Brice Turang and Garrett Mitchell of Milwaukee Brewers make Baseball America’s Top-100 Prospect list

Over the past couple of seasons the Brewers’ farm system has ranked near the bottom of MLB according to virtually every prospect pundit out there. Maybe the tides are changing just a bit on that narrative as Baseball America announced that Brice Turang and Garrett Mitchell made their 2021 Top 100 Prospects list.

Brice Turing came in at #88 on their list. The 2018 first round draft pick of Milwaukee was a well-known commodity amongst scouts early on as a high school standout on USA Baseball’s 15U National Team, the U-18 World Cup in 2017 and on Team USA that won a gold medal. Falling short of expectations in his senior year caused Turang to fall to the Brewers at #21 in the draft. Milwaukee’s luck might pan out with this one as Turang has performed well at the minor league level as well as Milwaukee’s alternative training site in 2020 where reports indicated that he was the Brewers’ best hitter there. Here is a look at Baseball America’s scouting report on him:

Turang consistently puts together quality at-bats with his sharp eye for the strike zone and sweet lefthanded swing. He’s a patient hitter who doesn’t chase much off the plate and drew walks 15% of the time in 2019. He has a calm, balanced swing with good bat-to-ball skills and stays through the ball, leading to an all-fields, line-drive approach...

The Brewers kept an internal “barrel” board of hitters with exit velocities of 95 mph or better at the alternate site [in Appleton], and Turang was consistently among the leaders throughout the summer. Turang didn’t change his swing, but he added strength and adjusted his approach in favorable counts to drive the ball for more damage. He still doesn’t project as a big power threat, but optimistic evaluators now think 15-20 home runs in his prime is feasible.

Hitting: 60. Power: 40. Running: 60. Fielding: 50. Arm: 50.

Garrett Mitchell was the other Brewers’ farm hand to make the 2021 list of top prospects according to Baseball America. Mitchell ranked as the #91 prospect in baseball. Mitchell was much like Turang in that he fell below draft day expectations, and the Brewers were the beneficiaries making him their first round draft pick at #20 in 2020.

Mitchell is seen as one of the “toolsiests” players in baseball. He has 80-grade speed and is described as an explosive athlete. He claimed the titles of fastest baserunner, best athlete, and best defensive outfielder in the organization.

Mitchell was ranked higher on this list in previous rankings. His slide is due in part to health (Type 1 diabetes) and concerns about his hit tool. Specifically there is concern as to whether he will get to his raw power in games because of a “choppy” approach. Baseball America’s scouting report states:

A physical, explosive athlete, Mitchell is an 80 runner on the 20-80 scouting scale. He covers huge swaths of ground in center field, where he projects as a plus defender with a plus arm. Mitchell’s offensive approach was built around his speed at UCLA. There’s some choppiness to his swing, which is geared to hit low line drives and use his wheels to stretch out extra-base hits. Mitchell shows plus raw power in batting practice, but his approach limits his ability to apply it in games. Mitchell has worked on getting his lower half more engaged in his swing to try to do more damage, but it remains to be seen how much power he will be able to unlock. Mitchell can be a polarizing player, but if he can translate his power into games, he has all-star upside.

Hitting: 55. Power: 55. Running: 80. Fielding: 60. Arm: 60.

There were 88 other players that received at least one vote in one of Baseball America staffers top 150. Two Brewers were among that group: Antoine Kelly and Hedbert Perez. It would not be a surprise to see those two and possibly a couple of others entering the top-100 by mid-season or pre-season of next year.