Major League Baseball released its updated midseason prospect rankings Wednesday morning, and it should surprise just about no Brewers fan that 18-year-old prospect Jackson Chourio has risen to No. 11 overall. Chourio is also ranked at No. 2 in Baseball America’s prospect rankings.
Chourio is joined by fellow Brewers prospects Sal Frelick (No. 49) and Joey Wiemer (No. 89) inside the top 100, although both players were ranked lower than they were previously. Following those three in the Brewers top 10 is Brice Turang, Garrett Mitchell, Tyler Black, Jeferson Quero, Esteury Ruiz, Jacob Misiorowski and Eric Brown Jr.
Despite his youth, Chourio has been outstanding with the Single-A Carolina Mudcats and High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers this season. In 81 games, he’s slashed .314/.367/.573 with 16 home runs, 59 RBIs, 103 hits and 13 stolen bases. With the update, MLB also moved up his ETA to 2024, which would be his age 20 season, putting him alongside other young international prospects like Juan Soto and Ronald Acuna.
Chourio was ranked as the No. 18 international prospect in the 2020-21 signing class, but he’s proving to be a steal for the $1.8 million Milwaukee signed him for. With a 60-overall rating, Chourio ranks above average (50) with his hitting (55), power (60), running (70) and fielding (60). He’s just below average with his arm (45).
Mudcats manager Victor Estevez even said earlier this summer that he could be on an Acuna-type trajectory. Only time will tell with the Brewers top prospect.
Behind Chourio, the next four prospects are all at the AAA level with Nashville. Frelick has had a solid season, rising from High-A Wisconsin to Nashville and slashing a combined .321/.396/.467 with 112 hits, seven homers, 38 RBIs and 17 stolen bases. Wiemer has slashed .242/.317/.436 with 16 homers and 53 RBIs, but he’s struggled with strikeouts, as he has 126 strikeouts over 376 at-bats between AA and AAA. With above-average speed (28 steals this season) and plenty of power, Wiemer could be a good fit in Milwaukee’s outfield in the future if he can get his swing-and-miss rate down.
Turang is a good candidate for a September call-up, as he’s been in AAA all season and is slashing .282/.353/.398 with nine homers, 54 RBIs and 117 hits. He’d be a good utility option, as he can play shortstop, third base, second base and the outfield. Mitchell rounds out the top five, slashing .276/.369/.416 with five homers, 30 RBIs and 61 hits over 59 games in an injury-plagued season.
While the Brewers have several options for September call-ups (Frelick, Turang, Ruiz, Small), we’ll have to wait and see what David Stearns & Co. do in the next few weeks as the Brewers make a playoff push.
Of note, Misiorowski and Eric Brown Jr., the Brewers’ second-round and first-round pick in the 2022 draft, respectively, made their debuts on Milwaukee’s top prospects list at No. 9 and No. 10. Fellow draftees Robert Moore (No. 17), Dylan O’Rae (No. 23) and Matthew Wood (No. 29) also made it inside the team’s top 30 list.