With the MLB Draft quickly approaching, major league teams are bringing in players for workouts and finalizing their draft boards. The Milwaukee Brewers hold the 21st overall pick in this year’s MLB Draft, which gets underway on June 4.
In recent years, the Brewers have preferred college players or prep position players. The organization has shied away from prep pitchers since 2011, selecting only one prep hurler in the first round in the last seven years. That pitcher was lefty Kodi Medeiros in 2014.
Here are three options for the Brewers with the 21st pick in this year’s MLB Draft:
Logan Gilbert, RHP, Stetson
Stetson has produced two of the top pitchers in baseball in right-handers Jacob deGrom and Corey Kluber in the last 10 years. Logan Gilbert is the latest well-regarded pitcher from Stetson and will go higher in the MLB Draft than his two predecessors.
A 6-foot-5, 195-pound hurler, Gilbert likes to attack hitters with his four-pitch mix, featuring a fastball, circle changeup, curveball and slider. He works in occasional two-seam fastballs, but mainly uses a four-seamer that sits in the mid-to-upper 90s.
He has the potential to have three solid off-speed offerings with his slider and changeup being his best secondary pitches at the moment. Gilbert changed his slider grip this past offseason, which has allowed him to throw the pitch harder and with a tighter break.
Although his fastball velocity is down a couple of ticks to 94 mph this spring, Gilbert has lived up to being one of the top college pitcher in this year’s draft class. He has a 9-1 record with a 2.61 ERA, 134 strikeouts and 20 walks in 93 innings (13 starts).
Read a MLB Draft feature on Gilbert here.
Connor Scott, OF, Plant (Fla.) HS
Connor Scott is a left-handed swinging outfielder with five-tool potential. His top tool is his elite speed that allows him to impact the game on the bases and in the outfield. He’s more of a gap-to-gap hitter at this stage of his career, but scouts believe he has the potential to develop more power once he starts filling out his 6-foot-4, 180-pound frame.
Besides his speed, he has above-average arm strength that will allow him to stick in center field long-term. He’s committed to the University of Florida, but signability isn’t a concern with Scott.
While major league teams view him solely as a position player, he also pitches for his high school team. A left-handed hurler, Scott throws a low-90s fastball.
Henry B. Plant High School has produced numerous draft prospects over the years in Hall of Famer Wade Boggs and Kyle Tucker, the No. 5 pick in the 2015 MLB Draft.
Trevor Larnach, OF, Oregon State
Trevor Larnach has made strides at the plate this spring. After hitting .303 with three home runs and 48 RBIs in 60 games in 2017, Larnach has a .328 batting average with 17 home runs and 64 RBIs in 52 games this spring.
Larnach has an advanced approach at the plate and has sense of the strike zone. A left-handed hitter, Larnach makes consistent, hard contact to all fields. His increase in power this spring has raised his MLB Draft stock and moved him into first-round consideration.
His biggest weakness is his below-average speed. While he possesses a strong arm that profiles in right field, scouts wonder if he’ll be limited to left field due to his lack of speed.
READ: 2018 MLB Draft: Profiles on top prospects
