Thanks to injuries, the Brewers have had to dip into their Minor League depth quickly. First, it was Jackson Chourio, still recovering from an injury sustained during the 2026 WBC. Now, Andrew Vaughn is on the IL, and that opens the door for 23-year-old catcher Jeferson Quero to join the Brewers’ roster.
A Look at Quero
It’s taken a while for Jeferson Quero, still a very notable prospect in the Brewers’ system, to get back on track since 2024.
Quero could have very well made his debut sooner. However, the 23-year-old suffered a season-ending shoulder injury two years ago in Triple-A. He didn’t get back into action full-time in Triple-A until June 2025, and then had another IL stint in the summer. All in all, Quero only played 69 games in total last season.
Now, Quero hit well overall. The 23-year-old slashed .271/.361/.478 with 11 home runs and 29 extra-base hits over 69 contests last season. However, five of those 11 home runs came down in the ACL. With Nashville, the slash line lowered to .255/.336/.412 over 58 games.
Quero has a clean swing. Not too much noise, athletic, and he can get to his power.
The problem with Quero at the plate is discipline. You wouldn’t know it off the bat when looking at his walk numbers last season, as he had a BB% over 10%. There are, however, problems under the hood.
He does not take a lot of pitches. But importantly, Quero loves to expand out of the strike zone. As we noted in our Brewers’ 2025 farm review earlier in the year, the 23-year-old had a Chase% of 36% last season with Nashville.
Isolating that by pitch type, and Quero’s problems stem from both the soft stuff and the hard stuff.
| Pitch Type | Chase% |
|---|---|
| Changeup | 54.7% |
| Splitter | 53.3% |
| Four-Seam Fastball | 39.5% |
That hasn’t led to a lot of swing-and-miss in the Minors. But it’s something to watch.
Defensively, Quero cut down on the passed balls last season. He also had a propensity to gun down runners. Four years ago, in 2022, Quero had a CS% over 30%. But last season, it dipped down to 17%.
The Brewers officially recalled Jeferson Quero on March 28.
Analysis
The move came after the Brewers lost first baseman Andrew Vaughn to a broken hamate bone, which will allow Milwaukee to get creative with the lineup in the interim.
Jake Bauers has plenty of experience at first base and likely suits up well to be an option against right-handed pitchers. We’ll see how the Brewers deploy the lineup against left-handed pitchers. William Contreras and Gary Sanchez, for what it’s worth, have very limited first base experience.
But getting to a long-term view, this move serves as a litmus test to see what exactly the Brewers have with Quero. The 23-year-old could be a pivotal asset moving forward, as William Contreras slowly moves toward free agency. He has two years left (2026 and 2027) until he can hit the market, and with the Brewers, the team tends to be careful with pending free agents, particularly pitchers.
Quero may not be the kind of impact player that Contreras is. However, with the power and reasonable ability behind the plate, the 23-year-old is someone to watch moving forward.
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