Brewers 2023 first round pick suffers scary injury down in Double-A

The Brewers most recent first round draft pick Brock Wilken suffered a scary injury in Thursday night's contest between the Double-A Biloxi Shuckers and the Mississippi Braves.

In the sixth inning of Game 1 of a doubleheader, Wilken took a 94 MPH fastball to the face from M-Braves pitcher Domingo Gonzalez. Wilken was able to walk off under his own power but exited the game and Noah Campbell came in to run for Wilken.

Really scary situation in Pearl with Brock Wilken taking a 94 MPH FB to the left side of his face in the 6th. Fingers crossed everything is ok. He did walk off the field under his own power

Just a brutal, brutal thing to happen
— Javik Blake (@javblake8) April 12, 2024

Facial injuries are especially scary for players. A fastball riding in like that can do a lot of damage and is the reason that most hitters wear the C-flap on their helmet now.

Curt Hogg of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was able to provide an update on Wilken's status on Friday.

Brewers 3B prospect Brock Wilken sustained multiple fractures when hit by a pitch in the face last night with Class AA Biloxi but there was no concussion. Surgery is likely when the swelling goes down. Longterm prognosis, though, is good according to Matt Arnold.
— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) April 12, 2024

Multiple facial fractures for Wilken mean he will undergo surgery to fix the damage, which could keep him out for several weeks. The good news is that there's no concussion that Wilken suffered and GM Matt Arnold doesn't think this will have any long term impact on Wilken.

It's yet another brutal blow to the Brewers farm system. Catching prospect Jeferson Quero suffered a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder and will be out for the remainder of 2024 and now Wilken will have to go under the knife as well and miss time. Although Wilken is not going to miss the rest of the season with this injury, it still is a tough pill to swallow.

There's thought to be a chance that Wilken could make his MLB debut this season, although this injury may hurt those chances because of the time he will miss.

Wilken has some of the best power in the Brewers organization and he's a possible quick riser, already reaching Double-A last year after just getting drafted out of Wake Forest. Once Wilken returns, if he's able to get back into a groove at the plate, he still could make that push to the majors, but he's now going to lose some of that time.

Because of the nature of Wilken's injury, he likely won't need as much rehab time following surgery as someone like Quero with his shoulder.

Three of the Crew's top ten prospects per MLB Pipeline are now down with injury. Robert Gasser has been recovering from bone spurs in his elbow, Quero had surgery, and now Wilken has facial fractures. While Quero is out for the year, the Brewers will be hoping for quick returns from Gasser and now Wilken.

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