The Brewers prospect you may not have heard of, but need to know

Sometimes too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Too much sugar will rot your teeth, too much time in the sun leads to sunburn, and the list goes on and on. But for the Milwaukee Brewers organization, having too many corner infielders waiting in the wings is far from a bad thing. That said, one minor league first baseman is starting to separate himself from the pack.

Rhys Hoskins has first base locked down for Milwaukee at the big league level (at least for the rest of this season), and Caleb Durbin is slowly figuring things out over at third. Meanwhile, in Triple-A Nashville, Ernesto Martinez Jr. and Wes Clarke are mashing the ball, with Tyler Black working his way back from a spring training injury. Then there is the absolutely loaded Double-A Biloxi roster that has Brock Wilken and Luke Adams manning the corner infield positions.

While all of that is encouraging, after attending a High-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers game last weekend, it's clear there is another infielder that Milwaukee Brewers fans really should start penciling in as a key piece of the future: Blake Burke.

Blake Burke is off to phenomenal start in Appleton

Milwaukee recently received an update to its MLB Pipeline Top-30 prospect list, and while there are plenty of names that fans already know (Jesús Made, Cooper Pratt, Jacob Misiorowski, and more), checking in at the No. 17 spot is Blake Burke.

In last Friday's 10-1 win over the Peoria Chiefs, the High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals, Burke was everywhere. In the final box score, he went 4-4, with three singles, a triple, a walk, a stolen base, and three runs scored in the game.

After the game, I made the post above, and while I was wrong about his listed weight (due to a scoreboard error and a quick check-in from Burke's mother), I was absolutely correct about needing to pay attention to him. After a standout college career with Tennessee, Vols fans were happily rooting for their guy and letting the world know. In college, Burke hit for a .332 average, with 50 home runs and 136 RBI over three years. He also holds the longest hitting streak in school history (31), and the record for most home runs by a freshman (14), according to MLB Pipeline. He capped it all off with a 2024 NCAA College World Series win.

Milwaukee selected Burke with the 34th overall pick in last year's draft and, after signing his contract with the club, he was selected to join the Timber Rattlers. However, he only appeared in five games for the T-Rats last season, due in part to an injury and the logjam of talented prospects.

This season though, he's been running roughshod over the Midwest League. Through 51 games, Burke is hitting for a .306 average, with three home runs, 57 hits, and 29 walks. Burke is demonstrating his completeness as a hitter; his power will come, that much is undeniable, but the fact that his batting average is north of .300 two months into his first professional season shows the incredible potential that the former SEC tournament MVP holds.

By just about every standard, Burke would probably have been called up by now, but given the organization's prospect gridlock, he remains "stuck" in Appleton — just close enough for the Brewers front office and fans to learn all about the former Vol and watch him continue to mash the ball. However, a promotion is bound to come before too long. So if you live in Wisconsin and have yet to make it to a Timber Rattlers game this season, buy your tickets now to ensure you get a glimpse of one of the Brewers’ top prospects before he's promoted to the next level. In fact, if you can make it to tonight's game, the first 1,000 fans will receive a poster of Burke.