Milwaukee Brewers Minor League Report: August Update

The dog days of summer are officially upon us. August is always an interesting time in the baseball calendar, with the trade deadline in the rearview mirror and the postseason still a month-plus away. It’s the time of year when fans really feel the grind of a 162-game season as the itch for October baseball grows stronger.

August is also a great time to check in on the biggest storylines down on the farm for your favorite ball club. There’s no shortage of takeaways this time of year in the minor leagues. Some top prospects switched teams at the deadline, while others might be receiving promotions to the next level following a strong stretch of play so far in 2026.

Today, we will be doing a heat check on one of the premier farm systems in all of baseball: the Milwaukee Brewers.

As you’ve probably heard by now, the Brewers feature one of the top farm systems the game has seen in quite some time, from its top-level talent all the way to its incredible depth from top to bottom. I will be going level by level and breaking down some of the biggest overperformers — and underperformers — from each of Milwaukee’s affiliates, as well as highlighting any noteworthy storylines or promotions at each level.

Let’s dive in.

Triple-A Nashville

Blake Burke Promoted

The big story in the Brewers’ minor league system right now is the promotion of Blake Burke from Double-A Biloxi to Triple-A Nashville. Burke, who set a Biloxi franchise record with 30 home runs in 96 games in Double-A, was one of the hottest hitters in the Brewers’ system and, frankly, was long overdue for a bump to the next level.

Burke is a big-bodied, lefty-hitting first baseman who has done nothing but pummel baseballs since entering the Brewers’ system. Among qualified bats, Burke’s .603 slugging percentage and 30 home runs were the highest in all of Double-A.

All of a sudden, the Brewers have a bottleneck of corner infielders who could feasibly work their way into the big-league plans as soon as next season in Burke, Luke Adams, and Brock Wilken.

Wilken, who has spent the entire season in Triple-A, has had a disappointing year outside of his innate ability to draw walks. After walking over 20% of the time in Double-A last season, Wilken is sporting a walk rate of 16.7% this year, buoying his on-base percentage, which currently sits at .322.

However, Wilken is batting just .177 in over 400 plate appearances, slugging just .354 with a .676 OPS and an 83 wRC+. His isolated power has dipped from .263 last season to .177 this year, while his strikeout rate currently sits at 28.6%, the highest mark of his career outside of a brief six-game stint in Double-A to end his 2023 season.

Luke Adams Stays Hot

Adams, on the other hand, has hit the ground running nicely this season after missing the early portion of the season with a wrist injury. In 50 games since returning to Double-A, Adams is slashing .264/.414/.534 with a .947 OPS, nine doubles, and 11 home runs.

Over that span, Adams is walking nearly as much as he’s striking out, with a 13.3% walk rate to a 13.8% strikeout rate, while posting a .419 wOBA and 149 wRC+. Adams already has a career-high 16 homers this season, and he’s continued to demonstrate strong on-base skills with a strikeout rate under 15% while once again walking at a high clip.

His ability to elevate the ball is a large part of his offensive profile, and though he doesn’t boast extraordinary exit velocities, his ability to get into his pull-side power has really helped his slugging ability. Due to his well-rounded offensive profile, there’s an outside shot the Brewers give him a look at some point this season if he continues to swing a hot bat.

Untimely Injury for Jett Williams

Jett Williams returned from the injured list on Saturday, took one plate appearance, and then left the game after reaggravating his wrist. Williams is seeing a specialist to determine the severity of the injury, but it appears he’s going to miss even more time after already missing a month back in July.

The injury comes at an unfortunate time, as the Brewers could have used his services. With Cooper Pratt landing on the IL with a strained hamstring and Joey Ortiz battling an injury of his own at the time, Williams was in line to make his big-league debut had he not gotten hurt.

The surface-level stats don’t stand out for Williams, who is slashing .233/.340/.384 with a .723 OPS and 94 wRC+ in 81 games with Nashville. However, he is still making an impact on the bases, posting respectable chase and whiff numbers, and getting into some extra juice by pulling the ball in the air.

The Brewers will hope it’s not an extended absence for Williams, and should he make a quick return to the lineup, there would still be a chance they give him a look at some point this season.

