Five Milwaukee Brewers prospects land on the ZiPS top 100

Earlier this week, Dan Szymborski published his own special version of the top 100 prospect list for ESPN. This list uses ZiPS projections to rank the prospects, compiling data sets rather than projections on ability based on scouting reports. In total, five Milwaukee Brewers prospects ended up on this year’s list.

Here’s how the Brewers ranked on the list:

21. Brandon Woodruff, RHP
26. Corbin Burnes, RHP
59. Brett Phillips, OF
72. Mauricio Dubon, SS
97. Keston Hiura, 2B

Woodruff (97), Burnes (24) and Hiura (35) all also appeared on Keith Law’s top 100. As Szymborski points out in his article, the more data, the better the projection. This would explain why a prospect like Hiura’s ZiPS ranking didn’t align with how scouts view his potential.

Szymborski also takes a second to point out the large anomalies from players who have played a lot but were ranked lower on Law’s list, like Woodruff. He explains that a pitcher of Woodruff’s caliber is favored because his floor is so high versus a low ceiling. With the valuation of wins at roughly $7 million per win, a safe player like Woodruff who could be a number three ends up with more value through analytics than to a scout who doesn’t see impressive stuff.

Lewis Brinson (57) and Monte Harrison (31) also ended up on the list. No other recent tradees were noted.