The headliner for Milwaukee Brewers fans will be a Midwest League Player of the Week honor for slugging top prospect Andrew Fischer, but fans of Wisconsin baseball will be familiar with several other names honored across minor-league baseball for their work last week.
Fischer went 4-for-6 with two homers and a triple on May 10, finishing with five RBIs in a 15-8 win for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers over the Peoria Chiefs. The game marked the fourth straight in which Fischer reached base at least twice, and he had a double and homer in earlier games during the week.
The No. 5 prospect in the organization and first-round draft pick in 2025 has an impressive .988 OPS at Advanced Class A, with a .365 on-base percentage, nine homers, eight doubles and 26 RBIs.
But here’s who else received recognition for their week:
Gavin Kilen, shortstop, Giants (Milton High School)
Himself a first-round draft pick in 2025 (taken 13th overall, seven spots ahead of Fischer) and a Tennessee Volunteer, the shortstop for the Advanced Class A Eugene Emeralds was named Northwest League Player of the Week.
Like Fischer, Kilen also had a four-hit game on May 10, with a home run and three driven in. He also had two doubles, a homer and five RBIs in a May 9 game, and after a single May 12, Kilen has a seven-game hitting streak.
For the year, the 22-year-old who attended Louisville before finishing at Tennessee has an .863 OPS, .310 average and four homers. Also a strong defender, he’s regarded as the No. 5 prospect by MLB Pipeline in the Giants organization.
Nate Snead, right-handed pitcher, Angels (South Milwaukee High School)
Kilen and Fischer’s teammate at Tennessee didn’t have such a bad week himself in the Northwest League, earning the league’s pitcher of the week honor with the Tri-City Dust Devils.
In his start May 7, Snead threw six innings and retired all 18 batters he faced, a perfect performance with six strikeouts. The Dust Devils’ bullpen couldn’t keep the no-hitter intact – Spokane’s Tevin Tucker led off the seventh with a single – but they did win the game, 2-1.
Snead has pitched in five games this year (23 innings, with 28 strikeouts, a 3.86 ERA and 1.07 WHIP). The 105th overall pick (third round) in the 2025 draft, Snead was largely a reliever at Tennessee and won a College World Series title in 2024 (as teammates with Brewers minor-leaguer Blake Burke). He’s regarded as the No. 19 prospect in the Angels system at age 22.
JD Dix, second baseman, Diamondbacks (Whitefish Bay High School)
Down one level to Class A in the California League, Dix won his own player of the week honor with the Visalia Rawhide.
Dix homered twice May 8 and finished 4-for-4 with four RBIs, plus a walk and two stolen bases in a 13-6 win over Stockton. That came three days after a 3-for-4 showing with a double and two runs scored, along with another three walks. Not only that, but Dix started the new week with another home run and a double May 12.
The No. 6 prospect in the organization and first-round pick in 2024 out of high school has a .785 OPS this year, with five homers and 12 stolen bases. The 20-year-old reaches base at a .358 clip.
Tyler Schmitt, right-handed pitcher, Padres (Madison Memorial High School)
What’s more impressive than winning a pitcher of the week honor in the California League? Winning it twice in a row.
Pitching for the Lake Elsinore Storm in Class A, Schmitt shut down Inland Empire on May 9, allowing just one hit over six scoreless innings, with three walks and five strikeouts in the winning effort.
He managed to outdo his May 2 outing against Ontario, when he allowed two hits through five scoreless innings, with one walk and six strikeouts. Schmitt received a no-decision in a game his team eventually won.
After a couple rough outings in April, Schmitt’s ERA plummeted from 9.75 at the end of April to 5.09 for the year. The 17th-round pick in 2025 out of Illinois was a two-time first-team all-conference selection in the WIAC at UW-La Crosse before moving to Division I, and he’s making his professional debut this season.
This story was updated to add new information.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Four Wisconsin natives, Andrew Fischer win weekly minors awards
Reporting by JR Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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