Brewers Prospect Weekly: Antunez erupts at Low-A, Peña's triples binge keeps the hype rolling
By Mason Grant ·
The Eruption: Brailyn Antunez Is Doing Real Things Now
Seven days ago Brailyn Antunez (A, OF, Rank: 34) looked like a potential sleeper worth watching. Right now he looks like a problem. The 18-year-old went 9-for-22 with three home runs, three doubles, and five RBI across the week, running his Low-A line to .439/.531/.902 across 11 games at Wilson. That is not a mirage built on a soft schedule; he is hitting .370/.478/.712 over the last 30 days with five homers and eight doubles in 90 plate appearances, and the combined season line sits at .307/.406/.567 with 14 home runs across both levels. For context, he hit .215/.353/.282 with one homer all of last season in the complex. Something has shifted, and it is not subtle.
The scouting profile graded his hit tool at 45 and flagged the strikeout load as the primary ceiling limiter, and those concerns are real; he has 91 punchouts in 308 combined plate appearances this year. But the power grade is 55 with a corner-outfield projection, and what we are seeing lately suggests that grade might be conservative if the contact improvements hold. His walk rate has also climbed with the promotion to full-season ball, so he is not just swinging harder and hoping. He is 18 years old, was an afterthought at this point last year, and is now posting damage at Low-A that makes the bench-outfield projection look like a floor rather than a ceiling. I would take the over on his current tool grades without much hesitation.
Peña's Triple Threat: The No. 2 Prospect Keeps Pressing His Case
Luis Peña (A+, SS, Rank: 2) had a week that makes scouts reach for their notebooks. He went 9-for-24 with three triples, a double, and four RBI, drawing three walks against four strikeouts across the week. Three triples in a week from a player with a 70 speed grade reads as totally on-brand, but the more meaningful number is what he has done over the full month: hitting .344/.417/.578 over 72 plate appearances at High-A, with three triples and six doubles doing most of the damage. The 19-year-old's combined season line sits at .324/.413/.476 across both levels, and his stolen base total is up to 27 on the year.
Peña is a 55 hit tool with plus speed and enough arm to stick somewhere up the middle, projecting as a potential everyday second baseman at the MLB level. His initial High-A exposure last year was rough, finishing at .168/.220/.297 in 109 plate appearances with 27 strikeouts in 25 games, so the current .344 clip over a full month at the same level is a meaningful response. The questions that still apply are legitimate; he can be disrupted by quality breaking balls and the power is more doubles-and-triples than over-the-fence production. But the contact skills are real, the speed makes him a genuine weapon, and a 19-year-old holding a .413 OBP at High-A is not a prospect you downgrade. He is pressing for a Double-A ticket before September.
Quick Hits
Brett Wichrowski (AAA, RHP, Rank: 25) · was unreal on Sunday: five perfect innings, no hits, no runs, one walk, four strikeouts. It is a start that looks nothing like the 6.55 ERA he carried into the week at Nashville, but the last-30-day ERA has dropped to 3.38 across eight innings. The season-long numbers at the Triple-A level still reflect a pitcher who has been hit hard, so one outing does not rewrite the profile, but a 95-100 mph fastball paired with a plus slider has always given him a path back to relevance when the command shows up.
J.D. Thompson (A+, LHP, Rank: 24) · struck out seven over 4.2 innings while allowing two earned runs, and the run context matters less than the strikeout rate right now. He is punching out 23 hitters over his last 15.2 innings at High-A with a 1.72 ERA over that stretch and a 0.83 WHIP. For a left-hander with a 55-grade changeup and a back-end starter projection, a 13.2 K/9 clip over the last month is a genuinely encouraging sign that the command is ticking toward something workable.
Daniel Dickinson (A+, SS, Rank: 32) · went 10-for-29 with two doubles, five walks, and an HBP, continuing a strong stretch in which he is hitting .333/.465/.506 over his last 23 games. He is a contact bat with a 55 hit tool whose value lives in on-base percentage rather than thump, and the 74 walks he has drawn in 386 plate appearances this season demonstrate that. The power is graded at 40 and is unlikely to move much, so the walk rate is the carrying tool, and right now it is carrying just fine.
Leanders Matos (RK, SS, Rank: 19) · drove in five runs on seven hits with five walks across 22 plate appearances, and the month-long picture looks even better: hitting .384/.500/.548 over 94 trips to the plate in the complex. The 17-year-old is at .348/.450/.616 with 10 home runs on the full season, which is outstanding production for a player his age. He is a 55 hit tool with advanced zone discipline and a likely move to second base or third long-term, but there is enough bat here to dream on everyday value if the power gap holds.
