Brewers' Cam Robinson Makes Dramatic Leaps

A big 2022 season served as a springboard for righthander Cam Robinson, who was placed on the Brewers’ 40-man roster in November.

The righthander saved a minor league-leading 25 games while pitching at three levels, capped by an 11-game stint at Triple-A Nashville.

Robinson might have saved his professional career heading into 2021, when he finally gained traction after mostly spinning his wheels since being drafted in the 23rd round out of Orlando’s University High in 2017.

“This year was a big leap forward for him, but the biggest leap was coming out of the pandemic,” Brewers vice president of minor league operations Tom Flanagan said. “After missing 2020, he came into spring training in ’21 having pressure on him to (stay in the organization). It was that shaky.

“We liked the way he spun the ball, and he did some other things well. But up to that point he had walked a ton of guys, really had trouble finishing innings, finishing outings.”

What changed?

The biggest difference was an uptick in velocity. After previously sitting around 90 mph, Robinson jumped that figure to 94 while topping out as high as 96. He was also starting to locate his breaking ball with more regularity, and things quickly started falling into place.

“Everything looked much, much better,” Flanagan said. “We were like, ‘That’s got to be our most improved guy,’ just after the pandemic.

“That was his breakthrough moment.”

Robinson recorded a 3.08 ERA in 49.2 innings between Low-A Carolina and Double-A Biloxi in 2021, then followed up by posting a 2.49 ERA in 2022 with 84 strikeouts in 65 innings.

With the Brewers in the midst of a dramatic bullpen makeover and Robinson now on the 40-man, seeing Robinson make his major league debut in 2023 is certainly within the realm of possibility.

“He’s a great kid,” Flanagan said. “He always worked at it, and you knew he wanted the success. It took a little longer, but here we are today and he’s only 23.

“He’s put himself on the map.”

MICROBREWS

— Fireballing righthander Abner Uribe was also added to the 40-man, a reward after a 2022 season mostly lost to surgery to fix torn cartilage in his left knee. Uribe pitched in just three innings over two appearances for Double-A Biloxi before going down, but he rebounded with a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League and then headed to the Dominican League this winter.

The best news? Uribe’s signature fastball is back, and he was clocked as high as 102 mph in the AFL.

“When he came back from the injury, we knew the velo was going to be there, but in the Fall League he seemed to be able to command it that much better,” Flanagan said. “He’s a guy who, depending on how spring training goes and if he gets off to a decent start, maybe by midseason we could be talking about the big leagues.”

— Catcher Jeferson Quero turned many heads in the Arizona Fall League with his strong throwing arm. He cut down 46% of basestealers, including three in one game, and by the end of the season, teams had simply stopped running on him.

“Just the defensive showing he made, throwing guys out, was really impressive,” Flanagan said. “I think that’s what gets your attention first.”