2024 Farm system sleeper: Beau Brewer

by Greg Corcoran

6-foot-1

215-pounds

Third baseman, first baseman, second baseman

Right-handed

22-years-old

The Yankees have found a few niches when it comes to the types of players they’ve been able to develop well. They seem to target players with certain profiles given their success with developing them. Beau Brewer, picked in the 19th round of the 2022 draft, falls into the category of guys who are superior contact hitters without much power but could grow into it.

The Yankees found Brewer in Paris Junior College in Texas, where he struck out just 10 times in 42 games. Brewer plays all over the infield and has already shown he can make contact in the minor leagues as well. In 2023, he hit .280/.410/.293/.703 with 12 K : 35 BB in 50 games for Tampa. The catch? He had just two extra base hits in those 50 games.

As you can see, Beau is a patient, contact oriented hitter. Any time you can have a .410 OBP and strike out just 6% of the time, you’re doing something right. Clearly, something has to give with Brewer on the power side to advance his career. He has the size, athleticism, and hand-eye coordination to maximize that power as he develops.

While his range is good at third base, he still needs work at the hot corner. He made seven errors in just 20 games there in 2023. What he lacks in consistency he makes up for in versatility. He logged 19 games at first base and 10 games at second base in 2023.

The Yankees have had success developing players with Brewer’s profile in recent years. Caleb Durbin has emerged as a legitimate prospect, and Jared Serna has increased his power potential every year. TJ Rumfield went from a contact oriented first baseman to an upper-level power hitter. If the Yankees can do something similar with Brewer, he could be next in line for a similar bump in production.

Another aspect of Brewer’s game that has yet to be tapped into is his speed. He stole just three bases in 50 games in Low-A but was a legitimate base-stealing threat in juco and summer League ball before he was drafted. Given the Yankees’ recent predilection for stealing bases in the minor leagues, I’d expect him to become more aggressive in 2024.

While Brewer is one of the lesser-known Yankees prospects, he could begin to change that narrative as soon as 2024 if he has a strong offseason. It’s tough to measure the ceiling of a prospect who is still not close to a finished product, but as it stands Brewer’s would be in the realm of a high average, high on base percentage utility player. That ceiling could change in the coming years if 2024 brings more extra base hits.

It would be easy to write Brewer off as a later round pick with little fanfare, but in recent years the Yankees have been doing a nice job of getting the most out of players like Beau. While most players this late in the draft will not make it to the majors, Brewer has a chance to buck that trend if he works hard and makes the right adjustments.