Even while playing in some of MLB’s smallest markets and with some of the lowest payrolls in the league, the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays have acquired and developed several players who have broken through to the mainstream.
Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski achieving unthinkable velocity made all of his starts must-watch in just his second big-league season. Rays third baseman Junior Caminero shined in the 2025 Home Run Derby, and his spectacular slugging at such a young age has captured the attention of the casual fan. Jackson Chourio — nine months younger than Caminero — has already climbed to the top of several of Milwaukee’s all-time postseason leaderboards. Freddy Peralta became a two-time All-Star with the Brewers before being traded twice in the span of eight months and shining down the stretch en route to ALCS MVP honors with Tampa Bay. Christian Yelich won NL MVP in his first season with the Brewers back in 2018 and is the undisputed face of the franchise, recently earning the distinction of captain. Brewers catcher William Contreras and Rays designated hitter Yandy Diaz have become staples in their respective lineups and have delivered several huge swings this postseason.
Those players are most likely to grace the promotional graphics and appear in the hype videos for the 122nd World Series, which begins Friday in Milwaukee. But the Brewers’ and Rays’ rosters are littered with crucial contributors who could have a massive impact on how this Fall Classic plays out. Here are 14 such players to know, broken into six buckets that also highlight some of the parallels between these clubs.
The quietly elite: Rays RHP Drew Rasmussen & Brewers 1B Jake Bauers
Rasmussen has overcome three arm surgeries — two Tommy John procedures during his college career, plus internal brace surgery in 2023 — to emerge as one of the most dependable starting pitchers in the American League and an All-Star the past two seasons. Since he became a full-time starter in 2022, his 2.74 ERA ranks fourth among pitchers with at least 500 innings pitched, behind only Tarik Skubal (2.64), Blake Snell (2.69) and Chris Sale (2.71). He was drafted by the Rays after his junior year at Oregon State but stayed in school and entered pro ball with the Brewers a year later. Milwaukee developed Rasmussen and saw him debut in 2020 before trading him to Tampa Bay as the primary return in the deal that sent Willy Adames to Milwaukee.
Bauers, arguably the breakout slugger of this postseason thanks to his epic, lengthy battles with Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell, also made his major-league debut with his World Series opponent. The Brewers are Bauers’ seventh MLB organization, having been drafted by San Diego out of high school and traded to the Rays shortly thereafter. He debuted with Tampa Bay in 2018 but then bounced around and struggled to stick with any one team — to the point that he now-famously contemplated retirement a couple years ago before giving it one more go with Milwaukee. That he became a rock-solid role player on a first-place team in 2025 already felt like a major success, and then Bauers leveled up in a huge way this season: His 143 wRC+ ranked seventh among qualified hitters and tops among World Series participants (yes, even a tick above Caminero). Once he’s finished chasing a championship with the Brewers, Bauers will hit the open market as one of the more intriguing bats in a shallow free-agent class.
The changeup artists: Rays RHP Nick Martinez & Brewers RHP Logan Henderson
Henderson was in elementary school when Martinez was drafted by the Rangers in 2011, but the two right-handers are making their World Series debuts in the same season. Henderson, who will start Game 2 for Milwaukee, was a 2021 fourth-round pick by the Brewers out of a Texas junior college, and he shot through the minors once healthy. Martinez’s baseball journey from college shortstop at Fordham to World Series Game 1 starter has taken him across the globe for a multiyear stint in Japan before he returned stateside for a terrific second act in the big leagues. He received his first career All-Star invite in 2026 at age 36.
While “Fastball Freddy” and The Miz are known for their special heaters, these two rely heavily on changing speeds to stifle opposing hitters. Both Martinez and Henderson average only around 93 mph with their best fastballs. Those offerings are still quite effective due to Henderson’s low release height and Martinez’s three variations including a sinker and cutter, but it’s the changeup that ties their arsenals together. Among starters, only Cristopher Sánchez (37%) had a higher changeup usage in the regular season than Henderson (35%), whose 83-mph offspeed pitch has some wicked horizontal movement. And at 78 mph on average, Martinez’s changeup (26% usage) is slower than any right-handed pitchers’ leaguewide.
The shutdown closers: Rays RHP Bryan Baker & Brewers RHP Trevor Megill
Before this season, Baker looked like a fairly generic righty reliever, with four saves to his name across 205 major-league appearances and a 3.86 ERA. But it’s clear the Rays saw something special in him when they acquired him from Baltimore at the 2025 trade deadline, as he posted a 1.44 ERA in 2026 and led MLB with 41 saves. In Tampa, Baker cranked up his changeup usage and almost entirely shelved his slider, with his fastball and offspeed offerings proving dominant as a duo. It’s worth noting that his velocity was down closer to 92 mph by the end of the ALCS; that might’ve been the product of pitching three days in a row to close out the series. We’ll see how his workload impacts his effectiveness against Milwaukee.
Megill has always stood out because, well, look at him: He’s listed at 6-foot-8, 253 pounds. He has always been a big dude with a big fastball, but he has honed his skills to become one of the steadier closers in the league, racking up 81 saves over the past three seasons. His attack plan is rather straightforward, as he relies exclusively on two pitches — 65% 98-mph fastballs, 35% 88-mph knuckle-curves — to overwhelm hitters.
