From prospects to journeymen: A guide to the Crew's non-roster invitees

This story was excerpted from Adam McCalvy¡¯s Brewers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

MILWAUKEE -- With Spring Training on deck, it¡¯s time to get to know the Brewers¡¯ non-roster invitees.

Milwaukee has shown a knack in recent years for uncovering gems like Tobias Myers and Jared Koenig, both of whom came to big league camp on Minor League deals in 2024 and made big impacts in the Majors. Myers posted a 3.00 ERA in 138 Major League innings, earning Most Valuable Pitcher honors from the Milwaukee chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Koenig logged a 2.47 ERA in 55 appearances and was named the Brewers¡¯ ¡°Unsung Hero.¡±

A non-roster invitee in 2023, Colin Rea went on to deliver 292 1/3 Major League innings over the following two seasons. In 2022, Jason Alexander delivered 71 2/3 innings to help hold the rest of the rotation together. In 2021, Jace Peterson, Brad Boxberger and Hoby Milner were all non-roster invitees.

So, here are some notes about each of Milwaukee¡¯s invitees to date:

RHP Easton McGee, RHP Jacob Misiorowski, RHP Craig Yoho, C Darrien Miller, SS Cooper Pratt, OF Luis Lara
All six players were already in the Brewers¡¯ organization, including four who were in the most recent version of MLB Pipeline¡¯s Brewers¡¯ Top 30 (No. 2 Pratt, No. 3 Misiorowski, No. 18 Lara and No. 21 Yoho), and two who rank among the just-updated overall Top 100 prospects list: Pratt (No. 57) and Misiorowski (No. 100). Misiorowski and Yoho are of particular interest this spring as bullpen options. More >>

C Jorge Alfaro
An eight-year MLB veteran who most recently saw the Majors with Boston in 2023, Alfaro signed with the Brewers on Jan. 16. His best year was in 2019 with the Marlins, when he played in 130 games and hit 18 homers.

1B Jake Bauers
Bauers is back after slashing .199/.301/.361 with 12 home runs in 346 plate appearances for the Brewers last season. He had some signature moments -- like his walk-off single against the Phillies on Sept. 18, the day the Brewers clinched the NL Central title, and his pinch-hit home run against the Mets in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series to break a scoreless tie in the seventh inning. More >>

LHP Bruce Zimmermann
The lefty, who turns 30 just before the start of camp, doesn¡¯t blow hitters away -- but he does have experience, spending parts of four seasons in the Majors with the Orioles. He has a 3.63 ERA in the Minors over his career, with 116 starts and 11 relief appearances.

RHP Deivi Garc¨ªa
Garc¨ªa is still just 25 and not far removed from being one of the top pitching prospects in baseball -- a 2019 All-Star Futures Game participant who ranked among MLB Pipeline¡¯s Top 100 prospects going into the 2020 season. He¡¯s appeared in the Majors for the Yankees and White Sox, including 14 relief appearances for Chicago last season, when Garcia was charged with 16 runs (11 earned) in 14 innings, with 15 strikeouts but 11 walks. Like Myers, who had great stuff but poor results before coming to Milwaukee, Garcia¡¯s fastball metrics jump off the page.

LHP Thomas Pannone
A 30-year-old starter who split last season between the Red Sox Triple-A affiliate and the KBO, Pannone has pitched in the big leagues for the Blue Jays (2018-19) and the Brewers, for whom he made one relief appearance in Pittsburgh in June 2023.

OF Jared Oliva
After brief stints in the Majors for the Pirates in 2020 and ¡®21, and full seasons at the Triple-A level in ¡®23 and ¡®24, Oliva slipped back to Double-A in the Mariners¡¯ system last season and slashed .294/.378/.463 with 37 stolen bases in 40 tries. He¡¯s 29 and bats and throws right-handed.

C David Garc¨ªa
Garc¨ªa had an impressive .393 on-base percentage at Single-A Carolina in the Brewers system last season and has 108 games of Double-A experience from his previous stint with the Rangers.

C Ram¨®n Rodr¨ªguez
After multiple seasons in both the Dodgers and Orioles organizations, Rodriguez played for Milwaukee at High-A Wisconsin in 2024, where he hit a career-high 10 homers and reached base at a .340 clip.

UTIL Anthony Seigler
Drafted by the Yankees two spots after Brewers first-round pick Brice Turang in 2018, Seigler is the ultimate ¡°jackknife,¡± as Milwaukee GM Matt Arnold called him. Seigler began his pro career as a catcher but has since expanded to second base and the outfield. He¡¯s not only a switch-hitter, but a switch-thrower, too. While Turang cruised to the Majors, Seigler hasn¡¯t played above the Double-A level, though he did set career highs with 24 doubles, 12 home runs and 29 stolen bases for Double-A Somerset last season.

¡°He has really high pedigree, and the reports on his makeup were tremendous,¡± Arnold said. ¡°So, we value the versatility. There are a lot of different pathways to help our team."

INF Raynel Delgado
Hailing from Havana, Cuba, but drafted by Cleveland out of high school in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the left-handed-hitting Delgado won¡¯t turn 25 until April and he already has six Minor League seasons under his belt. Delgado is coming off his best offensive season (.275/.365/.426 with a career-high 22 stolen bases at Triple-A Columbus) and is the sort of versatile defender the Brewers love, making most of his starts at second or third base.

OF Jimmy Herron
A center fielder with speed, Herron owns an .805 OPS over parts of six Minor League seasons in the Cubs and Rockies organizations, with double-digit doubles, home runs and stolen bases in each of the past three years. He turns 29 in late July and is still seeking his first shot in the Majors.

1B Ernesto Martinez Jr.
Originally signed by the Brewers in 2017, Martinez¡¯s nicknames range from ¡°The Cuban Missile¡± to ¡°El espect¨¢culo¡± -- which translates to ¡°The Show¡± or ¡°The Spectacle.¡± Last season was the the 6-foot-6 25-year-old¡¯s best as a professional: He played a career-high 110 games at Double-A Biloxi and slashed .284/.365/.466 with 30 doubles, 13 home runs and 20 stolen bases.

¡°You have to see it in person,¡± said Brewers assistant director of player development Brenton Del Chairo. More >>

RHP Vinny Nittoli
Here¡¯s the righty reliever¡¯s career timeline since Seattle made Nittoli a 25th round Draft pick in 2014: Mariners to D-backs to Blue Jays to Mariners to Twins to Yankees to Blue Jays to Phillies to Cubs to Mets to A¡¯s to Cubs to Orioles to Mets to Brewers.

Now 34, Nittoli pitched in the Athletics, Cubs, Orioles and Mets organizations in 2024 alone, including stints in the Majors with the A¡¯s and O's that added up to 12 innings.