MLB Pipeline hands out prospect grades on the 20-80 scouting scale, projections of what players' tools might bring to the table at the big league level. Not among the five standard ones for position players is an unspoken and elusive one: the clutch gene.
Unofficially, Jesús Made is beginning to trend toward 80-grade territory in that department.
After Made ripped a game-tying RBI single in the 10th inning at Double-A on Thursday night at Keesler Federal Park, the rain came down. First, the game was suspended until Friday, before being washed away entirely. Biloxi and Birmingham picked up play Saturday afternoon, with Made showing that not even the raindrops can cool him off, as he ripped a two-run walk-off single in a 7-6 victory.
Just moments later, with Saturday's regularly scheduled game getting underway, the newly minted No. 1 overall prospect homered in his first at-bat on a one-handed swing against a hanging breaking ball. That made it nine straight games with an RBI for Made, the longest streak in the Minors in 2026. The feat was last accomplished in the Majors by Shohei Ohtani from June 16-26, 2024 (10 games).
When Made’s RBI streak began on May 12, he was still baseball’s No. 2 prospect, one spot behind the incumbent, Pittsburgh's Konnor Griffin. Since then, Made's 16 RBIs are the most at Double-A and have helped propel the Brewers’ top prospect into first place on the Southern League RBI leaderboard with 35.
(Made also drove in a run in the first game of a doubleheader on May 10 before being shut out in the nightcap. So he's actually had an RBI each of the past 10 days he’s suited up for a game.)
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The 19-year-old has driven in six players other than himself during the streak, with Dylan O'Rae, Matthew Wood and Mark Coley II (three times) benefitting most. He’s done it with homers to the parking lot, doubles, singles, walk-offs, sac flies, you name it. Getting Made out has been a difficult proposition all year long, but particularly so with runners in scoring position, a scenario in which he’s hitting .323.
But this isn’t merely a flash-in-the-pan, fun-with-stats gimmicky streak. Made leads the Southern League in hits (48). His 79 total bases rank third. And lest we forget, he’s the youngest player on the circuit and more than five years younger than the average hitter, having exclusively faced pitchers older and more experienced than him.
COMPLETE BREWERS PROSPECT COVERAGE
In 2023, the Shuckers finished second in the league in runs scored (756), led by a sparkplug teenager in the second spot of the batting order -- Jackson Chourio.
Entering play Thursday, Biloxi led the circuit with 235 runs scored. Made, the Brewers' latest teenager wunderkind from the international ranks, has started all 40 games this season as the club’s No. 2 hitter.
Time will tell how long it will be until Chourio and Made hold down two of the nine everyday spots in the Milwaukee order, wherever they may be hitting.