Brock Wilken is a hot prospect at the hot corner for the Brewers

PHOENIX – Make no mistake about it. The Milwaukee Brewers are expecting big things from Brock Wilken.

And in the not-too-distant future, at that.

Wilken, the team's first-round draft pick out of Wake Forest this past July, took the next big step toward his and the organization's ultimate goal Sunday as he rolled into his first major-league spring training camp at American Family Fields of Phoenix.

"It’s cool seeing all these guys," Wilken said shortly after pulling on his practice garb. "Rhys Hoskins just walked over and said what’s up to me. I watched him growing up when I was in high school. So, it’s really cool to see the names and faces and connecting them, and them giving me the respect and me giving it back to them.

"It’s really huge being here."

Wilken, 21, signed for an under-slot bonus of $3,150,000 shortly after slugging 31 home runs for the Demon Deacons in 2023. Over the course of his three-year stay in college Wilken hammered an ACC-record 71 balls over the fence, and he was considered the best power hitter in the draft.

That power, along with the fact he plays third base, made him seemingly the perfect choice for the Brewers at No. 18 overall.

Milwaukee, of course, has been on the hunt for a homegrown, impact regular at the hot corner since parting ways with the reliable Aramis Ramírez toward the end of the 2015 season.

There have been players like Travis Shaw and Mike Moustakas who have filled the spot relatively well for a few years since then, and after that the Luis Urías experiment fizzled out when he couldn't stay healthy or repeat his 23-homer performance from 2021. He was finally traded to the Boston Red Sox last August, leaving Milwaukee to start over from scratch yet again.

There will be a deep and multi-faceted group of players jockeying for playing time at third in this camp, including newcomers Joey Ortiz and Christian Arroyo, holdovers Andruw Monasterio and Owen Miller and prospect Tyler Black.

But, if things go according to plan, whomever ends up winning the job will likely only become a placeholder until Wilken – rated as the Brewers' No. 7 overall prospect – is ready for his shot.

"This kid’s a great prospect, and that’s why we’ve got him in big-league camp," said manager Pat Murphy. "I was excited when I heard the final news that we were going to have him here. Same with (Jacob) Misiorowski. Like, ‘This is what we’re talking about.'

"I want to see these guys. I want to get to know them."

Using the eyeball test, Wilken looks like he came out of a lab, designed to play third base.

Weighing in at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, Wilken projects as a 30-plus-homer-a-season bat who can be stationed in the middle of the lineup with an ever-improving hit tool, and a competent defender who makes up for whatever he's lacking in lateral movement with a very strong throwing arm.

In short, he's the type of guy the Brewers believe can be penciled in as their starting third baseman for years and years to come -- with an estimated time of arrival to the majors of 2025.

Based on the way he moved up the ladder after signing last summer, Wilken could be up for the challenge.

In 34 games at advanced Class A Wisconsin, Wilken bounced out of a short warmup in the Arizona Complex League by hitting .289 with two homers, driving in 15 runs and compiling an OPS of .865. He then homered a couple more times and drove in eight runs in six games at Class AA Biloxi to close out the season.

He'll be pegged to start back up at Biloxi this April with Class AAA Nashville in his sights after that.

"I was just really prepared," said Wilken of his successful first season. "The coaches at Wake did a really good job of preparing me for these types of moments. Not only them, but my self-preparation as well with getting ready and getting my mind right to go compete and succeed at those levels."

After an offseason spent in Tampa working out and helping his uncle coach high-school baseball, Wilken got the call from the Brewers that he would be getting to open spring on the major-league side at Maryvale.

"I found out later in January," he said. "I got a call from Spencer Allen, our field coordinator down here, and he was like, ‘Hey man, you’re going to big-league camp.’ I just went nuts. It’s a little kid’s dream. It’s awesome.

"I think it’s a big confidence boost for not only myself, but it shows how much the club has confidence and trust in me to be able to go through those levels and compete and succeed at those levels. So, being able to do that is really awesome and it’s comforting for me to know that these people have my back."

Murphy said based on what Wilken did in 2023 an ambitious timeline for his major-league arrival is warranted, although 2024 is probably wishful thinking.

"If he moves like he moved last year – he was pretty consistent right off the bat – there’s no reason to think there isn’t a possibility that he moves faster than (sometime in 2025)," he said. "I know this: To throw a kid in the middle of big-league pitching in his first full season out of college, it’s rare. And it’s rarer that they can make that adjustment.

"But I don’t put anything past this kid."

Murphy was asked what Wilken will be going through over the next few weeks as he gets his feet wet with the club.

"I think the process is what it is," he said. "They’re here, it’s going to happen. There’s going to be guys who will take him under their wing, there’s going to be guys who poke a little fun at him, there’s going to be guys that will test him – it’s all going to happen. You just hope that he’s resilient enough to take in all the good and shrug off the other stuff and keep moving forward.

"You’ve got to remember, nobody’s in midseason form right now. So, evaluating in spring training can be very dangerous."

Wilken, like all the other prospects making their first appearances in major-league camp, is adhering to a simple motto.

"Learning and listening as much as I possibly can. Taking in as much information as I possibly can," he said. "But also knowing that I belong here and also going out and competing every day."

In the meantime, Wilken is going to resist the urge to get too far ahead of himself and allow his major-league aspirations distract him from the matter at hand.

That being, making improvements and adjustments at each level so that when Wilken finally does break through he'll be with the Brewers to stay.

"It’s hard for a lot of guys," he said. "They want to go out there and make the big leagues and succeed at that level. But I think the more you start planning ahead or things don’t go your way, you start getting derailed and go off track.

"Just staying in the moment, living in the moment and being where my feet are is the biggest thing for me and not looking too much ahead. Just trying to live and compete in every moment."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Brock Wilken is a hot prospect at the hot corner for the Brewers