Here are these closers’ postseason pitching lines:
Baker: 7 G, 7 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 5 SV Megill: 5 G, 5.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K, 4 SV
The only question now is who will blink first?
The small-ball speedsters: Rays LF Chandler Simpson & Brewers 3B David Hamilton
By Statcast’s average sprint speed (feet per second), Simpson and Hamilton both rank in the 95th percentile, but that still underrates the impact these two have on the basepaths. Simpson and Hamilton rank first and third, respectively, in home-to-first time, enabling them to rack up bunt hits and infield singles as they bolt out of the left-handed batter’s box.
Simpson’s speed-based highlights were the stuff of legend when he was in college, and such feats continued in pro ball, as he racked up 198 stolen bases across his two full minor-league seasons before making his MLB debut in 2025. He is not quite as efficient of a basestealer as you might think — he led the majors in caught stealing in his first two seasons — but he is a headache for opposing pitchers and catchers, and his ability to put the ball in play ensures continual pressure on the defense, despite his having the least raw power in the league.
Hamilton has stolen 85 bases the past three seasons and has been caught only 17 times, which ranks 13th in MLB despite his being a part-time player. And as he showed last round with his blast off Edwin Diaz in Game 4, Hamilton can also be a threat when swinging the bat, beyond just his wheels doing the work.
The slick-fielding shortstops: Rays SS Taylor Walls & Brewers SS Cooper Pratt
These two terrific infielders don’t have the same style of defending, but each is capable of wowing you with his glovework. Walls is a masterful technician of the craft, getting to a wide range of ground balls not only due to his speed and range but also due to his otherworldly anticipation and preparation, which always has him in the right spot to make the play. Pratt is a more physical presence in the dirt, and as a 22-year-old rookie, he’s more prone to mistakes on routine plays. But he is also more likely to produce a jaw-dropping highlight, thanks to his cannon of an arm and impressive flexibility and speed for a player his size.
Whatever these two shortstops give you on offense — you shouldn’t count on much from either, as Walls has been one of the worst hitters in the majors for years, while Pratt is still in the early stages of getting comfortable against big-league arms — is gravy. Just enjoy the show when they’re in the field.
The dynamic outfielders: Rays RF Victor Mesa Jr. & Brewers CF Garrett Mitchell
Mitchell was Milwaukee’s first-round pick in 2020 and has tantalized with his physical tools for years, only to be repeatedly hampered by injuries and inconsistency. But this year, it finally all came together: After playing 141 games from 2022 to ‘25, Mitchell played in 145 games in 2026 and made an impact all season on both sides of the ball. That all-around talent has been on display this postseason, as Mitchell blasted two humongous homers against the Dodgers and made perhaps the best catch of October to rob Manny Machado of a home run in the NLDS.
Mesa, the son of legendary Cuban player and manager Victor Mesa, signed with the Marlins in 2018 alongside his brother, Victor Victor, who was far more hyped as a prospect. But it quickly became clear that Mesa Jr. was the outfielder with significant big-league potential, which he realized with Miami in 2025. He was then traded to Tampa Bay before the 2026 season because the Marlins didn’t view him as a no-doubt part of their future outfield plans. To be fair, he looked like a depth move for the Rays at the time of the trade, but he has outperformed that projection considerably since being called up from Triple-A in May. He has one of the best throwing arms of any outfielder in the majors, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Brewers’ aggressive baserunning is reined in at all with Mesa looming in right field. He also went rather quiet in the ALCS (2-for-21 with two singles) after his big home run against the Yankees in the ALDS; the Rays will need his bat to heat back up if they’re going to keep pace with the Brewers.
The nasty southpaws: Rays LHP Cam Booser & Brewers LHP Aaron Ashby
Booser is one of the best stories of this postseason. A minor leaguer with the Twins a decade ago, Booser spent nearly five years away from the sport, working various jobs while battling addiction, before he found his way back into pro ball and debuted with the Red Sox in 2024. Now he has become a key cog in Tampa Bay’s bullpen and one of the nastiest lefty relievers around.
Ashby was drafted in 2018 out of the same junior college in Missouri that later produced Misiorowski, and he navigated myriad injuries en route to his healthiest season yet in 2026. Only Mason Miller (129) racked up more strikeouts than Ashby (112) among relievers in the regular season, and the Brewers’ bats got to Miller in the NLDS, while Milwaukee has cruised to the World Series thanks in large part to Ashby’s contributions.
Both Ashby and Booser have appeared in six games this postseason, but their workloads have varied wildly: Ashby has tossed a remarkable 12 ⅓ scoreless innings, while Booser has completed just 4 ⅔ due to manager Kevin Cash’s deft deployment that has allowed him to come in, finish an inning and be done. That said, there’s a good chance Cash will need Booser for more than just a handful of outs moving forward. On the flip side, can Ashby keep handling multi-inning asks for the duration of the Fall Classic, or does that become too burdensome if the series goes long?