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Double-A Biloxi

A Historic Offense

The Biloxi Shuckers have one of the most potent offenses in all of Minor League Baseball, bar none.

Josh Adamczewski, one of the Brewers’ highest-rising prospects this season, is slashing .289/.377/.506 with an .883 OPS and 131 wRC+ in 43 games since getting the call to Double-A. This comes after he hit .331 with an OPS north of 1.000 at High-A earlier this season.

Adamczewski has already launched a career-high 16 homers this season while posting a walk rate north of 15% and a strikeout rate of just 18.7%. His well-rounded profile has been on display all season long.

Jesús Made caught headlines a couple of weeks back when he went 5-for-5 with seven RBI and two home runs, including a grand slam. With 13 homers on the year and a 13.8% walk rate across 99 games, Made is on pace to end the year in Triple-A should he continue this momentum.

Andrew Fischer has been the talk of Minor League Baseball this season, and for good reason. The third baseman has 35 homers between High-A and Double-A this season, and in his 45 games since his promotion to Biloxi, Fischer is slugging over .600 with 15 homers, a .352 ISO, and a .988 OPS. He recently made his first career professional start at first base this week, which is an interesting development worth monitoring.

While backstop Marco Dinges has struggled since getting the bump to Double-A, catcher Matthew Wood continues to impress with 14 homers, a 130 wRC+, and an .871 OPS in 81 games. The Shuckers have been one of the most exciting minor league teams to watch this season, and they feature some of Milwaukee’s brightest up-and-coming names.

A Few Arms Worth Monitoring

J.D. Thompson, the Brewers’ second-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, recently earned a promotion to Double-A after pitching to a 3.90 ERA and 3.74 FIP in nine starts with High-A Wisconsin.

Though he’s seen an uptick in walks this season (5.11 BB/9 in 37 innings), the southpaw is still striking out over 11 hitters per nine while demonstrating an ability to keep the ball on the ground at a high rate. A top-30 prospect for Milwaukee, he’s quickly climbing the ranks.

Bishop Letson is one of Milwaukee’s highest-rated pitching prospect and has had an up-and-down season in Double-A, battling injury and inconsistency. Still, the flashes have been there. His 4.60 ERA doesn’t jump off the page, but Letson is pitching to a 3.47 ERA across his most recent nine starts while striking out over nine hitters per nine.

His lone start since returning from the IL didn’t go as planned, allowing six hits and four runs across three innings, so he will look to bounce back and put together a strong end to his 2026 campaign.

Jaron DeBerry is another arm carving out a nice season with Biloxi. Outside of a handful of blow-up outings, DeBerry has shown some nice potential. Prior to allowing six runs in just 1.1 innings on July 18, DeBerry pitched to a 2.39 ERA with a .183 opponent average, 51 strikeouts, and 16 walks across his previous eight starts.

DeBerry got tagged for nine runs (eight earned) in his most recent outing, inflating his ERA. While consistency has been somewhat of a pain point for the 23-year-old this season, his peak outings have been encouraging to see.

High-A Wisconsin

Standout Bats

The conversation surrounding the Timber Rattlers must start with Braylon Payne, who has put together a career year at just 19 years old. After hitting a combined eight home runs in 81 games between 2024 and 2025 at Single-A, Payne has launched 23 this season. In 76 games, Payne is slashing .281/.373/.569 with a 132 wRC+ and .942 OPS.

With a .288 ISO, the uptick in power is the clear tool that has stood out. The raw tools were always there; it was just a matter of how much — and how quickly — he could translate that to game power. He’s still striking out close to 30% of the time at High-A, and he’s still putting the ball on the ground north of 45% of the time after posting a ground-ball rate of 50.3% in 2025, so swing-and-miss and elevating the baseball remain two points of emphasis.

However, pair his power surge with his outstanding speed (22 stolen bases in 76 games), and he’s a prospect who is quickly rising across the industry.

It’s been an eventful season for Luis Peña, who missed more than three weeks of the season following a scary situation in which he passed out in the dugout. When on the field, though, the 19-year-old continues to flash the tools that make him Milwaukee’s second-ranked prospect.

