Milwaukee Brewers: Tyler Black Opens Up On His Preparations For The 2024 Season

Milwaukee Brewers fourth ranked prospect Tyler Black has caught the eye of several throughout his minor league career. The former 33rd overall pick has always put up good numbers, but injuries have slowed him down. In 2023 he managed to stay on the field and he now will be competing for a big league roster spot in 2024.

Tyler Black opens up on his preparations for the 2024 season and competing for a spot on the Milwaukee Brewers big league roster.  

Despite spring training starting in approximately four weeks, Tyler Black has told The Sports Network that he has already set up shop at the Brewers facilities in Arizona. He also went on to say that he is motivated to compete for a spot in the big leagues.

I’m going into spring training competing for a job, no doubt, but at the end of the day whatever happens, happens. There’s a lot of uncontrollables in baseball I’ve realized, so I’m just going to go do my thing and focus on what’s gotten me to this point and, hopefully, the cards play out in my favor”

One thing working in Tyler Black’s favor is that there is a path to the opening day roster as either a third baseman or first baseman. The left-handed hitting Black will have to compete against Jake Bauers at first and a combination of Andrew Monasterio, Owen Miller, and Oliver Dunn at third base. Thankfully the experience he learned last year in the minor leagues has prepared him for this in which he initially settled in a third base and then started seeing game action at first.

“I’d probably say a third of the way through the season I started to dial in over there [at third base] and feel really good. The one thing I noticed is you can take all the fungoes you want and practice as much as you want, but in a game it’s totally different. I think I played 100 games at third and that experience was just huge for me. I experienced failure, I experienced success and I’ve seen plays that I’ve never seen before.”

At the plate Black is a great contact hitter who has a tremendous feel for the strike zone. A season ago he walked 88 times while striking out in 100 at-bats. He also displayed more power in 2023 while stealing 55 bases. Across the minor leagues he was just one of three players with at least 18 home runs, 25 doubles, and 55 steals.

“I’d definitely I’d say I’m more well-rounded, but I kind of made that adjustment last year I’d say. I wanted to hit for more power and I’ve kind of found ways for more that work. Like I’ve said, experience has been so big and the more I play the more I can kind of tap into that power, and I want to be the most well-rounded hitter I can be — power, speed, contact, everything offensive profile-wise.”

Injury wise Tyler Black lost most of his collegiate baseball season in 2020 due to shoulder surgery and he also lost time in 2022 due to a scapula fracture and then a thumb fracture that caused him to exit the Arizona Fall League early. In 2023 he played in 123 games and avoided the injured list. Adjustments on his part helped him stay on the field.

“You always try to gain an edge and you train so hard to gain an edge and try to be the best player you can be, but I really realized at the end of the day you can go as hard as you want, train as hard as you want and be ready as much as you want, but if you’re not on the field, none of that matters.”

“I really kind of changed my priorities a little bit. I just kind of focused on how to stay on the field and it really helped me a lot. I think I got into 125 games and through that I learned a lot. In baseball, I’m still kind of young I feel like in terms of my experience, so the more I can play the better I’m going to be at the end of the day.”

Tyler Black will be one prospect to keep an eye on as spring training gets underway. He is currently not on the 40-man roster but he has a real good chance at earning a spot and potentially even making the opening day roster.