Coleman Crow (AAA, RHP, Rank: 21) · held High-A hitters scoreless over 5.2 innings, allowing five hits with two walks and five strikeouts, and has posted a 2.73 ERA across 26.1 innings at Nashville over the last 30 days. After getting touched up during a brief MLB cameo (5.30 ERA in 18.2 innings), the return to Triple-A has looked like a reset. The plus curveball and solid competitive makeup remain his best traits; the command still needs to sharpen for him to stick in a rotation, but the recent results are trending in the right direction.
Jaron DeBerry (AA, RHP, Rank: 36) · escaped his start allowing zero earned runs on two hits over 4.2 innings, punching out five. It was a bounce-back after a stretch that had pushed his last-30-day ERA to 5.74; the season ERA at Biloxi sits at 4.26 across 99.1 innings, which is functional for a 23-year-old with below-average command and a developing changeup. The spin on his fastball-slider combination is his best asset and the primary reason the strikeout rate (9.6 K/9) is sustaining itself at Double-A despite the free passes.
Josh Adamczewski (AA, SS, Rank: 9) · went 6-for-23 with a homer, a double, and three walks, adding to a month in which he is hitting .294/.384/.565 with five home runs over 22 games at Biloxi. The combined season line is .320/.433/.555 with 16 home runs across High-A and Double-A, which represents genuine offensive production for a left-handed bat with a 55 hit tool and strong plate discipline. The defensive fit remains a work in progress as he transitions to left field, but the bat is doing everything asked of it.
Brock Wilken (AAA, 3B, Rank: 11) · had a productive week in an unconventional way: four hits in 23 plate appearances, but six walks, a homer, two doubles, and four RBI. His season batting average at Nashville is .178, but the .326 OBP reflects what the profile has always been, a high-walk, high-strikeout power hitter with a 60-grade power tool and a 40 hit tool who needs the home runs to justify the contact rate. He has 12 on the year.
Luke Adams (AAA, 3B, Rank: 13) · went 5-for-26 with a homer, a double, three walks, and three hit-by-pitches across the week. The HBP total pushed his OBP up, and across the last 30 days he is hitting .267/.398/.427 with three homers at Nashville. His season numbers at Triple-A are .251/.399/.503 with 13 home runs, which is a legitimate first-base offensive profile. The bat-first projection as a second-division regular is playing out about how the tools suggested it would.
Josiah Ragsdale, OF, Cardinals (AA, Springfield) · #978 Overall · arrived from St. Louis as part of the Dustin May trade and immediately made an impression, going 4-for-16 with two home runs in his first four games at Biloxi. He posted a .698 slugging percentage at Double-A Springfield before the trade and hit .327/.447/.528 over 264 plate appearances at High-A Wisconsin earlier this year. The power is real; the 12 homers he accumulated at Biloxi with the Cardinals prior to the deal are the loudest tool in his profile and the reason the Brewers targeted him.
Ricki Moneys (RK, SS, Rank: 51) · went 7-for-23 with a homer, a double, and six walks across the week, which is a nice way to summarize why his BB/K ratio this season (42 walks, 39 strikeouts in 214 plate appearances) is more interesting than the raw stat line. He is 17 years old with a 55 power grade and a 40 hit tool, projecting long-term as a bat-first third baseman. The contact questions are the right questions to ask, but the plate discipline for his age is a legitimate developmental positive.
Diego Frontado (RK, SS, Rank: 18) · reached base 13 times in 25 plate appearances this week, drawing nine walks and adding three hits. He is not hitting for much average this season, but the .453 OBP in the complex over 173 plate appearances tells you the 17-year-old already understands the strike zone. A 55 hit tool and 55 field grade with solid athleticism give him a legitimate middle-infield pathway; the walks are a sign the approach is already ahead of the age.
Jett Williams (AAA, SS, Rank: 4) · was activated from the 7-day IL on August 8 after missing roughly a month. He had played his last game before placement on July 7 and had not appeared in a game since activation before week's end, so there are no new numbers yet. His season line at Nashville is .233/.340/.384 with nine home runs and 21 steals in 359 plate appearances; he should get back into the lineup at Nashville shortly and the steals-plus-contact profile will be worth watching as he shakes off the rust.
Ryan Birchard (AA, RHP, Rank: 47) · punched out eight hitters in 3.2 innings but allowed two earned runs and issued two walks. The strikeout rate is his best attribute, and 55 strikeouts in 37.1 innings this season out of the bullpen demonstrates the mid-90s fastball plays. The 49 walks in that same sample are the entire problem; a 35-grade command grade is doing its best impression of a hard ceiling right now.
Alexander Frias, LF, Cardinals (A, Jupiter) · #521 Overall · arrived from St. Louis in the same swap that sent Ragsdale to Milwaukee and went 3-for-11 in his first 13 plate appearances with the organization at Low-A Palm Beach. He had posted a .441/.518/.678 line with four homers across 137 plate appearances in the complex with the Cardinals before a mid-season demotion complicated his line. The Brewers will want to see what he looks like with some stability at a single level.