Brewers 2nd-Round Pick Tumbles Out of Latest Top Prospect Rankings

Can a healthy 2026 help Mike Boeve regain some traction?

Cedar Rapids Kernels' Luke Keaschall (44) hurdles the ball as Wisconsin Timber Rattlers' Mike Boeve (19) fields it during their baseball game Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. | Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK

Prospect rankings definitely aren't everything, but they tend to accurately reflect how a minor-leaguer's stock is trending with his organization.

After putting up a strong 2024 season, Milwaukee Brewers infield prospect Mike Boeve seemed to be well on his way to a major league role with the team that drafted him in the previous year's second round. But Boeve's rough 2025 definitely constituted a setback, and the latest Brewers prospect rankings definitely refelct it.

On Tuesday, MLB Pipeline released its latest Top 30 rankings for the Brewers farm system, and Boeve earned the unfortunate distinction of the "biggest fall" of anyone from last year's rankings.

If you like our content, choose Sports Illustrated as a preferred source on Google.

Mike Boeve drops out of new Brewers Top 30

Cedar Rapids Kernels' Gabriel Gonzalez (16) is safe at third base against Wisconsin Timber Rattlers' Mike Boeve (19) during their baseball game Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wisconsin. | Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin / USA TODAY NETWORK

MLB Pipeline site expert Sam Dykstra explained why Boeve dropped from No. 5 in last year's rankings to out of the Top 30 entirely.

"Boeve showed the makings of a strong hit tool with a .338 average in his first full season, and it looked like that would push him toward Milwaukee," Dykstra wrote. "He may have still been dealing with the effects of offseason shoulder surgery because he didn't find the same consistency in a return to Double-A Biloxi (.233/.329/.336, five homers, 99 wRC+ in 66 games).

"Boeve also moved down the defensive spectrum by only playing first base in the field, and with the additions and up arrows elsewhere in the system, he was squeezed out of the Top 30 heading into his age-24 season, though he could just as easily return with more distance from the shoulder problems."

Boeve's stint with Biloxi was indeed a rough patch, but the bigger concern is that positional change. Though the Brewers do have a starting first baseman entering free agency in a year's time, prospects generally don't want to be pigeonholed into that position, because it's held to a much higher offensive standard than any other on the diamond.

Regardless of whether Boeve starts the year at Double-A or Triple-A, he's going to have to get his bat hot fast to re-establish himself as a legitimate major league option in the next couple of years.