Baseball articles, especially this time of the season, are hard to find without the prefix “top” attached to “prospects.”
Although teams are largely judged by how many of their top 30 prospects are on the Top 100 Prospects list, there are of course those who slip through the cracks and still perform at an admirable rate, despite their lack of public recognition.
Whether they exist on the fringe because of past failures or difficulties, where and how they were signed, or any other factor, all remain an unnecessary facet of their current being as productive members of their respective teams.
Here is one name (in the series) that has flown under the radar this season in the Milwaukee Brewers Minor League Organization.
Neuhaus is seemingly just cracking the surface, as his minor-league career started just a few years ago when the Brewers selected him in the second round of the 2013 draft. The sample size has been limited and currently still centers around the two years he spent in rookie ball, but so far, the results have been relatively promising.
His first year in the Arizona League wasn’t terribly impressive but then again, the numbers aren’t uncommon for a first year in a new setting. Neuhaus posted a .213/.311/.303 slash line with zero home runs, 24 runs batted in and six stolen bases in 51 games. The following year in the Pioneer League, he showed improvement, slashing a slightly better .233/.296/.328 with three home runs, 21 RBI, and nine stolen bases in 61 games.
In his first year in Single-A in 2015, he continued this trend by batting .249/.307/.355 with 19 doubles, four home runs, and 40 RBI in 104 games.
Neuhaus’ 2016 season has been almost entirely hampered by injuries, as he’s only logged playing time in 12 games so far but it doesn’t seem to be having a large impact on his playing ability. Before hitting the disabled list with a broken finger in mid-April, he was off to a solid start, going 10-for-27 with two doubles, a triple, and three RBI in his first eight games, batting .370/.393/.519.
He is currently in the middle of a rehab assignment back in rookie-ball, but even with a very limited sample size of four games since returning August 25, he seems to be hitting and seeing the ball just fine. So far during his assignment, he’s gone 5-for-13 with a triple, two walks, and a pair of RBI.
Currently, the Brewers have only one Top 30 prospect that is able to play second base, Isan Diaz, who has been absolutely outstanding with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Diaz is ready to move up anytime, so if Neuhaus is able to continue his progress as his past has shown, the Brewers have more depth and talent at the position than the Top 30 prospect list shows.
Jonathan Powell is the Managing Editor of Outside Pitch MLB and the Milwaukee Brewers writer. Follow him on Twitter @jonathannashhh.
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