Josh Adamczewski, Milwaukee Brewers, High-A, 31

You know the famous trademark saying from Bruce Buffer to start a UFC event, “It’s time!” Well, imagine he’s screaming it at the top of his lungs here, because it’s finally time to start diving into offseason rankings and prospect spotlights. The main event here is going to feature a Milwaukee Brewers prospect who played his first full season above Rookie-ball. Here’s a broad overview of the season he had at Single-A Carolina, 46 games, an insane slash line of .359/.459/.569, which was aided by elite plate discipline with a walk rate of 14.1% and a strikeout rate of 18%, leading ultimately to a wRC+ of 187. Was this stellar performance from breakout prospect Braylon Payne? No it was not. What about the high rising prospect Luis Peña? Again, not him either. It must have been the now superstar prospect Jesus Made? Well, you’d still be wrong. It’s time! Let’s meet the player that may have a sneaky chance to be better than all of those prospects, Josh Adamczewski.

Adamczewski was drafted by the Brewers in the 15th round of the 2023 MLB draft out of Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana. He would get into just three games that season, all in Rookie-ball. The following year, 2024, he would start back there, play in 32 games, and amass 142 plate appearances. He was ultimately promoted to Single-A at the end of the season following a slash line of .336/.472/.478. He added two home runs, 10 doubles, and eight stolen bases. The impressive takeaway from his play at Rookie-ball that year may have been his plate discipline. Pitchers struggled to strike him out, while he was able to work counts and draw walks at a high rate. Striking out at an 18.3% clip and walking at the same 18.3% rate. After his call-up to Single-A, he only managed to get into a handful of games, which put himself into a great position for a big breakout in 2025.

Circling back to his 2025 season at Single-A, Adamczewski was larger than life for the month of April. The talk coming from the Carolina Mudcats wasn’t about Made or Peña, but the somewhat unknown player that couldn’t be stopped at the plate. In fact, the only thing that flipped the spotlight back to Made and Peña was a back injury for Adamczewski. Unfortunately for him and fans, he was diagnosed with left sacroiliac joint irritation and wound up missing almost all of May and June. After returning to the field, his bat stayed just as hot as when he left it, hitting over .300 for the months of July and August (which included a late season promotion to the High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers).

The Milwaukee Brewers wanted to help Adamczewski make up for those last at-bats during the season and sent him to the Arizona Fall League (AFL), which was aggressive as he hadn’t played more than 55 games above Rookie-ball at the time. Needless to say, he put himself on the prospect map after the AFL season. Being one of the least experienced hitters there, he wound up shining through the plethora of stars that were also there. In 20 games, he slashed .277/.415/.538, adding four home runs, five doubles, and four stolen bases. He continued to have superb plate discipline with a strikeout rate of 18.3% and a walk rate of 20.7%. From his games in the AFL and via Prospect Savant, some of his underlying metrics were finally publicly available. He had a 91.8 mph average exit velocity, a 109.6 mph max exit velocity, a 45.8% hard hit rate, all while only chasing 17.1% of the pitches out of the strike zone (96th percentile). His four home runs all went over 425 feet and had exit velocities over 106 mph.

Diving deeper into the 2025 season, you can see where Adamczewski truly rose above his fellow prospects. He was in the upper tier for contact and plate discipline according to his player profile from The Stat Ranch. Prospects almost always tend to be forced into two categories, players with high contact bats, or players that have too much swing and miss in their game. He is someone who will not have any worries about the latter and could conceivably be one of the better bat to ball hitters in the minor leagues right now. What is actually encouraging to see is his sneaky speed. The Stat Ranch shows him with a 60 grade speed, above average. You might not be able to tell from his seven stolen bases on the season, but he does possess above average speed on the bases. Five triples in 2025 and four stolen bases in the AFL reassure that grade. In 2026, he could surprise some people with higher stolen base totals than his previous seasons, adding to his prospect value and making for a more solid profile as he reaches the upper minor leagues. His home run per flyball rate was on the lower end, coming in at 6.58% (41st percentile) and could be an area he will look to improve upon at High-A Wisconsin.

With more eyes on Adamczewski than ever, his 2026 season will be very pivotal to his development and establishment of his prospect value. A move from the infield (second base) to left field was signaled by the Brewers organization when they decided to have him play exclusively there in the AFL. With Made and Peña being given the majority of infield reps, the position change is a must and he will need to show that his arm and fielding are up to par while roaming the outfield. Ultimately, his bat is going to be what carries him, but tapping into more power could vault him up to the same caliber of prospect as his fellow teammates. When he comes to the plate, just remember, “It’s time!”