Brewers' 2023 late-round draft steal earns victory in Triple-A debut

Earlier this week, speculation ran rampant in regard to the Milwaukee Brewers' starting rotation decisions. Cryptic responses from Brewers' manager Pat Murphy and false reporting on social media led some to believe that prospect Tyson Hardin was set to make his major league debut. However, in the end, the Brewers called upon Robert Gasser to make his third start of the season, and the 27-year-old southpaw delivered his best performance of the year -- a five-inning, five-strikeout outing in which he only allowed one earned run.

Gasser's promotion to the big-league club opened a spot in the Triple-A Nashville Sounds' starting rotation, and the Brewers elected to fill it with one of the more intriguing arms in their minor league system, 23-year-old right-hander Brett Wichrowski.

The Brewers selected Wichrowski out of Bryant University in the 13th round of the 2023 MLB Draft. Wichrowski's college numbers by no means jumped off the page, but the Brewers saw potential that every other major league organization overlooked. In just a few short months in Milwaukee's farm system, that potential turned into real results.

Wichrowski kicked off his professional career in High-A with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, where he made four starts, posted a 2.45 ERA, and, to the surprise of many, lit up the radar gun. At the beginning of the campaign, Wichrowski consistently lived in the upper-90s with his fastball, and the combination of his velocity and his results against High-A competition led to an early-season promotion to Double-A.

The young right-hander continued to impress in Double-A with the Biloxi Shuckers, posting a 4.12 ERA across 17 starts, but he ran out of steam at the end of the 2024 season, and a "dead arm" officially cut his season short. Wichrowski returned to Biloxi in early May of last year and put together a strong 3.44 ERA in 22 starts through the rest of the season. He began the 2026 season back in Double-A, but after 10 appearances with the Shuckers to start the year, he was promoted to Triple-A yesterday morning.

Brewers' pitching prospect Brett Wichrowski collects a win in first Triple-A outing of his career

The now-23-year-old Wichrowski wasn't off to an especially strong start in Double-A this season. He held a 6.42 ERA in 47.2 innings with the Shuckers at the time of his promotion yesterday. The main reason for his inflated ERA is a sharp increase in the amount of home runs that he's allowed this year. After doing a good job of limiting the long ball in each of his first two professional seasons, Wichrowski surrendered 12 homers in his 47.2 innings in Double-A through the first two months of the 2026 season.

However, the Brewers decided to trust Wichrowski's strong arsenal of pitches and test him with a promotion to Triple-A. The former 13th-round pick was solid in his Sounds' debut last night, allowing three earned runs in 5.2 innings of work. Last night, it wasn't the long ball that hurt Wichrowski, but rather it was the free passes; the right-hander gave up five walks and hit two batters in the start. Thanks to a six-run third inning from the Sounds' offense -- a lead that held for the remainder of the game -- Wichrowski earned the win in his Triple-A debut.

The quick-rising Brewers' prospect threw 96 pitches last night and showcased all five of his offerings. He has three fastball shapes -- a four-seam, cutter, and sinker -- but his once head-turning velocity is now closer to league-average. Wichrowski still runs it up to 95-96 mph every once in a while, but his four-seam averaged 93.4 mph last night and his sinker averaged 93.2 mph. He pairs his fastball offerings with an oft-used sweeper, and a slower, looping curveball that he threw just 5% of the time in his Triple-A debut. Wichrowski does possess a changeup as well, but the pitch is still developing and he didn't throw it last night.

Wichrowski remains an intriguing arm in the Brewers' farm system, and the fact that the organization continues to push him is an encouraging sign. He's likely to remain in Triple-A for the foreseeable future given the injuries that have popped up for the big-league club. Milwaukee will have to tap into their Triple-A pitching depth, thus creating more opportunities at the top level of the minor leagues for Wichrowski.

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