Crew's top prospect returns to Minors after impressing in 1st big league spring

PHOENIX -- Spring Training formally begins for Brewers Minor Leaguers on Tuesday, so it was time for the organization’s top prospect to bid farewell to big league camp and begin preparing for the regular season.

The Brewers returned 18-year-old Jesús Made to Minor League camp amid a flurry of roster moves on Monday morning, marking an end to Made’s first unofficial taste of the Majors. Made -- who is ranked by MLB Pipeline as Milwaukee's No. 1 prospect and No. 3 overall -- will likely begin the season with Double-A Biloxi, though the assignments won’t be finalized until later this spring.

“He’s going to be a terrific player,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s a specimen. He’s mature for his age as a person. He fits into the future, for sure.”

Made, who turns 19 on May 8, literally grew up in front of the Brewers’ eyes over the past year. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 187 pounds in last year’s media guide, he’s now 6-foot-1 and 221 pounds -- and the difference was noticeable to anyone who saw him in his first Major League camp.

There was no secret recipe, Made said via Brewers interpreter Daniel de Mondesert, just “a lot of weights, and a lot of food, too.”

What was his primary takeaway from his first Major League camp?

“Really just learning about everything,” Made said. “Learning about the system, learning about the way things are, learning about how practices are in the big leagues. Little nuggets that I am able to take over to the Minor League side.

“The game over here is a little bit quicker. ‘Intense’ would be a word that I would use. The practices are a little more intense, more focused in everything, whether it's batting practice or baserunning drills. There's a heightened level of intensity and focus that goes into it because the game is quicker.”

Murphy met individually with each of the players who were cut from big league camp on Monday morning, and Made said he left the office feeling encouraged. Brewers officials, he said, assured him he had a long Major League career ahead, and they encouraged him to work on the little things.

For Made, that begins on the infield dirt.

“I want to work on my defense in particular,” he said. “But really, I want to learn about the game in general. You never know when your moment is going to come, when they're going to call you up to the big leagues.”

Like any teenager, Made still has room for improvement. The Brewers were wowed by his bat speed, but they will work with him to mature his mental approach from at-bat to at-bat at the plate and his focus from play to play in the field. So far, he’s shown to be very coachable. And his time rubbing elbows on the infield with the likes of second baseman Brice Turang and shortstop Joey Ortiz were part of the education.

“They rub off on each other, you know?” Murphy said. “When you work with Ortiz and Turang, you’re like, ‘[Shoot], I’d better bring my game today.’ Some of our young players are learning that right now.”

The Brewers also optioned catcher Jeferson Quero (their No. 8 prospect) and left-hander Sammy Peralta to Triple-A Nashville and returned these non-roster invitees along with Made: infielder Luke Adams, infielder/outfielder Greg Jones, infielder Eddys Leonard and catchers Darrien Miller, Ramón Rodríguez and Matthew Wood.

Quero is aiming for a healthy season after his recovery from a 2024 shoulder surgery was interrupted last season by a hamstring injury. He’s healthy again and impressed Murphy with his 1.9 second pop times -- the time it takes a catcher to go from receiving a pitch to his throw reaching the infielder’s glove at second base. That’s within the acceptable range for a Major League catcher, even if Quero is still working to get all the way back to where he was.

“What we know now is we’ve got to get Quero playing every day,” Murphy said. “That’s an important part. We’ve got to get him throwing consistently. It’s been 1.9 [seconds], it’s been very good, so if he throws consistently and plays every day, [he can] get back into his routine after this injury.

“That’s a serious injury. Not a lot of people come back from that. He has. Now, play him consistently and get him settled in. He got a better taste of the big leagues [in camp] this year. Now, if something happens, he’s a definite option.”