The Rule 5 Draft is on December 10th, but the deadline to protect players from the draft is November 18th.Â
Unlike recent offseasons, there are no surefire additions for the Brewers, and there may not even be any coin-flip options. There are three pitchers and one position player who can at least make a case, though.
The four players with cases are among the 31 eligible players to be selected this year. The complete list is available in our forums, along with a more detailed explanation of what makes a player eligible for selection in the draft.
Brewers fans are well aware of the dangers of leaving a player unprotected, as they witnessed one of their prospects become the number one selection in last year’s draft, and proceeded to watch the previously mentioned Shane Smith pitch his way to an All-Star appearance, or at least a “White Sox need an All-Star” appearance, in his debut season.
Following the addition of Coleman Crow to the 40-man roster last week, keeping him from minor league free agency, the Brewers currently have 38 of the 40 spots filled. Thus, they could add two players to the roster without any additional moves, but the question is whether they will feel the need to do so with any of the 31 eligible players.
None of these four players has as strong a case as Smith or Chad Patrick had in 2024, but they do all have a case.Â
Pitchers:
LHP Brian Fitzpatrick
The Brewers used their tenth-round selection on Brian Fitzpatrick in 2022, drafting him out of Rutgers. Having spent time in a starter’s role and a relief role in the past, all of Fitzpatrick’s appearances in 2025 were out of the bullpen, though many were of the multi-inning variety.
After returning to High-A to begin the season, Fitzpatrick was quickly pushed to Double-A in 2025. In 34 â…” innings, he posted an impressive 1.82 ERA, to go along with a 2.99 FIP. He struck out 28.6% of batters in Biloxi, and only walked 7.5% of them. He was promoted again to Triple-A, where his first outing was a significant struggle, as he allowed six earned runs in one inning. However, in the final 17 â…” innings of his season that followed, he had a 4.08 ERA and a 3.78 FIP. His numbers aren’t what land him on this list, though. It’s his repertoire and his build that are most intriguing.Â
A true five-pitch pitcher, Fitzpatrick can keep hitters on their toes, especially in shorter stints. He throws a two-seam fastball and a four-seam fastball in the 92-94 MPH range, reaching back for 95 at times. This was a velocity jump for him from having sat 90-92 in the past. He also mixes in a short slider in the mid-80s and a bigger sweeper in the upper-70s. His best pitch is his 82-84 MPH changeup, which he averages around 17 inches of run on.
Standing 6’7″ and generating about the same amount of extension from the left side, Fitzpatrick has qualities that are likely to be intriguing to big league organizations. Will it be enough to protect him? Likely not, but there is enough here not to rule it out.
Likelihood of protection: 15%
RHP Will Childers
Childers is a legacy of the Brewers, as his father, Matt, was a Brewers draft pick in 1997 and debuted for the Brewers in 2002. Will was an undrafted signing after the 2022 draft after attending the University of Georgia, where he spent the majority of his time injured after a strong freshman season. He didn’t appear in his first professional games until June of 2023 as he continued to rehab.
After 38 â…” innings of 2.33 ERA and 3.08 FIP pitching in Double-A, Childers didn’t see the same success in Triple-A. His 4.50 ERA looks respectable, but the 6.07 FIP tells a different story. You don’t have to look much further than three of the more important stats to see why FIP is low on him. His strikeout rate went from 30.9% in Biloxi to 18.4% in Nashville. His walk rate went up from an already high 11.2% to 15.8% after the promotion. Beyond that, he also allowed an unsavory 1.38 home runs per nine innings, nearly double the 0.70 number he had posted in Biloxi.
Like Fitzpatrick, Childers has a deep repertoire for a reliever, and like Fitzpatrick, it’s not his results that warrant him a look. His main fastball is a four-seam, which tends toward the “cut/carry” profile, thrown in the 95-97 MPH range and reaching 99. His sinker is a dead-zone shape thrown in a similar velocity band, though the movement appears to be late, helping the pitch play better than the overall shape would suggest. He throws a cutter in the upper 80s, but it can blend into a shorter slider at times. It’s a pitch that could use some sharpening, but it shows signs of being above average. Childers also throws a curveball in the 82-84 MPH range, with sharp, downward bite.
