It might not be to quite the same extent as the Doug Melvin and Gord Ash era of Brewers baseball, but the Milwaukee pipeline to Canada is still alive and well, as witnessed most recently, by the breakout of speedy INF/OF Dylan O’Rae at Double-A Biloxi this season.
A native of Sarnia, Ontario, O’Rae grew up playing both baseball and hockey, but by early in his high school career, he knew baseball was going to be his sport, and he made the call to give up the puck to focus on baseball.
“I always played hockey and baseball, always went to Detroit Tigers games,” O’Rae said during the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers Media Day in 2024. “My dad’s a huge baseball guy, so he kinda got me into baseball. My freshman year of high school I kinda ditched hockey because I knew baseball is what I wanted to do.
Athletic, but under-sized, O’Rae came up as a shortstop, playing for Canada’s Junior National Team, and caught the eye of the Brewers thanks to his keen eye at the plate and impressive bat-to-ball-skills.
Milwaukee drafted him in the third round in 2022, and signed him to a slightly below-slot deal worth $597,500, before assigning him to their rookie affiliate in Arizona, where he hit .308 in his first limited pro action.
He returned to Arizona to begin the 2023 season, where he hit .362 and stole 28 bases over 37 games, earning an August promotion to Low-A Carolina to finish out the year. In 23 additional games with the Mudcats, O’Rae kept on put the ball in play, hitting .330, and continued to be a menace on the basepaths, swiping 16 more bags, to give him 44 in his first full season of pro ball.
O’Rae split the following season between High-A Wisconsin and Double-A Biloxi, appearing in a career-high 126 games between the two levels, racking up 103 hits, including his first career home run. He also continued to run, setting a new career-high in stolen bases as well, stealing 62 bases in 74 attempts.
The Brewers thought highly enough of O’Rae, that they selected him to take part in their inaugural Spring Breakout game in 2025, but then he hit a bump in the road, when he suffered a wrist injury late in Spring Training that would knock him out for all of the 2025 regular season.
Despite missing all of Biloxi’s season, O’Rae was healthy enough by the fall that he was able to return to the field in October, participating for the Surprise Saguaros in the prestigious Arizona Fall League.
“The first time I took the field in the Fall League again, it had been probably seven months, eight months, so you feel like you’re a kid again, getting back out there for the first time,” O’Rae said during a recent pregame interview with Biloxi’s Javik Blake.
O’Rae and his Saguaros teammates enjoyed a lot of success in the fall, with O’Rae hitting .302, while helping his team win an Arizona Fall League Championship.
“We had a great group in that fall league,” O’Rae said. “Met a bunch of new guys. We had some good team chemistry and clicked together. It was super fun. Super glad we got the ring as well. That was kind of the icing on the cake for us.”
With the versatility to play both centerfield and second base, O’Rae gives the Brewers some defensive flexibility, though he has been playing strictly at second for the Shuckers so far in 2026.
But it’s his hit tool and ability to be a threat on the basepaths that makes him such a dangerous weapon at the top of the order.
A burner on the bases with 70-grade speed, “O’Rae has 127 career stolen bases in 224 games. Just last month, he swiped 17 bags in April alone, which set a new Biloxi team record for stolen bases in a month.
“I know my speed is a plus part of my game,” O’Rae said. “Contact, getting on base, stealing bases. It’s a big emphasis for us. We have meetings every day, trying to pick up anything we can. We’re all talking throughout the game. Anything we see on the pitcher. We’re making it a point for us to go out there and run and put the pressure on other teams.”
So far in 2026, O’Rae has been one of the top table-setters in the Southern League, batting .315 with a .438 on-base percentage, walking about as often as he strikes out, and for his part, he’s just happy to be back out on the diamond, playing baseball with his pals once again.
“I’m so happy to be back,” O’Rae said. “It was a grind. Just trying to take it day-by-day. Being away that much from the team, and from baseball in general, you kind of get a little bit of extra appreciation for being out here every day, so it’s great to be back.”
• At Triple-A Nashville, right-handed pitcher Coleman Crow was named to the MiLB Prospect Team of the Week this past week, following a dominating start against Norfolk.
Crow, who returned to the Sounds following a strong MLB debut earlier in April, worked 5.1 scoreless innings for Nashville on April 30th, allowing just one hit while striking out seven. He followed that up with 5.2 innings last night, allowing just one run on three hits.
• 969 days is an almost unfathomable amount of time to miss in the world of baseball, but RHP Cameron Wagoner beat the odds when he returned to the mound for the Biloxi Shuckers last Saturday night for the first time since 2023.
The former 11th-round pick out of Eastern Michigan underwent Tommy John surgery on his elbow in 2024, and then after almost making it all the way back, fractured his elbow, forcing him to miss two entire seasons.
In his first appearance since September 6th, 2023, Wagoner’s fastball was clocked at 99 MPH, as he tossed a scoreless inning of relief, striking out a pair of batters.
• Biloxi outfielder Damon Keith was honored as the Southern League Player of the Week, as his hot start for the Shuckers continues. Through his first 20 games of the season, Keith has an OPS of 1.068 with 21 runs batted in, and 14 of his 24 hits have gone for extra bases.
• Shuckers catcher Darrien Miller has also been on fire to start the year, in his third season at the Double-A level. The former ninth-round pick is currently hitting .309/.519/.600 through his first 55 at-bats for Biloxi, with four home runs and 14 runs scored.
• At Class-A Wisconsin, 2025 second-round draft pick J.D. Thompson made his pro debut on Saturday, working three scoreless innings in his first start with the Timber Rattlers.
The left-handed pitcher out of Vanderbilt, who signed for $1.56 million last season, surrendered just one hit, while striking out three against Quad Cities, and is scheduled to make his second start tonight in Peoria.
• Wilson Warbirds outfielder Handelfry Encarnacion was named the Carolina League Player of the Week this past week, as his bat has started heating up, thanks to a recent power surge. Though he’s hitting just .211 through his first 29 games with the Warbirds, Encarnacion has collected eight extra-base hits over the past two weeks, including four home runs between May 1st-May 6th.
• On Monday, the Brewers released RHP Jacob Waguespack, who was pitching at Triple-A Nashville. A surprising move, considering Waguespack had a 2.25 ERA in 11 relief appearances for the Sounds, the veteran right-hander signed with Milwaukee in January and was solid this spring as well. It may have been that Waguespack had an out in his contract if he wasn’t in the big leagues by a certain date, triggering his release, but whatever the reason, the Sounds bullpen got a little bit thinner.
• The Brewers also released outfielder Kay-Lan Nicasia on Monday, who was hitting just .083 at Double-A Biloxi. A 16th-round pick out of high school in 2021, Nicasia hit a career-high seven home runs between Carolina and Wisconsin last summer, but finished his career in Milwaukee’s organization with a .197 average and a .662 OPS over parts of six seasons.
Nashville Sounds (AAA) – Current record: 19-17, 5th place in the International League West Division, 5 games back of first place Memphis (Cardinals).
Biloxi Shuckers (AA) – Current record: 13-17, 4th place in the Southern League South Division, 2 games back of first place Montgomery (Rays) and Columbus (Braves).
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (A+) – Current record: 16-12, 2nd place in the Midwest League West Division, 0.5 games back of first place Quad Cities (Royals).
Wilson Warbirds (A) – Current record: 13-17, 4th place in the Carolina League North Division, 7 games back of first place Fredericksburg (Nationals).
ACL Brewers (R) – Current record: 2-2, 3rd place in the Arizona Complex League Central Division, 1 game back of first place ACL Reds and ACL Guardians.