Peña is batting over .300 with an OPS near .850 across 48 games at High-A this season to go with a stellar 27 stolen bases. His speed and hit tool remain his strongest calling cards, and elevating the ball will remain a point of emphasis, as he has a ground-ball rate north of 50% this season. Still, the raw power is there, and how much power he can grow into as he matures as a hitter is what makes his ceiling so enticing.

Across his most recent 15 games, Peña is slashing .350/.409/.550 with a .959 OPS and 142 wRC+, to go with three doubles, three triples, a homer, and eight stolen bases. He’s also striking out 13.6% of the time over that stretch.

There are a few other names worth keeping an eye on as well. After a mediocre season at Single-A in 2025, Eric Bitonti has 17 homers, 21 steals, an .877 OPS, and 122 wRC+ in 89 games at High-A this season. He’s still striking out a whopping 35% of the time, a number that has crept up with each successive season, so the hit tool remains a concern.

Sawyer Strosnider, the Brewers’ second-round pick from this year’s MLB Draft out of TCU, was recently assigned to High-A Wisconsin and made his professional debut with the Timber Rattlers. Already recording three hits, including a triple, in his first two games, Strosnider will look to hit the ground running and should immediately slide into the top 30 on Milwaukee’s prospect rankings.

Intriguing Arms

The Brewers have several intriguing pitching prospects in High-A, including Josh Knoth, Ethan Dorchies, Jayden Dubanewicz, and Bryce Meccage.

Knoth, the Brewers’ Comp-A pick from 2023, started the year in Rookie ball but quickly got the bump to High-A. Across his first eight starts at the level, Knoth pitched to a solid 3.14 ERA with 9.10 K/9 and 2.83 BB/9 before stumbling a bit in his next few starts. Overall, it’s been a solid season for the recently turned 21-year-old, who has a 4.85 ERA but a 4.16 FIP in 52 innings at High-A.

At 6-foot-5 while generating impressive extension, Dorchies put himself on the map with a stellar 2025 season, pitching to a 2.74 ERA across the Complex and Single-A. He received a promotion to High-A this season, though the results haven’t quite translated.

There have been some nice stretches for Dorchies, but it’s been a 5.40 ERA and 9.4% K-BB% on the season for the 19-year-old. A 10th-round pick in 2024, Dorchies has the makeup to be an impressive development story, though it will be a project.

Dubanewicz has flashed his upside plenty throughout his young professional career. After pitching to a 2.40 ERA in 82.1 innings between the Complex and Single-A last season, Dubanewicz opened the year at Single-A and quickly earned a promotion to High-A.

His momentum has slowed a bit with Wisconsin, throwing to a mid-5.00s ERA while seeing a decrease in strikeouts. However, he too is an intriguing project who has room for growth as he matures as a professional arm.

Quite frankly, the Brewers need some of their arms in the lower minors to break through, as they’ve seen a lot of their upper-minor arms reach the big leagues in recent seasons. They have a loaded farm system offensively, but it’s some of these aforementioned names at High-A and Double-A who the Brewers would really like to see end the season strong.

Single-A Wilson

Just a couple of quick notes on the Brewers’ Single-A affiliate that are worth mentioning.

Brady Ebel, the team’s first-round pick in 2025, is having a great season at Single-A. In 100 games, Ebel is slashing .262/.416/.422 with an .839 OPS and 128 wRC+ while walking nearly as much as he’s striking out (19.5% BB%, 20.5% K%). He has a whopping 35 stolen bases on the year to go with 10 home runs, and the newly turned 19-year-old should rise up team prospect rankings come season’s end.

Brailyn Antunez, a 2025 international free-agent signing out of Venezuela, has really started to come into his own in 2026. At the time, Antunez was viewed as one of the highest-upside players out of anyone in Milwaukee’s class, and it’s starting to become clear why that was.

Antunez started the year at the Complex, hitting .282 with an .887 OPS and nine home runs in 58 games. Since earning the promotion to Single-A, though, he’s taken his game to new heights. In 13 games with Wilson, the 18-year-old is slashing .375/.492/.771 with a 1.262 OPS and 218 wRC+. He has five homers and four doubles over that stretch, all while increasing his walk rate and cutting his strikeout rate.

He’s a name worth monitoring as the season winds to an end and a player who could gain plenty of steam if he continues this kind of momentum at the plate.