The Brewers are known for scouting and developing international prospects perhaps better than any other organization.
Jackson Chourio signed an $82 million contract before making his big league debut at 20. Jesús Made is MLB's No. 1 prospect and thriving at Double-A at just 19 years old, while fellow 2024 signee Luis Peña (MIL No. 2/MLB No. 18) has the makings of another offensive force.
Down at Single-A Wilson, Milwaukee's next great international prospect is breaking out: Alexander Frias.
Just 18 years old, the Dominican Republic native showed off his immense toolset for the Warbirds as he homered in a 7-6 loss to Charleston on Saturday at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Ballpark. After starting the season not ranked on the club's Top 30 Prospects list, he now ranks No. 12 and is within shouting distance of Top 100 overall consideration.
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"You don't see too many young players with two strikes put a swing like that [on the ball]; it's pretty special," Wilson manager Eddy Morgan said. "We saw a home run this past weekend at Hickory, too, went 452 feet. He's got all the tools, man. He's gonna be a special one."
Standing 6-foot-2 and listed at a lanky 177 pounds, Frias has immense power potential. He can unleash some of the best bat speed in the system from the left side, which has already enabled him to deliver exit velocities as high as 117 mph.
Frias made quick work of the Rookie-level Arizona Complex League to start the season by slashing .441/.518/.678 with four homers and 12 steals in 32 games. A lot of the contact was on the ground, which can be a cheat code for success with hard infields and middling defenses, but the production was undeniable.
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As the youngest player in the Carolina League, Frias is still finding his footing. Through 22 games, he's slashing .239/.316/.420 with four home runs, even as he puts the ball on the ground at a 59 percent clip.
"That's a young hitter that's learning," Morgan said. "He'll start seeing some balls in the air as he gets older and he matures as a hitter, but we've seen some pull-side home runs that kind of knock your socks off. It's all about his swing decisions, and tonight, he recognized how they were pitching him and got his 'A' swing off with two strikes. That's hard to do -- to get your 'A' swing off with 2 strikes -- and he did it."
In his short time working with Frias, Morgan has seen the phenom make adjustments from at-bat to at-bat. After starting Saturday's game 0-for-3 and falling down in the count 1-2, Frias spat on a couple of low balls before hammering a pitch at the bottom of the zone from righty Jacob Hartlaub (Rays) over the right-center-field fence.
And it wasn't just his power on display Saturday. Morgan has also been impressed with Frias' center-field defense, especially considering he is relatively new to the position after mostly playing right and left field in the Complex League. There's work to be done learning the angles and in being more consistent with his prep step, but at his best, he moves naturally on the grass, almost floating to the ball.
Plus, there's his rocket of an arm. He's recorded a pair of assists for the Warbirds and nearly had another when Ryan Cermak lined a single up the middle with two outs in the ninth. Frias charged in and delivered a strike to home that had the runner by several steps, except catcher Kevin Garcia could not come up with the ball.
"I've seen him make a couple throws that kind of wow you," Morgan said. "I know some scouts have said the same thing. It's pretty impressive. He's so young; he's just learning how to play the game, you know, 18 years old. The ceiling's pretty high, I'll tell you that."