Photo Courtesy Biloxi Shuckers
Corbin Burnes
The Brewers took another step in the process of getting ready for Opening Day late last week as they transferred eleven players across the parking lot from major to minor league camp to continue their preparations for the 2018 season. More moves are likely to come this week as the Brewers pare down the list of 45 players remaining in camp and develop working groups for minor league exhibition games, which begin on Friday.
Among that first group of eleven cuts were some of the organization’s top prospects. Here’s a quick look at what we learned about them this spring:
RHP Corbin Burnes
Among the Brewers’ top prospects Burnes may have the best shot at making an MLB debut and significant impact in 2018, and he did nothing to lead anyone to dispute that notion during his month in major league camp. Rated as the organization’s top prospect by Keith Law of ESPN and second behind Keston Hiura in several other lists, Burnes made three appearances in Cactus League games this spring and did not allow a hit or a run until his third outing, recording three strikeouts while allowing just one walk in four innings.
Sending Burnes down to the minors now ensures he’ll get a full opportunity to get stretched out as a starter for the 2018 regular season. Burnes pitched 145 2/3 innings in the minors in 2017 and 137 1/3 innings between college and the minors in 2016, so he’s likely close to being able to handle a major league starting pitcher’s workload without major restrictions. If he continues to perform as he has (a 1.74 ERA in a season and a half in the minors across four levels), he’ll likely get a chance to show what he can do in the majors soon.
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INF Mauricio Dubon
The Brewers used Dubon, one of their top infield prospects, a lot in the early weeks of Cactus League games: He appeared in games on six straight days from February 23-28 and again in six consecutive games from March 2-8. In a mix of starts and fill-in duty Dubon collected six hits and walked three times to post a .435 on-base percentage in 22 plate appearances.
Dubon has played second base, third base and shortstop as a professional but was exclusively at short this spring, playing that position in each of his 12 appearances. With Orlando Arcia ahead of him in the organization at the MLB level, however, his clearest path to advance is in one of his other positions or a utility role.
RHP Adrian Houser
It’s been a long road back for Houser, who made his MLB debut with the Brewers in 2015 but has been battling back from injury for most of the two-plus years since, missing much of the 2016 season and nearly all of 2017 before coming back late to rehab with Low-A Wisconsin and make four starts in the Arizona Fall League.
Houser had an outside shot to make the Brewers’ Opening Day roster as a reliever until he suffered another setback, having an emergency appendectomy this spring that set his timetable back. The Brewers announced early in camp that he would open the season in the minors, but he had recovered enough to pitch a single Cactus League inning on March 8. The fact that he was healthy enough to pitch last week would seem to indicate that he’s not far behind and could be ready if the Brewers need him soon.
C Jacob Nottingham
There’s always a need for extra catchers early in spring training and the Brewers rode Nottingham hard in his first MLB camp, putting him into ten of their first 14 games. While there he acquitted himself well offensively, going 4-for-16 with two walks and three extra base hits.
2017 was Nottingham’s second year at AA Biloxi and his offensive numbers at that level have not been stellar, as he’s posted a .223 batting average, .309 on-base percentage and .357 slugging over 213 games. Throughout his career he’s always been much younger than his peers, however, and he won’t turn 23 until early April. In the meantime, the most encouraging thing about Nottingham’s spring is the fact that the Brewers have kept him behind the plate after previous scouting reports had questioned his ability to stick at the position. If Nottingham can become a serviceable defensive catcher then it will take a lot of the pressure off of his offensive numbers.
