The Milwaukee Brewers are often characterized as speedy, contact-hitting, chaos-creating gnats who generate runs in frustrating ways for opponents. But the good old-fashioned mashers are indeed in the pipeline.
The Brewers seem to have prioritized slugging corner infielders in recent drafts, taking Brock Wilken with their first pick in 2023, grabbing Blake Burke with their second first-round choice in 2024 and Andrew Fischer with their first pick in 2025. Burke and Fischer both went deep twice on May 10, meaning the Mother’s Day fireworks weren’t just restricted to Milwaukee.
Fischer also had a triple and finished a double away from the cycle for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Class High A), going 4 for 6 with five RBIs in a 15-8 win over Peoria. His week also included two doubles and a home run in earlier games.
Fischer’s .988 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) is superb on the surface, with nine homers and 26 RBIs this season. The first-round pick out of Tennessee does have 46 strikeouts in 126 plate appearances, however (37%). He still has a .365 on-base percentage.
Burke, the Class AA Biloxi Shuckers first baseman and the Brewers’ minor league player of the month for April, hit one home run in each half of a doubleheader and now has 11 for the year (.917 OPS). He reached double digits in fewer games than any other player in franchise history and now leads the Southern League once again in homers.
The 6-foot-3, 236-pounder also happens to have 12 stolen bases this year for the Shuckers, and though he also strikes out his fair share, you can live with his 37 punchouts in 146 plate appearances (25%) if he’s going to slug this effectively.
The Shuckers split their doubleheader against the Columbus Clingstones, winning 9-6 (Burke went 3 for 4) and losing 6-1 (Burke went 1 for 2).
Not to be outdone on Mother’s Day was Timber Rattlers slugger Eric Bitonti, a high-profile high school selection taken in the 2023 draft the same year as Wilken. Bitonti went 5 for 5 with two doubles and a home run, driving in a pair of runs and scoring three times for the Rattlers. Though he’s struggled in Class A at times, that brought his on-base percentage up to .377 and OPS up to .834.
Bitonti now has hits in four straight games and five out of six, with two home runs in that stretch.
Wilken hasn’t had overriding statistical success at Class AAA Nashville, but he has reached base safely now in 27 consecutive games, most recently with a walk May 9 in a game where his six-game hitting streak came to an end. For the year, Wilken has two homers, 21 RBIs, four stolen bases, a .179 batting average and .633 OPS.
The 18th pick in 2023 out of Wake Forest hit 18 homers last year and 17 the year before, even as he battled freak injuries like getting hit in the face with a pitch and needing facial surgery in 2024 and suffering a knee injury while celebrating the Biloxi first-half championship last year.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Minor Leaguers Andrew Fischer, Blake Burke homer twice on Mother’s Day
Reporting by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
