'I want to face the best': Brewers prospects relish Spring Breakout chance

February 16th, 2024

PHOENIX -- The Milwaukee Brewers’ top prospects are looking forward to their participation in the first-of-its-kind Spring Breakout games in March.

The Spring Breakout series will showcase baseball’s future stars in exhibition games played over a four-day span from March 14-17 at Spring Training sites in Florida and Arizona.

Spring Breakout rosters are to be announced on MLB Network at 10 a.m. CT on March 7, and most of the top prospects on the 30 Major League teams are expected to be invited. MLB digital platforms are to carry at least 10 games live and blackout free, and MLB Network is to air five games live.

“It would mean the world to me that I would be one of the guys that they would consider for that game,” catcher/first baseman Wes Clarke said. “It would be awesome.”

MLB Pipeline ranks Clarke as the Brewers' No. 30 prospect. As a non-roster invitee to Spring Training, he is a candidate for Milwaukee's Spring Breakout game, March 17 against Kansas City's top prospects at the Royals’ camp in Surprise, Ariz.

Outfielder is ranked the No. 2 overall prospect, but as a member of the Brewers’ 40-man roster he may remain in Major League camp.

“It would be exciting,” said right-hander Jacob Misiorowski, who is ranked No. 33 overall and is in camp as a non-roster invitee. “It’s like the Futures Game. It would be fun. It would be an honor. I want to play the best. I want to face the best.”

Corner infielder Tyler Black is ranked No. 46 overall, and he also is likely to be invited, along with fellow non-roster invitees left-hander Robert Gasser, right-hander Carlos F. Rodriguez and third baseman Brock Wilken.

“It’s cool that they are setting up something hopefully for the future of the game and the players that will be in it,” Gasser said. “It would be really crazy. Probably a pretty high adrenaline experience because you are facing off against the other best prospects around.”

It can also be an eye-opening experience for the fans, some said.

“It shows the fans what teams are developing and what their top prospects look like,” Rodriguez said. “Most of them just see [players’] names in the paper and never actually see them play. It’s a good event for that.”

Gasser sees it as a way to educate fans on what to expect in future seasons.

“Seeing what a team could look like in the future, I feel like that is exciting for the fans,” Gasser said. “They get to watch and feel like that is something they can look forward to. [MLB officials] are doing a lot of new things now to keep it going. I like it.”

Clarke played with members of the Kansas City organization on the 2023 Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League, and he said it would be “cool” to play against them in the Spring Breakout.

“That was the most fun I’ve ever had playing baseball because of the friendships I made with the other guys,” Clarke said of his Fall League experience. "It is going to be fun to run across those guys later on."