Brewers land four prospects on Baseball America Top 100 for first time in nearly five years, including one of the game's fastest risers

For the first time since 2018, the Milwaukee Brewers have as many as four prospects among the top 100, according to popular baseball outlet "Baseball America," including one of the the fastest-rising talents in the sport.

Outfielder Jackson Chourio, who's had significant success at Class A Carolina this year despite just turning 18 years old in March, rose to No. 43 on the list updated June 2, up from spot No. 96 for the second-biggest jump in the rankings.

Shortstop Brice Turang checked in at No. 82 (up from No. 93), outfielder Sal Frelick moved up one spot to No. 94, and slugging outfielder Joey Wiemer made his debut at No. 95.

Chourio had a double and a home run Wednesday for Carolina, extending a hitting streak to eight games, and is batting .350 with a .400 on-base percentage and .930 OPS this season, with two home runs, three stolen bases and 20 RBIs.

Baseball America's Josh Norris was effusive in his praise of Chourio during a May episode of the Baseball America podcast, hinting that Chourio would soon be regarded as the Brewers' biggest prospect.

"I didn't expect anything except flashes from him and what I got was the best performance by a prospect I'd ever seen in 15 years of doing this ... from a prospect I'd only kind of heard of," Norris said. "I could not believe what I was watching, considering the age, the level, the weather.

"Their broadcaster, Greg Young, made the point the other day. They had the anthem done by a high school band. (He said), 'There's an extreme likelihood that members of that band are older than Jackson Chourio and he's playing center field in Low A.'"

The Brewers were ranked No. 25 as an organization (out of 30) with only Aaron Ashby in the top 100 prospects when Baseball America released its offseason assessment before the 2022 season, but Milwaukee has slowly been building up its farm system. Turang, who had previously appeared as a top-100 prospect, had returned to the list by May, joined by Frelick and Chourio.

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Ashby has since graduated off the list thanks to the volume of his big-league workload. Players graduate when they reach 131 at-bats, 50⅓ innings or 30 pitching appearances in the major leagues.

It's the most prospects the Brewers have had on the list since 2018, with the six-pack of Lewis Brinson, Keston Hiura, Brandon Woodruff, Corbin Burnes, Monte Harrison and Brett Phillips. Harrison and Brinson were then dealt to the Miami Marlins in the package that brought Christian Yelich to Milwaukee.

Chourio was signed out of Venezuela as a highly regarded shortstop in early 2021 and was already among the top prospects in the organization, though he's been playing center field at Carolina. This is his first stateside work for the Brewers after spending 2021 in the Dominican Summer League and Venezuelan Winter League.

It bears reminding that he remains several years away from the big leagues.

Players such as Wiemer, 23, are much closer. The Brewers' minor league player of the year last year after he racked up 27 home runs and 30 stolen base between two stops, already has 12 home runs for Class AA Biloxi this year and a .931 OPS with a .284 batting average. He's also stolen 12 bases, although he's struck out 58 times in 176 at-bats.

Frelick, 22, the team's first-round pick in 2021, has a .631 OPS at Biloxi after a promotion from the Advanced Class A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in Appleton, where he posted an .847 OPS and reached base at a .391 clip.

Turang, 22, owns a .706 OPS this season at Class AAA Nashville, with a .325 on-base percentage and .276 batting average, including three homers and seven stolen bases. It's likely Turang will see action with the parent club at some point this season.

Garrett Mitchell, 23, the No. 1 pick in 2020, once appeared on the top 100 list but has since fallen out. He's posted a.676 OPS at Biloxi with a .224 batting average and .331 on-base percentage this season and has been out with injury since mid-May. He finished last season at Biloxi after tearing up Advanced Class A Wisconsin.

JR Radcliffe can be reached at (262) 361-9141 or jradcliffe@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JRRadcliffe.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jackson Chourio, Brice Turang are Brewers among top 100 prospects