With any investment, faith in the product being supported is paramount; if those backing the funding lack confidence in the future outcome, that endeavor is doomed to fail.
In the case of the Carolina Mudcats of the Single-A Carolina League, the Milwaukee Brewers feel 1000% confident in their budding commodities.
The Mudcats boast an embarrassment of riches; seven of Milwaukee’s top 30 prospects, including three of their 10 best, currently play for Carolina. With a roster like that, the future is bright and promising for fans of the Brew Crew.
After completing the first half of the Carolina League North season in second place, four games behind Lynchburg, Carolina has stormed out of the second-half gate, going 12-7. That hot streak propelled the Mudcats to the overall top spot, having picked up those four games, and they are now percentage points ahead of Lynchburg.
One of the main reasons for the Mudcats’ success is arguably Jesus Made, who is rated the top Brewers prospect and seventh in all of baseball. Made, who turned 18 in May, hails from the Dominican Republic, and he signed a free-agent contract with Milwaukee in January 2024. Between rookie ball last season and Carolina in 2025, Made is hitting .293 with a .867 OPS, all while getting used to professional baseball.
Last week, Made was the lone representative from the Brewers selected to participate in the Futures Game, part of the All-Star Game festivities in Atlanta.
Brewers beat writer JR Radcliff wrote last week in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: “He has demonstrated a rare blend of strength and speed, with high contract rates, raw power and good instincts. He also happens to be a switch-hitter playing at a premium defensive position.”
It is not just the local media that are high on Made. While he currently sits in the seventh spot among all MLB prospects, one publication believes he could vault to the top of the list. In May, Baseball America predicted steady improvement for Made.
“After running roughshod over the Dominican Summer League in 2024, Made jumped straight to Low-A as a 17-year-old and burst out of the gates with a set of tools rarely seen on a player so young. There’s little Made can’t do on a baseball diamond, and he’s a prime contender to be the No. 1 prospect in the sport once the more veteran players at the top take their final bows.”
Not to be outdone, fellow Mudcat infielder and native of the Dominican Republic, Luis Pena, checks in as the 3rd-best Brewers prospect. He was signed on the same day as Made, and the 18-year-old is also making a name for himself in Carolina. Through his first 59 games, Pena is hitting .311, good for sixth in the league. His 46 RBI places him fifth among Carolina League hitters.
Mudcat players own the top two spots in batting average for the league. Although his season has been limited to 24 games because of injury, Josh Adamczewski is pacing the league with a .360 average. Teammate Marco Dinges is hitting .353 in his 26 games of work.
The masher of Mudcats this season is 19-year-old Eric Bitoni. The third-rounder in 2023, who is the 11th-most touted Brewer prospect, has crushed a league-high 14 homers thus far in 2025, and his 54 RBI are only four shy of the Carolina League lead.
Carolina is an exciting team littered with the organization’s most-prized prospects, and most of them are not even able to celebrate a win with a beer. The average age of the Mudcats’ regular batting lineup is 19.2, and they are currently the best-hitting team in the Carolina League.
Predictions and rankings are often not worth the paper on which they are printed. The list of prospects who did not live up to the hype in major league baseball is long and distinguished, and every team has its share of “misses” in their drafting processes.
However, fans of the True Blue Brew Crew should feel giddy about the teenagers learning their way through Milwaukee’s minor league system. These kids can play, and they just may be coming to a stadium near the end of this decade to prove it.
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