a strong mark.
The contact picture is harder to defend. Bitonti struck out at a 32.9 percent clip at High-A, and his 62.1 percent contact rate is the lowest in the position-player group. His long-levered, upper-body-driven swing generates power but can leave him late to fastballs. A six-game Double-A look at the end of the season (.125/.143/.208, 11 strikeouts in 28 plate appearances) is a tiny sample, but it hinted at the sharper test ahead.
The AFL is a chance to show whether his walk discipline holds against better pitching. If it does and his timing improves even modestly, the power gives him a profile at first base. 80Grade ranks him 20th in the system.
Matthew Wood's Patience Behind the Plate
Wood, a 25-year-old catcher, had one of the most productive seasons in this group on a rate basis. In 95 games at Double-A Biloxi, he posted a .257/.398/.492 line with 18 home runs, 71 walks and a 13.5 percent strikeout rate. That walk-to-strikeout ratio is unusual for a catcher.
His 39.5 percent swing rate is the most selective in the group, and his 83.3 percent contact rate is the highest. The scouting read is a catcher built on pitch recognition, bat control and enough pull-side power to punish mistakes. He lacks a clearly plus tool: the arm grades as average, the receiving is decent and the speed is below average. 80Grade projects him as an up-and-down major-league catcher, a useful outcome for a 25-year-old at Double-A, and ranks him 49th in the system. The fall is about catching reps and proving the approach travels.
The Pitching Group: Birchard's Stuff, Meneses's Progress, and Open Questions
Ryan Birchard, a 23-year-old right-hander who worked almost entirely in relief at Double-A Biloxi (two starts in 34 appearances), is the most complicated case in the group. His four-seam fastball sits 94-98 mph, averaging 95, and his curveball has legitimate spin and depth. The problem is that he walked 57 batters in 50 innings, a 24.5 percent walk rate that makes him an extreme high-risk profile until the command improves. He struck out 35.2 percent of batters faced and got whiffs on 37.9 percent of swings, so the stuff plays; the strike-throwing does not. 80Grade ranks him 51st in the system, and the AFL is a low-stakes place to work on delivery consistency.
Jose Meneses, a 21-year-old left-hander, had a strong statistical season. Across Single-A Wilson and High-A Wisconsin, he posted a 2.21 ERA in 57 innings, striking out 31.4 percent of batters and walking 11.8 percent. His fastball sits 91-93 mph with a changeup around 76, and that velocity gap, combined with a left-handed angle and some deception, drives his success. The command is still below average, though it improved sharply from 2025, and the walk rate rose to 16.9 percent at High-A. He projects as an organizational left-handed reliever with a chance to reach the upper minors if the command tightens.
Peyton Niksch, 22, showed a clear level split. At Single-A (2.70 ERA, 6.2 percent walk rate) and High-A (1.13 ERA, 4.5 percent walk rate), he threw strikes better than anyone in this pitching group. Then came Double-A: an 8.63 ERA in 24 innings, eight home runs allowed and a 15.7 percent strikeout rate, the lowest of his three stops. A 21.4 percent whiff rate at Biloxi points to stuff that may not miss enough bats at that level, and the fall should help show which version is closer to the truth.
Joshua Quezada, 22, pitched at four levels, with brief stops at Triple-A Nashville and Double-A Biloxi around his primary work at Single-A Wilson. His combined line was a 5.16 ERA with a 29.4 percent strikeout rate and a 9.2 percent walk rate. The strikeouts and walks are fine, but he is getting hit harder than that would indicate. His 33.6 percent whiff rate is second in the group behind Birchard, so watch whether it turns into better run prevention.
Miqueas Mercedes, 20, made 15 starts at Single-A and one at High-A, finishing with a 2.61 ERA and a 14.5 percent walk rate across 79.1 innings. His 22.2 percent strikeout rate is below average for a pitcher his age and level. He is a developmental arm still learning to throw strikes, and the AFL is fitting competition for a 20-year-old building his repertoire and delivery.
The bottom line: Braylon Payne is the Brewer whose fall carries the most weight. The AFL gives him the chance to show his 2026 power breakout was not a product of favorable conditions at Wisconsin. If he controls the zone better against AFL pitching and eases the contact concerns, his stock going into 2027 climbs further. If the swing-and-miss persists, it reinforces the caution on his hit tool. Everything else here is developmental reps; Payne's fall will shape how the organization plans around him next spring.