Based on his struggles in Triple-A and his injury history, he seems unlikely to be protected, but his pure stuff and the impressive showing in Double-A do give him a fighter’s chance.
Likelihood of protection: 10%
RHP Blake Holub
Holub was acquired from the Tigers for Mark Canha following the 2023 season. There are similarities to Childers with Holub. His walk rate in Triple-A was 16.8%, and he has a cut/carry fastball, though Holub’s has a lot more true cut, and is even classified as a cutter. Holub struggled in his first taste of Triple-A in 2024 as well.
His overall numbers in 2025 were strong. He had a 3.70 ERA and a 3.54 FIP, brought along by a 29.1 whiff-rate and striking out 28.6% of batters faced. The walk rate was a problem for him, but the contact quality was weak, which, when combined with his ability to generate swing and miss, helped him limit runs.
Along with his interesting cutter, which he throws in the 93-95 MPH range and can reach 97 with, Holub throws his slider around 43% of the time. Sitting around 85 MPH, the slider generates a lot of ground balls and has good depth to it. He rounds out his repertoire with a very rare splitter.Â
Holub is already 27 years old, and he is a relief-only pitcher at this point. The Brewers are unlikely to protect a player like Holub, but he is someone that a team could view as an option to fill a relief role right away, with a little upside if they can help him limit the walks a bit more, and perhaps are willing to let him lean on the splitter a bit more often.
Likelihood of protection: 10%
Position Players
Catcher: Matt Wood — FanGraphs #43 prospect
A fourth-round pick out of Penn State in 2022, Wood got off to a solid, if unspectacular, start in High-A this season. He was promoted to Double-A in late May, and that’s when he began to really make his case. His wRC+ improved from 103 in 116 plate appearances (as well as 100 in 379 plate appearances in 2024) to an impressive 134 with Biloxi in 245 plate appearances. He hit a career-high six home runs as well.
However, the biggest reason he now has an outside chance at protection was the strides he made behind the plate. According to Baseball Prospectus, Wood went from -2.3 Catching Defense Added in 2023 to an improved 2.7 in 2024, but he jumped all the way up to 6.5 in 2025. After throwing out 20.4% of stolen base attempts in parts of three seasons in High-A, Wood threw out 27.2% of runners in Double-A. He also showed improvement in blocking and receiving.
Position players are naturally less likely to be selected in the Rule 5 Draft, as they are a bit harder to hide in the big leagues for a full season, but a team that is looking for a backup catcher could see Wood as a player on the upswing that would be worth a flier.
Likelihood of protection: 10%
Other Names of Note
RHP Yerlin Rodriguez
Rodriguez is not going to be protected; his walk rate has been over 20% each of the last two seasons in High-A, but his stuff warrants mention. He has been up to 101 MPH in his minor league career, and his slider can be a wipeout pitch for him at times. If a team is willing to take a shot on his stuff, the Brewers will likely let them take that chance.
RHP Nick Merkel
Merkel has shown a wide repertoire out of the bullpen. Mixing six pitches with all three fastball variations, two breaking balls, and a changeup. He combines that with seven feet of extension and decent command. His velocity is only in the low-90s, but a FIP of 2.94 and a bunch of average or better pitches will garner some interest. Of the players in this category, he may be the most likely to be selected, but given that he never got the call to Triple-A in 2025, he seems unlikely to be protected.
UTIL Ethan Murray
Murray is the lone position player in this section, mainly due to his Double-A performance. The former fifth-round pick posted a very strong 146 wRC+ with Biloxi, but his performance did not carry over to Triple-A, where his wRC+ was 44 in 114 plate appearances. While his average exit velocity of 89.7 MPH was above average, he lacked top-end power. Outside of making decent swing decisions, the rest of the peripheral stats were all well below average. He’s a serviceable shortstop defensively and above-average at second base, capable of helping at third and in left field as well. He’s unlikely to be selected and almost certainly won’t be protected.
It would have to be considered an upset if anyone is protected by the Brewers this season, barring an outside acquisition, along the lines of the Oliver Dunn trade two offseasons ago. If they do protect anyone, they have to come from this group.
Is there anyone we missed? Should anyone be protected from this group? Let us know!
Interested in learning more about the Milwaukee Brewers’ top prospects? Check out our comprehensive top prospects list that includes up-to-date stats, articles and videos about every prospect, scouting reports, and more!