Milwaukee Brewers 2020 MLB Draft Preview: College Pitchers

It’s MLB Draft day! Ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers’ selection in the first round, we’re previewing the players that could be available at #20. Today is the biggest, deepest group of 2020: collegiate pitchers. There’s going to be a lot, so let’s get going!

The Scouting Report

Garrett Crochet, LHP
#15 Baseball America | #18 MLB Pipeline

MLB Pipeline Tools:
Fastball: 65 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Cade Cavalli, RHP
#22 Baseball America | #22 MLB Pipeline

MLB Pipeline Tools:
Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 50

JT Ginn, RHP
#23 Baseball America | #44 MLB Pipeline

MLB Pipeline Tools:
Fastball: 60 | Slider: 60 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Cole Wilcox, RHP
#24 Baseball America | #23 MLB Pipeline

MLB Pipeline Tools:
Fastball: 65 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 45 | Overall: 50

Carmen Mlodzinski, RHP
#25 Baseball America | #21 MLB Pipeline

MLB Pipeline Tools:
Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Tanner Burns, RHP
#26 Baseball America | #28 MLB Pipeline

MLB Pipeline Tools:
Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Bobby Miller, RHP
#28 Baseball America | #26 MLB Pipeline

MLB Pipeline Tools:
Fastball: 65 | Slider: 55 | Change: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 50

Chris McMahon, RHP
#30 Baseball America | #29 MLB Pipeline

MLB Pipeline Tools:
Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 50 | Changeup: 55 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Slade Cecconi, RHP
#32 Baseball America | #31 MLB Pipeline

MLB Pipeline Tools:
Fastball: 60 | Slider: 55 | Curveball: 45 | Changeup: 45 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50

Bryce Jarvis, RHP
#37 Baseball America | #25 MLB Pipeline

MLB Pipeline Tools:
Fastball: 60 | Curveball: 55 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 60 | Control: 55 | Overall: 50

The Lowdown

So many pitchers...

Garrett Crotchet is the only lefty on this list. Depending on the time of year, he can sit anywhere between 91-95 mph with a high spin rate fastball, or 96-100 with a high spin rate fastball. On top of that, he has a solid slider and great changeup. He had some shoulder issues that kept him from throwing in the very few spring games there were.

Cade Cavalli was a pitcher with a lot of helium coming into the spring. He has a great fastball, but despite great velocity, it can get hit up a bit. He also has very good breaking pitches but struggles with control. Mix in his errant pitch style and injury history, Cavalli could be a player slipping on day one.

JT Ginn is a former first-round draft pick hoping for his second go. Unfortunately, Ginn needed elbow surgery at the beginning of the season after a three-inning appearance. His ceiling is substantial, with a power fastball with great movement and a wipe out slider. He also had a statistically good freshman season, striking out 105 batters in 86.1 innings with just 19 walks and a 3.13 ERA.

Cole Wilcox has one of the better fastballs on this list. He’s touched 100 mph and has two good looking secondary pitchers in his slider and changeup. Scouts give him bad marks on his delivery and he’s struggled with control in the past. Despite that, he’s young and has exceptional raw talent. The Brewers have shown they’re good with raw talent.

Carmen Mlodzinski is finally a top name to watch after arriving in the Cape Cod League. While injuries and bad performance have kept him from getting into top prospect talk the last few years, he was so dominant in one of the top summer leagues that it’s caught a few eyes. Yet again, we’re looking at a power fastball pitcher who shows a slider that could be plus, but needs some fine tuning. His changeup also looks good, but he’ll need to use it more to develop it and make it a true weapon.

Now, Tanner Burns is our first high-floor pick. He’s a control starter who’s a smidge undersized for traditional evaluators standing at 6 feet.. Despite that, he’s been a solid two-year starter at Auburn, showing great command with a low- to mid-90s fastball and a curveball and changeup that should be league average, if not a little better.

Bobby Miller brings us back to big frame, strong fastball pitchers. Miller comes with your general, wild delivery that gives teams that worry he could end up being a reliever. But he’s shown good command at times, and just needs to develop a third pitch to keep that starter ceiling. He’s shown growth over the last few years and could be a front line starter if he continues the upward trajectory.

Chris McMahon has been a touted pitching prospect since high school He’s got a plus fastball that shows deception and movement with mid-90s velocity. The changeup and slider are both good pitches, but there’s debate about which could become to out-getter for McMahon.

Then there’s Slade Cecconi. He’s one of the more talented guys in the entire class, but unlike the names mentioned above, it never seems to work at the same time for Cecconi. His pitches all show plus, but there’s a risk that comes with the territory of being a guy who has it, but doesn’t show it.

Finally, we have Bryce Jarvis. Jarvis spent his offseason working with Driveline to improve his stuff. He came back with a mid-90s fastball and good secondary offerings to pose as a first-round threat. There’s not a lot of track record there, but teams tempted by what he showed in the spring could be willing to take the risk.

How They Become Brewers

We’re going to sort this into a few groups. The first group is Garrett Crotchet. That’s right, he gets his own group. He’s a power fastball lefty and teams love that in the draft. However, that shoulder injury could have a few teams looking the other way. With a little fear in their hearts, Crotchet could fall down the ladder into Milwaukee’s lap (for the second time, since they drafted him in the 34th round back in 2017).

Our next category is the sophomores. Sophomores have some of the largest negotiating power in the draft. They can go back to school and improve their stock, provoking large bonuses in a pool-shortened draft. That group includes Cole Wilcox, JT Ginn and Slade Cecconi. If the Brewers call on draft day, say a number and the other side agrees, those players stand a high chance to be taken.

Finally, there’s the rest. The other candidates all come down to team interest. Are the Brewers looking for high floor and to save on cap? It’s easier to draft someone like a Chris McMahon, who is a late first rounder/early second rounder. Then you can save a few hundred thousand and pass the savings onto the rest of the draft.