ESPN, MLB Pipeline, and The Athletic each have the Brewers taking someone different with the 20th overall pick
With the MLB Draft beginning less than a week from now, on Sunday, July 13, let’s take a look at who a few of the popular mock draft sites have the Brewers taking with their first pick in the draft:
Keith Law (The Athletic): Kayson Cunningham, SS
Cunningham, a high school shortstop out of San Antonio, Texas, led Team USA with a .417 average at the 18-and-under World Cup qualifier last August. Law doesn’t offer much for analysis. His entire blurb on the Brewers:
I’ve heard the Brewers all over the place, and they could just as easily go for a data guy like Gavin Fien or Gavin Kilen, or another arm like Zach Root or Anthony Eyanson (both of whom grade out very well on their non-fastball pitches, but whose fastballs are too straight).
MLB Pipeline’s scouting report on Cunningham describes him as a slightly bigger version of Jett Williams, another Texas prep prospect who went 14th overall to the Mets in 2022. Williams has an .858 OPS in Double-A right now, so not a bad player to be compared to.
Cunningham has great barrel control — per Pipeline, he “rarely swings and misses and can hit pitches in all areas of the strike zone.” He projects to be an above-average defender, in part because of his plus speed tool. Fast, plays good defense, makes good contact? Sounds a lot like former first-round picks Brice Turang, Garrett Mitchell, Sal Frelick, and Braylon Payne.
Three of Milwaukee’s top four prospects (Jesus Made, Luis Peña, and Cooper Pratt) do play shortstop, but it’s possible neither Made nor Peña will end up there in the pros. Regardless, a team can never have too many talented infield prospects — that’s a good problem to have.
Cunningham is Pipeline’s No. 14 overall prospect, so he might not even fall to the Brewers despite doing so in Law’s mock. If he’s there at No. 20, the Brewers should think long and hard about taking him.
ESPN: Xavier Neyens, 3B
Neyens, a high school third baseman from Washington state, is an entirely different type of prospect than the speedy contact hitter archetype mentioned above.
Neyens is closer to a high school, left-handed Brock Wilken — he might have the most raw power in the class (at least 65-grade). Like Wilken, there are questions about his ability to make consistent contact.
ESPN explains that at this point, the run on college hitters is basically over. The college hitters left in their mock (Jace LaViolette, Caden Bodine) also have extreme profiles. Realistically, by this point in the draft, every team will have a small group of 2-3 players that they feel fits their team best.
Milwaukee doesn’t have a ton of power on the big-league roster, so maybe they’ll take a big swing on a guy like Neyens, who could end up as a 40-home-run guy someday if he can improve his contact rates. Wilken was raking in the minors (.942 OPS, 18 home runs) until he was sidelined by a knee injury, so the Brewers might feel confident they can get similar results out of Neyens.
Jim Callis (MLB Pipeline): Jace LaViolette, OF
LaViolette, a slugging outfielder out of Texas A&M, has a similar profile at the plate to Neyens — a lot of power and not a lot of contact. He’s a 6’6” left-handed hitter who absolutely crushes the ball, especially to his pull side. Despite his size, LaViolette is actually remarkably fast out of the box, and even faster when he gets going.
LaViolette was a contender to go No. 1 overall before a down year this year. He posted a .258 average with a 25% strikeout rate as a junior, making it pretty unlikely he’ll be selected among the top 10 picks in next week’s draft. LaViolette has one obvious flaw, but it’s a big one — swinging and missing at pitches in the zone.
However, like Cunningham, there’s a good chance he won’t be there for the Brewers at 20. Somebody may want to take a shot on his raw talent before he makes it to Milwaukee.
I think LaViolette is a more likely pick than Neyens. Milwaukee’s current regime has preferred to draft college hitters — selecting Brock Wilken, Blake Burke, Eric Brown, Sal Frelick, Garrett Mitchell, and Tyler Black in the last five years alone. The only high school hitter they’ve drafted since 2018 (Brice Turang) was Braylon Payne, who has a completely different skillset than the Neyers/LaViolette profile.