The Milwaukee Brewers are on the clock at No. 25 overall, and the first-round picture is already starting to take shape. With the 2026 MLB Draft opening today, the Crew will make 20 picks over the next two days, but the conversation right now is all about where they land in Round 1.
That’s never an easy question to answer, especially for a team like Milwaukee. Drafts are hard to pin down at the best of times, and the later the board goes, the messier it gets.
Teams are not just chasing the best player available; they’re working the bonus pool, trying to stretch money as far as it can go. The Brewers have done that well in recent years, but this time around they’re working with one of their smaller bonus pools in a while.
They’re short on compensatory picks, and they also sent away the No. 67 pick in the deal for Kyle Harrison. Add in last year’s best record in baseball, which pushed their selections toward the back of each round, and Milwaukee’s draft setup looks a little tighter than usual.
So who do the experts think fits at No. 25? The names keep circling around a few familiar buckets: college pitching, college bats, and prep players with real upside.
The most common name attached to the Brewers is Cameron Flukey, the right-hander from Coastal Carolina. Baseball America and ESPN both mocked Flukey to Milwaukee, and the fit is easy to see.
He works in the mid-90s with his fastball, can touch 98 mph, and gets movement on the pitch. His curveball is the standout secondary, and it’s the kind of high-spin breaking ball the Brewers have consistently liked in their pitching targets.
At 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds, he also has the kind of frame that suggests a starter’s build with room to keep filling out.
Still, taking a pitcher in the first round would be a notable move for Milwaukee. The Brewers have done it only once in the past decade, when they took Ethan Small in 2019. That didn’t go especially well, which helps explain why the club has generally stayed away from that route.
Several mocks point the Brewers toward bats instead. The Athletic and Fangraphs both sent Ace Reese, a third baseman from Mississippi State, to Milwaukee.
Reese put together a big season for the Bulldogs, hitting .336 with 24 home runs. He’s a classic left-handed power bat with a solid feel to hit, though his defensive home remains the big question.
The issue is whether he can stay at third base.
Another popular name is Cole Prosek, listed as a shortstop/catcher from Magnolia Heights (MS) High School. CBS Sports, The Sporting Tribune, and Prospects Live all connected him to the Brewers.
The ties are hard to miss: he’s the nephew of Brewers third base coach Matt Erickson, he comes from the same high school as current Brewers shortstop Cooper Pratt, and he plays with Pratt’s younger brother. Prosek is athletic enough to handle both the infield and catching, and he brings a strong feel to hit with some pop.
He’s committed to Ole Miss, but there’s real momentum around him as a first-round possibility.
MLB Pipeline went in a different direction with Zion Rose, an outfielder from Louisville. Their most recent mock, published July 2, had Milwaukee taking another college bat.
Rose brings an above-average offensive profile across the board, though he’ll need some work on pitch selection. Even so, the ceiling is there.
Baseball Prospect Journal also landed on a college hitter, tabbing Sawyer Strosnider from TCU. He’s a left-handed bat with a power-speed combo that stands out, and both tools have earned plus grades.
The concern is the strikeouts, which are always worth watching with a hitter like this. But in terms of athleticism and raw tools, he’s one of the more intriguing names in the class.
There’s also a clear thread running through the prep-player chatter. Prosek keeps showing up, and a handful of other high school names have been linked to Milwaukee as well: James Clark, a shortstop from St. John Bosco (CA) High School; Tegan Kuhns, a right-hander from Tennessee; Taj Marchand, a shortstop from James Island (SC) High School; Trey Ebel, a shortstop from Corona (CA) High School; Eric Becker, a shortstop from Virginia; and Logan Reddemann, a right-hander from UCLA.
For now, the Brewers’ first-round board looks wide open, but the mock drafts have made one thing clear: Milwaukee could go pitching, could go college power, or could lean into an athletic prep player with multiple paths to value.
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